By Karl Northwall, MD, DLFAPA
PSV Incoming President
Catawba Hospital
Catawba, VA 

The Fall Meeting of the Psychiatric Society of Virginia will be held October 3rd and 4^th at the Delta Hotel in Richmond.  The theme is: “Interventional Care:  Innovative Methods for Improving Mental Health.”  We are partnering with the Virginia Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists (VCCAP) for the meeting.  The full program is on the PSV website.  We will have our usual Friday evening reception to meet our colleagues from across the Commonwealth and local legislators.  

We continue to live in unprecedented times.  Scientific knowledge takes second place to political correctness.  Statistics are mutable.  The social safety net is being demolished.  Some demographics of society are being persecuted. I’m appalled at the viewpoints and institutions I’d taken for granted that are being destroyed.  The political party that lost the last election appears paralyzed and incapable of opposing these changes.  I fear we have yet to see the full magnitude of these changes.

What are we to do?  I turn to the Serenity prayer.  “Have the courage to change the things I can”.  An issue facing the PSV that we can have some effect on is that psychologists in Virginia are trying to get the legislature to grant them the privilege of prescribing. This is part of a continuing trend where various professions want increased privileges legislatively without getting the education to deserve it.  The Washington Psychiatric Society and the Medical Society of Virginia have joined us in opposing this.  A reality of the political process is that it takes money to influence it.  I urge you to contribute to the PSYCH-MD PAC using this link. I also encourage you to contact your legislator and let them know your opinion. 

As always, I encourage you to contact me with any concerns or issues regarding the PSV.