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Administrator
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14912 Posts
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Posted - 10/02/2007 : 21:10:09

Dear Members,

As perhaps some of you are aware, I am trying to determine which social behaviors are adaptive, and which are maladaptive. I have created a "Social Quality of Life Scale" to measure these behaviors.

In studying maladaptive social behaviors, I have become increasingly more alarmed by the maladaptive social behaviors currently displayed by some of our major world leaders. I am very saddened by the loss of democracy in Russia, and by the escalating wars in the Middle East. Two weeks ago, the President of France told his country to prepare for a possible war with Iran.

As a psychiatrist, I want to share with you what I know about maladaptive social behavior and how maladjusted world leaders can destroy the lives of millions of innocent civilians.

If this discussion of ethical social behavior is of interest to this community; I would like to discuss further the topic of adaptive vs. maladaptive social behavior.

Before I proceed, I would like to get your feedback on two topics.

The Social Quality of Life Scale: Does this scale accurately measure "adaptive" vs. "maladaptive" social behavior?

http://www.mentalhealth.com/qol/IMHQOLScale_4.pdf

War Vs. Peace: How accurately does this slideshow portray the lack of ethics in certain world leaders (or wars)? (Or does it not make this point?)

http://www.mentalhealth.com/World%20Leaders%20Gone%20Bad/fullscreen.htm

I greatly appreciate your feedback on these two topics.

Phil Long M.D.
Administrator

dizzydean
Super Member (250+ posts)

838 Posts
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Posted - 10/03/2007 : 10:34:40

Dr. Long:

I found the slideshow very powerful. Reading the quotes from the Ethical Leaders even made me cry, as we have come so far from those ideals.

I would be interested in knowing more of your sources/references, esp. when referring to numerical data.

I am so glad you have brought up this topic, as I have been concerned about just this thing. My question is, what are you going to do with the information you collect, and I guess, what is the motivation behind your determination.

Here are some links that I have come accross:

*************************This YouTube Videois a Possible Trigger, Contains images of War***************************************************************************************************************************************

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DEh0eSpNvY

http://kentbrewster.com/mashing-up-the-war/

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

http://www.nationalpriorities.org/Cost-of-War/Cost-of-War-3.html

I also read the New York Times, and can't help but feel our government (I'm a US citizen) is lying to us...especailly when I access information from other countries' news sites. When I see your numbers, they are much higher than anything I have come across.

Another q: may I take some of this information you have posted to my therapist, as we discuss these topics often, and I would like to have a reference for him to know what I am talking about. My global thinking is an important part of my therapy, as it is something I am very passionate about.

I actually think I have more to say, but I would like to mull over it a bit, as this post was hurried and I haven't completly organized my thinking.

Thank you again for being a good example for this community and constantly trying to improve the lives of others.

Dizzy

Dreams that do come true can be as unsettling as those that don't. Brett Butler

Administrator
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14912 Posts
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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 00:57:16

Hi Dizzy,

Thank you for the excellent information you provided. The financial cost of the present war in Iraq (as you correctly pointed out) is astronomical. Worse still, the lives of Iraqi civilians are dramatically worse now, after the occupation of Iraq, than before when under their former brutal dictatorship.

The estimate of Iraqi civilian casualties comes from:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6045112.stm

(and the original research was published in the British medical journal, Lancet):

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673606694919/abstract?pubType=related

As a psychiatrist, every year I see hospitals closed and much needed psychiatric facilities never built or funded. Yet the world spends trillions on useless military expenditures. Isn't it time that we civilians start to question the insanity of militarism.

On my other website (mentalhealth.com) I have stated that I agreed with former President Jimmy Carter that the pre-emptive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan illegal under international law, and are immoral:

http://www.npr.org/templates/dmg/popup.php?id=4989004&type=7&date=&au=1&pid=41521316&random=2515123573&guid=000DB6D3FC4906617402DE8061626364&uaType=WM,RM&aaType=RM,WM&upf=Win32&topicName=Featured_Stories&subtopicName=Featured_Stories&prgCode=&hubId=-1&thingId=4984885&tableModifier=&mtype=WM

These wars aren't about stopping terrorism. Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, has stated that these wars are about capturing the oil of Iraq:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/09/17/cngrspan317.xml

The Unocal Corporation (as recorded in the 1998 Congressional Record) asked Congress to establish a friendly government in Afghanistan so that it could build an American oil pipeline from the rich central Asian oil-fields south through Afghanistan and Pakistan.

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/oil.html

It now appears that is exactly the intent of the current occupation of Afghanistan.

These wars have proven to be civilian and military disasters. The amount of money the world wastes on military spending is obscene:

http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTrade/Spending.asp

Before our dysfunctional world leaders march us into war with Iran; we should ask ourselves if any of this militarism is ethical.

Why is any of this relevant to mental health? The world desperately needs more funding for health, education, and welfare programs; yet many rich nations waste an obscene amount on military spending:

http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTrade/Spending.asp

As a psychiatrist, I believe that we can prevent war by correcting our own personal maladaptive social behavior, and that of our culture.

Phil Long M.D.
Administrator

P.S. Opps, I posted a long URL which destroyed the normal word wrap on this bulletin board. If anyone wants to post a comment on this thread, lets start a new discussion under the title: "Ethics in Psychiatry and Politics (2)"

Niney
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)

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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 12:26:04

Dr. Long,
I think the presentation, 'War vs Peace' makes its point very well. I especially appreciated the slides on the war in Iraq. I don't understand how the U.S. can justify their presence there. The incredible waste of human life and money that could be used for health care or other worthy causes is criminal.
I agree with you in that if we demanded ethical behaviour on the part of our elected leaders, we would see much less of this warmongering type of behaviour. However, it appears that some elected officials don't care that the people who elected them don't agree with their actions.
Niney

"Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible."
Helen Keller

dizzydean
Super Member (250+ posts)

838 Posts
Gratitude: 294
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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 12:43:10

I'm afraid th US is doing irreparable damage to our government and our realtions to the world. Not to mention human liberties.

For instance:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/washington/04interrogate.html?th&emc=th

Dizzy

Dreams that do come true can be as unsettling as those that don't. Brett Butler

Administrator
Administrator

14912 Posts
Gratitude: 593
Very caring Very wise I agree

Posted - 10/05/2007 : 16:24:31

Dear Members,

I have accidentily triggered a bug in our word-wrapping function (making this discussion very difficult to read).

Could we please continue this discussion over at "Ethics In Psychiatry And Politics (Continued):

http://www.mytherapy.com/discussion/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11039

Phil Long M.D.
Administrator

warblaster
Super Incredible Member (10000+ posts)