Leon Eisenberg Explained

Leon Eisenberg
Birth Date:August 8, 1922
Birth Place:Philadelphia, US
Death Place:Cambridge, Massachusetts, US
Occupation:Child psychiatrist, social psychiatrist, medical educator
Spouse:Ruth Harriet Bleier
Carola Eisenberg
Alma Mater:University of Pennsylvania

Leon Eisenberg (August 8, 1922 – September 15, 2009)[1] was an American child psychiatrist, social psychiatrist[2] and medical educator who "transformed child psychiatry by advocating research into developmental problems".[3]

He is credited with several "firsts" in medicine and psychiatry – in child psychiatry, autism, and the controversies around autism, randomized clinical trials (RCTs), social medicine, global health, affirmative action,[4] and evidence-based psychiatry.

He served as Chairperson of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Department of Child and adolescent psychiatry[5] and Harvard Medical School until his retirement in 1988. After retirement, he continued as The Maude and Lillian Presley Professor of Social Medicine, Psychiatry Emeritus, and in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine of the Harvard Medical School in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, until a few months before his death in 2009. He received both his BA and MD degrees from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He taught previously at both the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University. He was chief of psychiatry at both Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston during formative periods in psychiatry for each institution.[6]

Medical accomplishments

Eisenberg completed the first outcome study of autistic children in adolescence and recognized patterns of language use as the best predictor of prognosis. Of the two first studies of the outcome of infantile autism, he reported the American study in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 1956, and the UK study was reported in JCPP[7] shortly afterward by Victor Lotter [8] and Sir Michael Rutter. Eisenberg also studied and identified the use of rapid rea turn to school as the key treatment in the management of the separation anxiety in an underlying school phobia.

He was principal investigator (PI) on the first grant from the Psychopharmacology Branch of NIMH for RCTs in child psychopharmacology. From a concern for evidence-based care, well before the phrase was coined, he introduced randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in psychopharmacology and showed that "tranquillizing drugs were inferior to placebo in the treatment of anxiety disorders, whereas stimulant drugs were effective in controlling hyperactivity."

Eisenberg completed the first RCTs of psychiatric consultation to social agencies and the utility of brief psychotherapy in anxiety disorders. He published a forceful critique of Konrad Lorenz's instinct theory and established the usefulness of distinguishing "disease" from "illness". He has highlighted the environmental context as a determinant of the phenotype emerging from a given genotype, and from the late 1990s through 2006, he had been involved with developing conferences and resources for medical educators in various specialties that would help them incorporate into courses with their current and future students, the tidal wave of new information in genomics yet to puzzle future clinicians. This interest may have been encouraged by his stepson, Alan Guttmacher, then acting head of the National Human Genome Research Institute. For many decades, Eisenberg had criticized psychoanalysis from several platforms.

The scientific contributions of Eisenberg include:

Eisenberg was proudest of the Diversity Lifetime Achievement Award he received in 2001 for his role in inaugurating affirmative action at HMS in 1968 and sustaining it as chairman of the Admissions Committee from 1969 to 1974. He regards that as his most important contribution to Harvard Medical School.

He and his wife, Carola B. Eisenberg, former dean of students, first at MIT, then at Harvard Medical School, had been active with Physicians for Human Rights, which as an organization received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for its International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

In mid-2009 (June 22, 2009), a Leon Eisenberg Chair in Child Psychiatry was named at Children's Hospital Boston.[10] The first chairholder of the Leon Eisenberg Professorship in Child Psychiatry is David R. DeMaso, MD, HMS Professor of Psychiatry and Psychiatrist-in-Chief at Children's Hospital Boston.[11]

His autographical memoir was published posthumously by Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica.

Death

Eisenberg died of prostate cancer at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts on September 15, 2009.[12]

Later autobiographical reflections: "Were We Asleep at the Switch?"

Eisenberg wrote a 'mini-autobiography' which he named "Were We Asleep at the Switch?".[13] Eisenberg suggested that a switch from 'mind' to 'body' has taken place in psychiatry as a discipline, which led to overuse of medication. He also argued that, while medical scientists were worrying about the tedious science at the base of medical practice and healthcare decisions for the general public, "money" and monied interests had been making de facto decisions for the populace about how things that affected them deeply were going to be done. In this view, the overwhelming impact of economic considerations over emerging bodies of expert knowledge may have rendered and might continue to render futile the professional contributions of many brilliant, timely, and concerned working scientists.

A 2012 article in the German weekly publication Der Spiegel gives an account of an interview Eisenberg gave in 2009, seven months before his death. It quotes him as saying, "ADHD is a prime example of a fabricated disease... The genetic predisposition to ADHD is completely overrated." Instead of prescribing a 'pill', Eisenberg said, psychiatrists should determine whether there are psychosocial reasons that could lead to behavioral problems.[14]

Earliest papers

Select publications

Many of Eisenberg's books and papers have been translated into both European and non-European languages and have been widely cited.

Papers written from consulting

Kleinman A, Eisenberg L, Desjarlais R (Eds) (1995), World Mental Health: Priorities and Problems in Low-Income Countries. New York: Oxford University Press.[15]

Awards

Awards named for Eisenberg

Several late-in-life and posthumous awards were developed to continue the legacy of Eisenberg.[19]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Dr. Leon Eisenberg, at 87; affirmative action advocate. Bryan. Marquard. 11 October 2009. 20 July 2022. The Boston Globe.
  2. The Creation of Psychopharmacology, David Healy, 2002, cites Eisenberg's role in evidence-based social psychiatry
  3. Leon Eisenberg. Ned. Stafford. 18 November 2009. BMJ. 339. b4615. 20 July 2022. www.bmj.com. 10.1136/bmj.b4615. 220108072 .
  4. http://rcclibrary.wikispaces.com/RCC_Faculty_and_Staff_Publications#Alane Shanks Thirty Years of Affirmative Action at Harvard Medical School: A Mixed Method Program Evaluation
  5. Web site: Kanner L and Eisenberg L. Child psychiatry; mental deficiency. American Journal of Psychiatry 1955: 111:520-523. 20 July 2022.
  6. Leon Eisenberg papers, 1905-2009 (inclusive), 1968-2005 (bulk). HMS c196. Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
  7. Web site: archive.ph . https://archive.today/20130105113404/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121671978/abstract . dead . 2013-01-05 . 2022-10-10 . archive.ph.
  8. http://www.kent.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/542C3683-5268-491C-94AB-893425CF5269/0/ASDReport.pdf
  9. http://breezemsprod2.tch.harvard.edu/p31549563/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal
  10. Web site: 2009-06-27 . Harvard Medical School fetes scholar, names chair HarvardScience . 2022-10-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090627203056/http://www.harvardscience.harvard.edu/medicine-health/articles/harvard-medical-school-fetes-scholar-names-chair . 2009-06-27 .
  11. Web site: 2011-06-04 . David R. DeMaso, MD - Research Faculty - Children's Hospital Boston . https://web.archive.org/web/20110604052718/http://www.childrenshospital.org/cfapps/research/data_admin/Site265/mainpageS265P0.html . 2011-06-04 . 2022-10-10 .
  12. Benedict Carey, Dr. Leon Eisenberg, Pioneer in Autism Studies, Dies at 87 The New York Times. Retrieved on October 3, 2009.
  13. Were we all asleep at the switch? A personal reminiscence of psychiatry from 1940 to 2010 . 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2010.01544.x . 2010 . Eisenberg . Leon . Guttmacher . Laurence B. . Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica . 122 . 2 . 89–102 . 20618173 .
  14. Web site: (S+) Schwermut ohne Scham. Jörg. Blech. 5 February 2012. 20 July 2022. Spiegel.de.
  15. http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/used-books/World-Mental-Health-Problems-Priorities-Desjarlais-Eisenberg-Kleinman/grp7306385-019511311X-rare.html?pticket=aahum5555i5ti4vdx5x2b0459QM%2f2tZGAN2n5Au9TkJW2684Mw0%3d
  16. Book: Attenasio, Luigi. La cura degli altri: seminari di etnopsichiatria. 20 July 2005. Armando Editore. 9788883585685 . 20 July 2022. Google Books.
  17. Online reference in La cura degli altri. Seminari di etnopsichiatria edited by Luigi Attenasio through Google Books
  18. http://paraguay.wpanet.org/content/prize/jjlopezibor.pdf
  19. Web site: Eisenberg Name Associated with Two New Honors, 23 Apr 2010 . 12 February 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100707070917/http://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/news/articles/eisenberg_name_associated_with_two_new_honors/ . 7 July 2010 . dead .
  20. Web site: Harvard Medical School fetes scholar, names chair. Corydon. Irel. News.harvard.edu. 25 June 2009. 20 July 2022.
  21. https://www.aacap.org/aacap/Member_Resources/AACAP_Committees/History_and_Archives/Eisenberg_Award_Interviews.aspx Video interviews of the recipients of the annual Leon Eisenberg Award
  22. Web site: News. Ghsm.hms.harvard.edu. 20 July 2022.

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