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Medical Observer publisher Jena Fetalino (second from left) and editor-in-chief Ding Generoso (right) with freelance broadcast journalist Karen Koh and Inquirer news editor Jun Engracia (left) at the 2002 Society of Publishers in Asia Awards for Editorial Excellence June 7 in Hong Kong. Medical Observer's 'The Mask of Sorrow" (April 2001) issue bested TIME Magazine Asia's "How the World Sees Japan" while Inquirer columnist Randy David's "Understanding Poverty" won honorable mention in the Best Opinion category.
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"Singularity
is almost always a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the
more difficult is it to bring home."
--
Arthur Conan Doyle
How
many times have we seen someone on the news saying that they didn't know what
entered them and made them commit a crime -- as if there were some irresistible
power, whether external or internal, that drove them toward it?
Often.
A little too often, perhaps, as more and more people seem to
believe the notion that admitting to having mental illness -- whether temporary,
recurring, or that marriage annulment byword, 'psychological incapacity'
-- is
enough
to get
them off the hook. But unlike the scenario propagated by the movies and soup
operas, pleading insanity or psychological incapacity is not quite as easy as
laughing one moment and then crying the next.
Which
is not to discount the fact that some crimes are really committed in a state of
psychological imbalance. But howdo we know the real from the affected?
Like
Intergalactic Communication?
Insanity,
psychological incapacity, imbecility -- legal concepts that need the help of
medicine to be proved. Given the inherent differences between medicine and the
law, things could get really complicated. By Paul de Guzman.
More
on this Story
The
Killer Mind
Not
all mentally ill people are criminals, stresses Dr. Sheila Alcantara, in
the same way that not all criminals are insane.
More
on this Story
Doctor
on the Stand
Catherine
Teves talks to two seasoned psychiatrists to illuminate some more the
intersection of medicine and law. How do psychiatrists conduct themselves if
invited by the court to serve as expert witnesses?
More
on this Story
Crimes
of Passion
What
is brief reactive psychosis, and why does it happen? Lucio Victor Jr.
digs deep into the issue.
More
on this Story
Understand
Schizophrenia with a Movie
The
success of the movie, A Beautiful Mind gives the opportunity to breakdown
misconceptions about and biases against schizophrenia.
More
on this Story
Young
Criminals
Deedee
Sta. Cruz-Espina explores the world of young people gone astray and then
gone to jail.
More
on this story
Alis
Disease Redux
Government
and non-government groups join forces to fight measles through immunization. By Michelle
Ciriacruz.
More
on this story
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