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"You don't need to have a gun; the police will protect you." "If people carry guns, there will be murders over parking spaces and neighborhood basketball games." "I'm a pacifist. Enlightened, spiritually aware people shouldn't own guns." "I'd rather be raped than have some redneck militia type try to rescue me." How often have you heard these statements from misguided advocates of victim disarmament, or even woefully uninformed relatives and neighbors? Why do people cling so tightly to these beliefs, in the face of incontrovertible evidence that they are wrong? Why do they get so furiously angry when gun owners...

On a drizzly Tuesday night in late January, 200 people came out to hear a psychiatrist talk rhapsodically about play — not just the intense, joyous play of children, but play for all people, at all ages, at all times. (All species too; the lecture featured touching photos of a polar bear and a husky engaging playfully at a snowy outpost in northern Canada.) Stuart Brown, president of the National Institute for Play, was speaking at the New York Public Library’s main branch on 42nd Street. He created the institute in 1996, after more than 20 years of psychiatric practice...

Lise Van Susteren, a psychiatrist and sister of Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, withdrew from her Senate race Friday, saying she could not raise enough money for a statewide race. Van Susteren declined to endorse another Democrats in the race.

Some supporters of John Kerry shocked by President Bush's victory in last week's election continue to seek out psychological help, prompting at least one mental-health center to offer free counseling through the end of this year.

RALEIGH - An Atlanta psychiatrist testified Sunday she doesn't think Dr. John Hall, a Cornelius dentist accused of injecting semen into the mouths of six female patients, has a psychiatric illness or an interest in deviant sex. Dr. Tracey Irvin, of the Behavioral Medicine Institute, told a panel of the N.C. Board of Dental Examiners that she evaluated Hall for three days in November and also talked with three of his employees and reviewed dental board investigation records. "I did not feel that the information that I had supported that he had been involved with what he had been accused...

Dr. John Wicks figures he deserves a one-of-a-kind badge the moment he arrives in Iraq next week. That's if the Army recognizes him as the oldest soldier in the war. Though he doesn't know for certain, the odds are favorable that the 68-year-old psychiatrist has blown out more birthday candles than any other serviceman deployed in the Middle East; at least, anyone who doesn't wear a general's star. "It's really not that big a deal," he said of his age, because he stays in shape by routinely riding his bicycle and working out at a gym three days a week....

Dr. Dittohead I thought my therapist was brilliant -- until I discovered her love for Rush Limbaugh. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Margot Mifflin April 8, 2004 I was sitting in therapy describing an in-law I like, and quickly heading for a "but." "He's a loving, caring, selfless man -- but his politics are all about hatred," I said. "He's not educated, and more significant, he's ignorant -- he actually listens to Rush Limbaugh." I waited for a "Whoo boy!" or a sympathetic smile, but my shrink just stared at me, expressionless....

More and more real life mafia godfathers are seeking help on the psychiatrist's couch, according to new research. Medical experts at the University of Palermo in Sicily say they are following the lead of James Gandolfini in the Sopranos and Robert de Niro in Analyse This. Psychiatrist Girolamo Lo Verso says the mafioso are grappling with mental problems caused by the stress of organised crime. ''They come to discuss food disorders, anxiety, depression and sexual problems they are having," he said. "We know of one case where a Godfather from Trapani in Sicily visited a psychiatrist because he could not...

Local psychologist believes sniper kills done by terrorists By J.J. Stambaugh, News-Sentinel staff writer October 15, 2002 The recent sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C., area are probably terrorist attacks rather than the work of a traditional "spree killer," according to a local psychologist who specializes in violent behavior. Dr. Helen Smith, a forensic psychologist and author of the book "The Scarred Heart," earned her doctorate from the University of Tennessee in 1994. She often is called to testify as an expert witness in Juvenile Court proceedings; in "The Scarred Heart," she dedicated a chapter to the 1997 Lillelid murder...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO - A gay psychiatrist ordered to repay the U.S. Air Force $71,000 for his education argued to an appeals court Wednesday he doesn't owe the government anything and the military's policy is discriminatory.</p> <p>Dr. John Hensala, 38, attended medical school at Northwestern University, served his three-year residency at Yale University and received a two-year fellowship at the University of California at San Francisco - all with the understanding that, in exchange, he owed the Air Force four years of active duty service.</p>

Translated by MEMRI. No.373. Special Dispatch Series - No. 373 April 30, 2002 No.373 Chairman of the Arab Psychiatrists Association Offers Diagnoses: Bush Is Stupid; Perpetrating a Suicide/Martyrdom Attack is Life's Most Beautiful Moment; We'll Throw Israel Into the Sea Dr. 'Adel Sadeq, chairman of the Arab Psychiatrists Association and head of the Department of Psychiatry at 'Ein Shams University in Cairo recently published an article titled "Class Isn't Over Yet, Stupid!" in the Egyptian newspaper Hadith Al-Madina[1], which took the form of an open letter to President Bush. Dr. Sadeq, a recipient of the 1990 Egyptian State Prize, is...