A note from Elizabeth.

If you are frustrated with the federal government's control of your doctor(s) and your health care in general; if you would like to know if the sleeping pill Ambein does a number on your neurotransmitters; or if you would just like to ask Rome, Georgia psychiatrist, Dr. Douglas Laipple, a question you can find him at www.doctorlaipple.com.

You will also find sprinkles of humor and one very powerful poem.

E-mail your questions for Dr. Laipple to: angels@treefamilyfoundation.com

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~ Just Curious ~

by

Dr. Doug Laipple

What was God doing all that time before He made Adam and Eve? Surely He wasn't sitting around contemplating His navel. Surely He had no navel to contemplate.

So what was He doing?

We know He created the heavens and the earth.
Small stuff. Took him only 7 days. Working day and night I suppose.
Although it's hard to say what a day was in His realm, since, at
least at first, there would have been no sun or planets and therefore no 24 hour revolutions.

(I wonder what God considers to be a day, since He has so many planets in so many solar systems from which to choose.)

At any (hourly) rate, what was God doing for all of those infinity of days before He said, "I think that, after breakfast today, I'll make a universe."?

Is this His latest in a series of universes? Has He made millions of them before this and destroyed them to start all over again?
Or are they stored somewhere in a Heavenly attic, collecting zero gravity dust?

And on what projects was He working prior to coming up with this universe thing?

Just curious... 

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Types of Irritating Patients

Question: What characteristics in patients irritate you the most?

Dr. Laipple:

Now THAT is a loaded question. It assumes that patients irritate me, to which I am unwilling to admit. After all, even though I have been known to say jokingly, "This office would be a great place to work if
it weren't for all of these darn patients!", I fully realize that patients are the sole reason for my psychiatric existence, and I simply refuse to allow them to irritate me.
However, to give you a, shall we say more "insightful", answer to your question, I will try to pretend that I sometimes allow myself to become irritated.

THE TWELVE MOST POTENTIALLY IRRITATING PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS

12. THE ENTITLED: "Your time, doctor, is not valuable, and I am your most important patient, so I expect you to drop whatever you are doing and IMMEDIATELY answer my phone calls, see me as a walk-in, fill out a kazillion forms, talk with my Aunt Harriet, and write letters on my behalf, all for no additional remuneration."

11. THE TV WATCHER: "Doctor, I heard on TV that medicine A is better and safer than medicine B ... why did you give me medicine B? ... oh, that's right ... thank you for repeating our lengthy
discussion from the last visit." 

10. THE MANIPULATOR: “My old doctor used to give me 500 Xanax a month ... why will you only give me 50?"

9. THE EXTERNALIZER: “My only problems are other people not treating me right. They're the ones who should be here, not me.”

1. THE SMOKER: “I know you’ve informed me that I have to stop smoking because it’s slowly killing me and keeping some of my medicines from working correctly, but it makes me feel better. Please give me some free medicine samples and reduce my visit fees so that I can afford my cigarettes.”

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Note: Check out Ask Elizabeth, One Woman's World page, for "Most irritating characteristics of women I have worked with over the years of employing, teaching, motivating, counseling, and training women."

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~~ About Santa Claus and God ~~

 Question:

Do you allow your children to believe in Santa Claus and if so what effect, constructive or destructive, do you think imaginary characters have on children? Same question regarding God.

Dr. Laipple:

I believe we should constantly strive to stimulate the imaginations of our children. Without imagination and fantasies there is no creativity, and life without creativity is like pizza without toppings.

There is certainly the risk of a child feeling angry and resentful when (s)he discovers that (s)he has been the victim of a wide-spread conspiracy to perpetuate the ruse that Santa brings toys each Christmas, but the benefits far outweigh that risk.

My children all believed in Santa Claus, and in a way, they still do, because they still believe in the spirit of Christmas, and Santa is a big symbol of that spirit.

Whenever they expressed skepticism I advised them that I had it on good authority that when a child stopped believing in Santa, the gifts stopped appearing under the tree. When my older daughters were around 11 and 12, I took them aside and told them that, even though there was not a real Santa coming to our house each year, they should not reveal that fact to their younger siblings who were still highly energized by the myth and still very much regaling in the excitement of the season.

My daughters' reaction was somewhat surprising. They told me with a shocked expression (with a hint of slyness) that I was wrong and that there was a real Santa who visited each year, and that they were not about to risk missing their presents from him.

Even though, now in their 30's, they still believe, and are still rewarded with filled stockings every Christmas morning.

I do not react in horror when one of my grandchildren or one of my young patients has an imaginary friend or professes to believe in the Easter Bunny or in ghosts, etc. I try to let them know that I am comfortable with their statements as something they truly believe, regardless of the fact that I am unable to hear or see what they are experiencing, and accept the fact that their imaginations are healthy and productive. Most of the time this turns out to be a very good approach, because the end result is a creative individual who benefits from the esperience. One does need, however, to keep an eye out for signs of a true psychosis which might cause problems down the line. This is usually evident in an older teenager or adult who has imaginary friends or enemies outside the public domain.

As far as God is concerned, my stance is that, regardless of whether God or Allah or my Creator or Supreme Being exists and guides our footsteps, the BELIEF is generally a helpful concept, and just as in in the case of Santa but even more so, it should not be challenged.

The results of having faith in religion and following the moral tenets of a religious structure, which is helpful to society and not to just individuals, are far-reaching and profound. It is obvious to me that societies with strong religious beliefs are much more peaceful and productive, and its citizens are far happier than those who have no religious system at all.

And we must keep in mind that God might very well be real and that those of us who stoip believing might no longer get the "presents under the tree."

I am reminded of an old Bing Crosby song in the movie "Say One For Me", the words of which went something like this: "It's not the glow you feel when snow appears. It's not the Christmas cards you've sent for years. But may I suggest the secret of Christmas is not the things you do at Christmas time, but the Christmas things you do all year through."