Recent posts

The Insatiable and Unknowable Anthony Bourdain

By drwong
June 15, 2018

The New York Times By Frank Bruni June 8, 2018           Anthony Bourdain devoured the world. That’s not hyperbole. It’s not even metaphor. There was no place that he wasn’t curious to explore, no food that he wasn’t determined to try, no cap on his hunger and no ceiling, or so...   read more


Kate Spade and the Illness Hidden With a Smile

By drwong
June 15, 2018

The New York Times By Daphne Merkin June 7, 2018             Suicide, no matter how well we know a person, usually comes as a shock, even a violation, putting the lie to our conviction that existence is to be cherished. The fact that taking one’s own life can exist on...   read more


APA Reacts to CDC Report on Uptick in Suicides Across United States

By drwong
June 15, 2018

American Psychiatric Association June 8, 2018           A report released yesterday by the CDC found suicides rates increased significantly in most states between 1999 and 2016, with 25 states experiencing increases of greater than 30%. The report also suggested that more than half of people who died by suicide did not have...   read more


Good luck, graduates. As you enter college, dream big, have fun, and don't be afraid to talk about mental illness

By drwong
June 15, 2018

Los Angeles Times By Robin Abcarian June 5, 2018             Hakeem Howard, a senior at Quince Orchard High School in suburban Maryland, was in his first-period class one morning listening to announcements when he heard that the school was looking for graduation speakers and valedictorians. Grade-wise, he told me, he...   read more


Firearm Seizure Laws Appear to Reduce Firearm-Related Suicides, Study Shows

By drwong
June 13, 2018

American Psychiatric Association June 5, 2018           States that have laws allowing police to temporarily seize firearms from people deemed to be at risk of danger to self or others have experienced a decrease in the number of suicides involving firearms, according to a report in Psychiatric Services in Advance. In recent years,...   read more


APA Cautions Against Policy Separating Children From Parents at Border

By drwong
June 2, 2018

American Psychiatric Association May 31, 2018             APA is urging an immediate halt to a new Trump administration policy that separates children from their parents at the U.S. border. “As physician experts in mental health, the American Psychiatric Association opposes any policy that separates children from their parents at the...   read more


In Elderly Hands, Firearms Can Be Even Deadlier

By drwong
May 29, 2018

The New York Times By Paula Span May 25, 2018             Barbara Herrington, a geriatric care manager in Polk County, Fla., was calling on a 72-year-old woman with dementia and a long history of alcoholism. Ms. Herrington knew her client would be angry that morning. Her daughter had taken the car...   read more


APA President Goes to Hill to Urge Provision of MH Services to Incarcerated Individuals

By drwong
May 28, 2018

American Psychiatric Association May 24, 2018             More than 2 million times every year, individuals with serious mental illness are arrested. Moreover, more than half a million people with serious mental illness are incarcerated at any given time. In fact, 44% of jail inmates and 37% of state and federal...   read more


Trying to Put a Value on the Doctor-Patient Relationship

By drwong
May 25, 2018

In its push for profits, the U.S. health care system has made it difficult for patients to get personal attention from doctors. But what if hands-on medicine actually saves money and lives? New York Times By Kim Tingley May 16, 2018 In October 2014, my father was startled to receive a letter announcing the retirement,...   read more


Mental Illness, Civil Liberty, and Common Sense

By drwong
May 25, 2018

Psychiatric Times By Allen Frances, MD and Mark L. Ruffalo, LCSW May 3, 2018           COMMENTARY Dr. Frances is former Chair and Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Duke University. He was the Chair of the DSM-IV Task Force. Mr. Ruffalo is Affiliate Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Adjunct Instructor of Social...   read more