November 19, 2014:

Dementia and Brain Disorders Part 1 of 2:  Overview

With the rise industrialization and population growth in the 1800s, the number and size of insane asylums in every Western country became evident. This is often referred to as "the great confinement" or the "asylum era". Laws were introduced to compel authorities to deal with those judged insane by family members and hospital superintendents. Although originally based on the concepts and structures of moral treatment, they became large impersonal institutions overburdened with large numbers of people with a complex mix of mental and social-economic problems.  Although the success of moral treatment was questionable by the mid-19th century many became advocates argued that the mad also often had physical/organic problems, so that both approaches were necessary – in turn the profession's eventual success would secure a monopoly on the treatment of lunacy. However, it is well documented that very little therapeutic activity occurred in the new asylum system,

Syndromes, such as the condition that would later be termed schizophrenia, were being identified as relatively rare prior to the 19th century.   Numerous different classification schemes and diagnostic terms were developed as well as an anatomical-clinical descriptive approach. The term "psychiatry" as the medical specialty became more academically established. Asylum superintendents, later to be psychiatrists, were generally called "alienists" since the people they dealt with were alienated from society -- they adopted largely isolated and managerial roles in the asylums. The relative proportion of the public officially diagnosed with mental disorders was increasing, however. This was possibly because of humanitarian concern; incentives for professional status/money; a lowered tolerance of communities for unusual behavior due to the existence of asylums to place them in (this affected the poor the most); and the strain placed on families by industrialization.

By the early 20th century the development of) psychoanalysis, was growing.  Emil Kraepelin's  classification (grouping diseases together based on classification of syndrome — common patterns of symptoms) gained popularity, including the separation of mood disorders from what would later be termed schizophrenia.

Asylum superintendents sought to improve the image and medical status of their profession. Asylum "inmates" were increasingly referred to as "patients" and asylums renamed as hospitals. Referring to people as having a "mental illness" dates from this period in the early 20th century.

November 26, 2014:

Dementia and Brain Disorders Part 2 of 2:  Treatment and Care
Interview with Mary Hulme

Ms. Hulme, founder of Moonstone Geriatrics, is a licensed clinical social worker, geriatric consultant and healthcare advocate who has spent the last 18 years focused on dementia care and education.  She is especially interested in helping families struggling to cope with the many challenges that go along with caring for someone suffering from this complicated and vexing disease. 

 In addition to running Moonstone Geriatrics, Ms. Hulme is the mental health consultant for San Francisco North and South of Market Adult Day Health Care.  She is also a geriatric consultant for Tech-enhanced Life, a company focused on utilizing technology to improve the quality of life for the aging population. 

In addition to speaking at venues throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Ms. Hulme recently co-authored an e-book on a new category of products designed to keep seniors safely at home: activity-tracking home sensor systems.