In October 2016, a resident in New York City (NYC) called 911 stating that their neighbor, Ms. Deborah Danner, was acting “erratic”, by yelling and screaming. The NY Police Department sent over an officer…
Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch philosopher, describes the principle which is at the core of modern medicine: preventing an illness, called primary prevention, is better than curing an illness once it has begun, called secondary prevention…
Structural Racism and Health: How Communities Promote Equity and Healing. The symposium includes a poster gallery and featured two speakers, Reverend Liz Walker and Michael Curry, Esq. Watch the recorded symposium and view posters using the following link…
My turn to get vaccinated finally came on a Thursday in early January.
As a psychiatrist at MGH working with patients with serious mental illnesses, I had provided in-person care throughout the pandemic, with anxiety about getting infected myself mostly in the beginning when we were still sorting out infection control measures…
One way or the other, the COVID 19 vaccine is on peoples’ minds. Should I or shouldn’t I? If not now, when? Is it safe or is it not? Is it safe for some but not for others?
For me, the decision came relatively easily- I’d been getting vaccines and boosters all my life with no ill effects. Statistically speaking, my age and health conditions put me in a “higher risk” category for contracting COVID…
Substance use problems, including alcohol and drug misuse, are much more common in people with mental health challenges than in the general population. For example, about 50% of people with serious mental health challenges experience problematic substance use at some point in their lives, compared to only about 15% of people without a mental health condition. Why are the rates of substance use problems so much higher in people with a mental health condition?…
“Two weeks after the COVID-19 physical distancing guidelines were implemented in Massachusetts, I found myself in pajamas and realized that I had fallen into a slump with my wellness on the line. Recognizing the need to better take care of myself, I finally decided to reach out to my recovery community both for personal support and to better understand the impact that this pandemic was having others…
“Essentially overnight, my kitchen table became my office. During the COVID-19 pandemic, my practice as a Fellow in Public and Community Psychiatry at the North Suffolk Mental Health Freedom Trail Clinic, a community mental health center, has shifted from 100% in-person visits to conducting nearly all appointments by telephone…
For the past 15 years, the MGH Schizophrenia Program has hosted an annual Public Education Day for individuals with lived experience and their families. Without a doubt, the most popular component of this event that has been a panel of 3-4 people with lived experience talking about their recovery. This positive reception and my own reactions over the years as a clinician to hearing about and witnessing the journey from struggling to recovery has made me reflect on the function of recovery stories…
“I am a single mom, artist, and consumer of a broken mental healthcare system for over 40 years. Most of my life, I struggled with extreme emotional states, severe mood fluctuations, suicidal thoughts, unusual experiences, and the side effects of a myriad of psychiatric medications…
