In Memoriam: The Many Faces of Psychiatrists and Psychiatry

PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

As usual, at the end of each calendar year, I try to find out about psychiatrists who have passed away that I missed covering in our eulogies. It is actually not easy to find these, though it should be. Psychiatry is a very difficult, but important, profession and as many psychiatrists as possible need to be eulogized for their contributions. Here is what I recently found in these brief eulogies, in order of the dates of their deaths.

Roger B. Granet, MD: Psychiatrist, Author, Poet, and Basketballer

Dr Granet passed away on February 24, 2025, at the age of 77.

It is hard to choose what to say from all the personal comments in his funeral “Memories and Condolences.” Here are some.

Clinical skills: “I was suffering from constant ringing in the ears which no other doc could resolve… He knew in minutes—serotonin withdrawal, and my misery resolved in 24 hours.”

Psychiatric author: A psychooncologist, among his many books is Surviving Cancer Emotionally: Learning How to Heal (Wiley, 2001).

Poet: A book of his poetry is Museum of Dreams (Thornwood Press, 1997).

Basketball playing: “No better man ever drove to the basket . . . or walked this earth.”

Peter C. Whybrow, MD, FRCP, ACNP: Neuropsychiatrist Academician

Dr Whybrow died on August 25, 2025, at the age of 86.

Born in England, he started his psychiatric Career at Dartmouth Medical School. Astoundingly, he became chair of the department at the age of 31, and later dean of the medical school.

Although he became an expert on thyroid function and depression, he later also became interested in the social psychiatric role of migrant culture.

Bradley H. Sevin, MD: Award-Wining Psychiatrist, Gourmet Cook, and Avid Gardener

Dr Sevin died on September 23, 2025, at the age of 81.

He was immortalized much earlier in a 1977 article in the Morning Call of Allentown Pennsylvania article titled “Oldster still a key part of culture, seminar told.”

In 2022, he received the Practitioner of the Year Award from the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society.

At home, he made and displayed his sculptures in his flower garden, and personally catered his daughter’s wedding.

Alan J. Sholomskas, MD: Sleep Medicine

Dr Sholomskas died on November 14, 2025, at the age of 77.

He became the medical director of the first accredited free-standing sleep center in Connecticut and the United States, the New Haven Sleep Disorders Center.

A condolence tribute included this Eskimo proverb: “Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven, where the love of our loved lost ones pour through and shines down upon us, to let us know they are happy.”

Bruce M. Forester, MD: Murder Mystery Author

Dr Forester died on December 21 at the age of 86, which was also the 63rd anniversary of his wedding to Erica.

His psychiatric work was in private practice and teaching in New York City. He also used his psychological insights as an accomplished murder mystery author.

Concluding Thoughts

What may be really apparent from this collection of brief psychiatrist eulogies is the wide scope, not only of psychiatric practice, but in the application of such expertise to everyday life in terms of poetry, basketball, migrants, cooking, gardening, sleep, murder miseries, and more. This diversity exemplifies the grateful relevance of psychiatry to all aspects of life.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He presented the third Rabbi Jeffrey B. Stiffman lecture at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis on Sunday, May 19, 2024. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.