Providentia

After Little Albert (Part 2)

Continued from Part 1

As for his two sons from his later marriage,  how they were raised often led to disagreements between him and Rosalie.  A 1930 article that she wrote in Parent's Magazine reflected the issues that she had with her husband's ideas about child-rearing.  Titled, "I Am The Mother of a Behaviorist's Sons",  the article  showed only lukewarm support for John Watson's stern behaviourist principles.  She even went so far as to suggest that her children be raised with an appreciation of art and music (which her husband often dismissed as frivolous).   Rosalie added that "In some respects I bow to the great wisdom in the science of behaviorism, and in others I am rebellious. ... I like being merry and gay and having the giggles.  The behaviorists think giggling is a sign of maladjustment."    Unfortunately, her positive influence on her sons would be brief.   After a bout with dysentery which grew worse despite treatment,  Rosalie Rayner Watson died at the age of 35 leaving John Watson to raise their children alone.   Devastated by Rosalie's death, he would never mention her name in his children's presence again.  As William and James Watson would later describe, his announcing to them that their mother had died was one of the few times that he had ever hugged them. 

Aside from advertising work (from which he eventually retired after a few years),  John Watson became a virtual recluse on his farm.   While he would be involved with other women, he never remarried and began to neglect his personal appearance and hygiene as he grew more eccentric.  In 1957, he was surprised when the American Psychological Association told him that he would be awarded a gold medal for his contributions to psychology.  Despite going with his sons to New York to receive the award,  he asked one of them to stand in for him at the last moment out of fear that he would burst into tears during the public ceremony.  The inscription on the medal read:

To John B. Watson whose work has been one of the vital determinants of the form and substance of modern psychology.  He initiated a revolution in psychological thought and his writings have been the point of departure for continuing lines of fruitful research.

Considering that John Watson's academic contributions had been overshadowed by later theorists and even his staunchest defenders had since rejected his extreme behaviourist position, it was a magnaminous tribute.  He died a year later at the age of eighty.   His older son William, who suffered from longstanding emotional problems despite becoming a successful Freudian psychoanalyst (which likely grieved his behaviourist father),  eventually commited suicide four years after his father's death.   Ironically,  William Watson's suicide may have led to a persistent urban legend surrounding  the supposed suicide of B.F. Skinner's younger daughter Deborah due to her spending part of her infancy in an Air Crib designed by her father  (Deborah Skinner Buzan has since devoted many years of her life debunking that particular rumour). 

As for his other son, James Watson did relatively better in life.  In a 1981 symposium at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in Los Angeles, he would say that:

Both dad and mother, although she died when I was still a child, rigorously pursued the foundation teachings of behaviorism. Frankly, I think that a better end product would have resulted if the process of growing up had been [tempered] with some measure of affection -- it certainly would have made growing up less like a business proposition where one is judged by bottom-line performance.   It is my hope that the teachings of his disciples and others who have followed him have tempered the emotionally spartan upbringing that he espoused. His behavioristic theories on child development unquestionably have value in terms of life's preparation through the setting of standards and developing an understanding of the parameters of acceptable and responsible behavior, but they could have been much improved if one were permitted to mix in a big helping of parental affection. I believe to do so would provide a better psychological foundation for all of us who, at one time or another in life, are ultimately put to the test of weathering the emotional storms that often topple people because of the frail egos and low levels of self-esteem, which usually result from a childhood diet that lacks a deeper sense of human connection.

Although James Watson would later backtrack on his criticism of his father's ideas, other members of John's family would be less generous.  The most well-known of John Watson's descendants is his granddaughter, actress Mariette Hartley (of whom I happen to be a long-time fan).    In her 1990 book, Breaking the Silence, she described her own emotional problems growing up with her mother, John Watson's daughter Polly.   While Ms. Hartley eventually survived her mother's alcoholism and suicide attempts as well as many of the other tragedies that nearly overwhelmed her, the consequences of John Watson's theories definitely had an influence.  As Ms. Hartley would state in her book: 

Grandfather's theories infected my mother's life, my life, and the lives of millions. How do you break a legacy? How do you keep from passing a debilitating inheritance down, generation to generation, like a genetic flaw?

While John Watson died believing to the end that the psychological revolution that he had helped bring about would change psychology forever, he was largely mistaken.   Even in his lifetime, neobehaviourists such as Clark Hull and B.F. Skinner would demonstrate that the radical behaviourism endorsed by Watson was far too simplistic to explain something as complex as behaviour (whether in humans or animals).   As new models of cognitive, motivational, and biological psychology came along, Watson's old theories seemed increasingly out of step with the more diversified view of psychology favoured today.  

Despite his extreme behaviourism falling out of favour, John Broadus Watson is still considered to be one of the central figures in psychology's history.   From the "Little Albert" experiment to his highly controversial theories on raising children, he may well be remembered more as a showman for his own special brand of psychology than as a scientist.  Whatever his impact, both personal and professional,  he remains larger than life.

And that may well be the legacy he would have wanted most.

 

 

Faking Remorse

Emotional deception is a common behaviour that can have major consequences if undetected. For example, the sincerity of an offender's expressed remorse is an important factor in sentencing and parole hearings. A research study pubished in a recent issue of Law and Human Behavior was the first to investigate the nature of true and false remorse. The researchers examined facial, verbal and body language behaviours associated with emotional deception in videotaped accounts of true personal transgressions accompanied by either genuine or falsified remorse. Analyses of nearly 300,000 frames indicated that descriptions of falsified remorse were associated with a greater range of emotional expressions. Further, sequential analyses revealed that negative emotions were more commonly followed by other emotions—rather than a return to neutral emotion—in falsified versus sincere remorse. Participants also exhibited more speech hesitations while expressing deceptive relative to genuine remorse. In general, the results suggest that falsified remorse may be conceived as an emotionally turbulent display of deliberate, falsified expressions and involuntary, genuine, emotional leakage. These findings are relevant to judges and parole board members who consider genuine remorse to be an important factor in sentencing and release decisions.

For the abstract.

Can Letters Prevent Military Suicides?

Here is a new guest blog post that I have written at the Huffington Post on a pilot project recently launched to help curb the rising suicide rate in U.S. military personnel.

For many soldiers deployed abroad in distant countries, the sense of isolation and danger can be overwhelming. It is hardly surprising that military suicides have risen astronomically since the beginning of the respective missions to Iraq and Afghanistan with a recent study showing an 80 per cent increase in suicides among U.S. soldiers during the period from 2004 to 2008 alone.

To read more, click here.

Giant's Shoulders #46

 Welcome to the latest edition of the Giant's Shoulders, the monthly blog carnival devoted to the history of science.    With that mind, let's turn to the numerous and diverse contributions that have been made to this latest edition.  Classified according to the different sciences they represent, we have:

Anatomy and Medicine

A big hat tip to Thony Christie who contributed numerous suggested posts for addition to this carnival.  One of these posts is from the EvoAnth blog and shows the first evidence of prosthetic attachments in Ancient Egypt.  I'll bet you didn't know that the first bionic woman lived 3,000 years ago!  Me, neither.

How frequent were premature burials in the 18th and 19th centuries?  Not only did fear lead to a brisk business in "safety coffins" but this  painful post from the Chirugeon's Apprentice blog shows the extreme measures used by surgeons dealing with corpses to ensure that not-quite-dead patients wouldn't be accidentally dissected. 

Astronomy

Being an amateur astronomer can be a frustrating business.  But how frustrating would it be to prepare for years for a once-in-a-lifetime event and then end up missing it?  Thony Christie gives us a sympathetic look at David Rittenhouse and his years of preparation to witness the 1769 Transit of Venus -  only to faint due to poor health just as the cardinal moment arrived. Ouch. 

That same fateful Transit of Venus generated enough public interest to inspire lecturer and instrument maker, Benjamin Martin, to create a special demonstration model in his London shop.  Curious visitors could come into the shop to see the clockwork model.  Multimedia in the 18th century!  The Transit of Venus site has the details. 

What is the Antikythera Mechanism?  Was it the first true mechanical calculator?  Ian Hopkinson provides us with a review of Jo Marchant's book on the Antikythera Mechanism along with videos of the mechanism and how it originally operated. 

The race  to measure longitude accurately seems important enough for navigation, but how much more important did it become in time of war?  This fascinating post by the Board of Longitude Project at Greenwich's Royal Observatory helps recapture some of the drama of the 18th century longitude competition and how it quickly became a question of national security. 

Considering how important the longitude race became, it's hardly surprising that the British government offered a hefty prize to anyone who developed a reliable method for measurement (which is why the Board of Longitude was first formed in 1714).  Ian Hopkinson discusses the battle between the Board and John Harrison to claim that prize as well as all the other prizes that the Board handed out.

Back in the 18th century, telescopes were often considered luxury items despite their importance in astronomy and navigation.  Talented craftsman often made telescopes that were designed to be works of art as well as being functional.   This news item from Live Science shares the recent discovery of five telescopes recently discovered in Amsterdam with casings hand-carved from bone.

For many European countries, astronomical observatories often became a source of national pride.  A post by Rebekah Higgitt on the Teleskopos blog provides us with a book review on a recently-published 200-year history of the Tartu Observatory in Estonia (formerly the pride of the Russian Empire).

Did anyone in Columbus' time actually believe that the Earth was flat?  They actually didn't although this curious myth has a strange habit of persisting.  Even President Obama made that same mistake in a recent statement (and you'd think he would have known better).   Darin Hayton of the Philadelphia Area Center for the History of Science weighs in with two posts.  The first titled "Why the Flat Earth Myth Bugs Me" (and he isn't the only one) on how the myth started and why people keep repeating it.  In a second post titled "Columbus' Voyage Was a Religious Journey", he explores Christopher Columbus' apocalyptic fears and why they led him to make his fateful voyages.

Physics

The editors of Annalen der Phyik have launched a new section:  "Then and Now" dedicated to the history of physics and the need for scientists to understand what went before.  The editorial announcing the launch leads off with one of physicist Moritz Schlitz's most memorable sayings: "Anyone ignorant in physics is certainly a child in thought – but so too is anyone who does not know history."

Geology

Long before Darwin revolutionalized science with his theory of evolution, geologists faced the troublesome question of what fossils were and where they came from.   The 18th century was filled with "giants" who weren't afraid to overturn orthodox thinking about how life began (and these giants had very broad shoulders in case you forgot the name of this carnival).   Mike Rendell of the Georgian Gentleman blog tells us about one of these giants, James Hutton, the "Father of Modern Geology".    While never receiving the recognition he deserved, James Hutton was one of the typical Renaissance men of his time who, among many other achievements, came up with one of the first modern theories of evolution. 

The History of Geology blog also weighs in with the story of 18th-century surveyor and geologist, William Smith,  his early life in England, and the curious fossils in a local quarry that changed his life.

Nature and Evolution

Here's a question you probably never asked yourself.  While historians have written extensively about the way the Church of England reacted to Charles Darwin's heretical new take on evolution, how did other religions react?   The entertaining Michael Kay provides us with a look at how some of the most prominent Jewish rabbis of the 19th century responded to Darwin and his world-shaking new theory in this fascinating post on his Thinking Through My Fingers blog. 

Speaking of Darwin, one of his caricatures is missing!  Anyone with information leading to its recovery should contact the Darwin Correspondence Project immediately.

Can the discovery of new fossil evidence suggesting that the early model of a unique migration wave out from Africa may have been too simple lead to a vindication of George Dawson and his Piltdown Man (not to mention the reported sightings of mysterious human-like creatures around the world)?  Er, probably not.  Did I mention that this post by David Bressan at the History of Geology blog is dated April 1?

Again on the subject of Darwin, Athene Donald shows the odd relationship between Charles Darwin's grandfather Erasmus and equally eminent man-of-letters, Samuel Johnson.  How did the two of them get along?  Not very well, as it happens. 

For many historians of science, one of the most thrilling aspects of searching through centuries-old books on natural philosophy is to sample the amazing handmade illustrations of plants and animals.  The Origins of Science as a Visual Pursuit blog provides us with a beautiful post on Dr. Florike Egmond's story on the rediscovery of the original drawings for Conrad Gesser's Historia animalium. 

Speaking of beautiful illustrations, Harvard's Houghton Library is announcing the opening of a new exhibition of natural history illustrations by the whimsical Edward Lear.   Along with his legacy of literary works of nonsense poetry and amazing paintings, Lear also made hundreds of natural history sketches, many of which are on display for the first time at the library.

John Steinbeck, writer, novelist, scientist?   A new Guardian post on Steinbeck's 1951 book, The Log From The Sea of Cortez about the six weeks he spent in the Gulf of California assisting in a marine biology project shows that his skill as a writer helped make the expedition experience come alive.  

Interested in insects?  BiblioOdyssey shows an amazing selection from the Historic Entomology Online site at Wageningen UR. 

Also from the Board of Longitude Project site, there is a post showing some the amazing specimens that British explorers brought back from the Arctic (complete with latitude and longitude of where they were collected, of course).  Many of those specimens became part of the British Museum's collection as well as being sent to herbariums throughout the U.K. 

Speaking of herbariums and Arctic explorers,  another post by Rebekah Higgitt of the Teleskopos blog provides a look at the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic garden in Edinburgh.  Many of the specimens that are now part of the permanent collection there were originally gathered in the 19th century by Arctic explorers such as William Parry.  Parry and his crew were awarded £5000 for reaching 110⁰ West within the Arctic Circle with help from the Board of Longitude who advised them on instruments and techniques. 

Mathematics

While women scientists being left out of the history of science seems all too familiar, Emilie du Chatelet deserves better than simply being known as the love of Voltaire's life.  This contribution from the Daily Maverick provides a tantalizing look at one of the greatest female intellectuals, mathematicians and thinkers in history. 

Psychology and Anthropology

The eminent Dr. SkySkull  weighs in with his own  take on the John Derbyshire racism fiasco and an indepth examination of 19th century research in race and intelligence.  A good look at what has and hasn't changed in 176 years on his Skulls in the Stars blog. 

Technology

Mike Rendell of the Georgian Gentleman blog also shares a new post on Thomas Newcomen and his first working steam engine at a coalmine near Dudley Castle in Staffordshire in 1712.   Not only did this help launch the Industrial Revolution but it was recently commemorated as part of a series of stamps released by the Royal Mail under the heading of “Britons of Distinction”.

Over at The Atlantic, there is a collection of delightfully weird sketches by famed inventor, Alexander Graham Bell.  All of the sketches were taken from his numerous laboratory notebooks although his handwriting is hard to follow at times. 

For my own modest contribution, I am including this post titled "That X-Ray Vision".  How Wilhelm Roentgen, Thomas Edison and Superman joined forces to change the world (and sell shoes as well).

Miscellaneous

Not sure how else to classify this one but how could I not include this post on the British Library's recent discovery of a medieval cookbook containing recipes on the proper cooking of blackbirds, hedgehogs, and unicorns?  Beginning with the phrase "taketh one unicorne", the unicorn recipe involves marinading the beast in cloves and garlic before being roasted on a griddle.  Good to know.

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With that, we close this edition of the Giant's Shoulders.   The next edition will be hosted by blog carnival newcomer  Medical Heritage Library  (closing date for submissions is  May 15).  If anyone would like to host a future edition, please contact either either Dr SkySkull at Skulls in the Stars or Thony C at The Renaissance Mathematicus.    Remember the future of the History of Science blog carnival rests on your shoulders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Giant's Shoulders #46 Coming to Providentia

The 46th edition of The Giant's Shoulders will be  up on  Monday, April 23 and I'll be changing things around slightly as a result.   The Giant's Shoulders is a monthly blog carnival dedicated to the history of science and  authors are invited to submit posts on "classic" scientific papers.  Submissions are due on the 15th of each month.

What is a "classic paper"?  According to the carnival guidelines, a classic paper is any work that has stood the test of time (at least ten years preferably) and "science" means accepted science, no pseudoscientific rants, please.  Contributors should not only describe the research involved but also put it in a broader historical/scientific context: why is the work in question important/groundbreaking/revolutionary/nifty?  Entries profiling an important person or concept in the history of science are also acceptable.

Entries can be sent directly to me at my email address or using the submission form at blogcarnival.com.    If you have a blog and would like to host The Giant's Shoulders, please contact either Dr SkySkull at Skulls in the Stars or Thony C at The Renaissance Mathematicus. 

Charles Manson Denied Parole

Decades after he and his "family" terrorized California with a bizarre series of murders, the question of what to do with Charles Manson remains a familiar one for the California prison system.   Although his attorney argued that he should be transferred to Atascadero State Hospital during his most recent hearing, a parole board has determined that Manson should remain in prison.   The hearing is the twelfth time that he has faced the parole board since he was first incarcerated and only his attorney was present to hear the decision.  Manson himself has not attended a parole hearing since 1997 and remains housed in a special protective custody unit at California's Corcoran Prison.   Despite being protected from prisoners in general population for his own safety, Charles Manson enjoys a steady stream of visitors including college students wishing to write term papers on him.   Along with his visitors, he also receives mail from numerous curiosity-seekers and members of the personality cult that has sprung around him.  Following his last parole hearing in 2007, the parole board  concluded that "he continues to pose an unreasonable danger to others and may still bring harm to anyone he would come in contact with".    In recent years, Manson has been cited for numerous institutional infractions including having a homemade weapon in his possession.  In March 2009, he was found to have called people in California, New Jersey and Florida with a cell phone that he had managed to smuggle into his cell and a second phone was found a year later.   It is still unclear who he contacted with his phone before it was found.

Manson's crimes arose from his leadership of a quasi-commune in California during the late 1960s.   Believing that a race war was imminent (which he called "Helter Skelter"),  Manson inspired his followers to murder actress Sharon Tate (who was eight months pregnant at the time) along with six other people during two August nights in 1969.   Arrested after an extensive manhunt, Charles Manson and many of his followers were charged with seven counts of murder and one of conspiracy.  Almost from the time of his arrest, he attracted a cult following which prosecutor Vince Bugliosi wrote about in his book on the Manson murders.    Manson was sentenced to death for his role in the murders (along with Susan Atkins,  Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten) but this was commuted to life imprisonment in 1972 after California's Supreme Court temporarily eliminated the death penalty.   Since that time, Charles Manson has managed to remain in the public eye by playing on his fame as a counterculture symbol for insanity and violence.  Even his own appearance reflects his taste for showmanship with his trademark swastika engraved into his forehead.  In addition to his numerous unsuccessful parole hearings, the attempt on then-President Ford's life by Manson follower Lynnette "Squeaky" Fromme, his capitalizing on his notoriety by releasing his own recordings of voice and music, as well as various memorable media interviews (including one with Charlie Rose which won an Emmy in 1987) have ensured that Charles Manson is not easily forgotten.   

One of the central issues surrounding Charles Manson's various parole hearings involves the question of his sanity.  Despite numerous psychological profiles have been compiled on Manson (based either on direct interviews or through media analysis) and numerous diagnoses including antisocial personality disorder, bipolar disorder, psychopathy, and paranoid schizophrenia, it seem apparent that he is better housed in a prison than in a psychiatric hospital.    Although there is little chance of Charles Manson ever receiving parole, the Los Angeles district attorney's office has publicly opposed his ever being released and representatives from the families of his various victims have also filed depositions at parole hearings over the years describing the pain resulting from his crimes.  Debra Tate, sister of Sharon Tate, hopes that the latest hearing is the last time she will ever have to attend and argue that her sister's murderer should never be freed.   The 59-year old Tate has stated that "I've been doing it for Sharon and the other victims of him for the past forty years."    Under California law, Manson will not be eligible for a new parole hearing for another fifteen years which would make him 92 the next time he faces a parole board.  

Perhaps the final word on the case and Manson's likelihood of eventual parole belongs to Deputy District Attorney Patrick Sequeira who told the Washington Post, "At his age, I think he doesn't care.  He would be lost if he got out.  He's completely institutionalized."

For more information.

 

 

Stop Worrying. Get Your Life Back on Track with CBT

The 2010 book Stop Worrying. Get Your Life Back on Track with CBT by Ad Kerkhof was reviewed in a recent issue of Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention.  According to the review, worrying is a widespread source of stress of everyday life in developed countries. Worry can disturb sleep and, through ongoing vegetative and endocrine arousal, contributes to various emotional disorders. Worrying is a basic process of depression and may thereby lead to suicide. This phenomenon surely motivated Ad Kerkhof and his coworkers to devise a new program to combat worrying on a do-it-yourself basis. The program outlined consists of a 4-week series of exercises detecting, identifying, monitoring, and counteracting the process of worrying, using clear guidelines and a simple manual to document feelings experienced daily as well as measures to be employed in order to get rid of—or at least to modify—cognitive elements of anxiety.

For more information.

Preventing Subway Suicides

How prevalent are subway suicides?  

The actual statistics in many cities can be hard to find since most transit companies prefer not to make them public, often out of fear of copycat deaths.    When the Toronto Sun forced the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) to reveal its suicide statistics using freedom of information legislation, the numbers seemed grim enough.  During the period from 1998 to 2007, there were 150 suicides and 100 attempts reported.  Having once dealt with a patient with the dubious honour of surviving a subway suicide attempt, I witnessed firsthand the long-term medical needs that survivors often face.  The devastating traumatic effects that subway passengers and transit staff who witness these suicides or deal with the gruesome task of cleaning up afterward  can also last a lifetime.   Toronto's subway experience is hardly unique and similar problems are found in urban systems around the world.    According to one study of London, England's subway system, more than three thousand incidents of suicidal behaviour were reported during one 50-year period and, in one U.S. study, 7% of all suicides in New York City were subway-related.   Although some cities have installed suicide prevention barriers to reduce deaths, there is little consensus on the best way to prevent subway suicides.   While transit staff in European countries are often trained to watch from pre-suicidal behaviours in subway patrons,  North American transit systems have been slow to follow suit. 

At present, subway suicides appear to be on the decline in Toronto but the question remains whether this is linked to more stringent safeguards or just a statistical fluke.   In June 2011, the TTC established the "Crisis Link program" to curb subway suicides.   Along with posters on subway platform reading:  "Thinking of suicide?  There is help.  Let's talk",  phones can now be found with special direct dial buttons enabling people in distress to suicide counselors at Distress Centres of Toronto.  Established in partnership with Bell Canada, the TTC Crisis Link program is the first of its kind in Canada.  According to TTC Chair, Karen Stintz, "We do have suicides every year at the TTC.  We wanted to find ways to help people in distress and this is one of the ways we're doing that.  We want this program to be a way for people to get help if they need it". 

While likely too soon to measure the true value of the Crisis Link program, the initial numbers appear promising.  There were 13 subway-related suicides in 2011, half as many as 2010 and so far this year, there have only been two attempts and one completed suicide.  Will the new program help keep those numbers low?  Only time will tell.

For more information.

Does Traumatic Brain Injury Affect Financial Ability?

While research has shown that traumatic brain injury (TBI) can affect how we make important decisions, there has been relatively little research into how TBI affects how people manage their financial affairs.  A study published in a recent issue of Rehabilitation Psychology presents the results of a longitudinal research project investigating financial capacity (FC) following TBI.  In the study, researchers compared  FC in cognitively healthy adults and persons with moderate to severe TBI at time of acute hospitalization (Time 1) and at 6 months postinjury (Time 2). The study took place in an inpatient brain injury rehabilitation unit with twenty healthy adult controls and 24 adult persons with moderate to severe TBI. : Participants were administered the Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI-9), a standardized instrument that measures performance on 18 financial tasks, 9 domains, and 2 global scores. Between- and within-group differences were examined for each FCI-9 domain and global scores. Using control group referenced cut scores, participants with TBI were also assigned an impairment rating (intact, marginal, or impaired) on each domain and global score. Results at Time 1 showed that participants with TBI performed significantly below controls on the majority of financial variables tested. At Time 2, participants with TBI demonstrated within group improvement on both simple and complex financial domains, but continued to perform below adult controls on complex financial domains and both global scores. Group by time interactions were significant for four domains and both global scores. At Time 1, high percentages of participants with TBI were assigned either “marginal” or “impaired” ratings on the domains and global scores, with significant percentage increases of “intact” ratings at Time 2. The researchers concluded that persons with moderate to severe TBI show global impairment of FC immediately following TBI.  Findings indicate improvement of both simple and complex financial skills over a 6-month period, but continued impairment on more complex financial skills. Future studies should examine loss and recovery of FC following TBI over longer time periods and a wider range of injury severity.

For more information.

International Stigma Conference Coming Up

The Mental Health Commission of Canada and the World Psychiatric Association Scientific Section on Stigma and Mental Illness will be hosting the fifth annual International Stigma Conference in Ottawa this June.  Titled "Together Against Stigma: Changing how we see mental illness", the international conference will bring together more than five hundred researchers, mental health professionals, activists and policy makers from around the world.   The focus of the conference will be on finding effective ways to combat the stigma and discrimination that people with mental disorders often face.   In many cases, that stigma and discrimination often leads to unemployment, inability to find proper housing, lost educational opportunities, loss of friends and other vital social support, and even the self-stigma resulting from people with mental disorders learning to believe the negative impressions stigma can convey.

Over the course of the three-day conference, attendants will have the opportunity to engage in discussion and debate at Ottawa's Delta Ottawa City Centre.  Keynote speakers include CTV host and chief correspondent Lloyd Robertson,  , Dr. Norman Sartorius, former director of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Division of Mental Health, Dr. Graham Thornicroft of the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, Patrick Corrigan of the Illinois Institute of Technology, Dr. Heather Stuart of the Queen's University Centre for Health Services and Policy, and Professor Tony Jorm of the Unversity of Melbourne. 

For more information on registration and travel arrangements.