Robin Williams’ gift to the public was being the world’s wittiest improvisational comic and a heartfelt actor.  He could ad-lib jokes in a spontaneous stream that kept us in stitches and in awe, and move us emotionally with gentle humor on screen. He had been reported to have bipolar disorder.  He had referred to his own inner demons, depression and drug abuse. His struggles and death are illuminating in several ways. Bipolar disorder is characterized by spontaneous, major mood shifts from to...

By Robert B. Young, MD A three judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on July 25 that the Florida state law popularly called “Docs vs. Glocks” is indeed constitutional…read more at the Herald-Tribune’s blog, The Gun Writer…

Dr. Young in the Washington Times—Stalkers Don’t Stop, But Arming Victims Would Help The surest safeguard against an obsessed admirer is a gun…read more .

When a Psychiatrist Shoots to Kill A doctor defended himself and others from a violent patient, but he had to break a no-gun policy to do so. By Robert B. Young ‘More might have died if doctor had not shot gunman” — so read the headline in the Philadelphia Inquirer on July 27. On the previous Thursday, a patient, Richard Plotts, entered the office of his psychiatrist, Lee Silverman, M.D., with his caseworker, Theresa Hunt. Plotts then became very upset and killed Hunt with two shots to her ...

Gun Violence Restraining Orders July 16, 2014 By Robert B. Young, MD Killers, especially mass murderers, often appear to have some mental illness.  They may not have been treated, or were not successfully treated, or their need for treatment wasn’t recognized.  Overall, people with mental illnesses are no more likely to commit violence than the general population and are far more likely to become victims. 1  However, there are a few major psychiatric problems (for example, paranoid delusions,...

President Obama’s troubled nomination of Vivek Murthy, MD to become the nation’s next Surgeon General raises important questions of policy and politics.  The political is pretty obvious.  Dr. Murthy is an accomplished physician at the age of 36 with a fascinating personal history, having been born in Britain to Indian parents.  He is now at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital teaching for Harvard Medical School following education at Harvard and Yale in medicine and management.  He co-founded “...