In Practice

A Practicing Doctor's Views on Psychiatry and Contemporary Culture.

Peter D. Kramer is a psychiatrist and author. His books include Against Depression and Listening to Prozac. See full bio

June 23, 2008, Psychiatry

Comments on "Degrees of Competence: Do Liberals and Conservatives Understand Mental Illness Differently?"

Degrees of Competence: Do Liberals and Conservatives Understand Mental Illness Differently?

By Peter D. Kramer on June 23, 2008 in In Practice

Last Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that a mentally ill person may be competent to stand trial and yet not competent enough to represent him- or herself without the assistance of an attorney. Read More

No way around

Submitted by david Petropoulos on June 23, 2008 - 8:46am.

I'm not sure if one group understands more than another. If people get a general understanding of mental illness is that good enough? It's my belief if your books haven't been read chances are they know very little.Of course one can read without understanding which is another issue i brought up in an earlier blog. Thanks for saying ''most psychotics speak intelligibly'' which i have no doubt is news to those with a general understanding. And as you know,all you need is a moderate dose of depression to have a good dose of delusion.If people want to understand dysfunctional human thought, people must go through you, there is no way around you. Sincerely,David Petropoulos