In Memoriam: Eliot Sorel, MD, The Global Psychiatrist

PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

Eliot Sorel, MD, died peacefully at the age of 84 on October 13, 2024, the day after the Jewish High Holy Day of Yom Kippur, otherwise known as the Day of Atonement. Traditionally, it has been thought that dying on the eve of Yom Kippur is a bad sign because one’s sins had not yet been forgiven by God. However, dying immediately after Yom Kippur, as Eliot did, is thought to be a good sign, as the assumed sins have been forgiven. I do not know whether Eliot thought about this or had any influence on when he died. As the notice that Vincenzo Di Nicola, MPhil, MD, PhD, FCAHS, DLFAPA, DFCPA, sent to colleagues conveyed, Jewish tradition was then followed in his funeral service, burial, and the time-tested Shiva time for comforting the grieving family afterwards. The evening of the funeral service yesterday also happened to be Sukkot, the Jewish Festival of Thanksgiving, so appropriate a connection in expressing our thanks for him.

The family requested donations to be made to the Hebrew International Aid Society (HIAS), which helped him get to the United States from his stateless sojourn in France. Recall that HIAS was blamed in the conspiracy theory that “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people,” written by the perpetrator of the mass shooting of Pittsburgh synagogue attendees on October 27, 2018. Certainly to the contrary with Dr Sorel, devoted to saving lives and enhancing mental health and cross-cultural relationships.

Being a Jewish lantzman was one of several connections I had with Dr Sorel. He was born and raised in Romania, as was my paternal family, though he could not get to the United States until he was 21. We were both connected to Yale University School of Medicine, I as a medical student (1967-1971) and he as a psychiatric resident (1972-1975). Then, when I became President of the American Association for Social Psychiatry from 1998 -2000, he was President of the World Association of Social Psychiatry. He thereby called often to advise me of how both organizations could complement one another.

With the tremendous scope of his work, it is hard to summarize his career. Descriptions have come in from around the world help to portray his career. Some of these colleagues gave me permission to quote them as follows.

“Eliot’s contributions to psychiatry, public health, and especially social psychiatry, will ever be remembered. He believed in dialogue, inclusion, and mutual respect.” - Roy Kallivayalil, MD

“He was also a strong advocate of students and residents from around the world, especially from his beloved Rumania.” - David Baron, DO

“Just before his death, he was still concerned about China’s mental health and research.” - Yueqin Huang, PhD

“I witnessed first-hand his passion for global mental health and his empowerment of new, truly global, and diverse voices up until the very last days of his life . . . “ - Victor Pereira Sanchez, MD, PhD

“Dr Sorel was a past president of the Washington Psychiatric Society and the founder of the Conflict Management and Conflict Resolution section of the World Psychiatric Association.” - Enrico Suardi, MD

“He was the best mentor I ever had.” - Mansoor Malik, MD

“A simply austere human being.” - Rahn Kennedy Bailey, MD, DFAPA

“In the June Washington Psychiatric Society podcast, he talked about my Annual Meeting theme on lifestyle and his plan to submit a symposium with people from other countries on how their medical systems promote incorporating lifestyle into their healing practices.” - Ramaswamy Viswanathan, MD

He left the legacy of his scholarly work in editing the book 21st Century Global Mental Health (Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2012). Perhaps that seeped into my mind when I wrote about the need for global mental health and identity on Monday, the day after he died. He could speak English, French, Romanian, Hebrew, and some Yiddish.

Amidst all his global work and traveling was a devoted husband and father.

Dr Sorel is the very model of a global psychiatrist, is he not?

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 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.