Christian Hageseth III - The Compassionate Shock Doc

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Christian Hageseth promoted himself as the "Compassionate" Shock Doc. And he lived up to his name, sharing his passion with a former patient.

Christian Hageseth not only lost his license to practice, but also lost a lawsuit filed by the husband of his paramour -- errr former patient.

Christian Hageseth -
Warm fuzzies and teddy bears

Christian Hageseth III promoted himself as the "Compassionate" Shock Doc. And he lived up to his name, sharing his passion with a former patient and losing not only his license to practice, but a lawsuit filed by the husband of his paramour.

Hageseth first made the Shocked! ECT Hall of Shame when I was contacted by a former patient of his, who had bad things to say about him. This was before his sexual scandal began.

She introduced me to one of Hageseth's books about the use of laughter. While I agree emphatically with the idea of using humor as a way of coping with stress and unfortunate circumstances, I found the book to be condescending and lacking substance.

This guy promotes himself as a compassionate humorist. That's a laugh. Instead, read what he has to say about persons diagnosed with psychiatric illness, in his book "A Laughing Place."

Humor for Psychiatric Patients

This is almost too broad a subject because of the variety of disorders which may require psychiatric intervention. In general, I would avoid giving this book to any person in crisis and I would avoid applying humor until he is showing definite signs of recovery. Maybe the book could serve as a thoughtful gift when he is "out of the woods." But, early in the process, there is no telling how your attempts at humor might be interpreted - or misinterpreted.

"Black Hole" People

Black hole people are those negative, humorless individuals who seem to suck humor out of any environment. Like black holes in space, they are so heavy that not even light can escape from them.

I've been a "black hole" person myself, during deep depressions, and humor was my savior. I completely disagree with the paternalistic thinking that humor might tread dangerous ground for someone who is very ill. Instead, it's a lifeline, and I've found this to be very true for most persons I've known, no matter how bad they were feeling. Basically, his best advice is give this book as a gift. It's repeated on nearly every page.

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I had gotten the impression that Hageseth was condescending and paternalistic *before* he had his son and wife do his dirty work and contact me about his entry into the Hall of Shame. After hearing from the son, my worst fears were confirmed. Anyone who says that "My daddy is a doctor and went to school a lot of years" and you're just a "crazy bitch" with a website is someone who uses a psychiatric diagnosis against people when it's the only ammo they have. That kind of attitude is learned somewhere, and I doubt that Christian the fourth (IV) picked it up in the Fort Collins schoolyard. Hey, IV, couldn't your daddy even buy you a name of your own? (Ha, that's a joke for the humor-impaired. Well, *I* thought it was funny!)

Seriously, though, there's something not quite right when a man doesn't have the guts to contact you himself, and instead, sends his son and wife to do so. Most of all, I was embarrassed for the whole family. Enough said.

In 1996, at a meeting in Washington, DC at Center for Mental Health Services (SAMHSA/CHMS), one of the reviewers, Linda Andre, brought Hageseth's ECT video for review. It was not well-received by those who viewed it.

Read Linda Andre's review of the video (which is probably no longer for sale, now that the doctor has gone out of business).
Mr. Rogers on shock

Christian III also had a website where he hawked his books and video, but it disappeared shortly after the sex scandal went public. However, thanks to the fantastic Wayback Machine, the site is archived for posterity, as part of its Internet history collaboration with Alexa.

Read the news accounts of the scandal. In short, the doctor had a patient, then had an affair with her and eventually married her. The jury awarded nearly a quarter million dollars to the husband. Hageseth's medical license was revoked, but an appeals court later reinstated it. According to the State of Colorado, it still remains "revoked." Currently, the happy couple produces a bird dog show. In his bio at the bird dog site, he says he "decided to take a new direction in life" after practicing medicine. As a dog lover myself, and as someone who grew up around bird dogs, I cannot find fault in that. I wish all of them, especially their lovely dogs, well.

Read the emails from his son and wife to me. (Note: Christian IV asked if I would open the website up to free debate, and I invited him to the message board where free debate occurs daily, but he didn't show up.)

Some facts about psychiatrists and sexual abuse of their patients:

The majority of psychiatrists who sexually abuse their clients are never reported.
The number of disciplinary actions against physicians regarding sexual abuse doubled from 1994 to 1996
Less than half of those disciplined lost the ability to practice.
Among all physicians disciplined for sexual offenses, psychiatrists made up the majority (27.9 percent). Child psychiatrists represented 2.5 percent, indicating that even our most vulnerable are not entirely safe from the professionals they may turn to for help.

(from a study by Public Citizen Health Research Group)

A huge database of psychiatrists in trouble

More stories about psychs and sexual misconduct,
all from 1997 & 1998.

The patient of a Michigan psychiatrist may not receive much of the $780,000 the jury awarded her. A number of former patients have filed suits alleging they were raped in his office.
Georgia psychologist receives probation for having sex with his patient, who suffered from multiple personality disorder.
Prominent Toronto psychologist is sentenced to two years in prison for "brainwashing" two of his former patients into having sex with him.
Judge orders Ottawa psychologist to pay more than $325,000 in damages to a female former patient he sexually abused during and after her therapy.
State suspends the license of a Washington psychiatrist who had sex with two women he was treating. He claims he's 'Man of Honor.' He was treating one of the patients for problems resulting from incest.
A London (Canada) psychiatrist twice disciplined by his peers continues to see
patients, despite facing further charges.
A Toronto study on psychs who exploit sexually.
Are you being exploited? From Dateline NBC, which reported a researcher's claim that up to 20 percent of psychiatrists/psychologists have at one time or another had sex (consensually and non-consensually) with a patient. This report offers advice on reporting unethical behavior.

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Christian Hageseth - Warm fuzzies and teddy bears

Some facts about psychiatrists and sexual abuse of their patients:

More stories about psychs and sexual misconduct, all from 1997 & 1998.

Christian Hageseth -
Warm fuzzies and teddy bears

More stories about psychs and sexual misconduct,
all from 1997 & 1998.