I’m Like Who?

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PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

Continuing on this birthday mental health perspective of mine in the columns starting on May 5, I ran across a review of a graduation speech of a leader of our country. The paradox here is that despite my claim that I do not like writing about myself, I keep doing it even more and more!

Regardless, and if you will indulge me, I generally am interested in most any graduation speech, specifically what the speaker emphasizes in becoming the best you can be. The particular speech in question is titled in the article “The Wisdom of the Donald,” written by Matthew Continetti and published, perhaps serendipitously, in The Free Press on May 5 (my birthday).¹ The author felt like the commencement speech at the University of Alabama was ignored by the media, and suggests it may have been so because it was unusually self-reflective. Self-reflection is certainly a value of mental health professionals and often for our patients.

So I decided to read the list of the presumed personal philosophy conveyed in the speech and then added what they seemed to mean to me personally.

• “Success begins at a young age.” I did do very well in school and sports growing up, culminating in being admitted—maybe as an experiment—to Yale Medical School after 3 years at the University of Michigan and no degree.
• “Love what you do.” Anyone reading many of these 4-a-week columns or viewing my weekly videos for Psychiatric Times knows that I love psychiatry in its broadest sense.
• “Think big.” Maybe an example of my thinking big is my perspective on the need for a classification of what I call our social psychopathologies.
• “Work hard.” That is even true of my retirement and refirement. As my wife—hopefully fondly—notes, “You’re always writing”!
• “Don’t lose your momentum.” I see no reason to stop ongoing projects, given that I still seem of reasonable mind, such as my work here and the current challenges of finishing editing the requested second edition of Islamophobia and Psychiatry.

Now just wait a second! Am I really writing that I am like this particularly American leader? Let’s proceed.

• “Be an outsider.” I have mentioned here and elsewhere what is called an “edge leader,” or an individual at the border of being in and out of an organization like the American Psychiatric Association.
• “Trust your instincts.” I translate that into being divinely inspired by unexpected serendipities that occur daily and lead me to the topics of my writing.
• “Believe in the American dream.” I have never had thoughts of wanting to leave America. I just want the so-called American Dream to become more commonly fulfilled. That includes our continuing increase in mental disorders, as reflected in my own designed T-shirt “Make America Sane Again (MASA).”
• “Think positively.” I try to take chances to make things work that seem improbable, like being Jewish and editing books like Islamophobia and Psychiatry.
• “Be an original.” I guess whether they are useful or not, just by being the author of over 600 social psychiatric columns qualifies for that.
• “Never ever give up.” I have certainly had my share of drawbacks and failures, such as a trusted boss being indicted for destroying my community mental health system for personal financial gain, and being a victim of inside politics at a medical school where I was “stabbed in the stomach” by a colleague as another colleague had warned me could happen.

Well, I checked off all the connections of items relating to mental health. All of them. How is this possible? One possibility is the context. Maybe one speech is just that, for the occasion, with no ensuing actions.

What about an underlying different value system for these personal philosophy points? Mine is overwhelmingly Jewish, especially in my model and namesake (my Hebrew name is Hillel) of an elder from the time of Jesus, Hillel, and his enduring saying:

“If I am not for myself, who will be?

If I am only for myself, what am I?

If not now, when?”

These values must be different than the primary models and values of the other American leader. Right?

One connection that cannot be refuted is the human connection. We all have so many aspects of ourselves in common and capable of expression. Knowing our common humanity enhances the importance and use of empathy and compassion for understanding and action.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He presented the third Rabbi Jeffrey B. Stiffman lecture at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis on Sunday, May 19, 2024. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.

Reference

1. Continetti M. The wisdom of Donald. The Free Press. May 5, 2025. Accessed May 8, 2025. https://www.thefp.com/p/the-wisdom-of-trump-alabama-commencement-speech