On Your Mind:
The Fountain House Symposium and Luncheon
Moodswings: What You Should Know About Bipolar Disorder
On Monday May 2nd, Fountain House held its second annual Symposium and Luncheon. The Symposium topic this year was, Moodswings: What You Should Know About Bipolar Disorder.
Nearly 450 people, up from 330 last year, attended the event at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City, raising over $605,000 for Fountain House programs. Co-chairs Lynn Nicholas, Psy.D., Lorna Hyde Graev, and Alexandra Herzan led the charge on this year’s event.
Our dear friend, Consuelo Mack, returned as the event’s emcee. A distinguished panel of experts spoke about symptoms, outcomes, and promising treatments for bipolar disorder. Panelists included Gabrielle Carlson, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics and Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at State University of New York at Stony Brook, School of Medicine; Frederick Goodwin, M.D., Research Professor of Psychiatry at George Washington University Medical Center; and Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, winner of the 2001 National Book Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Following the Symposium and a film presentation produced by members and staff, Lorna Graev presented the 2005 Fountain House Humanitarian Award to best-selling author and mother Danielle Steel, who was represented at the event by her son Maxx Traina. Another of Ms. Steel’s children, Nick Traina, suffered from bipolar disorder, which led to his suicide. The Steel family established the Nick Traina Foundation in his memory to support research, treatment, and family support for those affected by bipolar disorder.
Maxx read moving remarks from his mother: “We are not alone in this experience. Nor was Nick. As family, and sufferer of the disease, we and he are far too typical examples of the ravages of mental illness. Too often fatal, almost always heart-breaking. Yet there are many who respond well to treatment and lead happy, productive lives. … It says in the Talmud that ‘to save one life is to save a world entire.’ We are here to save that life, and so are you, and hopefully many more lives in the future.”
