An experience I had recently brought to mind the theme of reclaiming our humanity. I examine psychiatrically, for both plaintiff and defense, in legal cases. I must admit, it is hard to walk that narrow line of truth and commitment to truth. This became clearly evident when I was requested to see a woman (by the insurance company) who claimed psychiatric disablement by a rather small accident at work.

The insurance company had supplied a large docket of information. When I reviewed it, I sympathized with her life, but said to myself, "This is so much trouble that she has endured, but it had nothing to do with the psychological problems that were caused by an accident at work." And so I was preliminarily prejudiced, and preliminarily prepared to come to a diagnosis in favor of the insurance company. It is hard to walk the narrow line of truth.

To give background, a criminally insane father had raised this now elderly woman. He had tied her up, beaten her and raped her since the earliest years of childhood. All of this happened while her mother, who must have been terrified, stood silently by. The patient was rescued when she was nine years old, by being sent to an institution. She was released two years later when her father was put in jail for the criminally insane. Matters were made worse when in her forties (she is now sixty-four) she was raped on the street in the freezing cold, by a man who said, "I have killed thirteen black women. I'll have no trouble killing you." She crawled around in the freezing night, sure she would die, but she recovered. After that she was homeless and a recluse, but she managed to pull herself together during the time she was employed, and she was happy. She said to herself, "Now I am well; now I am well." And then ­- the accident occurred.

It was a small accident, causing bruises here and there, and she recovered. But, when she had to be examined by doctors, the undressing, the probing, the helplessness and the sticking things here and there precipitated flashbacks to the horrible scenes of her early life, scenes which were now recapitulated in terrifying nightmares. From that time on, she became, progressively, a recluse. She was confined to her home. She could not go to a dentist. She could not go to a doctor. She became terrified of adventuring anywhere without someone to accompany her.

And so that was the situation as it was drawn.

I thought that all this was due only to the preliminary trauma. But when I saw her, I could see immediately her humanity, her inner beauty, her strength, her honesty. As she did relate, it became so clear that she had, in fact, pulled herself together, that she had recovered, and that the need to see doctors (necessitated by the accident) had precipitated a throw-back to all the horrific scenes of her childhood and of the rape. Thus, a pre-existing condition had been aggravated by the accident at work. A condition, by the way, which was treatable, but her treatment had been denied.

With my heart in my mouth, I called the referring lawyer and told him my opinion. I could hear him struggling to do his job, to find a legal loophole here and there. I could feel his sweating brow as we discussed the matter on the phone. I could also hear the loss of a valuable source of referral. But I had to stand firm.

I outlined for him three possibilities: 1. You can accept my report as is. 2. You can find another psychiatrist, someone who will be less troublesome, or 3. You can see the patient again, alongside of me. He seemed interested and asked, "What would that do?" The words fairly fell from my lips, "It will open your heart," I said. He took that in, and I could hear irritation in his voice. He told me he would call me back, and in the meantime to hold my report.

I must admit that I went through a series of anxieties, and I could feel his anxiety as well. He was younger than I, I could hear, and had responsibilities to his family, whereas I am already established. I could hear his fear of rendering a report which would displease his boss, and I could hear his maneuvering to find something favorable to his case. And so here we had the worship of the bottom line; the pursuit in the battle for predominance of income; the loss of humanity that has occurred in our society. It is the kind of loss which made me say to him at one point, "But what has happened to our humanity? Isn't this what has made so many lawyers displeased with their profession, and so many doctors as well?" He paused, and hesitated, and so it stood.

I was surprised when, sometime later, he called and said, "Dr. Pressman, render your report as is." I was heartened, and we will see where it goes from there. But it does introduce a theme. Where is the humanity in our society? What has happened to the proud prestige of the legal profession and the respect for the medical profession as helping services, which would raise the level of humanity, of all humanity. What has happened? What has happened?

On the other side there is the emergence of the spiritual movement. So many groups now are pursuing spiritual aims, so many self-help groups, so many "help-the-other" groups, so many groups learning about natural medicine, and about the spiritual adventures into the Supermind. All of this is an encouraging counter-movement from which we can take heart. In line with this, there is a wonderful book which has appeared on the scene, Radical Healing by Rudolph M. Ballentine, M.D.

Dr. Ballentine is a psychiatrist who grew dissatisfied with the strictness, hardness and loss of humanity of our profession. He went into retreat in the mountains under the supervision of Swami Rama. The swami said to him, "If you want to be a good psychiatrist, learn homeopathy." And so he did. Furthermore, he ventured to India, to learn Ayurvedic medicine. He compiled a book which is marvelous in its synthesis and beautiful in its message. It does, in fact, unite classical medicine and classical psychiatry with energy medicine. Energy medicine -- addressing itself to the subtle realms which surround us, and the planes of intuition which guide us. Weaving all of this together, we begin to see the promise of a greater humanity and the fulfillment of the Tibetan's promise: that in the future, medicine will be practiced not with hard surgical instruments or chemical bullets, but through the energies of the subtle mind, the planes of intuition; the magnetic energies of healing, and the all-embracing warmth of the heart.

So this is where our humanity has gone; this is where our humanity is rising again. This is the joy of Radical Humanity.

Maurie D. Pressman, M.D. is the author of Enter the Supermind and co-author (with Patricia Joudry) of Twin Souls: A Guide to Finding Your True Spiritual Partner, published by Carol Southern Books, an imprint of Crown Publishers, New York.

Dr. Pressman is Emeritus Chairman of Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Temple University Health Sciences Center. He is Medical Director at the Center for Psychiatric Wellness, clinics that operate in Philadelphia and Haddonfield, N.J. These clinics bridge traditional and spiritual psychotherapy. Dr. Pressman can be reached at 200 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106; telephone 215-922-0204; fax 215-922-3008.