In most cases psychiatric drugs are not valuable commodities on the street: antipsychotics and antidepressants with names such as Thorazine, Haldol, Resperidal, Tofranil, SSRIs, Wellbutrin, Abilify, Lithium, and others generally must build up a therapeutic dosage in the bloodstream to become effective. There is no immediate “rush” or feeling of euphoria. In acute-psychiatric illness, a […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Hudson River Psychiatric Center was a massive development built in the 19th century in Poughkeepsie, New York. The solid-brick buildings, many with iron window bars to prevent escapes, formed a city unto itslef, with capacity being over 5,000 patients who required hospitalization from illnesses we now term schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, psychotic depression, late-stage alcohol and […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
The directors and staff of AMHF have discussed a blog, or series of more in-depth blogs, related to films featuring mental health as a central theme. Most of the following seventeen Hollywood movies from various eras (and therefore reflecting their respective times), as well as in a range of genres, include psychiatrists, “mental-health physicians”/neurologists/psychiatric neurologists, […]
By: Evander LomkeFrom the 14th edition of Abnormal Psychology by James N. Butcher, Susan Mineka, and Jill M. Hooley (Boston: Allyn and Bacon): “The concept of mental disorder, as we have seen, suffers from the lack of a truly objective means of what is disordered and what is not. It is also in the financial interests of […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
On Friday, October 28, 2011, AMHF attended the 17th Annual Meeting of the Northeast Conference for Teachers of Psychology. This is a group of psychologists, who teach in colleges and universities, dedicated to improving their teaching of undergraduates and graduates. Participants of the group come from a wide range of specialties and interests including developmental, […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.AMHF Advisory Board member Dr. James Quick has authored an extensive comment in the recent American Psychologist, the flagship journal of the American Psychological Association. In that journal there has been an extended discussion about the role of psychologists in working with the military as well as questioning as to whether or not psychologists ought […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.The October 9, 2011, New York Times once again brings to our attention the recent suicide of former New York Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu. Once again, we are reminded of the sadness of Irabu’s death as well as the need for greater research and understanding about suicide from groups such as Suicide Prevention International. The […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Kathryn Lopez in National Review Online brings to our attention a young lady with Down syndrome who was elected Homecoming Queen of her high school. In juxtaposition to this is a news report from Ann Curry, from Serbia, showing that abuse of the kind that occurred at Willowbrook continues to occur in Serbia. These three […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.PREVENTING YOUTH VIOLENCE PART 2: INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP APPROACHES Raymond B. Flannery Jr., Ph.D., FAPM, Harvard Medical School, The University of Massachusetts Medical School Part 1 of these two essays on youth violence examined the basic cultural, biological, sociological, and psychological theories of youth violence and the continuum of early (disrupted mastery, attachment, meaning), serious […]
By: Dr. Raymond B. Flannery Jr.This week there is a great deal of introspection occurring about the events of 9/11/01. Some retellings and analyses are meant to be helpful and cathartic while others may be presented to us with underlying agendas. The counseling profession itself examines A Day That Changed a Nation and a Profession in an article by Lynn […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.On April 29, and April 30, 2011, in conjunction with Marist College and The Hudson Valley Family Business Institute, AMHF sponsored the workshop Small Family Business, Big Family Stress. We hope you will want to view the following 2-minute video. This workshop is the first in the AMHF-Stefan de Schill Memorial series The Healthy Organization. […]
By: Evander LomkeThe New York Times continues its coverage of the abuse of the developmentally disabled in New York State: “Moving to end the…lax oversight of the developmentally disabled, the Cuomo administration on Wednesday announced an agreement with the State Police to establish guidelines for reporting possible crimes against the disabled to law enforcement authorities.” The entire […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Many higher-level persons with autism are fascinated by trains. Trains are predictable: They run on a schedule, are limited to staying on a track that only goes certain places, and have very structured seating plans that no doubt came to be after much consultation between engineers, designers, and draftspersons. To some extent, buses share these […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.I wish to call our UK readers’ attention to The Violent Person by Dr. Raymond B. Flannery, an AMHF Book and the first title issued by our foundation in late 2009. It is a thoroughly up-to-date study of violence, the emotional and physiological reactions to it (in its most-extreme form, PTSD), and how professionals and […]
By: Evander LomkeA stock market that swings erratically every few years is looking to be the new normal: Many even doubt that a ten-year horizon is a safe one for long-term investors or those planning retirement. Economic worries are real. They can be all-consuming. Yet, often unacknowledged is the role of one’s emotional experience in diluting or […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Sallie Mae has recently added tuition-refund insurance to its spectrum of financial offerings, according to the July 22 edition of the New York Times. This can refund tuition that has already been paid when a student withdraws from classes due to illness. There is a catch, however: although the coverage will pay for 100 percent […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Once focus of American Mental Health Foundation this past year has been to increase awareness and research of suicide. We have done this through our support of Suicide Prevention International. Recently ex-major-league pitcher Hideki Irabu was found dead in his home in California. He had apparently committed suicide by hanging himself. What made this even […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.The evolution of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM I, II, III, IV, IV-TR) and upcoming DSM V is an interesting one. The first manual was a short volume with a small number of diagnoses. The diagnosis itself was often not as important as the detailed clinical description written about the patient, often written from […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.With Betty Ford’s passing, we are again reminded that there is a great deal of work to be done in the field of alcohol and substance abuse. Margarita Alegria, Ph.D., is Director of the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research and full professor at Harvard University’s Medical School in psychiatry. In her work she examines […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.In the news: Betty Ford, former First Lady of the United States of America, has died. The much-beloved wife of President Gerald Ford died at the age of 93, as reported in the July 11, 2011, edition of The New York Daily News. Mrs. Ford was born in Chicago, reared in modest circumstances, became a […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.In Chicago, on June 20, 2011 Vice President
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.As part of the AMHF series on Bullying, we call your attention to the American Psychological Association (APA) new video by Dr. Norman B. Anderson, CEO of the APA. Dr. Anderson states… The problem of bullying has received a great deal of media attention recently, and for good reason. Bullying can lead to lasting psychological […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.This month marks the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s pledge to bring Americans to the moon within the end of that decade. The goal was met. Now his nephew, former Representative Patrick Kennedy (D., R.I.) is using one of what was arguably his uncle’s greatest achievements as a metaphor in fighting mental illness, […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.All the flowers in bloom and their reflections made the Hudson River Valley look like a giant impressionist painting Friday and Saturday April 29 and 30. AMHF, along with Marist College School of Management, sponsored the Conference “Small Family Business, Big Family Stress” at the Dutchess Country Club in Poughkeepsie, New York. On Friday night […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.A reminder, time is running out for every small-family business owner and partner in the New York State Hudson Valley to sign up for the AMHF all-day workshop Small Family Business: Big Family Stress, beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 30 (with introduction on Friday, April 29, at 6 p.m.). The speakers and subjects […]
By: Evander LomkeLast night’s buffet supper, funded by The American Mental Health Foundation to honor, and in support of, the mission of Suicide Prevention International, was a rousing success. Look for our forthcoming video! And please sign up for the SPI Walk For Life, to be held on Saturday, May 7, 2011, in New York’s Riverside Park. […]
By: Evander LomkeCatherine Zeta Jones, glamorous wife of actor Michael Douglas, suffers the painful effects of bipolar disorder. As this ABC News article and video explain, bipolar disorder, a cause also closely associated with actress and well-known advocate Glenn Close (whose sister, Jesse, is diagnosed with bipolar disorder), can be brought on during any stage of life, […]
By: Evander LomkeFORTHCOMING WORKSHOP Saturday, April 30, 2011, with Marist College in Conjunction with the Hudson Valley Family Business Institute, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., AMHF is holding a free one-day workshop, Small Family Business, Big Family Stress, at the Dutchess Golf and Country Club, 2628 South Road, Poughkeepsie. The event will include a hot breakfast […]
By: Evander LomkeTHE STEFAN DE SCHILL AWARD The Second Stefan de Schill Award has been announced. AMHF is honoring Suicide Prevention International. The award and a check to SPI for $5,000 will be presented at the SPI Walk For Life on Saturday, May 7, 2011, rain or shine, to Herbert Hendin, MD, CEO and Medical Director of […]
By: Evander LomkeOver at AMERICA we are having a discussion on National Day of Silence. Regina Sewell is a group therapist who, like Stefan de Schill, has kept the art and craft of group therapy alive and prosperous in times when most therapists have shifted over to the individual therapy model. She has these thoughts on National […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
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