There is an evolving literature that is proving something that mental health professionals have known for years, that mental health has a huge effect on our physical well-being. Untreated mental illness will lead to poorer outcomes, even early death, in many common medical illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  Further, the presence of these medical illnesses may also predispose for mood disorder. Over the course of this 90 minute workshop we will by didactic and case based learning, explore this two way “mind-body connection”, the evidence behind this connection and finally discuss ways that we can help our patients obtain healthier and more satisfying lives by helping to improve their mood.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the inter-connectedness between psychological disease and physical disease.

• Review historical perspectives of Western and Eastern medicine as well as the recent movement toward incorporating the Mind-Body Connection (MBC) in the treatment of medical conditions.

• Understand psychosomatic medicine as a subspecialty of psychiatry and the interaction of biological, psychological and social factors in human health and disease.

• Understand the importance of treating depression in patients with chronic medical illness and the consequences of not providing adequate diagnosis and treatment for these patient.

• Understand the relationship between depression and cancer; depression and coronary artery disease; depression and diabetes; and depression and HIV, and review recent studies of the Mind-Body Connection in medical illness.

• Review case files which demonstrate how the Mind-Body connection is applied in individual cases, and how treatment of psychological illness can improve outcomes in medical illness.

Faculty:

Jerry Halverson, MD

Jerry Halverson, MD, is a psychiatrist with certification in Psychosomatic Medicine. He is Medical Director of Adult Services at Rogers Memorial Hospital in Oconomowoc. He is Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at both the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin. He manages the gamut of psychiatric illness at Rogers, from residential, to partial hospital, to acute inpatient care. He is responsible for assuring that high quality, evidence based treatment is delivered to every patient. He is interested in the relationships between medical and psychological illnesses as well as integrating technology into care processes. He has lectured internationally on these, and other topics such as mood disorders, somatic interventions for psychiatric disorders and suicide risk assessment. He was recently honored for his leadership and advocacy by the Wisconsin Alumni Association with a “Forward Under 40” award and was given Early Career Leadership Awards by both the American Medical Association Foundation and the Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation.