Category: Schizophrenia

Precipitants to Patient Assaults: A Worldwide View, 2013-17

He was quiet but definitely paranoid. The staff could agree on this. He refused to eat any of the hospital meals to avoid being poisoned. He was quite clear about this and would only eat commercially sealed prepackaged foodstuffs, such as corn chips. Nonetheless, he was quiet and usually cooperative. Still, the staff noticed that […]

By:

Assaultive Psychiatric Patients: A Worldwide Perspective, 2013-17

There are many types of human-perpetrated violence. However, there is one form of this violence that occurs on a daily basis worldwide and that receives limited media attention. That act of violence is an assault on a healthcare provider in a healthcare setting. Not all psychiatric patients are assaultive but some are, and these assaults […]

By:

The Sixth Annual Report of The American Mental Health Foundation

This is the sixth Annual Report of The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF), a research organization formed in 1924, incorporated in New York State December 31, 1954. In 2017, AMHF celebrates 93 years of philanthropic service and activities—“Advancing Mental Health: A Century of Excellence in Mental Health Research.”   Vision: Building a More Compassionate Society—Get Involved!   Mission: AMHF endeavors […]

By:

U.S. Government Drops the Ball on Serious Mental-health Issues

E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., says shame on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which operates under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). With a budget of $3.5 billion to reduce the burden of mental illness and substance abuse, SAMHSA has nonetheless never ascertained the prevalence (numbers afflicted) of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. […]

By:

The Eye Would Be the Eye to the Brain

Shakespeare writes, “There is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” It has become an adage of the acting profession. But what about the eye? Is it the window to the soul in more ways than metaphoric? A recent article in the New Yorker (March 28, 2016) by Pulitzer Prize–winning Siddhartha Mukherjee […]

By:

Two recent notices There’s No Handle on My Door and Violence

AMHF Books has received two recent and superb notices of its books from Midwest Book Review. The first is for There’s No Handle on My Door: Stories of Patients in Mental Hospitals by Dr. Henry Kellerman (who is pictured) “In There’s No Handle on My Door, Henry Kellerman probes institutional life through nine fascinating profiles. […]

By:

The American Mental Health Foundation–Astor Services Study and Young People

On April 16, 2015, American Mental Health Foundation Books published its most comprehensive research project devoted to young people in its 90-plus-year history. Early Identification, Palliative Care, and Prevention of Psychotic Disorders in Children and Youth is the result of a pioneering two-year study developed and funded by AMHF. This monograph is also a collaborative […]

By:

Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act

How many roads must a man (or woman) walk down before you call him (or her) a…human…with a heart? Jared Loughner. James Holmes. Adam Lanza. All suffer from serious mental illness. All represented tragic cries for help. All, among the 4 percent diagnosed with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses, might have been helped. Maybe their […]

By:

The American Mental Health Foundation on NASH FM 94.7 NASH Matters with Kelly Ford

Executive Director Evander Lomke was delighted to be interviewed by Kelly Ford on her public-affairs program NASH Matters, which is devoted to philanthropic endeavors in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut area. More than 800,000 listeners tuned in. As of October 22, 2021, Ms. Ford’s program is off the air. Unfortunately, the 15-minute broadcast is […]

By:

Superb Notice of AMHF Professional Advisory Board Member Dr. Henry Kellerman in The Midwest Book Review

“A delusion is a belief held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, or other effects of perception. Delusions typically occur in the context of neurological or mental illness, although they are not tied to […]

By:

Psychology and Psychotherapy: Enablers of Bad Behavior? (Not!)

Does psychology undermine morality? The question is broad. The book on the subject is short. Pundit Mona Charen reviews it in National Review (April 20, 2015). She says, Yes. As a reflection of the research and outreach conducted by this foundation, since 1924, my different view follows…. Regarding Mona Charen’s review of Admirable Evasions: How Psychology […]

By:

When Your Spouse or Loved One May Be Struggling with Too Much Pornography: Some Facts

Facts: Pornography causes problems socially and individually; pornography cuts against Christian (and most religious) teaching; pornography is demeaning; pornography victimizes women or whoever is depicted. Pornography might properly be described as unfit for consumption…by anyone. Might the title of this blog be “When Your Wife Is a Pornography Addict?” or “When Your Husband Is a […]

By:

Psychiatric Patient Assaults on Healthcare Staff: A Worldwide Perspective

Dateline: Anywhere, Any Time The voice in Daniel’s head kept saying “The nurse is trying to kill you. The nurse is trying to kill you. The nurse is trying to kill you.” Daniel, a twenty-two-year-old patient with schizophrenic illness, became very frightened, then terrified, then explosively angry. “Time for medicines. Patients please come to the […]

By:
AMHF: Advancing Mental Health for 90 Years

The Fourth Annual Report of the American Mental Health Foundation

Following is the fourth Annual Report (November 1, 2013, to October 31, 2014) of The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF), a research organization formed in 1924, incorporated in New York State December 31, 1954. In 2014, AMHF celebrates ninety years of philanthropic service and activities—“Advancing Mental Health.” Vision: Building a More Compassionate Society—Get Involved! This […]

By:

Understanding Adam Lanza and the Newtown-Sandy Hook Mass Killings

A year-and-a-half following the horrible killings at the Sandy Hook, Connecticut, elementary school, we Americans are still searching our souls, trying to understand how this tragedy could happen, why it did, what might have been the warning signs before young Adam Lanza snapped. Journalist Andrew Solomon met with Adam’s father, Peter Lanza, over six gut-wrenching […]

By:

The New York Times and News Regarding the Brain on Any Given Day

One of the world’s largest publishing houses was named by co-founder Bennett Cerf Random House. The name describes the true nature of trade-book publishing. (In fact, one publisher goes one better, calling itself Serendipity Press.) It is an interesting word: Random. Many of a philosophic or theological disposition believe nothing in life occurs randomly: that […]

By:

Under the Auspices of AMHF: Early Identification and Prevention of Psychotic Disorders in Children and Youth

What follows is the up-to-the-minute report on the fundamental research project of AMHF and Astor Services for Children & Families 20-month Progress Report – June 9, 2014 Project Goal To design and implement an evaluation and intervention program for both children and adolescents at risk for psychotic disorders and their families. Youth identified as at […]

By:

Modern Pastoral Counseling

On our AMHF blogs we have tried to feature information about where the Venn diagrams of spirituality and counseling intersect. It seems peculiar that many religious people–from many religions–are reticent to link the spiritual resources and traditions of their faith with modern psychology and psychiatry. When people are depressed, psychotic, or anxious, there is a […]

By:

More on Privacy Laws and Violence

Today’s Washington Post offers yet another article on the effect of (often) well-meaning privacy laws when they are applied to potentially violent persons who are not following treatment guidelines or showing premonitory signs of becoming psychotic along with a chance of potential violence. Wide-ranging privacy laws came into effect under the Health Insurance Privacy and […]

By:

AMHF at BookExpo America

For three days last week American Mental Health Foundation Books shared a booth with its distributor, Lantern, at the annual BookExpo America—which is held at the Jacob Javits Center on New York City’s West Side. (New York remains the publishing capital of North America, even with the multitude of changes the industry has seen.) The […]

By:

Starting out with Schizophrenia

A feature story in today’s Washington Post, written by Stephanie McCrummen, offers an intensive look at the week of a 19-year-old man who, two years ago, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. It is the story of Spencer Haskell, and of his mom, Naomi, who has taken on the task of monitoring her son and making […]

By:

The Great Gatsby, Zelda Fitzgerald, and Craig House Hospital

This is the first weekend showing of a movie that filmgoers and literary lions alike have been waiting for: The Great Gatsby. Everyone and everything is enmeshed. There are affairs. Grand parties throw people who would not normally meet each other together. The excesses of the Jazz Age coexist with the growing economic conditions that […]

By:

Mental Illness and Churches

Newly minted pastor Ed Stetzer, writing in CNN.beliefnet, writes of his dealings with a man in his congregation. This person would often disappear for days at a time, and later Stetzer would hear that the fellow had spent hours praying the psalms. Later the man killed himself, leading Stetzer to reflect of aproaches churches could […]

By:

Books from Colleagues at ACA

Here are some worthwhile books that can be ordered from the American Counseling Association (ANA): 1. Hays, D. G. (2013). Assessment in Counseling: A Guide to the Use of Psychological Assessment Procedures. Fifth Edition. This is a bestselling text, and the latest version includes updates and changes in assessment procedures. Test selection, interpretation of findings, […]

By:

Harder than Reaching the Moon?

As Edward R. Murrow said, there are two sides to every story. Our previous probing into an increase and acceleration in funding for research into the brain waxed positively. A different viewpoint—now taken by major pharmaceutical industries—suggests that their interest in brain research is waning. Reuters reports the following: “Many pharmaceutical companies harbor deep doubts […]

By:

The Future, the Brain

President Barack Obama made headlines with his proposal to encourage American scientists to work toward understanding the great mysteries of the brain. Done as a massive project, this could rival past collective enterprises such as Getting a Man to the Moon; when President Kennedy suggested this, it took everyone’s breath away. It looked unattainable in […]

By:

Welcome Pope Francis

It is not inappropriate for an organization of American Mental Health Foundation—which serves persons of many nationalities and beliefs—to offer our best wishes for the Catholic Church’s new pontiff, Francis I. Sponsorship of mental health programs has been an important role of the Catholic Church in the USA. Many Catholic hospitals have included psychiatric units, […]

By:

Psychiatry Films from AMHF: “An Angel at My Table” (1990)

This is the thirteenth of twenty-one films in the series on psychiatry in film. The plot summary is provided by Judd Blaise Rovi. New Zealand poet Janet Frame is the subject of Jane Campion’s biographical drama, which presents a poetically evocative look at the author’s turbulent life. The film begins with Frame’s childhood, showing her […]

By:

AMA and New CPT Codes

Consumers of mental-health services may not realize the extensive system of codes that go into insurance billing and medical records, both for mental-health services and other medical services. For mental health, every person who receives insurance reimbursement receives a diagnostic code from the most current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, as […]

By:

Psychiatry Films from AMHF: “The Snake Pit” (1948)

I feel unusually close to The Snake Pit, personally, if not intimately and daily, working with one of the writers, Millen Brand, during my early days in book publishing. This, the tenth film out of twenty-one in the AMHF series, required significant research from the filmmakers in adapting an autobiographical novel by Jane Ward. The […]

By:
1 2