Every time a tragic event occurs I receive a call form someone in authority and am asked if I, or a team of my colleagues, can provide some psychological help. Whether the events are local (the suicide of a patient, the collapse of a highway overpass, the accidental death of a circus performer) or international [...]
Category Archives: Mental health
I get bad thoughts
Every once in a while, very unpleasant or disturbing thoughts come into my head. Since there are many of them, it begs the question, “Am I one disturbed human whack-o?” Although some people might think I am, I believe I am relatively normal (“relatively” being the operative word here). What I am referring to are thoughts [...]
The rising tide of dementia
January is Alzheimer’s awareness month. Last week, media picked up on some alarming reports about the rising social and financial impact of dementias. As the popularion ages, it is estimated that within 30 years one person in Canada will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or other form of dementia every two minutes. Currently the rate is one every five minutes. [...]
H1N1: From frenzy to complacency to frenzy
Human beings are an odd lot. We like to have things simple and clear – (Which is the best hospital? Which is the greatest band of all time?) Unfortunately, despite our desire for black and white answers, our world is hopelessly grey. The current wave of frenzy over the H1N1 virus highlights what happens when [...]
Great Canadian literature?
Hi Folks. Back from vacation. It was nice acting like a kid again (outside most days riding my bike, playing golf, or kayaking). After throwing in plenty of quality time with the family and significant stretches of time spent sitting around scratching my a**, it was perfect. I’ll keep this post brief. I just wanted [...]
A shrink’s take on shrinks
In my April 14 column, I decided to try to answer a question that I get asked on a regular basis. What makes a good shrink? (Source: À la recherche d’un bon psy. Journal Métro, April 14, 2009) Whenever I meet with high school students about careers in psychology I always get asked the same question: [...]
Teen mental health
I just added a new link in the section “Some links” entitled Teen Mental Health. It is a great resource on a wide range of issues in adolescent mental health. The blog is written by Dr. Stan Kutcher, and its purpose is to “share scientifically-validated information about adolescent mental health to advance the understanding of [...]
Lobotomies: The cutting edge of madness
At the end of this month, the Douglas Institute will be hosting its third annual Mini-Psych School. I won’t be giving a presentation this year but I have the honour of hosting. The previous years focussed on providing an overview of mental illnesses. As a change of pace this time, we decided to explore some [...]
My life and my brain
OK, so my good friend, and fellow Douglas Institute blogger, Joe Rochford (The Rochford Files), has decided to write about some of the discussions we have had in the past. It seems that in between conversations about Bob Dylan, particle physics, and unpleasant bodily functions, we occasionally touched on questions of mental illness (what are [...]
Mental illness discussed with class and a human touch
If you want a real sense of what it is like to be afflicted with a mental illness, I strongly suggest you check out a website called Breakdown put together by The Globe and Mail. It provides a clear and very human portrait of how lives are affected by schizophrenia, anxiety and depression. In reading [...]
