This blog started out to explain psychiatry, critique the usual attacks on psychiatry, and share information about what I read to keep up with the field. Those goals have expanded to include commentary on scientific, social, political, and cultural interests. I think those are natural topics because I must be aware of the lines of demarcation between medicine and psychiatry and everything else. I also have an interest in rhetoric and find that it is little known and widely misunderstood.
My primary motivation for writing is that it has personal meaning
to me. I thank my two liberal arts
English composition professors who saw something in my essays and encouraged me
to write - Professors Merrill and Hale. That occurred 50 years ago at a now defunct liberal arts college. That does not mean I always get it right or even readable. I am a notoriously poor editor of my own
writing and often must read a post 4 or 5 times to catch all the typos and grammatical
errors. I also run my posts through an analyzer that tells me the reading level
required and it is consistently college level readers. My apologies for all the
subordinate clauses.
I am also motivated by people who ask me to comment on specific topics or problems in psychiatry or medicine. As an example, I have received many emails about medical and psychiatric complications of various medications. I have been able to refer many people to essays that I have already posted or let them know that I am working on something that is related. Let me know if you want a specific issue covered. I will let you know if I think I can cover the topic or not.
The blogger interface that I use here is not ideal. They send me tips on how to
increase the number of readers. I do not
know how to implement those changes and my requests for assistance are
ignored. The good part about that is
that it should be clear I am not trying to be an “influencer” or generate a
massive following.
The same applies to revenue.
I have never generated a single cent from this blog and my licensing
agreements preclude me from ever making money.
Every year I pay about $200-$400 out-of-pocket for the use of graphics
that I think are necessary for a particular post. The licensing agreements all specify the content is used on a "not-for-profit" blog. For the most part I can use Creative
Commons licensed graphics that are in the public domain. If you have any quality brain or neuroscience graphics that you would like to give away - let me know.
Some people have encouraged me to do a podcast but I am not
interested for basically 3 reasons.
First, everybody has one. I do not understand the point of that unless
you have a commercial interest and are trying to generate revenue from smaller
segments. Second, podcasts (and for that matter TikTok clips) have very low
information content. They seem to appeal
to emotion, but if it is something really interesting – a significant amount of
research is necessary after you watch it. My blog posts can be read in much less time
(typically 10-20 minutes), have more information content, and all the relevant
references. Third, I do not have the
charisma to pull it off. I am an old man
who is not particularly interesting to look at and who has been known to drone on
in lectures – even the lectures I am really excited about. Most people can never tell when I am excited.
I am hoping that the blog generates some collaboration. In
my LinkedIn profile I list my research experience and have offered my services
for free. Up to the point of retirement I was working with a Mayo Clinic
group and that was very exciting and satisfying. I have also collaborated on
some writing with nationally known psychiatrists and I am currently working on
a piece focused on the education of psychiatrists. I may be overstating this - but
I think that a few of my blog posts easily match or exceed what you might read
in a typical journal. If one of those posts or the idea in the post
catches your eye – let’s collaborate on a paper for submission.
I am very grateful for readers who have endorsed this blog,
added comments, and find it useful. I
have thought about moving the blog to another site but notice that many new
services require readers to subscribe and suggest subscription fees
frequently. I write this blog for free
so you don’t have to subscribe and have no plans to change that. When you read this blog, it is free,
uncluttered with ads, and I don’t want your personal information or email.
George Dawson, MD, DFAPA
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