John Nash, Nobel prize winner, genius mathematician had Schizophrenia. He was played by

Russell Crowe in  the movie about his life  ” A Beautiful Mind”.

Question & Answer Post

Question

My whole family is very upset. My 19 year old brother is in the hospital. He can home from his freshman year at college and was acting very strange. He talks to himself and makes weird movements with his hands. My mother and I met with his psychiatrist who said my brother has schizophrenia and both positive and negative symptoms. Can you explain the difference between these? He gave some examples but I still don’t understand.

I am a great believer in the power of empathy, and view it as number one communication skill.

I really enjoyed this article that theorizes (not proves) that empathy can make people look alike, especially those that love one another.

I wanted to share it with you because it is an uplifting fun to read piece, take a look.

It makes sense to me, any opinions or comments?

Helping Professionals Especially Women, Must Learn to Take Care of Themselves.

This is much easier to say then do! Although there are more men in the helping professions today, in nursing and social work the vast majority are still women.

Womens’ Sense of self is Often One of Caretaker and Nurturer, and Society Enforces This View.

Nurturing and care taking have long been associated with women in general, and nurses and social workers in particular. Empathy is a mainstay of the helping professions, particularly the “women’s professions” such as nursing and social work. Nurturance has historically been intertwined with, and seen as a major function of nursing. Nursing has been called the “practice of professional nurturing”.

Vincent Van Gogh, believed to have Bipolar I Disorder

Questions by Readers.

Dear Dr Duffy,

I am confused about my daughters illness. She is in a residential treatment facility and we have had a terrible time trying to control her. She has been given a number of different diagnoses including Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder. My question is, is Bipolar and Schizophrenia the same. She seem to have many symptoms that could be either. How do the doctors know the difference between these illnesses? She is on many medications and although she is calmer I am still not able to control her at home. I don’t know what to do.

Today The World Lost a Caring Man Way Too Soon.

Michael White formalized and introduced the idea of using storytelling as healing in psychotherapy. He introduced the idea of Narrative Therapy to many professionals who needed to be reminded of the power of stories and the importance of helping patients tell their stories in a therapeutic way. Of course people have also been telling their stories to therapists for a long time. The stories of their lives, of their pain and joys and of their healing.

The old saying goes that money can’t buy happiness.

Some don’t seem to agree. Some recent work from the Brookings Institute and from Harvard seem to question this old addage. An article in the NY Times recently discussed this issue and gives links to research that is beginning to question this old addage. There is also some recent research telling us that giving your money away makes you happy