Cartoonist to Be Awarded for His Portrayal About War-Related Mental Health

Cartoonist Garry Trudeau will receive the annual Mental Health Research Advocacy Award from Yale School of Medicine April 5 for his outstanding portrayal of the readjustment issues faced by soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Trudeau, a Yale College graduate and creator of the popular comic strip “Doonesbury,” will be honored at the Department of Psychiatry’s Neuroscience 2008 symposium, “Stress, Resilience and Recovery.”

The symposium will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Harkness Auditorium, Sterling Hall of Medicine, 333 Cedar St.

“The Mental Health Research Advocacy Award is given annually by the Department of Psychiatry to someone who has made an important contribution to the effort to advance research designed to improve the lives of people with mental illness,” said John Krystal, M.D., professor of clinical pharmacology and deputy chair for research in psychiatry.

“Our committee felt that the Doonesbury comic strip has provided our country with a humorous, but moving, fictional portrayal of the adjustment challenges faced by soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Krystal said. “In this way, Mr. Trudeau provides millions of Americans with a gut level appreciation of the impact of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on soldiers and their families as well as the real opportunities for obtaining help with the readjustment process. In so doing, he is helping to raise awareness about the importance of PTSD as a national challenge, where investment in treatment and research could have an important and lasting impact.”