Mormon Bloggers

I am having trouble staying silent on the current loud and rowdy health reform argument (I haven’t really seen much debate), then again, I haven’t been silent.  Here is a repost of my position, first published in February 2008, layed out as clearly as I can make it. ———————————————————————————————–      For over 20 years our country and its undying commitment to capitalism have tried desperately to slow mushrooming healthcare costs, and failed miserably. HMOs, Capitation, things that business was confident would succeed where those fiscally incompetent doctors failed, fell flat. Patients, it seems, did not tolerate their health and well-being treated as a business. I suppose business was part of the problem. After during WWII, with wages fixes and worker shortage, jobs starting... Read the rest of this entry »

   Witnessing a seizure is a very frightening experience.  Parents who witness seizures in children fear for their child’s life.  It is extremely traumatic.  Even now, as a trained professional, knowing all the steps I could ever need to take care of the problem, I will feel my heart rate climb with a knot in my stomach as adrenaline starts to flood my system to this day.       So it’s not surprising that in the past, seizures were thought to be caused by demonic possession.  Many an epileptic in the middle ages were treated with exorcism. Matthew 17:15- "Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he afalleth into the fire, and oft into the water."     More recently, many in the scientific world have tried to paint religion itself as founded on epilepsy and a diseased mind, as the religious experience of everyone from Mohammed to Joseph Smith have been ascribed to an epileptic fit.   Unfortunately, the EEG was... Read the rest of this entry »

The BBC has an  Interesting Article on how the economic crisis is leading to an emotional crisis in many men in the face of trouble providing for their families.  The report on a survey that found men are twice as likely currently to report having suicidal thoughts, half as likely to discuss their trouble with friends or family, and while experience mental health problems in roughly equal numbers with women, they go untreated far more often. This is interesting to me for several reasons.  The suffering goes on largely in silence.  Men don’t use health care in general to the extent that women do and they absolutely don’t use mental health care to the same extent.  One could look at this as evidence that women in our society are oppressed, if it suited their purpose.  You could argue that men are healthier because they are more free from the trap of poverty and childcare.  You could also be dead wrong.  This is a perfect example of how using mental health statistics to... Read the rest of this entry »

The BBC has an  Interesting Article on how the economic crisis is leading to an emotional crisis in many men in the face of trouble providing for their families.  The report on a survey that found men are twice as likely currently to report having suicidal thoughts, half as likely to discuss their trouble with friends or family, and while experience mental health problems in roughly equal numbers with women, they go untreated far more often. This is interesting to me for several reasons.  The suffering goes on largely in silence.  Men don’t use health care in general to the extent that women do and they absolutely don’t use mental health care to the same extent.  One could look at this as evidence that women in our society are oppressed, if it suited their purpose.  You could argue that men are healthier because they are more free from the trap of poverty and childcare.  You could also be dead wrong.  This is a perfect example of how using mental health... Read the rest of this entry »