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 Lomke
The 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
Both AMHF and the World Health Organization (WHO) recognize the crippling effect of mental illness. In their report “The Global Burden of Disease,” C. J. L. Murray and A. D. Lopez emphasize that 8 of the 10 leading causes of disability in the developed countries are mental illness. These include: (1) Major Depressive Disorders (2) […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
The American Mental Health Foundation takes no official position on the SAT. We do, however, recognize the tremendous anxiety it engenders. As in many areas related to mental health, knowing something about the history gives us greater awareness of how current practices developed. You will see how this bit of history offers a lesson to […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Each year, hew children with disabilities enter the school system; and each year students who are already enrolled in school become newly diagnosed with a disability. The Individual Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) lists different types of problems experienced by children aged three to twenty-one, and offers services for these children that are paid for by […]
By:
William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
“There’s no art / To find the mind’s construction in the face.” (Macbeth)
By:
Evander Lomke
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