Until 1990, there existed in the US a world-class, absolutely brilliant system of treating chronic pain. The doctors who worked in these clinics knew that medication should only constitute a tiny part of comprehensive pain treatment that includes psychological, occupational, behavioral, etc components.

These clinics were finding it hard to survive, however. Insurance companies refused to cover anything but meds. And even when doctors managed to convince the insurers to pay for other things, patients clamored for an instant fix and resisted the clinics’ philosophy of individual responsibility for pain.

In the 1990s, an alternative kind of clinic started to spring up. Unscrupulous or downright criminal doctors would sell prescriptions for opioids to anybody who asked for them. It took less than 3 minutes for a patient to see a doctor and leave with a bottle of pills. That these patients started to become horribly addicted, switching to heroin and dying of overdoses interested nobody. 

And the comprehensive clinics that offered non-opioid treatment all closed down for lack of demand. 

Today, even mentioning that chronic pain doesn’t need to be treated with meds makes people angry. (See my previous posts on the subject.) And even just 25 years ago it was an entirely mainstream medical approach. 

I’m also tired of hearing how what Trump said was misunderstood or maliciously misinterpreted. If he wants to be president, he needs to know how to express himself clearly. A sloppy, careless talker is unfit for political office. 

Trump in North Carolina:

“If she gets to pick her judges, [there’s] nothing you can do folks. Although, the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don’t know.”

Who are these people? What is their shared disease?

Our flight was cancelled and we had to go back to the city and stay the night at a motel. Everybody is trying to be supportive, and the way to be supportive of me is evidently to bring me food. My mother brought 3 huge salamis. And vegetables. And stuffed chicken. And fruit. And cake. N brought pizza. And something else I’m afraid even to unwrap because it’s too much. 

It’s very touching but I don’t eat that much, no matter what people seem to think. I feel like a God who is receiving offerings from the faithful.

I have been isolated from my newspaper and not as plugged into my news feed and blog roll while I was traveling. I’m now on my way home and eager to find out what’s been happening. We all know how much I love my news!

Please share links to stories you’ve read recently that sounded interesting and important. Thank you, my friends!

P.S. I’m especially interested in election news because here only outdated stories are being discussed. 

All that Hillary needs to say about Trump’s “economy plan” is that he is refusing to release his tax returns. That is all his voters are intellectually equipped to understand. 

In November, California will vote on Proposition 58. The proposition will allow children of Hispanic immigrants to receive bilingual education in state’s secondary schools.

I’m not sure I even need to say that I’m opposed. This idea of a bilingual education in California was already voted on a decade ago and it was rejected then. I hope it’s rejected again. Children of immigrants should not be corralled into a ghetto. They should be helped to assimilate. 

True bilingualism is extraordinarily rare. And as everything, it comes at a price. Immigrant children should not be subjected to these ridiculous experiments that are likely to leave them stuck in a broken Spanglish mode which will close all educational and employment opportunities for them.

I’m appalled this is even being considered. 

My blog went crazy popular two minutes after I started it because I scandalized people by suggesting that the labels they put on themselves were not answers to anything. They are an opportunity to ask questions.

You can still find that ancient post about asexuality where people got rabid at the idea that one could follow up the words “I’m asexual” with “but why?”

To me it’s the most natural thing in the world. 

“I’m not a morning person. But why?”

“I hate networking. But why?”

“I’m gay / not gay. But why?”

“I’m autistic / diabetic / monogamous / cat person / XYZ. BUT. WHY???”

People seem to think that finding a reason why they are the way they are will force them to try to stop being it. But that’s silly. Self-knowledge doesn’t take power away. It gives power. What’s weak and dumb is saying “that’s just how I am” because it’s swapping awareness for narratives and labels created by other people. 

When people address me in French, I always automatically respond in Spanish. I’ve already freaked out a small army of French speakers here in Quebec. 

Parents always feel guilty in public spaces when their children cry, speak loudly, take a long time to do things, make a mess, drop stuff, bump into stuff, etc. 

This guilt is misplaced, however. People react with frustration and annoyance to children who are of the same age they were when they sustained their most lasting traumas. Those who are driven up a wall by a crying infant suffer from traumas of infancy. Those who detest seeing a toddler covered in food and throwing toys around were traumatized as toddlers. People who hate children of all ages experienced long-term abuse or neglect.

In short, don’t worry that your children are causing discomfort. They don’t have that power. The passerby who is cringing with irritation at your toddler would feel the exact same anger if you and your kid were currently on the beach in Australia. 

Psychologically healthy people see your drooling 5-month-old, loudly singing 18-month-old and the question-per-second 3-year-old and feel tenderness and joy. Everybody else should be grateful to your kids for giving them an opportunity to recognize that they need help to address their childhood traumas.