Breakdown: Sex, Suicide and the Harvard Psychiatrist

by Eileen McNamara

Book Overview

Paul Lozano was a beloved son of a Mexican American family in El Paso, Texas. In his first year at Harvard Medical School, he had a difficult time adjusting to the loneliness and the strange... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671796208
• ISBN13: 9780671796204
• Release Date: April 1994
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 289 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Bean Counter Transference

A Boston psychiatrist in her 40's, Dr. Margaret Bean-Bayog begins treating Paul Lozano, an intelligent and driven but also mentally ill Harvard medical student who's in his early 20's. She decides that he displays all the symptoms of an abused child, though he has no memories of being abused, never told her was abused, and by all accounts (Except Dr. Bean's) was not abused. Bean then proceeds to subject this guy to four years of deranged therapy. She regresses him back to being a three year old during appointments which occur up to 5 times a week, and tells him she's his "Mom", and she'll keep him safe. She reads baby books to him (Goodnight Moon, etc.) and gives him stuffed toys. She refuses to meet with any of his family to the point that once when Paul's sister, Pilar, saw Bean in a hospital lobby and called out to her, Bean refused to acknowledge her and simply kept on walking. The Lozanos are presented as good people who are just sick about what's happening to their son and brother, but Bean tells Lozano that since his family is responsible for his condition, he should not contact them. However, Bean is not only his "Mom", she is also a sexual presence in his life, writing him EXTREMELY graphic letters, with highly sado-masochistic overtones, about her fantasized encounters with him. Fifty-five of those letters were found among Paul's possessons. And Bean openly masturbates during their sessions. Paul Lozano, the patient knows she isn't really his Mom, but, due in large part to Bean's "therapy", he deteriorates to the point that he fades in and out between fantasy and reality and comes to "love" her, though what it actually is is just total dependence and sexual desire. There are basically no boundaries between Doc and patient. Dr. Bean keeps telling him that - as his mother - she loves him and will keep him safe. And she says he can call her any time day or night, she'll be there for him. So naturally, as she's encouraging his decompensation and total dependence on her, he does so, becoming increasingly needier and more demanding. Eventually, 4 years down the road, Bean decides she doesn't want to deal with his neediness and craziness any more, that it's too demanding, and she terminates their sessions. This is of course the beginning of an end toward which Lozano's been heading for a while. He eventually commits suicide. His family, having heard Paul repeatedly expressing his complete love for "Margaret" and wavering between love and anger towards them, decides to investigate. The book is BREAKDOWN by Boston newspaper reporter, Eileen McNamara. The story has almost everything a true crime reader could want: a Harvard educated and affiliated psychiatrist treating a young Hispanic man, extensive background on Paul Lozano, excellent writing, and extensive research. I wish there had been considerably more information on Dr. Bean's background, but she would not agree to be interviewed. BREAKDOWN is not unbiased - it is clearly sympathetic to th