arts & entertainment

Navigating The Mental-Health Care Maze

In a new book, psychiatrist advises patients and their families.

L

I

Suzanne Chessler

Contributing Writer

Loyd Sederer, medical director of
New York State's Office of Mental
Health, has built a long career in
working with psychiatric patients, their
families, the medical community and a
wider public.
One missing resource has been a com-
prehensive reference for families stressed by
loved ones confronting emotional difficulties,
and he wants to correct that with his new
book, The Family Guide to Mental Health
Care (WW. Norton & Company; $25.95).
Sederer, who also has practiced psychia-
try in rural areas (alternative service as a
conscientious objector during Vietnam),
will discuss the content of the book when
he appears at the JCC Jewish Book Fair at
11:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 15, at the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield.
"When I started to write the book, I
wanted it to be in a tone that would make
the reader feel as if I were seated in his or
her kitchen talking about a tough family
situation:' Sederer explains in a phone
conversation from New York.
"I think it's a clinician's professional duty
to speak to people in a way that's clear,
meaningful and understandable, and it
takes a bit of undoing of our training to get
there. I've worked a lot at the
Besides describing ways to approach fam-
ily members with alarming symptoms, the
text delves into specific conditions, lists crite-
ria for evaluating treatment and offers hope.
Sederer's text calls on 24 years of experi-
ence at three Boston hospitals and admin-
istrative positions with the American
Psychiatric Association and the city of
New York.
Here, Sederer comments on his experi-
ence and outlook:

IN: What are you going to emphasize in
your book-fair presentation?

Jews

Nate Bloom

Special to the Jewish News

At The Movies

Opening on Friday, Oct. 25, are We

Are Who We Are and Jackass Presents:
Bad Grandpa.
In We Are, the seemingly nice, and

private, Parker family is ruled by
patriarch Frank with a rigorous fervor,
determined to keep his (gruesome)
ancestral customs intact. As a tor-
rential rainstorm hits, tragedy strikes,
and daughters Iris (Julia Garner, 19)
and Rose are forced to assume new
responsibilities; the ensuing floods

40 October 24 • 2013

JN

LS: I'm going to talk about why I wrote
the book. I'll read a few short excerpts to
illustrate what quality care involves. I'll
conclude by talking about the four principal
messages that emerge in the book.

JN: Was there one dramatic experience
that impelled you to
write this?

LS: I've been writing
for more than 40
years, starting when
I was a resident.
I've written a lot of
professional papers
and seven books.
Psychiatrist Lloyd
Over time, I came
Sederer
to believe that it
was more important
to communicate with people receiving
services — patients and families — on the
demand side rather than professionals on
the supply side.

JN: How does this book relate to your
website?

LS: My website (askdrlloyd.com ) is a
collection of my writings and answers
to questions that come in from time to
time. [Unfortunately], I don't have enough
time — or anybody else — to garden my
website. There's a section on links to other
resources, and there should be a lot more
links. There are more resources noted in
my book.

IN: Do you think the information
you provide could help prevent mass
shootings?
LS: I think it is one drop in an ocean.

Reading may help families feel understood
and lead them to recognize that other
people have the same problems, but they
need a path, which is talked about in two
articles I wrote for Psychology Today.
One was called "The Tragedy of Mental
Health Law:' also the title I had in an

force the local authorities to begin to
uncover clues about the family. Wyatt
Russell, 27, the son of Goldie Hawn,
67, and Kurt Russell, plays a deputy
sheriff.
Garner has made 10 films since
making her debut in the 2011 indie
hit Martha Marcy
May Marlene, with
an upcoming role
as the love interest
of Joseph Gordon-
Levitt, 32.
Garner's mother,
therapist Tami
Garner
Goldstein, was a pop-

op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. The
other was titled "Involuntary Psychiatric
Hospitalization:'
In those I refer to a group I've been
part of organizing, It's an effort to try
to open closed doors for families as an
early warning system and as essential for
clinicians [caring
for] someone
FAMILY
who is very sick.
GUIDE

The

MENTAL
HEALTH
CARE

S

Advice ...Helping Your Loved Ones,

fil,m the median Ancor erne mony's

lmy nstnte moot health amen on One

emend lonA nleor of ne Harrington Post

LLOYD I. SEDEREP, MD

JN: Is there a
vast difference
among states in
the availability
of mental-health
resources?

FOPEWOD SY GLENN CLOSE

LS: Yes. Probably,
a good reference is the National
Alliance on Mental Illness, which does
a state report card on their view of the
caliber of state mental-health services. Not
all states give information.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration and the National
Association of State Mental Health Program
Directors tend to have information state by
state. There are reliable resources that show
variations among the states.

IN: How does this book fit in with your
role in the mental-health community?

LS: It comports with the values I bring
to my day job, but its more about giving
families information regarding the
mental-health system and the challenges
over time in caring for a loved one who
won't get care, is too ashamed to get care
or experiencing an illness that gets in the
way of getting care.

IN: In the midst of the seriousness
of your work, how did you come to
collaborate on a humorous project, The
Diagnostic Manual of Mishegas?

LS: I was together with two friends in
February of this year. We came upon

ular comedian in Israel decades ago.
In Grandpa, comedian Johnny
Knoxville plays Irving Zisman, an
86-year-old grandfather who travels
about the country with his young
grandson perpetrating shocking pranks
and stunts. Zisman is not specifically
identified as Jewish – and maybe
that's a good thing.

Woody Talks
Last week, Woody Allen, 77, spoke elo-

quently in defense of Israel (he's never
visited the country) with an Israeli TV
station and, also, about world anti-
Semitism, though he praised the U.S.

the topic that the American Psychiatric
Association was going to release its
next edition of the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
There was contention about this and a
lot of press.
[We started joking that] there's a
better way to think about all this because
everybody is a little meshugenah, but some
are more meshugenah than others. We
started riffing on that using the little bit
of Yiddish in our upbringing. We wanted
to beat the APA to press and did it in six
weeks by self-publishing.

IN: What would you like people to
remember after hearing your talk?

LS: I wrote this book because so many
families have a person who's ill, and they
don't know where to turn, who to trust and
what good care is. They don't know what to
say to a loved one [who needs help].
I'm still struggling to get this material into
the hands of the people who need it. That's
why I'm coming to Michigan. Maybe that
will kindle communication. That's why I do
the writing I do. There are so many people
who hurt so much and are lost as families.
My mission involves letting families
know they're not alone. There are ways to
go about getting help. There is support.
They need to know they can trust their
instincts. It's not just this book. That's the
knot I'm trying to untie.

❑

Lloyd Sederer will speak at
11:30 a.m. Friday, Nov.15, at the
Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield as part of the JCC Jewish
Book Fair's Health Awareness Day.
No charge. (248) 661-1900; www.
jcc.org/bookfair. Check next week's
JN for our special JCC Book Fair
package.

for its acceptance of Jewish people.
"I do feel there are many people
that disguise their negative feelings
toward Jews, disguise it as anti-Israel
criticism, political criticism, when in
fact what they really mean is that they
don't like Jews," he said.
He also said he would like to visit
Israel soon: "My wife [is] also very
curious about Israel and wants to go
there with the girls, so they can see
and understand their father's Jewish
culture."
His interview can be found on
the Times of Israel website:
tinyurl.com/k6qnk9s . ❑

