Thank you for the in-depth report on Fountain House in the December 17, 1999, issue.

About 40 years ago, I was a fairly troubled young college student with an interest in entering psychiatry. Someone suggested I visit Fountain House, which was then only about 10 years old. My internal sensors told me there was something very right about this program. For the first time, I actually felt that I Was Not Alone. I never went back, but the memory of that visit has been a light of hope from my past.

Having experienced quite a bit before and after finally getting to medical school (at age 37), completing my residency, and practicing psychiatry for the last 14 years, I am much clearer in my thinking. I have formulated certain ideas about what is wrong in psychiatry, the diametrical opposite of what Psychiatric News reported as happening at Fountain House. In particular, I am concerned about the devaluation of physicians, as well as of patients, by third-party insurers.

Therefore, thank you also for printing "Here’s a Way to Protect Patient Privacy" in the same issue, and congratulations to the author, Katharine Otto, M.D., for her approach to patient care and billing. I do it the same way, as there is no therapeutic benefit in joining in the dehumanization of our species.

Margot L. Fass, M.D.

Rochester, N.Y.