Schizophrenia And The First Mistake
You can't start off with a mistake and think you're going to end up in the right place, unless you are schizophrenic, not and wish to be viewed as sane, reasonable or logical. You certainly can do that if you're schizophrenic, which much of the American public, and even sometimes you and I, act like. I have a patient with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome who told me that "my daughter just got married, I was away on vacation, I'm under stress, and I have an elderly/disabled aunt living with me." These were explanations for why she was having difficulty with her diet. I am very sympathetic to all those irrelevant facts, but on the other hand you must not make the first mistake of linking any incorrect behavior with any personal difficulty if you want to be sane. It is schizophrenic to believe that unrelated ideas are related.
Although this may seem rigid, unfeeling, and insensitive, if you wish to remain sane and healthy you must know that there is never an acceptable (translates as "sane") explanation (excuse) for doing what you know you should not do. Never use the stresses or pleasures of life as an explanation for why you ate-smoke-drank etc. what you should not. You needn't be and neither am I perfect in behavior, just don't be irrational ("insane") and excuse or accept why you are doing what you know, and knew all along, you should not have done.
I am sometimes called insensitive when I speak like this. It is my sensitivity about coronary disease, cancer, progressive Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and all the other problems/maladies that make me want to protect my patients from themselves and their incorrect and/or "insane" thinking. As we all know, we are for the most part, our own worst enemy. To quote Michael Jackson, "It's the man in the mirror." There is even a famous quotation that goes something like this: "We have met the enemy, and it is us." Almost always, the worst racists, sexists, oppressors of all type against all groups/individuals are consistently those people against themselves, far more than any outside group/individual could ever hurt them. That is schizophrenic or insane.
I want you to know that I continue to drink regular tea, do not exercise as much as I can/should, and believe it or not (I know you do) my body fat content is still too high, although improving.
So then, like the humble peasants that you and I both are, it's back to work, doing it right, giving no quarter to the temptations, accepting our own human weaknesses and lack of perfection, but at least doing the best we can. Keep a clear head so as not to become progressively more schizophrenic and disabled/infected with disease-laden thoughts called excuses, which left unchanged and which in this context leads to losing your recognition of reality called the first mistake which eventually becomes "schizophrenia." Do not look for or find criticism in this and don't waste time arguing against this-that is far too easy, sophistical and irrelevant.
H. Robert Silverstein, MD
Hartford, CT