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Commentary on "Parallels Between Aging and Schizophrenia"
Since Dr. Seeman has written a deeply personal essay, readers should know something about her accomplishments. She has been a distinguished pioneer in the treatment and study of schizophrenia for nearly half a century. She held the inaugural Chair in Schizophrenia Studies at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health at the University of Toronto. A former Chief of Psychiatry and Vice Chair of the Department at Toronto's Mt. Sinai Hospital, she is now Professor Emerita and graduate coordinator at the Institute of Medical Science, a graduate faculty for the health sciences at the University of Toronto. She is internationally recognized for her research elucidating gender differences in the course, treatment, and outcome of patients with schizophrenia. Dr. seeman has been at forefront in public education about those suffering from this disorder. Nine years ago she received the prestigious Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Research Prize in recognition of her impressive lifetime achievement in schizophrenia research and in 2002 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Sciences degree from the University of Toronto. Dr. Seeman's legacy is not only as a prominent researcher, but she also has an admirable reputation as a compassionate clinician, teacher, and mentor to many young psychiatric researchers, all of which comes through clearly in her manuscript. Once before, Dr. Seeman tackled the impact of aging on her career, although in much less comprehensive fashion, when she focused on her diminishing office space as a metaphor for the challenges at the end of her career (Seeman, 2003). This piece, which appeared in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Introspections Series, also provided us with an opportunity to learn about her talented work with patients.
Dr. Seeman has presented the reader with an astute portrayal of the aging process and has juxtaposed this with her understanding of her patients with schizophrenia. She presents her view of aging with all its positive and negative aspects. Other psychiatrists, including four former American Psychiatric Association presidents, have commented on the advantages and disadvantages of this stage of life as well (Barton 1986; Braceland 1978; Busse 1991; Pollock 1992). Frances Braceland (1978) made the following quip about getting old. "When it's quiet I can almost hear brain cells drop out."...