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August 11, 2005

Former Gold Olympist Discusses Depression Battle

Psychiatric News, the Newspaper of the American Psychiatric Association, recently published coverage of a discussion between Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis and former APA President Mary Jane England, M.D., at the American Psychiatric Foundation's fourth annual "Conversations" event held at APA's 2005 annual meeting in Atlanta. The two discussed Louganis's history of depression, substance abuse, abusive relationships, and HIV infection.

While not in-depth, the article reports the basic things which drove Louganis' depression, his coping mechanism, and how he spends his time today speaking to youth groups, drug and alcohol rehabilitation groups, and organizations that help people with dyslexia.

Related Link:

"Former Olympic Gold Medalist Discusses Battle With Depression", Psychiatric News, July 8, 2005, Volume 40, Number 14

Posted by admin at 09:28 AM

August 03, 2005

Don't Forget Our Survey!

We continue to collect information through our Site Usage Survey. We've added a comments field to it, as well, for any general comments you might have. You can take the survey here (also linked to the right in our Features sidebar).

If you have already taken the survey but would like to add some comments or suggestions about the site, feel free to use the form on our Contact page.

Thank you!

Posted by admin at 04:56 PM

Ask The Doctor Feature Added

The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry has added a new "Ask The Doctor" feature to the website. Now you can ask questions and professionals in the field will provide answers or suggestions about how to approach the situation. The service is intended solely for informational purposes and not as a substitute for routine or urgent medical evaluation, treatment or consultation.

A form for entering questions you might have, as well as a listing of previous questions we've answered can be found here. A link is also provided to the left in our "Features" sidebar.

Posted by admin at 04:50 PM

SAMPLE QUESTION

QUERY?
I have a friend who was hospitalized. When visiting someone who is having a break from reality ("they are trying to get me...") do I play along with the fantasy or do I correct the person: "No there is no one out there doing that".

ANSWER:
It is frequently useless to correct the person and tedious to listen endlessly to the repetition of the same fantasy. You can often change the subject to something more immediate, e.g. "Food OK?", "Making friends?", "Plans when you leave?", etc. Patients often are not able to tolerate visitors for very long periods of time during the acute turmoil and it is usually best to keep the visits short until the person reintegrates more and can carry on a conversation. The patient needs to be in control of who they see and when.

Posted by admin at 12:33 PM

August 02, 2005

Contact Us

If you have questions about what you find on this site or other general queries, you may write, phone, email, or use the form below:

Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry, Inc.

1101 Saint Paul Street, Suite 305

Baltimore, MD 21202-6407

Tel: 410-625-0232

Fax: 410-625-0277

Or CLICK HERE to use a form.

Posted by admin at 12:50 PM

Support and Donations

With the help of your contributions, the Foundation continues in its efforts to destigmatize and demystify mental illness. The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry is a tax deductable 501c3 organization. Contributions may be sent to:

Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry, Inc.

1101 Saint Paul Street, Suite 305

Baltimore, MD 21202-6407

Tel: 410-625-0232

Fax: 410-625-0277

email: mdpsych@mdpsychfoundation.org

Contributions of $150.00 or more are eligible to receive a free videotape of
"The Building of a Sanctuary" (click here) or a free DVD of Dr. Richard
Kogan's "Life and Works of Robert Schumann" (see below and here for info on a past Gershwin program).

2004 highlights, many covered elsewhere on this website but summarized here, include the following:

• In May our first Outstanding Merit Award was presented to the Office of
  Consumer Advocates (OCA) at the MPS annual meeting. The $500 award is for an organization or person who has made a worthy effort to carry out the goals of the foundation. The OCA is an organization of volunteers serving Western Maryland, many of whom have utilized mental health services in the past. They actively promote mental illness awareness and advocate for resources for specific patients.
• On October 2nd we co-sponsored, with the Maryland Psychiatric Society, "Music and The Mind: George Gershwin" by Richard Kogan, M.D. at Goucher College's Kraushaar Auditorium. This excellent lecture and piano performance was well attended. There were many non-mental health professionals in the audience, which is the group we want to reach. The foundation produced and funded several announcements about this program on WBJC. We also sold DVDs of Dr. Kogan's Schumann program, which we co-sponsored here in 2002.

Posted by admin at 11:25 AM

About the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry, Inc.

The Foundation is organized for educational and charitable purposes:

• to increase public awareness of the signs of psychiatric illness, the availability and methods of treatment, and sources of assistance for the mentally ill;
• to enhance the quality of assistance to the psychiatric patient, particularly by improving access to care, improving conditions in hospitals, mental health care and other facilities, and changing perceptions of mental illness;
• to support research to improve care for the psychiatric patient;
• to remove any stigma of mental illness which may inhibit or prevent proper care through educational and public service activities; and
• to serve as a clearinghouse for information about all aspects of psychiatry and as a bridge between psychiatric medicine and the general public.

Officers of the Foundation:

Honorary Directors

• Eugene B. Brody, M.D.
• Jerome D. Frank, M.D. *
• Riva Novey, M.D. **
• Clarence G. Schulz, M.D.
• Walter Weintraub, M.D.

Officers

• Jonas R. Rappeport, M.D. — President
• Neil E. Warres, M.D. — Vice-President
• Thomas E. Allen, M.D. — Secretary/Treasurer

Board of Directors

• Mrs. Carol I. Allen
• Joseph S. Bierman, M.D.
• Joanna Brandt. M.D.
• John W. Buckley, M.D.
• Steven F. Crawford, M.D.
• Leonard J. Hertzberg, M.D.
• Mark S. Komrad, M.D.
• Leon A. Levin, M.D.
• Robert P. Roca, M.D., M.P.H.
• Lex B. Smith, M.D
• Edgar Wiggins
• William C. Wimmer, M.D.

* deceased - see obituary
** deceased - see obituary

Posted by admin at 09:24 AM