PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Mark S. Komrad, MD, is an award-winning (Mental Health Professional of the Year Award from NAMI Baltimore) psychiatrist on the teaching staff of Johns Hopkins, as well as the director of clinical ethics at the prestigious Baltimore-based Sheppard Pratt hospital, where he teaches psychiatric residents. Dr. Komrad has over 25 years of experience providing treatment as well as consulting those struggling to convince a reluctant loved one to get professional help. He appears regularly on public radio, television and has had numerous articles and columns published in professional journals, newspapers, and on mental health websites. Dr. Komrad lives in Towson, Maryland.
Helping someone to get a proper assessment by meeting with a mental health professional is vital, even blessed work. I believe this book can help you do that work. --Rosalynn Carter, former First Lady of the United States My family did a fantastic job with handling the challenge of being related to me, but I think it would have made their burden much lighter if they had had a book like this. --Carrie Fisher, author and actress Dr. Komrad's book is an important, much-needed reference for those seeking to build a life of recovery. In this book he offers the necessary toolbox to protect loved ones from the burden and suffering of mental health illnesses and to ensure proper treatment and diagnosis. --Patrick J. Kennedy, former member of Congress, author of the Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity Act of 2008, co-founder of One Mind for Research You Need Help is clearly on-target in answering the question that repeatedly surfaces during our contacts with hundreds of people who are desperately seeking to help a relative or close friend suffering from an apparent mental illness. Far too often we are told of someone's loved one who struggles with frightening erratic feelings or behaviors and has rejected seeing a mental health professional for diagnosis, claiming that 'I'm not sick, you are!' Against the backdrop of out-of-control emotions, the family frequently experiences the chilling and paralyzing fear of threatened or imminent suicide, should they intervene with expectations for psychiatric care. And so it was heartwarming to read through the contents of You Need Help which is replete with descriptive examples and step-by-step suggestions offering a rich, thorough and caring guide of options available to caregivers. The reader is empowered and informed on several pathways leading to competent care. This book will be included on our recommended resource list for both its thoroughness in providing critical answers and also for its message of hope for families and sufferers of a mental illness. Dr. Komrad's Hippocrates quotation, 'diagnosis is half the cure' is both relevant and exquisitely timeless. --Diane and Jim Hall, NAMI and NEA.BPD Family Educators How do I get my child, spouse/friend to see someone? This is the most common question psychiatrists hear from families. I recommend this book to all of you in this predicament. --J. Raymond DePaulo, Jr., MD, Henry Phipps Professor and director, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins Hospital This is an authoritative and smart guide for the perplexed in need of care written by an experienced clinician and teacher. --Steven S. Sharfstein, MD, clinical professor of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland
