10 | JANUARY 6 • 2022 

PURELY COMMENTARY

the position of head chef in 
the kitchen of a local high 
school. 
Jake and others taught me 
not to give up on people too 
early. 
Joyce came to see me after 
she had almost flunked out 
of medical school. She was 
distraught and discour-
aged. A careful evaluation 
by myself and a colleague 
showed symptoms consistent 
with ADHD-inattentive type 
and, once I started her on 
stimulant medication, Joyce 
was suddenly solidly in the 
middle of her class. She is 
now a successful doctor with 
a better understanding of 
herself and her patients. 
There are so many other 
patients whom I have 
helped along the way with 
symptoms of depression, 
anxiety, ADHD and family 
and school issues. But it’s 
interesting that the ones who 
most readily come to mind 
are those with whom I strug-
gled at first, those whom I 
saw as unreachable or stuck. 

I learned that sometimes 
I was truly the one who felt 
stuck. And this taught me to 
hear the voice in my head not 
as a defeat, but as a sign that 
I needed to take a step back 
and try to reach the patient in 
a different way, to slow down 
and redefine our goals. 
That doesn’t mean I was 
always successful or help-
ful. But this reminded me 
to sometimes question my 
assumptions and to search for 
an authentic encounter, to try 
to meet people where they 
were. While many people 
may not have seemed ready 
to work on their present-
ing issues, they needed first 
to feel safe enough to risk 
trusting another person to 
help them look beneath the 
surface. 

A FINAL MEMORY
About 20 years into my 
practice, I received a letter 
from a former patient whom 
I had seen when he was a 
teenager. He told me in his 
letter that he had seriously 

contemplated taking his own 
life at the time he was in my 
care. He had even gone as far 
as to obtain a gun. He had 
never shared that with me at 
the time, even though I had 
asked him directly about any 
suicidal thoughts or behav-
ior. He went on to say that 
his relationship with me and 
his therapist had been vital 
in helping him choose to 
keep living. He subsequently 
went to college and was now 
working in the mental health 
field in another state. He 
wrote that he had wanted to 
encourage me by letting me 
know that I had made a dif-
ference for him and, he was 
certain, for others, in case I 
sometimes felt unsure. I still 
have his letter. 
The thought that one never 
knows the effect you might 
have in each encounter has 
helped me through the ups 
and downs of 40 years of 
practice. It was also a won-
derful life lesson. 
As we all struggle to deal 
with COVID and the after-

math of the school violence 
in Oxford and elsewhere, 
we search for hope and the 
strength to carry on. As I 
look back on my practice, I 
realize that a subtle shift in 
thinking can often be the 
source of that hope. It must 
be tied to a valid reason to 
believe in ourselves, often 
borne of finding our hidden 
strengths and supports, which 
can lead to finding the cour-
age to accept our problems 
and face our fears. 
I have tried to be part of 
the village. I have tried to 
find the goodness in others 
and myself. And when all else 
fails, I think back to Dorothy 
from the Wizard of Oz. It 
turns out we mostly have 
the ability to get ourselves 
back to Kansas. We may 
think we need a balloon ride 
with a wizard. But we often 
just need a connection with 
another person to find our 
own way back home. 

 

Dr. Jeff London is a retired child 

psychiatrist from Farmington Hills.

40 YEARS OF PSYCHIATRY continued from page 9

The Iranians will be able to 
secretly move ahead with 
their nuclear program, which 
will bring them closer to 
nuclear breakout capability.
Israel has the ability to 
attack Iran and will soon 
have no other choice because 
the proverbial sword is 
almost at its neck. It appears 
that the critical moment is 
fast approaching. We cannot 
rely on American military 
intervention, which most 
likely will not come. When 

Israel has faced significant 
strategic threats in the past 
and taken the initiative, the 
Israel Defense Forces has 
emerged victorious.
The preparations cur-
rently underway are meant 
to improve the IDF’s attack 
capabilities and finalize a 
better plan of action. The 
IDF must receive a clear 
directive from the Israeli 
government, which defines 
the objective: devastating 
damage to Iran’s nuclear 

program; and the target date: 
fall of 2022. Despite the diffi-
culties, it seems the time has 
come for the IDF to prepare 
a strike plan in conjunction 
with the country’s intelli-
gence services.
At the same time, Israel 
must prepare for an Iranian 
response from its soil, and 
via Hezbollah as well. There 
is no reason for panic — 
talk of war with Iran is 
overblown. Israel has been 
fighting Iran for over two 

decades, and the IDF has 
the ability to continue cop-
ing with the Iranian threat 
and hitting Hezbollah hard. 
Beyond the operational 
preparations, Israel needs to 
prepare a diplomatic plan to 
legitimize a military strike 
and soften the international 
reaction. 

Vice Adm. (ret.) Eliezer Marom 

served as commander of the Israeli 

Navy from 2007–2011. This article 

first appeared in Israel Hayom.

ISRAEL IS FAST APPROACHING continued from page 4