Positive Psychiatry: Promoting Well-Being

Positive psychiatry focuses on the positive aspects of mental health. It is defined as the “science and practice of psychiatry that focuses on the study and promotion of mental health and well-being through enhancement of positive psychosocial factors,” in a recent special report in Psychiatric News by former APA President Dilip V. Jeste, M.D. As Dr. Jeste notes, while about 20% of people are affected by mental disorders, “100% of people have mental health including some positive traits. Positive psychiatry is an approach to mental health that can speak to everyone with or without a psychiatric disorder.”

Struggling with Screen Time: A Look at Internet Use Disorders

• By John A. Fromson, M.D.
• Addiction, Patients and Families

Internet use disorders are a growing concern in today’s technology-driven society, marked by excessive and compulsive use of the internet, leading to negative consequences in various aspects of an individual's life. Online activities of concern include overuse of social media sites, gaming, gambling, problematic use of online pornography, and other digital platforms. This is a global phenomenon affecting individuals of all ages

How to Discuss Controversial Issues with Your Mental Health in Mind

• Healthy living for mental well-being, Patients and Families

As elections, wars, and other controversial events and issues swirl in the news feeds and on social media, you may have strong viewpoints and feel passionately about a cause. You will also encounter people who have an opposing view to yours — in your family, at work or school, on social media or somewhere else in your life.

Pets and Mental Health: 2024 Social Media Toolkit

• Healthy living for mental well-being, Patients and Families, Public awareness

We're back again! March is here, and so is #Paws4MentalHealth, celebrating the mental health impact of our cats, dogs and other furry (and not furry) friends. Join the movement and take a "paws" in your day to share how your pets positively influence your well-being. Let's make this a month to remember! #Paws4MentalHealth

Black History Month: Dr. James Comer on Co-Founding the Black Psychiatrists of America

• APA Leadership, Diverse populations

“I didn’t plan to become a psychiatrist,” said James P. Comer, M.D., M.P.H., the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center. “It was the only thing in medical school that I said I would never do – public health was the other – and I ended up doing both. As I worked, I began to see that the individuals were being impacted by history, by political economics and social conditions that they have little control over, and that impacted the ability of families to function, the ability to rear their children well, the ability to participate and feel belonging in society – and that was related to racism.