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Robert B. Sklaroff, M.D.
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Global Schizophrenia By Robert B. Sklaroff, M.D.
If humans have been created in God’s image, then nations—even those without borders—function as does humanity…with all its strengths and foibles. That awareness, perhaps, could help America relate with the psychopathology routinely exhibited by the rest of the world. Schizophrenics are delusional and illogical, but retain intelligence and memory. Recall the “Four A’s” articulated a century ago by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler; they have a flat Affect and loose Associations, and are Ambivalent and Autistic. So, too, might one describe how other countries fail to recognize existential crises repeatedly confronted by the United States. One could be supercilious and glib while categorizing paired manifestations of this ailment. Syria hears Irani voices. Scandinavians are isolationist as French satirize credibility. Lebanese lack self-determination while Israelis seem rudderless in an anti-Semitic ocean. It’s preferable, however, to gain a certain surcease from appreciating just what we’re up against, and enlightenment regarding how best to manage relationships with unhappy forces that lack the ethical monotheism which animates our foreign policy. For example, the psychoses have a concordance rate that is consistently higher in uniovular (identical) than in binovular (fraternal) twins. Thus, genetic linkage with Karl Marx explains how nuclear proliferation is perceived. Russia follows China’s lead regarding North Korea, while China supports Russia with respect to Iran. Just as aberrant behavior of siblings survives having been separated from birth, so too has the dissolution of the USSR failed to purge Moscow of its congenital atheism. America’s addiction to oil compromises its ability to apply its “neo-con” approach to the world, but commitment to achieving incremental improvement remains the goal of President Bush’s brain-trust. Thus, all we can do is to parlay our strengths by holding fellow Security Council members to their commitments. Suppose we bartered endorsing the premature Israel-Hezbollah cease fire to enlist support for United Nations sanctions against Iran. Then, retreat from stringent economic constraints might be followed by Israel’s invoking Syria’s daily provocations (trans-shipping Irani missiles) to renew its battle (ostensibly to recover her two soldiers). As much as it appears we have returned to the status quo ante, which was to be eschewed according to the oft-repeated dictum of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Lebanese battles are but a component of Israel’s chronic conflict with its neighbors. Because Israel shares our appreciation of how profoundly Iran threatens civilization, stomaching a frustrated populace is seen as a short-term price for receiving American armaments. Accepting delayed gratification requires resisting the tangential sex-appeal of bombing Nasrallah, even as the elusive SOB accepted temporary housing in Tehran. Some have claimed that schizophrenia, dementia praecox, isn’t really an illness. R.D. Laing considered it the only way to relate with an insane world, and Thomas Szasz refused to accept its existence. But even if it is a convenient label used by society to cope with troublesome deviants, it provides a model that enhances understanding. To employ our finite therapeutic armamentarium, we must first accept the limits of using cognitive psychotherapy on patients who don’t know they’re sick. Prescribing a magic pill, such as a phenothiazine to inhibit dopaminergic hyperactivity, risks masking symptoms and developing side effects (dyskinesias). And any depressive component would not predictably respond to electric-shock therapy. Modern trends support outpatient therapy, explaining the limitations of depending on institutionalization (within the United Nations). So we must handle them gingery, combining clear statements of policy (such as those emanating daily from Ambassador John Bolton) and focused interventions (such as regime change in Iraq). Planet Earth suffers from a feverish brand of Islamic Fascism, acutely symptomatic on 9-11 and chronically infesting a swath from Spain to the Philippines. It is exacerbated by the “common enemy psychology” that prompts Venezuela and Cuba to morph ideology into a modus vivendi with these terrorists. So the plan must indeed be to stay the course, even if this might entail use of experimental therapies to sculpt a new Middle East. In the process, we can validate transiently increased protestations from “moderate” Arab states to quell their denizens and to enhance their self-images. But we have to integrate the long-term necessity to muster friendly forces (primarily with England, Australia, Canada and Eastern Europe) that share our pursuit of Tikkun Olam, tireless efforts to repair the world. In the process, we can justifiably recall unadorned successes, such as the de-nuclearization of Libya. As 2008 approaches, America’s leadership must not be sacrificed on the petard of pretentious, pedantic posturing of putative presidential prospects. There is no instant cure for the pathology that besets homo sapiens. But we must celebrate definable achievements, such as the international Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. To harness the power to heal other nation-states, America must minimize internal conflicts. A case in point: we can resolve the pro-Life/pro-Choice conflict over stem-cell research simply by funding embryo-sparing research technology (as per the Santorum-Specter Bill). We can apply the strength of our convictions maximally if we strategically balance our own mind-body interactions. Finally, we must accept limited insurer-reimbursement, inadequate compensation of one’s true efforts. Attacked continuously by foolishly deprecating chatterbugs (from Al-Jazeera, the Guardian and the New York Times), we must maintain a tenacious brand of overarching professionalism, as we delicately mix diplomacy and militarism. Noting our Judeo-Christian heritage, we enjoy having experienced—religiously and historically—Creation (1776), Revelation (1865) and Redemption (1945). Sharing our good fortune with less-advantaged nations necessitates meshing recognition of our foibles with their characters. We cannot dawdle, either at home or abroad, for we confront suicidal ideation.
Dr. Sklaroff is a hematologist, oncologist and internist. He may be contacted at rsklaroff@comcast.net. |
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To contact me--Robert B. Sklaroff, M.D.--just send an e-mail (rsklaroff@comcast.net).
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