On the record

"Suicide is not a disease. It is not like a stomachache or a headache or some special physiological state. Each suicide is sui generis. Its reasons, like the mind itself, cannot be categorized. Clinical labels are specious, and to build a profession on them is to put a skyscraper on sandy soil."
--Clinical psychologist Edwin Shneidman, PhD, who coined the term "suicidology," responding to the "biologicalization" of suicide. Los Angeles Times, June 3.

"We replaced traditional religion with 'Let the sunshine in' quite a while ago, and we're not going back."
--Carole Benson, PhD, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry and behavioral science at Northwestern University Medical School, commenting on the high rate of use of self-help books by women searching for spiritual answers. Chicago Tribune, July 11.

"When their wives leave them and their kids reject them and they have their first bypass...and realize they don't have any friends anymore, that's when the lonesome cowboy stance isn't serving them anymore."
--Psychologist Aaron Kipnis, PhD, who specializes in male psychology, commenting on the long-term effects of the "bad-boy" attitude displayed by some men. Chicago Tribune, July 11.

--K. HEWLETT