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For families and those living with Schizophrenia, words matter. Today, we look at what’s behind the diagnosis, why experts are rethinking it as a neurodevelopmental syndrome—and whether changing the name could change lives.

This podcast episode focused on rethinking and potentially renaming schizophrenia as a neurodevelopmental syndrome.

Dr. Matcheri Keshavan (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston; Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School)

and Dr. Raquelle Mesholam-Gately (Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Co-Director, Recovery in Shared Experiences (RISE) Early Psychosis Program, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA.)

discussed their research on renaming schizophrenia, with the most popular suggestion being "Altered Perception Syndrome" based on their survey of 1,200 respondents.

They explained that schizophrenia may be better understood as a spectrum of disorders rather than one condition, with evidence showing developmental brain abnormalities including excessive synaptic pruning in adolescence.

The experts described how a name change could help reduce stigma, enable earlier detection through biomarkers, and lead to more personalized treatment approaches. They also discussed the historical context of the current name's origins and shared that similar name changes for other conditions like bipolar disorder and autism spectrum disorder have shown positive results in reducing stigma and improving care.

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Links:

Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance : https://sczaction.org/

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://randyekaye.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

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Join our facebook page
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Send a Text to the Moms - please include your contact info if you want a response. thanks!

​Creating a Mentally Healthy Nation for All: the APA Foundation

(Ep. 137)

A discussion with Dr. Vedrana Hodzic, Director of Fellowships and Medical Education for the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, and Dr. Brendan Ross a psychiatry resident at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

The conversation focused on:

• the APA Foundation's mission to create a mentally healthy nation, with particular emphasis on their community-based mental health programs.
• Brendan shared his experience working with intensive mobile treatment teams in New York City, which provide mobile psychiatric care to people with severe mental illness in their homes and apartments.
• Dr. Hodzic discussed the Foundation's work integrating mental health services with faith communities through the Mother Cabrini grant program, which includes training peer navigators and increasing access to mental health care in religious settings.
• Challenges in psychiatry, including the need for better reimbursement rates for mental health services and strategies for working with families of people with serious mental illness.
• The guests emphasized the importance of relationship-building and patience in treating individuals with severe mental illness, noting that successful outcomes often require extended periods of trust-building with patients.

Links

https://www.apaf.org/

https://smilrc.org/

https://www.smart911.com/

    link: https://www.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2026.02.2.3

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://randyekaye.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Support the show

Want to know more?
Join our facebook page
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman

Send a Text to the Moms - please include your contact info if you want a response. thanks!

Guest: (returning) Jerri Niebaum Clark

(Episodes 85 and 32 - Ambiguous Loss and Advocacy)

In Gone Before Gone, Clark describes her son’s “death by degrees” during a young adulthood wrecked by severe mental illness.

Surviving a parent’s nightmare led to Clark’s memoir of self-help—a toolkit for living with “ambiguous loss,” a term coined by Pauline Boss, PhD, an academic, author, and long-time family therapist. Trained by Boss herself, Clark has blended Boss’ concepts with her own experiences and the coping skills she’s cultivated as a long-time yoga teacher.

The result is a book like none other. Part memoir, part survival guide, complete with practical exercises .

Quick recap

Jerri Clark explained how she transformed her grief into a practical guide using ambiguous loss theory, applying these concepts specifically to families dealing with severe mental illness, emphasizing that families can heal while still experiencing pain, and challenging common platitudes about grief and strength.

Jerri shared insights about the importance of proper treatment, including clozapine and assisted outpatient treatment, and how families should not be defined solely by their caregiving roles. The episode concluded with all 3 Moms' (Mimi was not able to be there, Jerri is Mom #3) message that families can live fulfilling lives alongside ongoing grief and advocacy work.

Gone Before Gone book:

https://a.co/d/0gQFqukA

Johns Hopkins Symposium:

https://events.jhu.edu/form/schizophrenia-center-annual-symp

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://randyekaye.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/

Support the show

Want to know more?
Join our facebook page
Our websites:
Randye Kaye
Mindy Greiling
Miriam (Mimi) Feldman