Exposed for exposing himself

Psychiatric nurse Spencer Lowe has been exposed for exposing himself.

The Sun and the Birmingham Mail exposed him after his bosses at the Nursing and Midwifery Council learned of his pervie activities. He was exposed for repeatedly flashing, touching himself in front of other staff, asking them to measure his manhood and for telling a fellow worker she "looked good enough to eat", adding he often imagined her in "bright red lace underwear".

Not much else you can say really, except 'you dirty old man'.

Psychiatry: posh words about the bleedin' obvious

Joseph Clark stabbed disabled Martin Cox 13 times in the chest before leaving his body in a pool of blood in the hallway of a Torquay flat. Clark was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years in prison for murder.

What got me thinking was the following paragraph: "two psychiatric reports found Clark had an anti-social personality disorder and exhibited a 'callous unconcern' for the feelings of others and a low provocation threshold." Wonder how much that 'shrink-think' cost?

I reckon anyone could come to the conclusion Clark had a 'callous unconcern' for the feelings of others, and that he loses his rag easily. As for the anti-social personality disorder, the personality disorder bit is what the shrinks call it so that's pretty dubious. As for the anti-social bit, it's not rocket science working that one out. So why the shrink reports?

Serial Wafflers

More rumblings have surfaced about Peter Sutcliffe and reports that he could be 'moving house' which were then scuppered by more reports that he wasn't 'moving'. The BBC has now posted a story: Can serial killers be rehabilitated?

It's an example of how mental health professionals can't agree on shrink-think. There are two of them quoted who can't agree on whether Sutcliffe can be rehabilitated.

Looks like a space-filler story as it doesn't mean anything. I don't expect either of the 'experts' have met Sutcliffe so I reckon they haven't got a clue what they're talking about. Aload of hot air that gets bandied around as authoritative.

I think it's a case of serial wafflers...

Errr... no he's not

Correction. Just got news Sutcliffe isn't coming out. Does that mean then there was some inaccurate newspaper reporting? No, surely not...

Sutcliffe's coming out...

...of Broadmoor Hospital, according to The Sun. It was stated he was moved to the high security hospital from the prison service when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

So, does that mean Sutcliffe doesn't have schizophrenia any more? If that was the excuse for sending him there in the first place, it would be fair to say that curing it would be his route out of the place, back to prison. If he hasn't been cured of schizophrenia, why the change of mind?

My sledgehammer really turns me on doc...

Here we go. Back to some good old psycho-waffle. Psychologist Susan Fiske thinks men are more likely to think of women as objects if they've looked at sexy pictures of females beforehand.

'Researchers' "...used brain scans to show that when straight men looked at pictures of women in bikinis, areas of the brain that normally light up in anticipation of using tools, like spanners and screwdrivers, were activated." How d'you know that then? How the hell did you come to that conclusion?

Perhaps Paddy Mac can interpret the scan: the reddish bit was brighter than the bluey bit, but a bit duller than the green bit, but the yellowy bit was opaque so, in alignment with the purply area just in the corner, there were adequate suggestions that perhaps the neurotransmitters were possibly going to turn a whitish colour, which in conclusion means men like women.

So then, do we really need this expensive psycho-waffle? By the way, isn't this a bit sexist? What happened to the pretty colours when women looked at pictures of men?

Turver 'phoned a friend' and won

Just had to revisit this story. The nurse who was playing the 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' computer game while a patient hung himself, has been allowed to carry on practising.

John Turver was given a caution by the Nursing and Midwifery Council and told he can continue nursing. Makes me wonder what a nurse is supposed to do then. If Turver can carry on nursing after a patient under his care dies, while he was doing something other than what he's paid to do, what does that say about the bosses who regulate nurses? As far as I know, playing computer games aren't on the list of skills required for working in a psychiatric ward.

But amidst all the turmoil, Turver (above) chose to 'phone a friend'. Guess it was the right decision. He's a winner as far as still being able to work is concerned.

Seeing as how computer games now appear to be acceptable, how about pushing the boundaries and going down the pub while on duty, meet up with the shrink Nick Cooling and have a couple of sherberts? I'm sure the boss won't mind and if a patient dies by hanging, you can always quote this case.

After all's been said and done, this kind of decision makes the mental health system a joke.

'Mental health patients could be at risk...' - Tell me something I don't know

A retired shrink from the States has said mental health patients could be at risk because nurses are not trained properly. The Jersey Evening Post reported that Dr Gil Blackwood believes the only way to improve Jersey’s mental health services is to change its management.

In the ultimate Paddy Mac wisdom, perhaps I can add to that: change the psychiatrists to real doctors, and change the treatments so that they aid recovery not kill the patient. There now, job done.

According to experts, Prozac sucks

According to experts, Prozac's the only antidepressant recommended for use in kids under 18 years old. According to various media reports, Edward Belben was under 18 years old when he started taking Prozac. According to common sense, there's a problem.

Big Pharma aint going to like it, but it's time to draw the curtain on all antidepressants for kids, including Prozac. It really doesn't take a rocket scientist or, for that matter, an Eli Lilly scientist, to work that out.

You're joking, aren't you?

Two nurses working on a psychiatric ward, are up before the Nursing and Midwifery Council after a patient on the ward hanged himself. The Wiltshire Times reported that one of the nurses was playing computer games at the time, while the other nurse was having her hair styled by a colleague in the patients' smoking lounge.

On the web site http://www.courtnews.co.uk/, it was further reported the computer game the male nurse was playing at the time was 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire'.

What the hell was going through the minds of these nurses? Was it:

A) No one's going to find out we were mucking around
B) If anything bad happens, we'll look busy and pretend to be on duty

C) Never been caught before

D) Who cares

Phone a friend is still an option. Let's hope the friend is a lawyer...

P.S. None of the above answers are correct, as there are no excuses for such a tragedy. Shame on you nurses.

Jackanory, Jackanory...

The fact a teenager didn't take his "kiddie coke" has been blamed for an arson attack. The North Devon Journal reported on Adam Parker, who admitted to two charges of arson at Barnstaple Magistrates' Court. His solicitor told the court Parker committed the crimes because he wasn't taking his "kiddie coke" at the time. Begs the question: "How d'you know that then?"

Don't you think this might be an attempt to get the teenager off the hook with aload of made-up psycho-waffle? I wonder who the psychiatrist was who told the solicitor what to say? Jackanory, jackanory...

Shrinking down the pub

Psychiatrist Nicholas Cooling was up before his bosses at the General Medical Council recently for over-prescribing an antipsychotic drug, and for consulting with his patient down the pub. The doc was handed down a six-month suspension.

When it comes to psychiatry, you could probably do the business anywhere: a pub, park bench, train station, airplane, car, sauna, so on and so on. It doesn't really matter where the psychiatric 'consultation' takes place as you sure don't need any tools of the trade other than the tongue to give an opinion.