W hen I used to be involved in research projects during the beginning of my career I’d sometimes hear from pharmaceutical company consultants who had questions regarding my papers on treating psychosis. When I was writing articles describing mental illness for the lay public I’d get e-mails from individuals in search of local treatment resources or support networks.
Writing this column is no different. I’ve gotten some nice messages from people who felt that the articles allowed them to discuss previously taboo issues with their loved ones. I’ve gotten some calls from individuals in search of a referral in their area. And I’ll admit I’ve also gotten some less-than-positive feedback (“Why are you encouraging people to start Alcoholics Anonymous Groups in shuls?” “Psychiatric medications are overprescribed ” “You shouldn’t talk about abuse because that doesn’t really help anyone anyway”) which I appreciate even if I don’t agree.
But of all the articles I’ve written over the past year I was most surprised by the scathing critique I received about a piece published this past July called “The Right Girl.” It was about a single guy named Zaki whom I was a little sharp with one day in the office for his long list of excuses for why he couldn’t find a girl who was good enough to marry. The only initial feedback was from my wife who told me that a few of the ladies in the community “had a brother just like that” and had “sent the article in his direction.”
And then I got cold-called by Koby who was clearly the single brother of a woman who had read the article. I had a few minutes between appointments when he called so I figured I’d answer the unidentified call with the NYC area code.
