Joseph Shrand

My name is Joseph Shrand. I am a psychiatrist who works with adults as well as children and adolescents.

I believe that of all the human desires, human beings simply want to feel valuable to someone else. Respect is the vehicle to this ancient and basic goal. People want to feel respected by others, and actually get very angry if they are not. Think about this in your own life. I am willing to bet that 90% of the time when you have felt the angriest was when you perceived being disrespected by somebody else.

But when is the last time you got angry at someone treating you with respect? You don't. The brain is not designed to work that way. I believe this has the same valence as an apple falling down. Apples do not fall up and the brain does not activate anger when it feels safe. Again, think about this in your own life. It is very, very hard to get angry, or to stay angry, when you are being treated with respect.

Respect is the great modulator of anger. Respect is the foundation of trust, and trust the foundation of potential. Respect is a brain phenomenon that has an effect on brain. My entire career has been built implementing and understanding this simple but profound interaction and the enormous untapped potential it has in our lives. Imagine how things would be different if we were all truly respectful of each other. Some readers will quickly agree, while others will not. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me, good or bad, positive or negative, supportive, provocative, encouraging, dismissive. All is fair game. Joseph Shrand, MD www.drshrand.com

Specialties:

• ABPN Board Certified Adult Psychiatry
• ABPN Board Certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Diplomate American Board of Addiction Medicine
• Instructor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School