Politics, COVID & Destigmatizing Mental Health Care
As I discussed in my last post, the New Year is a time of transition and this year a large collective transition includes the inauguration of a new U.S president. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is working with the new administration to help advance mental health.
To that end, my colleague Rebecca Brendel, MD, JD, DFAPA is running for APA president and has experience working with other psychiatric organizations to further the advancement of mental health. I have known Dr. Brendel for 15 years in the context of American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL). I have no doubt that APA needs Rebecca Brendel’s steady and skilled leadership in these turbulent times.
A forensic and clinical psychiatrist, lawyer, and leader in medical ethics, Becca is a principled and skilled consensus-builder with experience in leadership in organized psychiatry and medicine, clinical programs, education, and academia. She is exactly the leader that APA needs at this time to bring psychiatry through its current challenges into a healthier post-pandemic future alongside our other medical colleagues. For more information, please visit her website. She would also be delighted to hear from you directly at rebeccabrendelforapa@gmail.com.
Dr. Brendel shares my passion for destigmatizing mental illness and emphasizing that mental health is something that is important for everyone, not just people with severe symptoms. (Read more about the media’s portrayal of those with mental health issues.) This is especially important right now during the pandemic, as there is new evidence that shows mental health complications for people suffering from COVID. This recent New York Times article explains how a small number of patients with COVID develop psychotic symptoms (such as having elaborate delusions and hearing voices) and can remain psychotic weeks after developing the virus. Although it is rare, cases have been reported around the world.
Less rare is the complication of anxiety that has been seen with COVID, both for people that have contracted the virus and for those who worry about contracting it and worry for their loved ones. It is important that the APA and other mental health organizations continue to work with Washington DC toward parity for mental health and to destigmatize mental health issues and treatment so that people can attain the help that they need.