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Bertram Brown, who led NIMH, dies
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
mental health weekly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1556-7583
pISSN - 1058-1103
DOI - 10.1002/mhw.32391
Subject(s) - cabinet (room) , presidential system , mental health , anxiety , confidentiality , government (linguistics) , state (computer science) , mental health care , service (business) , psychology , psychiatry , political science , medicine , nursing , law , politics , engineering , business , computer science , mechanical engineering , linguistics , philosophy , algorithm , marketing
Bertram S. Brown , a psychiatrist who led the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in the 1970s and was once labeled the country's “top shrink” for helping senior government leaders through professional and personal problems, such as anxiety and depression, died May 14 from cardiovascular disease. He was 89, The Washington Post reported May 25. Brown worked at the NIMH for 17 years, beginning in 1960 as a psychiatrist and culminating in his service as director from 1970 to 1977. Over five presidential administrations, he oversaw the national transition of mental health care from large, state‐run institutions to community‐based mental health care centers. Brown also provided free confidential therapy sessions for White House Cabinet secretaries, senior aides, members of Congress and military leaders in what he called “curbstone” service, a reference to the quick conversational exchanges between doctor and client.