Tuesday, December 8, 2009

I F*&^ing HATE Dr. Phil

Besides being an opinionated prick, he lives to exploit families that are desperate to get help for their various issues. Dr. Phil once again had another show on children with mental illness, mainly focusing on parenting a child with mental illness. It makes me sick when he does these shows because he almost always points the finger at the parents. He didn't do that this time but still managed to piss me off and spout more fucknuttery.

First, he began by playing footage of a child in a rage and he called it a "tantrum". In the next segment, the parents disclosed the child's diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Dr. Phil had to add that the DSM (manual for diagnosing mental illnesses) does not provide diagnosis criteria for children, as if he was agreeing that children cannot have severe mental health issues like bpd. He also went on to express his disapproval of them labeling themselves with a mental illness because of the stigma attached to mental illness. Hmmm....lets think about this. These children have a legit mental illness where one of the symptoms is rage and he downplays it and labels their behavior, as if they had a choice, as a tantrum, and Dr. Phil worries about how others will treat them. A child with bpd and a parent of a child with bpd doesn't want to be told that their suffering child is just having a tantrum.


Then to make the show even more amusing, he has another psychologist go backstage to talk to the children and he came to resolve that they should try to get alon with one another and control their emotions a little better. HA! Would you tell a person with schizophrenia to stop hearing voices? To make this better, the psychologist is the author of the book, "Retraining the Brain". Hmmm, I'm no mental health professional but, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, etc... are brain chemical issues and are WAY beyond just "retraining the brain". Fears, phobias, panic attacks, Pica, Cleptomania etc... (without the presence of any other serious diagnoses) are issues that can possibly be treated by "retraining the brain.

Thank you Dr. Phil for another superb show!

2 comments:

  1. I have to typical kids and one on the Autism spectrum. While I've never experienced a "rage", I've experienced a meltdown. Soooooo not even in the range as a tantrum. Lauren will have no control over melting down. She can't stop.

    Second, kids with mental illness or neuro issues (eg. bpd or autism) are going to be labeled no matter what. Isn't it better to be labeled as bpd or PDD-NOS then "the bad kid" or the kid who won't listen?

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  2. Exactly!!!!!! Ya know, A's rages were once called meltdowns too....so much more than a tantrum!

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