Think About It 026: GORDON LIVINGSTON

We live in a society that has elevated complaint to a primary form of public discourse.  The airwaves and courts are full of victims of this and that: childhood abuse, mistakes of others, random misfortune.  Voluntary behaviors have been reclassified as illness so that sufferers can be pitied and, where possible, compensated.  Not surprisingly, many of these people appear in psychiatrists' offices expecting a sympathetic ear and medication that will relieve their feelings of distress.  Often they want testimony to support lawsuits or letters to excuse them from work.  They are not there to engage in the difficult process of examining their lives, taking responsibility for their feelings, deciding what they need to do to be happy –– and doing it.

Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need To Know Right Now (2004)


 

Use the link below to read the obituary of North American psychiatrist, author and anti-war protester DR GORDON STUART LIVINGSTON (1939–2016):

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bs-md-ob-gordon-livingston-20160323-story.html 

 

 

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