Mental Health on the PRMS Blog

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. While it is great to recognize and educate everyone on the issue of mental health, I want to take a moment to recognize and thank the psychiatrists and other mental health professionals for all they do under what can be very tough circumstances. My comments are focused on psychiatrists because my team of risk managers has the most interact ...

A few days ago, an Asiana Airlines 777 crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport.  The comments from the talking heads on TV as well as the general public were predictable: “How could an accident like this happen?” and “It’s a miracle that only two people out of the more than 300 aboard were killed” and “I’ll never feel safe flying again.”  Relatively few noted that i ...

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and unfortunately it’s starting on a somber note. I am not a regular reader of the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), but a report widely picked up by the popular press did catch my eye this week, and it’s essential reading for anyone working in behavioral healthcare (MMWR, May 3, 2013). The study a ...

For over 20 years, NAMI has deemed a week in October as Mental Illness Awareness Week. This year, it began October 7 and ends this weekend. I feel somewhat foolish highlighting this to the specialists who are at the forefront of dealing with the mentally ill and their families. Still, I would urge psychiatrists to check out NAMI’s website for some ideas about making sure that n ...