The Many Pyrrhic Victories of Mental Health

click to enlarge Paper Pills' resident psychologist, Dr. Emile Thanatos, is once again faced with the recurring problem of curing a mental illness and then having to cure the cure. So often we come up with a solution that only fixes things in the short run. For example, mongooses were introduced to Hawaii to get rid of rats. Pretty soon, nothing could get rid of the mongooses, which amused themselves by eating the state bird and building nests all over the place. Similarly, healthcare is plagued by its own cures...cures that aren't nearly as cute and endearing as mongooses. On his final day of psychotherapy, a patient began to weep. The doctor said, "What's wrong? You've achieved so much! You're cured! I thought you'd be glad!" The patient turned to him and said "Well, I am grateful for all you've done doc, but, see, I used to be Julius Caesar, and now I'm nobody!" Sometimes it really sucks to be of sound mind and body.