To the Editor,
Your article on psychiatry and the rich (July 7th, 2008: Age of Riches/ Therapists to the Elite) is deeply offensive to every person, rich and poor alike. It demeans the daring of poor people who seek help and rich people who seek help. It even demeans the daring of psychoanalysis as it reaches out to help human minds, rich and poor, to recover the self esteem neurosis ran off with. In my experience as a psychoanalyst the human mind transcends poverty and wealth. The conflicts of the poor are the conflicts of the rich, depth psychology , which began transplacental without a cent to its name on its complex journey toward the grave, being what it is. Any psychiatrist who does not know this basic existential truth should hang up his shingle! One expects more from journalism than this caricature of the human mind and all its complexities. This article is a perverse literary achievement that manages to demean doctors and patients, wealthy citizens and poor citizens in one fell satirical swoop. Shame on you New York Times!
Sincerely,
Eugene J. Mahon MD