Dr. Payton

With reference to chaos theory, the butterfly effect refers to the phenomenon whereby a minute localized change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere [Dictionary: In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result…

Suicide continues to increase in the United States. I have no doubt that this is directly related to increased stress in the lives of those who have died by suicide. I also believe that a major factor in their decision to harm themselves was feeling alone and isolated. So, they felt disconnected from others and…

For a couple of years I have been prescribing low doses of lithium carbonate to help people with PTSD [post traumatic stress disorder] not react as much to past traumatic experiences when they are recalled.  Those who respond report feeling less anxious and less reactive when they think about past stressful events. It is like…

Well, what does that mean? Does it mean that if you love then you can do anything that you choose to do? Is love really that powerful? Don’t we humans need more checks and balances to keep us in line? Don’t we need protection from ourselves vs having the license to do anything that we…

A better question might be if giving advice is ever helpful. Now that might sound radical and yet in my experience with a few thousand people I have never noted that advice was helpful to anyone nor actually accepted by anyone. If it seems to be that people seek advice and then reject it. What…

Assuming that evil does exist, I believe that when anyone judges someone else or sterotypes others or thinks/discusses prejudicial ideas or in any way acts to separate theirselves from others, they are acting in a way that is potentially evil or are beginning of a process that will clearly become evil. [I am not referring…

In August, 2018 I saw the play “Paradise Lost” by Erin Shields that was adapted from the poem by John Milton performed as a world premiere at the Stratford Festival, Directed by Jackie Maxwell. The play portrays the innocence of Adam and Eve and it occurred to me that gender was only recognized after their innocence…

I would hope that all of us [humans] would be against fascism. So what is fascism? It seems like it is a way to justify controlling others [supposedly] for their own good. That, of course, is impossible as I believe that taking control from people is never for their own good. Fascism purports to promote…

One of my patients said the above as he was reflecting on how much he has benefited from attending alcoholics anonymous meetings. He felt that he had recieved a lot from others attending the meetings and had also gained a lot by sharing his story with others. I then said that I believed that it…

Dr. Igor Galynker, who is the director of the Galynker Suicide Research Laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in NYC was quoted in Clinical Psychiatry News [Vol 46 No 8 August 2018] stating that “using suicidal ideation as a risk factor [for suicide] is flawed” as this will miss 75% of…