Patt Morrison for Tuesday, May 31, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

1:06 – 1:39

OPEN

 

 

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

The rights of the mentally ill - who’s to say you need help?

If you felt a sharp pain in your abdomen or broke your leg, you very probably would see a doctor or go to an emergency room. But many people diagnosed with psychotic illness resist treatment, saying they are not mentally ill. One in 17 Americans live with a serious psychosis such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder and about one in 10 children live with a serious mental or emotional disorder. The Lanterman-Perris-Short Act, passed in California in 1967, protects the rights of people with mental illness by making treatment available on a voluntary basis and barring involuntary treatment, except in cases of violence. But many patients end up on the street unable to cope and are arrested for a violent act or taken to an emergency room. Is there a better way? What’s the appropriate threshold for intervention? What point do you let a life go to waste over ideology around personal rights?

 

Guests:

Mark Gale, second vice-president of the California Board of Directors for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI is a volunteer advocacy organization working to help families to deal with mental illness.

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Dan Brzovic, associate managing attorney at Disability Rights California, an organization that works to advance the rights of Californians with disabilities.

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2:06 – 2:30

The inevitability of ethnic politics in congressional redistricting: competing visions of California’s new districts

It’s been called a “political blood sport”—drawing a new map of Congressional & state districts, long the jurisdiction of the elected representatives (and their corresponding parties) in Sacramento, is now in the hands of an unprecedented citizen’s commission but the competition to establish potential political dominance in California is no less intense.  At public hearings last week in front of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission interest groups presented their visions of what new congressional districts should look like, and not surprisingly minority groups were eager to take advantage of their growing numbers and political power in the state.  Proposals for “like minded communities” being bandied together in one district were put forward; districts that would “respect the Latino voter” were presented by the Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund; old disagreements over the division of the San Fernando Valley surfaced.  Beneath it all ethic politics reared up, and the California Republican Party, in particular, is not happy about the possibility of creating so many safe Democratic districts.  We wade into the redistricting fight and look at the hard work ahead for the citizen commissioners.

 

Guests:

Jeanne Raya, Commissioner on the California Citizens Redistricting Commission

SHE CALLS US:

 

UNCONFIRMED

Tom Del Beccaro, Chairman of the California Republican Party

 

Thomas Saenz, president & general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund (MALDEF)

 

 

 

2:30 – 2:39

OPEN

 

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality

In recent years, scientists have looked at how the internet affects our brains, but how is it affecting our personalities? In his new book, Stanford University psychiatrist Elias Aboujaoude documents the disturbing phenomena that few medical professionals have written about, or understand, but that any casual observer has noticed. Whether it’s obsessive-compulsively checking e-mail or worrying to the point of paranoia about identity theft, the internet has spawned new forms of behavior. It also emphasizes equally hard-to-control character traits, like narcissism and grandiosity, which, whether in rekindled romances facilitated by Facebook friendships or “flaming” rage on a blog, take on new meanings in one’s digital life. As video poker and one-click shopping elevate impulsive tendencies and avatars in cyber-universes allow for the creation of alternate personalities, Aboujaoude explains how the way an individual functions in cyberspace impacts his or her behavior in the real world.

 

Guest:

Dr. Elias Aboujaoude (KEVIN – NEED A PRONOUNCER), psychiatrist and Director of the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic and the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Clinic at Stanford University. His latest book is Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality

 

Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
Southern California Public Radio
NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles
89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM
626.583.5171, office
415.497.2131, mobile
jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org
www.scpr.org