Cognitive Dissonance in the Pages of Psychiatric Services
To the Editor: Aha! The editorial practice at Psychiatric Services is generating good old-fashioned cognitive dissonance. Congratulations. This will definitely keep the readership on their toes.
On page 761 of the July issue, in the Economic Grand Rounds column (1), Robert Schreter, M.D., of the University of Maryland, tells us that we must "make do with less." A scant six pages further, Yih-Ing Hser, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles (2), present data showing that greater quality and quantity of services would increase retention in treatment.
This is certainly the material out of which cognitive dissonance and a variety of other frustrations can grow.
Perhaps until mental health funding is rationalized, we should just stop publishing papers about how to spend more money.
Dr. Masland is in private practice in Yuma, Arizona.
1. Schreter R: Making do with less: the latest challenge for psychiatry. Psychiatric Services 55:761–763, 2004Link, Google Scholar
2. Hser YI, Evans E, Huang D, et al: Relationship between drug treatment services, retention, and outcome. Psychiatric Services 55:767–774, 2004Link, Google Scholar
