« March 2006 | Main | May 2006 »

April 07, 2006

Edgar Wiggins Wins MFP Outstanding Merit Award

The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry announces that Mr. Edgar K. Wiggins was chosen to receive its 2006 Outstanding Merit Award. Mr. Wiggins is Executive Director of Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc., a comprehensive, psychiatric crisis service that provides mobile crisis services, community-based crisis residential alternatives, community-based addictions treatment services and a hotline counseling and referral service.

There were several nominees of high quality, making this a very difficult decision. The board was particularly impressed with Mr. Wiggins's work creating videotaped programs that have aired on Baltimore Cable Access and Comcast’s Education Channel; participating in live radio talk shows including Two Way Talk, Fresh Focus and The Mark Steiner Show; and giving public presentations to a variety of audiences from university to police, clergy and families. His efforts actively promote mental illness awareness and de-stigmatize mental illness. The board also valued his outreach to the minority community.

The award will be presented to Mr. Wiggins at the Maryland Psychiatric Society annual meeting on April 27, 2006.

The annual Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry Outstanding Merit Award recognizes a worthy endeavor in Maryland that accomplishes one or more of the following:

• Increases public awareness and understanding of mental illness
• Enhances the quality of care for psychiatric illness
• Reduces the stigma of mental illness

The award carries a $500 prize.

Posted by admin at 11:30 AM

April 06, 2006

Insomnia and Depression

QUESTION:
Can Insomnia be a sign of depression?

ANSWER:
Absolutely yes! Insomnia is a prominent part of the syndrome of clinical depression. Most typically it involves awakening in the morning before you'd like to and being unable to get back to sleep. Sometimes it also involves difficulty falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night unable to get back to sleep, or less commonly -- sleeping too much.

When a patient comes to any doctor, he or she usually comes with a symptom; say "cough", or "insomnia." Its the job of the doctor to look at the company which this symptom keeps, in order to discern a syndrome -- or pattern of other symptoms. Cough, for example, may keep company with other symptoms like fever, or stuffy nose, or chest pain. Depending on the other symptoms, the fever could be the tip of the iceberg (or, as we say in medicine, the "presenting symptom") of any number of syndromes -- bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia, lung cancer, etc. The process of sorting this out in clinical medicine is called: a "differential diagnosis."

Insomnia may be part of a variety of different syndromes, some medical, some psychiatric. So, its important to get it checked out. However, when it keeps company with some of the following symptoms, it is part of the syndrome known as "clinical depression:'

• low mood or irritable mood
• a change in appetite (up or down),
• a change in weight (up or down)
• a loss of interest in sex
• low energy
• difficulty concentrating
• negative thoughts about one's self
• hopelessness
• feelings of helplessness or ineffectiveness
• blunted ability to experience pleasure in things that used to be pleasurable
• thoughts of giving up on life
• unexplained physical problems (bowel, back, headache)

This syndrome is pretty common. In fact, its one of the most important, and most treable , causes of insomnia. If this syndrome is present, merely using medication for sleep is NOT ENOUGH. It needs more extensive and more specific treatment.

The good news is that this syndrome, clinical depression, once identified is VERY treatable. The experts in treating it are psychiatrists who may use medication, or talk therapy, or often a combination of both, to treat it. Primary care physicians actually treat most of the simple cases --since there are far more of them than there are psychiatrists.

Whatever kind of doctor you go to, if you are having insomnia, get it checked out. Get a "differential diagnosis" and state-of-the-art treatment for whatever syndrome it represents.

Do you have a question you would like to ask? Choose "Ask The Doctor" under Features in the column to the right!

Posted by admin at 10:58 AM

April 05, 2006

Psychoanalytic Film Discussion Series

A series of film screenings followed by discussions, "Close-ups: Psychoanalysts Look at Film," will be at the Baltimore Museum of Art 7:30 p.m. May 5, 12, 19, and 26. The discussants will focus on the human motivations which are depicted in the films, expanding and enriching the viewers' experience. The audience will be encouraged to participate in the discussions.

The schedule is as follows:

May 5: The House of Sand and Fog. This is a dark film that has the feel of a Greek tragedy. Stunning acting performances by Ben Kingley and Jennifer Connelly enhance its power. The traumas of immigration, loss of status, and failures of communication are explored.
Discussant: Robert Lessey, M.D.

May 12: Regarding Henry. Slowly recovering from a coma after being shot in the head, Henry (Harrison Ford) must learn to speak, to walk. and to relate to his wife and daughter whom he no longer recognizes. Prior to his injury Henry was a cold driven lawyer. He gradually changes in response to the love and care of his therapists and his wife. Mike Nichols was the director.
Discussant: Barbara Young, M.D.

May 19: Paperhouse. Eleven year old Anna has feverish dreams after she comes down with infectious mononucleosis. Her dreams evocatively represent the conflicts of a girl's preadolescence-both internal conflicts and those between her and her parents. This British film is a penetrating psychologic study.
Discussant: George Gallahorn, M.D.

May 26: Sideways. Miles and Jack, friends since college, are now middle aged and and confronted with unfulfilled ambitions. Jack is about to get married, and they decide to take a last fling trip to the wine country of California. Both follow their obsessions - Miles with quaffing wine, and Jack with bedding women. Both are defending against depression and anxiety. Their relationship with each other and the two women they meet on their trip form the basis for this very human comedy noir.
Discussant: Joseph Bierman, M.D.

Further information, including information about ticket puchasing, can be obtained by phoning the Baltimore-Washington Center for Psychoanalysis, 410-792-8060 or 301-470-3706.

Related Links:

The House of Sand and Fog: Website and Trailer
Regarding Henry: Website and Trailer
Sideways: Website and Trailer

Posted by admin at 06:09 PM