APA Blogs
24 Results
Mental Health Effects of the War in Palestine and Israel
- By APA Global Mental Health Caucus Work Group
The war in Palestine and Israel has destroyed and imperiled the lives and the mental and physical health of Palestinians, Israelis, and others in the region. We express deep compassion for all those who are suffering as well as alarm for the future psychological and behavioral consequences that will affect the people caught in this conflict. The magnitude of death, destruction, and violence threatens to destabilize the region and has sent shock waves around the world, affecting many of us in our own communities.
Mental Health Equity Champion Spotlight: Mary Hasbah Roessel, M.D.
Welcome to Women’s History Month. This month, we highlight a phenomenal mental health equity champion, Mary Hasbah Roessel, M.D. Dr. Roessel is a Navajo psychiatrist and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). She shares her experience on how to infuse cultural considerations of Indigenous peoples into psychiatric treatment.
New Podcast Features Conversations with Leading Women Psychiatrists
The field of psychiatry has greatly benefited from the contributions of women, who have played a crucial role in advancing research and clinical practice. Women psychiatrists have made significant strides in understanding mental illnesses and developing effective treatments. One such pioneer is Helen Mayberg, M.D., whose groundbreaking work on deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression has transformed the field. Nada Stotland, M.D., a former president of the APA, is another remarkable trailblazer who has played an instrumental role in advocating for policy changes that reduce stigma and improve access to mental health care. There are countless women like Dr. Mayberg and Dr. Stotland who have furthered the field of psychiatry in so many ways.
Black History Month: Dr. James Comer on Co-Founding the Black Psychiatrists of America
“I didn’t plan to become a psychiatrist,” said James P. Comer, M.D., M.P.H., the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center. “It was the only thing in medical school that I said I would never do – public health was the other – and I ended up doing both. As I worked, I began to see that the individuals were being impacted by history, by political economics and social conditions that they have little control over, and that impacted the ability of families to function, the ability to rear their children well, the ability to participate and feel belonging in society – and that was related to racism.
Helping Patients Cope with Emotional Reactions to Climate Change: Advice for Mental Health Clinicians
- By Elizabeth Haase, M.D.
Climate change is not easy for the human mind to understand. It has qualities, like its enormous scale, complexity and uncertainty, that make it hard to comprehend. Greenhouse gases are invisible, and what is happening on one part of the planet is not happening on another: you can’t “see” it.