Dick Goldberg

How do those tough decisions about end of life or caretaker conflicts get decided in large hospitals? What if the parents’ religious beliefs are in conflict with proper medical protocols concerning their own child? These issues are often dealt with by hospital ethics boards. Father Patrick Norris, a hospital chaplain and lecturer on hospital ethics, is Dick’s guest. “Most (hospital) ethics committees are advisory,” Norris said. “Ultimately the physicians, families and patients make those (difficult) decisions.” In cases in which parents refuse treatment for their child, the question comes up, why are they refusing? Is it religious belief? Is it a conflict of what the burden vs. benefit would be? Is it a misunderstanding of the diagnosis?

What can the dying teach us about living? Grief counselor and author of “Before We Go: Stories For A Better Life From Those Facing Death,” Cheri Milton helps answer this question. Milton, a certified thanatologist (one who studies death), says people in hospice are sadder but not necessarily unhappy. One reason could be because they lived a full life and have no regrets. “They perhaps can say … ‘even though I’m going to die now with this terminal illness, I’ve done what I wanted to do. I’ve had wonderful family and friends’,” Milton said.

How do you help someone experiencing an emotional crisis, such as depression, alcohol abuse, an eating disorder or being suicidal? Dick’s guests, Cindy Johnson and Dan Muxfeld, talk about Mental Health First Aid, a program that helps the public identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The eight-hour, nationwide course benefits a wide variety of professionals, from teachers to police officers to nurses to parents. “(Mental Health First Aid) is about providing ongoing support for people in the community,” Johnson, a clinical social worker, said. “Decreasing the stigma (around mental health) is a huge part … and to not buy into the fear that’s out there.”

When does the self-centered, self-absorbed person qualify as a clinically defined narcissistic personality? Can a narcissist be “cured”? How do you live with one? Can psychotherapy actually change a narcissist into a caring and compassionate person? Dick’s guests, Dr. Jim McGloin and Lesa Fischer, have 50 years combined experience in working with personality disordered patients, including narcissists. Dr. McGloin says that although only one percent of the population has narcissistic personality disorder, “there are many features of narcissism that many people have.” Meanwhile, Dr. Fischer cites the nine criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) used to assess whether one has the disorder. Examples include grandiose sense of self and difficulty demonstrating a sense of empathy.

Would a $15 an hour minimum wage end all poverty among those who work? How would it affect unemployment, inflation and profits? Where does the Earned Income Tax Credit fit in all this? Would this reduce inequality in the U.S.? Former director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty and widely published expert on poverty in America, Dr. Bob Haveman, is Dick’s guest.