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Author, Doctor, Speaker, Joseph Bentivegna

Doctor Bentivegna is an ophthalmologist living in Connecticut. He has written numerous op-ed pieces for The Hartford Courant and The New York Times regarding health care, tort reform, and the political situation in Haiti.

Archives for May 2015

Joseph Bentivegna, M.D.May 27, 2015

In Defense of Freud

As a medical student, I immortalized myself with my classmates when I informed a lecturing psychiatry professor that I considered Freud’s theories slightly more credible than the nuns’ tales about guardian angels. The lecturer ignored my obnoxious comment and continued his lecture. But, Freudians have been on the defensive for the past decade. This trend culminated when the Library of Congress was forced to cancel a tribute to Freud in the name of political correctness.

Freud has always been viewed with suspicion by cultural conservatives. Freud rejected the concept of sin and explained abhorrent behavior in terms of unresolved conflicts among competing brain factions — id, ego, and superego — that stemmed from childhood experiences. His treatment was to delve into an individual’s childhood and attempt to resolve these conflicts — psychoanalysis.

But it wasn’t pressure from the religious right that canceled the Library of Congress tribute; rather a combination of feminists and neuropsychiatrists. Freud theorized that unflattering female behavior could be attributed to “penis envy,” a verboten concept in the age of political correctness. But what is truly destroying Freud’s credibility is the exploding field of neuropsychiatry. While medicine has made exponential advances over the past century, the fundamental physiological function for many organs has been understood for centuries. The heart pumps blood through the body by contracting. The stomach sucks nutrients out of food and produces waste. The tongue facilitates speech. But the brain is a whitish gray blob. How does it allow us to reason, lose our temper, or fall in love?

It wasn’t until the advent of a 20th-century invention that scientists were able to conceptualize the brain. The brain is a computer, perhaps one that is almost infinitely complex, but a computer nonetheless. Through our senses, the brain takes input from the environment, processes it through a multibillion unit network of wires called neurons, and returns a response.

Once this is understood, it is obvious that an individual’s behavior will vary according to the brain’s wiring. This wiring is determined to some extent by the blueprint given to us by our parents, our DNA. Thus, we are inundated with breakthroughs, practically on a weekly basis, as to how some behavior patterns may have a hereditary basis. Researchers have located genes that may be associated with risky behavior, obesity, and sexual orientation.

But our brains are constantly being reprogrammed by our experiences. We learn that making obnoxious comments to our teachers can result in a lower grade and that picking fights with guys who have tattoos can result in large dental bills.

The genius of Sigmund Freud was that he conceptualized how the brain works without ever hearing of a computer or of DNA. He also understood that trying to resolve our fears and irrational behavior through therapy was better than resorting to violence or substance abuse. Neuropsychiatrists who prefer Prozac, Xanax, and Elavil to psychotherapy miss the point. Yes, these drugs alter the
brain chemistry, but on a primitive level that is poorly understood.

Furthermore, what happens to the brain chemistry with psychotherapy? When a patient alters his behavior in response to a psychiatrist’s analysis, a biochemical change in the brain is occurring too. A patient who decides to be more assertive has, one way or another, altered the biochemical structure of his brain. It doesn’t happen by magic! Physicians can debate the relative efficacy of each approach, but they shouldn’t completely discount the value of psychotherapy.

Like Columbus, Freud has been subject to the vicissitudes of public opinion. It is true that Columbus was an intrepid explorer who began the exploration and colonization of the Americas. It is also true that as governor of Hispaniola, he butchered and brutalized the Arawak Indians who would not consent to being enslaved. Freud’s personal life was less than perfect. He manipulated patients to obtain contributions for his research. He fell asleep and wrote letters during therapy sessions. But in spite of his flaws, Freud made the quantum leap required to treat brain disorders in a rational manner, and in the long run, he will be given the credit that he is due. His guardian angel will see to it.

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Joseph Bentivegna, M.D.May 24, 2015

Happy Michelle Bentivegna Day

April 27, 2015     Many of you are still unaware that April 27 is Michelle Bentivegna Day. It was proclaimed in the year 2007 A.D. by the Honorable Ken Flatto, First Selectman of Fairfield on the occasion of Ms. Bentivegna receiving her Gold Award from the Girl Scouts of America. Ms. Bentivegna saw the need to bring soccer to rural Haiti and collected used soccer balls and equipment. She even managed to obtain a huge amount of soccer equipment from a store that was closing. This equipment was then packaged in a container thanks to the efforts of Dr. Jerry Lowny. It was sent to Haiti and to this day, soccer remains very popular in that area thanks to Ms. Bentivegna. It has been widely assumed that Ms. Bentivegna was once a highly accomplished soccer player. Ms. Bentivegna has discouraged such speculation. However, there is little doubt that she distinguished herself as a goalie and popularized what is known as the “face block,” the ability to stop high velocity shots with her face. Whether this was due to Ms. Bentivegna’s legendary fearlessness or due to a slow reaction time is still fiercely debated among soccer historians. Like Earth Day and Kwanza, … [Read more...]

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Joseph Bentivegna, M.D.May 19, 2015

      Cadillac Health Care Syndrome

May 19, 2015   I describe a new condition called Cadillac Health Care Syndrome.  Those afflicted are relatively healthy people who have numerous diagnoses, take multiple medications and have frequent surgical procedures because they have excellent health insurance with little to no out-of-pocket expenses.  Risk factors include early retirement, lack of hobbies, jobs with paid sick days, excessive television watching and overuse of the Internet to investigate symptoms. It has been widely assumed that better access to health care improves one’s health. Yet this is a relatively recent concept. For most of human history, patients were aware that allowing physicians to intervene had considerable risk. Hippocrates famous nostrum that persists in every physician’s conscience to this day is “Primo non nocere,” “First do no harm.” Most historians believe that George Washington died because of bloodletting. When President Garfield was hit with an assassin’s bullet in 1881, he died as a complication of surgery. In fact, the lawyer for the assassin argued that his client merely shot the President; his doctors had killed him. But with the advent of antibiotics, sterile technique, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: All Articles, Blog, Health Care Reform

Doctor Bentivegna is an ophthalmologist living in Connecticut. He has written numerous op-ed pieces for The Hartford Courant and The New York Times regarding health care, tort reform, and the political situation in Haiti.

Respect

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The Lords of Greenwich

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