Why I Write This Blog…

 

Why I Write This Blog…

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. 

It is useful to keep in mind that I am writing this blog from the perspective of a psychiatrist with broad experience (clinical, research, clinical and research oversight, supervision, teaching, administration, multidisciplinary task forces, government task forces, professional organizations).  I have treated thousands of patients at this point, interacted with hundreds of colleagues, and know when a viewpoint about psychiatry is realistic or not.     

My primary motivation for writing is that it has personal meaning to me.  I thank my two liberal arts English composition professors Norman Hale and Lee Merrill who saw something in my essays and encouraged me to write. I also appreciated their in-depth analyses of literature – aspects of which were very consistent with psychiatric training.  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.

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 posts 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 other clue is that my posts are not provocative by design.  That may be subtle because many of the posts I am responding to including papers in professional journals are.  If you see me discussing the rhetorical aspects of a post or paper – it generally means that I found it to be more rhetorical than scientific.  That does not mean there is no rhetoric in science.  I am offering what I think is a more supported argument. 

I am not interested in generating revenue.  I have not made 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.  For the most part I can use Creative Commons licensed graphics that are in the public domain.  

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 are already a celebrity or have a commercial interest and are trying to generate revenue from smaller segments. Second, podcasts (and for that matter Tik Tok clips) have very low information content.  They appeal to emotion, but if it is something interesting – a significant amount of research is necessary after you watch it.  My blog posts can be read in much less time (typically 20 minutes), have more information content, and all the relevant references.  An associated problem with the appeal to emotion is that they are major sources of misinformation.  Third, I do not have the charisma to pull it off.  I am an old man who is not particularly interesting to look at 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.

Another advantage to me is that all my writing is aggregated in one place.  Since the Internet became useable in the mid-1990s I have posts in multiple formats across multiple sites.  Those sites include Usenet groups, professional email groups, investment sites, political sites, Facebook, Twitter->X, BlueSky, Threads, and Instagram.  Some of these sites just fell silent because they were unsustainable.  Other sites like Twitter were actively destroyed and are no longer useable.  Many sites are structured so that you cannot generate much of a dialogue unless you pay to get a more elite status.  Many sites are not moderated or have no mechanism to deal with trolls.  If you have been on the Internet as long as I have – you have no time for trolls.  

Blogging also provides an element of freedom that that does not exist when submitting papers to academic journals as well as more exposure.  Few people read papers in academic journals especially when they are behind paywalls and charge an exorbitant price.  I was just informed a few days ago that one of my papers was read 200 times over the past 4 years on a public access site.  By way of contrast the most popular posts on this blog have been read tens of thousands of times.  I also have no conflict of interest in critiquing what journal editors publish and have many posts here about what does and does not belong in professional literature. 

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. If you are an editor and are interested in a post for your journal, send me an email.  Do not contact me if publication involves any article processing charges (APCs).  I am not writing for free to help you make more money.  

I am very grateful for readers who have endorsed this blog, added comments, and found 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 information or email.     

Finally, people often ask me how long I plan to keep this up.  The short answer is as long as I can.  I hope my writing is not limited by the Blogger interface.  Google can stop supporting it at any time.  But beyond that constraint – the only other limit is human biology.       

George Dawson, MD, DFAPA