APA, Members Beat Back Bullying

Leading a group discussion about bullies and bullying for young sexual offenders in a residential treatment center, I offered several examples of how bullying isn’t confined to schools or the streets. The December 19, 2003, issue is full of exemplary instances of how APA and individual members have successfully fought bullying by the insurance industry, licensing boards, and even large medical centers (in the case of Fletcher Allen in Burlington, Vt., attempting to “carve out” a mental health unit separate from the rest of the hospital). The Assembly rightly honored Drs. Harold Eist and Daniel Shrager for their courage and tenacity in defending patient confidentiality. And Dr. Marcia Goin’s leadership in joining with New York psychiatrists and the New York State Psychiatric Association to beat back an intrusive and inappropriate audit process of patient records by Oxford Insurance Co. is yet another powerful response to “boardroom bullying” of our patients and our profession.

A former APA president, Dr. Herbert Sacks, once challenged members to think about their answer to “What did you do in the war, Dad?” Many of our colleagues continue to ask the question “What has APA done for me recently?” The above examples, as well as many other acts of courage by APA members that may never make it into Psychiatric News, give us a lot to be proud of. I’ll keep the December 19 issue to show to skeptics.