NYAPRS Note: Harvey Rosenthal recently spoke at an Institute of Medicine Conference dedicated to the concept of mental health and violence, along with Dan Fisher, Elyn Saks, and Bob Bernstein. His remarks focused on early intervention and prevention, as well as finding practical recovery-oriented solutions for every person struggling with mental health issues no matter their diagnosis or situation. Harvey highlighted the studies that indicate that persons with diagnoses are far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of it, and questioned why that wasn’t the subject of dialogue at events like this one. These remarks were well received, and he continued the conversations about finding solutions to stigmatization, criminalization, and victimization with members of the panel. See the links below to view his and the other presentations from the conference.
IOM Conference on Mental Health and Violence Features Peers
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) is the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences and has worked since 1970 “to help those in government and the private sector make informed health decisions by providing evidence upon which they can rely.” Accordingly, “The IOM asks and answers the nation’s most pressing questions about health and health care.”
On February 26-7, the IOM sponsored a ‘workshop’ on Mental Health and Violence with the goal of “laying the foundation for progress in improving outcomes with respect to mental health and violence embodied in research, policy change, and program development.”
As product of the workshop, a peer-reviewed workshop summary will be produced and published by the National Academies Press in approximately 6 months. This workshop summary will include a rapportuer authored summary of the workshop proceedings that highlights the key messages that arose during the two-day event.
One of the panel presentations was entitled “Experiences and Perspectives Related to Mental Health and Violence” and featured Drs. Dan Fisher and Elyn Saks, the Bazelon Center’s Bob Bernstein and NYAPRS’ Harvey Rosenthal.
This session included “experiences and perspectives of mental health or violence, including stigma, victimization and vulnerability, and media depictions of the relationship between mental illness and violence.
See videos of the presentations below:
http://iom.edu/Activities/Global/ViolenceForum/2014-FEB-26/Day%201/Panel%201/15-Fisher-Video.aspx
http://iom.edu/Activities/Global/ViolenceForum/2014-FEB-26/Day%201/Panel%201/16-Saks-Video.aspx
http://iom.edu/Activities/Global/ViolenceForum/2014-FEB-26/Day%201/Panel%201/18-Rosenthal-Video.aspx
http://iom.edu/Activities/Global/ViolenceForum/2014-FEB-26/Day%201/Panel%201/19-Bernstein-Video.aspx