Gordon Brown - Double or Quits?

Whilst watching ‘The City Uncovered with Evan Davis: Tricks with Risk’ I was struck by the words of Nick Leeson; the man who broke Barings bank. He said “I tried big bets using futures and options…I believed that one day I would be able to resolve the situation and move on from it. There’s a degree of stubbornness and compulsion…it’s the human element, more often than not, needs to be controlled.” His story ended when Barings bank thought he had lost over £2 million of their money, but this later ballooned to a figure of £208 million.

Nick Leeson is right that the economy and psychology are linked. So if Gordon Brown also has a tendency for stubbornness and compulsion, then maybe we should be very afraid. His first £37 billion bail out has been quickly followed by a second bigger bail out. Yet, all of this money has been spent, without knowing the depth of toxic debts on the balance books. It seems betting on futures and options is a risky business – but I don’t want Gordon Brown betting my options, or my children's future away.

What is Happening on our Labour wards?

Today the Centre for Policy Studies hosts a blog, written by myself and Dr Mark Slack. See here. It questions the legacy the Labour government shall leave their NHS namesake, the labour wards.

Patrick McGoohan

This blog is in rememberance of Patrick McGoohan who sadly passed away today at the age of 80 years. He was best known for starring in cult 1960s TV show The Prisoner. The actor, who was born in New York, was raised in England and Ireland. It is often forgotten that he was also a writer and wrote some of the episodes of The Prisoner himself, under a different name. In The Prisoner his character spent the entire time attempting to escape from The Village and finding out the identity of his captor, the elusive Number One.
He repeatedly declared: "I am not a number - I am a free man!"

Ecstasy - the UK's third most widely used illegal drug

Neil McKeganey, a professor of drug misuse research at the University of Glasgow wrote the following in The Guardian today:

For Simon Jenkins, the debate around the possible reclassification of ecstasy has only two sides (Who will cure ministers of illiberal headline addiction?, 7 January). On the one side there is the rational weighing of evidence that would recommend the reclassification of ecstasy from class A to class B under the Misuse of Drugs Act; and on the other there is a prime minister and a home secretary living in mortal fear of a mauling from the tabloid press were they to accept the advice of their expert committee.
The home secretary, Jenkins claims, "may be putty in the hands of her advisers on curbing civil liberty but sternly resists all the blandishments of reason in the matter of narcotics". What would it take for the home secretary to accept those blandishments? According to Jenkins it would be to accept the advice of her experts and reclassify ecstasy to class B.
"The justification for regulating drugs," he writes, "can only be the harm their use imposes on individuals and the community." A Lancet study cited by Jenkins "classified 20 mind-altering substances by personal and social harm" and "put ecstasy at the bottom, well below alcohol and nicotine". The research on which that list was based, though, was not about assessing the scientific-evidenced harm of different drugs but on a poll of addiction specialists. This was scientific opinion rather than scientific fact, and only 37% of those asked to provide their assessment chose to do so.
There is, though, a wealth of research evidence from both Britain and the US on the harms of ecstasy use that shows the adverse impact of this drug on the heart, on mood, on brain activity and on sleep pattern. It has been shown that individuals will often combine the use of ecstasy with the use of other illegal drugs. While there is some dispute as to the number of deaths directly associated with ecstasy, it is clear that use of this drug is associated with an elevated risk of death.
We should also be concerned at the speed with which ecstasy has become the UK's third most widely used illegal drug. Research has shown that those who consume the drug are often not even aware of the chemical constituents of the pills they are taking. Ecstasy may in this sense be playing a major role in normalising drug use, and may therefore be having a much more harmful impact.
Jenkins makes the point that if the home secretary does reject the advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, this "would render the committee largely pointless". Surely those receiving the advice should retain the right to make up their mind as to whether or not to accept it. A second rejection of the ACMD's advice may not make the committee pointless, but it may lead to a different question: why is the ACMD preoccupying itself with the matter of where drugs are placed when there are surely many more urgent questions on how we tackle our developing drug problem?

The North/South Divide - Does it exist?

Today The Guardian reported on ‘how northern children top the happiness league’. An Ofsted report found that teenagers in the north of England are emotionally more secure and have more than one best friend by the age of 15. The survey ratings were less good news for leafy Richmond, London. Where children reported the lowest levels of emotional well-being.

So, perhaps during this current recession we should all learn something from the community spirit that remains alive and well in the north of England. In the last ten years Gordon Brown has tested to destruction his theory that money can buy happiness – it can’t. As psychologist Winnicott famously stated, life is about interactions between people. But then when Gordon Brown has Peter Mandelson as his best friend, I can not imagine a happy outcome for him.

A Book Review for the New Year

In 2009 a fellow psychiatrist's book will be on the shelves - ‘The Meaning of Madness’ by Dr Neel Burton. This book aims to explore what mental disorders can teach us about human nature and the human condition. For example, what is schizophrenia? Why is it so common? Why does it affect human beings and not animals? What might this tell us about mind and body, language and creativity, music and religion? What are the boundaries between mental disorder and ‘normality’? Is there a relationship between mental disorder and genius?

The book looks behind the usual categories to ask: why does this mental disorder exist and what adaptive or evolutionary advantage, if any, could it have? It’s an interesting way of looking at things, and one that puts a much needed positive spin on illnesses which are usually portrayed as being nothing but negative.

According to Professor Bill Fulford of Oxford University, ‘The Meaning of Madness’ contrasts from other books on mental disorder in that it neither polemical nor over-technical. Instead, it provides a highly readable and at the same time authoritative account that, by combining literary, philosophical, and scientific sources, shows the deep connections between ‘madness’ and some of most important attributes as human beings. The book’s central message that mental disorders are an expression of our deepest human nature is both important and timely, and one that can make a real difference to the perception, experience, and outcome of mental disorder.

Well done to Dr Neel Burton, it certainly makes an interesting read. Hot of the press it can be pre-ordered here.

A Bipolar Economy?

During the present glum destructive nature of the economy, histrionic panic should be avoided. It’s similar to treating an economy with bipolar disorder. Suffering a crash after a prolonged ‘high’ or manic episode. Going from euphoria to despair. During the years of boom and mania, there was inflated opinion, increased self-esteem, carefree joviality, boorish behaviour, over-optimistic ideas and reckless acts without thinking of the consequences. Now we stare in the face of depression. The market suffers the bipolar opposite feelings of recession. Suffering with guilt, lack of self-esteem, feelings of worthlessness and a bleak and pessimistic view about the future.

Politicians need to communicate and co-ordinate. Any psychiatrist will tell you, inconsistency and uncertainty are to be avoided. Casino party capitalism has no chips left to place on the table. Initial stabilisation must occur, and confidence in the Treasury is now paramount. I hope they prescribe the correct treatment at the right dose!

Conservative Health Debate

Last night I was kindly hosted by Beaconsfield Conservatives and spoke with Dominic Grieve MP (Shadow Home Secretary). Many thanks to all the people who came along to join in the health debate.

Doctors Car Stolen

News from Greater Manchester Police is that a doctor left the car running whilst she did the decent thing and rushed over to help a man in his 70's suffering a serious head injury. Being a good samaritan she pulled up in her red Renault Clio leaving the keys in the ignition.

Unfortunately, a thief jumped in her car and drove off! The incident happened at 4.50pm on Wednesday, on Eccles New Road, near Hope Hospital in Salford, Greater Manchester. The car's registration is NY05 RZN and police would like to hear from anybody who has seen it.

Book Review

‘Why Lawyers Should Surf’ has been reviewed by:
Times online and Swordplay.