Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Ariel Castro: That could be your patient they’re talking about

Annette Hanson, MD
Physician
September 16, 2013
Share
Tweet
Share

I thought I’d share what I saw on my Twitter feed as soon as I got up recently. I immediately felt a blog post coming on, particularly after reading the Twitter comments as they rolled in. I felt a bit sick, knowing what some of my colleagues in Ohio must be going through right now. This post is for you.

When it comes to patient suicide, correctional psychiatry is probably one of the higher risk subspecialties within psychiatry. The average prisoner has three risk factors for suicide before he even steps into the facility: he’s male, young, and has an active substance abuse problem. There’s even a recent study to suggest that being charged with a crime increases one’s risk of suicide, even if that person is never incarcerated.

Considering this, if you practice correctional health care for a few years it’s pretty likely that at some point you will experience a patient suicide, either as a health care first responder, as an administrator or as a mental health clinician. I feel like I need to write this blog post to warn you about something: Don’t expect your friends, family and colleagues to understand why you’re upset that somebody died.

I know that sounds counterintuitive, but that’s just the reality of correctional health care. The general public — and even some physicians — are going to instinctively give you a “who cares, he’s just a criminal” response even if they don’t know the person or what he was locked up for.

Let’s consider the responses I’ve seen regarding the suicide of Ariel Castro, the man who kidnapped three women and held them prisoner for several years (comments drawn from a network news site):

  • Great news! Seriously, it’s great that Ohio taxpayers won’t have to pay to house and feed this scum bucket.
  • He did society and himself a favor … good thing he’s gone!
  • Too bad that he didn’t live to be locked up and suffer for a few decades.
  • Too bad he couldn’t have been chained to a wall while the inmates he was being protected from got rewarded for taking turns demonstrating the receiving end of his version of the universe. Can’t exactly hang yourself when your chained to a wall. Cruel and unusual? If it’s not cruel and unusual, it’s not punishment.

Yeah, that could be your patient they’re talking about. And all your patients watching the news or reading a newspaper will see this public reaction and know that the rest of the world truly could care less about them. Your job, temporarily, is about to become much harder. Fingers will be pointed, armchair psychologists who have never set foot in your facility will “know” how the system or you as a clinician must have failed, and new redundant policies will be created that will make your health care delivery system less efficient.

This will pass. Eventually, people will grasp the fact that this man who successfully hid multiple felonies for several decades probably also had the skill to hide a planned suicide attempt. Your colleagues in other parts of the country will step up to the plate to remind the media, and the general public, that correctional and forensic psychiatrists are taking an active role to implement suicide prevention policies and training that have dropped the correctional suicide rate substantially in the last twenty years.

And maybe, just maybe, it will lead people to recognize the importance of what you do.

Annette Hanson is a psychiatrist and co-author of Shrink Rap: Three Psychiatrists Explain Their Work.  She blogs at Shrink Rap.

Prev

The lessons of Annie Dookhan can apply to every laboratory

September 15, 2013 Kevin 13
…
Next

ACP: Raising the profile of internal medicine

September 16, 2013 Kevin 8
…

Tagged as: Psychiatry

Post navigation

< Previous Post
The lessons of Annie Dookhan can apply to every laboratory
Next Post >
ACP: Raising the profile of internal medicine

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Annette Hanson, MD

  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Violence and severe mental illness: 6 questions to ask

    Annette Hanson, MD

More in Physician

  • How just culture can reduce burnout and boost health care staff retention

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Why embracing imperfection makes you truly unforgettable

    Osmund Agbo, MD
  • The unseen burden patients carry between appointments

    Ryan Nadelson, MD
  • My journey to loving primary care again

    Jerina Gani, MD, MPH
  • Why doctors striking may be the most ethical choice

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • How photos shape drug stigma—and what we can do about it

    Jeffrey Hom, MD, MPH, MSHP
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • How AI, animals, and ecosystems reveal a new kind of intelligence

      Fateh Entabi, MD | Tech
    • Why kratom addiction is the next public health crisis

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Meds
    • A physician employment agreement term that often tricks physicians

      Dennis Hursh, Esq | Finance
    • How just culture can reduce burnout and boost health care staff retention

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • The hidden moral injury behind value-based health care

      Jonathan Bushman, DO | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • How just culture can reduce burnout and boost health care staff retention

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why embracing imperfection makes you truly unforgettable

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician
    • Affordable postpartum hemorrhage solutions every OB/GYN should know

      Frank I. Jackson, DO | Conditions
    • Why kratom addiction is the next public health crisis

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Meds
    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • How are prostate exams done and why you shouldn’t avoid them

      Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 2 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • How AI, animals, and ecosystems reveal a new kind of intelligence

      Fateh Entabi, MD | Tech
    • Why kratom addiction is the next public health crisis

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Meds
    • A physician employment agreement term that often tricks physicians

      Dennis Hursh, Esq | Finance
    • How just culture can reduce burnout and boost health care staff retention

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • The hidden moral injury behind value-based health care

      Jonathan Bushman, DO | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • How just culture can reduce burnout and boost health care staff retention

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why embracing imperfection makes you truly unforgettable

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician
    • Affordable postpartum hemorrhage solutions every OB/GYN should know

      Frank I. Jackson, DO | Conditions
    • Why kratom addiction is the next public health crisis

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Meds
    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • How are prostate exams done and why you shouldn’t avoid them

      Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Ariel Castro: That could be your patient they’re talking about
2 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...