February 5, 1999

Frederick Goodwin, M.D., a former director the National Institute of Mental Health, hosts a popular weekly National Public Radio program that investigates how the mind works and why, sometimes, it doesn't.

Goodwin, a psychiatrist who specializes in psychopharmacology told Psychiatric News, "The dual purpose of the series is to erase stigma by shedding light on mental illness and to educate people about the brain, which is the most fascinating area today, especially to young people."

Leading scientists have discussed their work on several programs. These include Alan Leschner, M.D., director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and Anthony Lehman, M.D., a professor of psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, an expert on schizophrenia.

"To appeal to a general audience, however, the program's creators decided not to focus exclusively on mental illness but to include topics with broad appeal such as meditation, happiness, forgiveness, and sleep," said Goodwin, who also directs the Center on Neuroscience, Medical Progress and Society at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

"Issues that have captured a lot of media attention, such as the impact of managed care on the doctor/patient relationship, have been addressed. In our program on suicide and men, for example, we told the story of Boston newspaper publisher Timothy Hogan, who was depressed and committed suicide after repeated failed attempts to obtain a psychiatric referral from his HMO," said Goodwin.

That program also featured mental health advocates including Shelly Stewart, an associate director in APA's Division of Government Relations and chair of the Coalition for Fairness in Mental Illness Coverage.

Goodwin said his favorite part of being host on the program is talking with callers. "This gives my guest and me a chance to interact spontaneously with our listeners. It also gives the audience a chance to hear a psychiatrist talk to someone asking for help."

He credited executive producer Bill Lichtenstein with being the creative mastermind of the innovative radio series, which was launched last March. Lichtenstein's company, Creative Media Inc. in New York City, also produced the award-winning 1993 radio documentary series, "Voices of an Illness," which looked at clinical depression, bipolar illness, and schizophrenia.

Lichtenstein commented to Psychiatric News, " 'The Infinite Mind,' now airing on public radio stations nationwide, attempts to reach a broad audience by addressing the medical, ethical, moral, existential, and scientific issues related to the mind."

Lichtenstein added, "We hope to do for the human mind what Cosmos did for astrophysics-take a complicated scientific area and make it accessible, engaging, and entertaining for listeners."

He applauded the mental health community's efforts to educate the public with practical information in recent years. "We want to take people to the next level and discuss sophisticated issues such as what does it mean to our society that 8 million Americans are taking antidepressants."

To make the one-hour program as interesting as possible, the producers invite a variety of guests-musicians, poets, scientists-to present their different perspectives on each topic.

For the program on the new biology of suicide, for example, psychiatrists Jan Fawcett, M.D., discussed new suicide predictors, and folk artist Suzanne Vega performed a song about her friend's suicide attempt, Lichtenstein noted.

"We try not to set up an 'us versus them' dichotomy, but present the material in a way that everyone can relate to. For example, our pilot program on sleep, which aired in December, discussed why people sleep and why some people can't fall asleep. In addition to leading sleep researchers, author John Updike recited an original poem on insomnia," said Lichtenstein.

"Issues of the mind touch everyone, including celebrities. Actor Anthony Edwards from the television show "ER" talked about his family's experiences with autism during a program on that disorder," added Lichtenstein.

John Hockenberry, a respected voice on public radio, provides weekly commentary for the radio series. "He has a broad appeal because of his versatility. For a program on forgiveness, he recited a gut-wrenching essay on the school shootings in Jonesboro, Ark. When we did a program on urgency addiction, he took a lighthearted approach, poking fun at his own addiction to e-mail, the Internet, and cell phones," said Lichtenstein.

"Fred Goodwin's reputation as a leading scientist and public official has enabled us to feature leading people in the field. We also picked him to be the host because he has an inquisitive and open mind in approaching issues," said Lichtenstein

Goodwin said the series requires continuing fund-raising so that each program can be distributed free of charge to local stations. A new feature planned for this year will be a "Journal Corner," in which Goodwin will review the latest scientific literature including findings from the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The program's Web site, http://www.lcmedia.com/mindprgm.htm, features the show's broadcasts using RealAudio. The site also lists local radio stations that carry the program and links to related resources. The Web site, which averages 40,000 hits a month, has been listed as a "Hot Site" by USA Today, according to Lichtenstein. Listeners can also reach the show toll-free at (888) 350-MIND.