By Bruce Hershfield, MD
[Summer 2007; Vol. 33, No. 3; Pg. 6-9]
On April 26th,
at the Pikesville Hilton, the MPS held its annual meeting to install its new
officers, to honor the 2007 recipient of its Lifetime of Service award, and to
listen to a presentation by Dr. Philip S. Wang of NIMH.
The evening began with Dr. Jonas R. Rappeport
giving the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry’s Outstanding Merit Award to Ms.
Mary DeFeo of the Bowie Therapeutic Nursery.
The nursery uniquely provides milieu therapy and psychiatric rehab
services to emotionally disturbed preschoolers in an educational setting.
William G. Prescott, MD, the 2006-7 MPS
President, then recognized the outgoing Committee Chairs and installed Dr.
Steven F. Crawford as the new President. Dr.
Prescott summarized the year’s activities, which included finding a new
Executive Director and forging closer relationships with Med-Chi and with the
Suburban Maryland chapter of the Washington Psychiatric Society.
He also mentioned the formation of the Early Career Psychiatrists
Committee and the APA grant to help integrate them into the MPS.
Dr. Crawford gave Dr. Prescott a Southwest Airlines voucher as a token of
the society’s appreciation for all that he has done, then told the audience
about how the committees work to carry out the five “core values” of the
society. These are advocacy,
communication, collaboration, education, and professionalism. “The society
continues to be innovative, while maintaining its traditions and adhering to its
bylaws,” he told us. He went on to address the crisis of “limited access”,
pointing out that more than one-third of American psychiatrists do not
participate on any managed care panels. We
must champion change, he urged us–-“We must develop a strategy to speak for
our members and our patients.”
It was then time for Dr. Crawford to introduce
this year’s winner of the Lifetime of Service Award, Dr. Mayer C. Liebman,
who, Dr. Crawford pointed out, personifies the five core values.
He mentioned Dr. Liebman’s role as Chair of the Legislative Committee
and of the PAC, his faculty positions at Johns Hopkins, the University of
Maryland, and Sheppard-Pratt, and his reputation as the Baltimore County Medical
Association’s “psychiatrist in residence”. He finished by relating some
stories psychiatrists tell about his many kindnesses towards us and towards the
community.
Dr. Liebman then
thanked the MPS for the award and spoke about the early influences that
convinced him to volunteer and to “do it right”.
His clinical perspective has changed with the years, he explained, and he
now appreciates how patients have to practice “self-treatment” in-between
their sessions, for example, exercising, meditating, and participating in some
sort of spiritual practice–-to not only understand themselves, but to reach
outside themselves.
Because Dr. Thomas Insel could not come to
give his scheduled talk, Dr. Philip S. Wang of NIMH graciously gave his
presentation, “Economic Burdens from Depression & the Cost-Effectiveness
of Treatment”. Because depression
is so common, it affects work performance, and because it’s often poorly
treated, it presents an economic burden for the country.
Mood disorder is the most common reason for people to seek treatment, he
pointed out, yet it still takes about 10 years before sufferers get to someone
who could help them. “Is enhancing
treatment for depression cost-effective?”
Dr. Wang asked, then he posed another question--”Could you actually
‘make’ money for employers by getting effective treatment for their
depressed workers?” In an NIMH/Harvard study of 605 depressed workers (out of
150,000 employees), the one-half who got 12 months of telephonic management did
better than those who simply got “traditional” care.
They kept their jobs more, worked more hours, and had less severity of
depression. The researchers concluded that the cumulative savings in a 5-year
period, from the employer’s perspective, amounted to $2898 per patient.
Meeting with colleagues in a delightful
setting, honoring one of our best, and learning about how psychiatric treatment
can positively influence the lives of American workers made it a full and
enjoyable evening.