Welcome to IPS

The Iowa Psychiatric Society is an association of physicians dedicated to promoting excellence in psychiatric care.

IPS Members: Please visit the  Members Only section  Log In using your APA Username and Password.
If you don't have your login passwords, call APA at 1-888-357-7924

 

 APA NEWS

Guns or Mental Health: Cause of Newtown Tragedy

Laurie McCormick, MD FAPA

I decided to focus on the mental health issues related to the horrific and very tragic shootings that took the lives of so many innocent children and teachers in Newtown, Connecticut last month. The news coverage of this event and the national discussion that ensued over gun control and improving mental health make it imperative that we psychiatrists in Iowa become an active part of this discussion. On the issue of gun control, it seems that the one point many people can agree on is that we should place a ban on assault rifles and high capacity magazines. After a school massacre in Scotland that killed 16 children and a teacher in a primary school, the UK banned private ownership of all cartridge ammunition handguns of any caliber and there have been no shootings since. That same year a mass shooting occurred in Australia and that country also enacted strict gun laws and it hasn't had a similar massacre since.1 One year ago an angry sociopathic man attempted a similar killing spree in a classroom setting in China, but since he only had access to a knife the 22 children were injured, but no one died.2

A week after the shooting, the CEO of the NRA called for no changes to gun laws and instead blamed video games and the media for causing this tragedy and proposed putting an armed guard in every U.S. school, claiming that “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." 3  Unfortunately, the good guy with a gun was unable to stop two teenagers from killing 13 students in Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in 1999. While there is no single answer about why the Sandy Hook massacre happened, or how it can be prevented in the future, it is important to note that “the vast majority of homicides are carried out by outwardly normal people in the grip of all too ordinary human aggression to whom we provide nearly unfettered access to deadly force.” 4 Dr. Richard Friedman, a psychiatrist from Cornell Medical College concluded in a commentary about the misguided focus on mental health after this tragedy that “most of these killers are young men who are not floridly psychotic, but tend to be paranoid loners who hold a grudge and are full of rage.” He also notes that there is “overwhelming epidemiological evidence that the vast majority of people with psychiatric disorders do not commit violent acts and only about four percent of violence in the United States can be attributed to people with mental illness.” Unfortunately, psychiatrists are still not very good at predicting who is likely to do something like this again More

 

 IPS WORKSHOP

 DSM-5 PRIMER
 
The Iowa Psychiatric Society will be offering courses in four locations after the DSM-5 is published in May. The lecturers at these courses will be trained through APA on the changes in DSM-5.
 
Locations:
         
Friday, May 31
8:00 am – Noon
Mercy Medical Center
Room –Hallagon Education
701 10th Street SE
Cedar Rapids
Presenter: Alan Whitters, MD
                  Donald Black, MD
 
Friday, June 7
9:00 am - 1:00 pm      
St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center
Room - Auditorium
2720 Stone Park Blvd
Sioux City
Presenter: Carl Aagesen, DO
                Daniel Gillette, MD
 
Friday, June 14
8:00 am - Noon
Broadlawns Medical Center
Room – Auditorium
1801 Hickman Road
Des Moines
Presenter: Carl Aagesen, DO
 
Friday, June 14
8:00 am – Noon
Genesis Medical Center
Room – Alder 1&2 Lower Level
1227 E Rusholme St
Davenport
Presenters: Alan Whitters, MD,
       Donald Black, MD

Who Should Attend
This workshop is designed for psychiatrists, ARNPs, PAs, psychologists, social workers, therapists and administration in mental health services who want to learn how the DSM-5 will change the way clinicians assess and diagnose mental illness
 
Purpose
Mental health professionals need to become familiar with DSM-5, with an understanding of the changes from DSM IV, and the scientific reasons for those changes.  Following the conference, attendees will be ready to begin using DSM 5 in clinical practice.
 
Educational Objectives
  • Understand the history, development and use of the DSM-5
  • Identify and apply the changes in DSM-5 from DSM-IV-TR and explain their rationale
  • Use the new criteria in clinical settings, in research, and for administrative purposes.
TO SEE FULL BROCHURE CLICK HERE
 
 TO REGISTER CLICK HERE
 

 SPONSOR

 MEMBER PROFILE

Al Whitters, MD DFAPA

What is your background?  I have been a local yokel Iowa boy for 54 of my 56 years.  After graduating from Luther College, I married my high school sweetheart and took a year off to become a houseparent for mentally retarded adults in Marshalltown, Iowa.  Iowa City was our home over the next 8 years completing medical school and residency.  Thinking that the grass is always greener elsewhere, we then moved to Seattle where I had an academic track and worked at the American Lake VA (where “An Officer and a Gentleman” was filmed).  After failing to obtain the VA’s Early Investigator grant, I decided to return back to my hometown of Cedar Rapids.

What practice settings have you worked? I believe the secret for success (at least for an ADHD guy like me) is a continuous evolution with change needed -usually about every 5 years.  I have been privileged to work at mental health centers, a variety of residential care facilities and private practices-all in Cedar Rapids.  I have done strictly outpatient and telemedicine; but now since returning from New Zealand 2 years ago, I have enjoyed being mostly a psychiatric hospitalist.  Read More…

 In This Section

 Also of Interest

Home  |  Site Map  |  © 2013 American Psychiatric Association. All Right Reserved.