I am recently back from attending the annual American Psychological Association, the major organization of practicing and research psychologists in North America. With 150,000 members, the venerable APA convened for the 117th time in Toronto. Over 10,000 members, representing major universities and clinical programs, attended, as well as many psychologists who are in private practice. […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Bulimia. Anorexia. Binge Eating. Such are almost always associated with young women. But the New York Times reports such conditions are identified by therapists in a significant percentage of the male population.
By: Evander LomkeThe 21st century may become known as “The Century of the Brain.” The American Mental Health Foundation holds out hope that our century will do for “the psyche” what the 20th century did for physics. How counterintuitive and strange the world described by Einstein in the early part of the previous century seems, even to […]
By: Evander LomkeBorderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a cross to bear for all who are within its range, including spouses, other immediate family, friends, and perhaps the sufferer of this condition most of all. Before 1980, this was not a recognized psychiatric term. But it was added in the Third Edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.One of the goals of the American Mental Health Foundation is to encourage exploration between religion and mental health, particularly in finding religious practices that enhance mental health. We always hope to do so in a nondenominational way. Hagios comes from the Greek word meaning “sacred” or “holy.” Hagiophobia therefore means fear of God, saints, […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.By Dr. William Van Ornum When I was a psychology graduate student at Loyola University of Chicago, my introduction to autism involved observing and learning about a nine-year-old girl who constantly banged her head against hard objects, to the point of bleeding and perhaps even concussion. The saddest part was seeing that nothing seemed to […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Summer is a great time to catch up on all of those novels, mysteries, and thrillers that have piled up over the year. Sometimes it can be a time to reacquaint oneself with favorite authors from the past, read long ago while in school, knowing that a rereading can bring out many more themes. One […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Mention OCD and you bring up strong feelings in any person or family member that suffers from it. Strange and frightening thoughts that intrude and don’t go away, meaningless gestures and actions that someone is compelled to perform, over and over, fully aware that these behaviors are at best silly and at their worst thieves […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Journalist Daphne Merkin, who has written on Kabbalah and other subjects, recently contributed a brilliant article to The New York Times Magazine. The article can be accessed below. It is an article for anyone who, in the words of the long-time director of the American Mental Health Foundation, Dr. Stefan de Schill, “feels exiled from […]
By: Evander LomkeThe May 18, 2009, issue of The New Yorker features an article by Jonah Lehrer entitled “Don’t.” It is about the psychology of delayed gratification. For those of us who may have long questioned a society that encourages and even reveres instant pleasure, the article is of considerable interest. A cartoon some 40 pages later […]
By: Evander Lomke
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