Psychiatric News, Features, Special Reports and Career Opportunities - Psychiatric Times en Copyright 2009, CMPMedica US Mon, 20 May 2013 07:30:01 GMT Mon, 20 May 2013 07:30:01 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/frances/content/article/10168/2142964?CID=rss Education and discussion will be the most powerful ways to mitigate the risks of DSM-5. The more people know about psychiatric diagnosis, the more safe, accurate, and useful it will be. Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/frances/content/article/10168/2142431?CID=rss The British Psychological Society has issued a press release that rivals the silliness of DSM-5 and the National Institute of Mental Health. Wed, 15 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/couchincrisis/content/article/10168/2141920?CID=rss The flat out rejection of DSM-5 by National Institute of Mental Health is a sad moment for mental health--and an unsafe one for our patients. The APA and NIMH are both letting us down, failing to be safe custodians for the mental health needs of our country. Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/couchincrisis/content/article/10168/2141447?CID=rss The poorly conceived DSM-5 Somatic Symptom Disorder substitutes a false psychiatric certainty that misleadingly covers medical uncertainty about the appropriate diagnosis. It is better to admit what we don't know than cover it with meaningless labels. Tue, 7 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/moffic/content/article/10168/2140265?CID=rss As most mental health professionals know by now, psychiatry's D-Day is rapidly approaching. DSM-5 is scheduled to be officially released at the American Psychiatric Association meeting. However, there has never been an official treatment manual to complement the diagnostic one. Wed, 1 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/frances/content/article/10168/2139502?CID=rss The intense level of international interest in DSM-5 is a great surprise. Although DSM has become a research standard around the world, it is rarely used by clinicians outside the US and therefore poses a much lesser threat to their patients. So why all the prominent media coverage in countries outside of the US? Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/frances/content/article/10168/2137671?CID=rss Money should not be wasted on futile preventive programs to detect mental health problems that don't yet exist. Instead, resources should be invested where there is desperate need—to properly treat and decently house psychiatric patients who are now shamefully neglected. Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/frances/content/article/10168/2135602?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=2017365&t=1364846106754" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>The liveliest debate in psychiatry today is where to draw the line between mental disorder and mental health. So much rides on the decision—who gets treated and how, who pays for it, whether a criminal is deemed mad or bad, whether someone gets damages in tort cases, who qualifies for disability payments and eligibility for extra school services, whether someone can adopt a child—and there's a whole lot more.<br style="clear:both;"/> Mon, 1 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/moffic/content/article/10168/2135457?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=2135541&t=1364835942114" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>In our time, it seems that the number of psychiatrists who believe in a God are increasing, parallel with the decreasing influence of Freud’s ideas.<br style="clear:both;"/> Mon, 1 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/pies/content/article/10168/2135248?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=1743338&t=1364577786186" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>When critics of psychiatric diagnosis insist that terms like “schizophrenia” or “bipolar disorder” are inherently stigmatizing, they are unwittingly perpetuating the very prejudice they wish to end. It is time to shine a bright light on this self-fulfilling prophecy.<br style="clear:both;"/> Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/adhd/content/article/10168/2132869?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=2111848&t=1363191177333" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>The 3% to 5% of kids who are particularly gifted are also at special risk for being tagged with an inappropriate diagnosis of mental disorder. Caution is necessary when diagnosing.<br style="clear:both;"/> Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/geriatric-psychiatry/content/article/10168/2132470?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=2128088&t=1363113567188" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>I imagine there’s a little man inside the elderly patient's head. It is dark all around him, but to the front some light gets in through the eyes. Sounds come to him from a distance, muted, like in a heavy fog at night. If too much sensory information reaches the little man, he becomes overwhelmed and confused.<br style="clear:both;"/> Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/forensic-psych/content/article/10168/2131700?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=2131744&t=1362689338394" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>After each violent tragedy, politicians mourn and harrumph, but they wind up buckling under pressure from the NRA, fiscal constraints, and the prison and gun lobbies. Repeated dramatic events can shake the complacency and cowardice of a stalemated Congress and state legislatures.<br style="clear:both;"/> Fri, 8 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/moffic/content/article/10168/2131033?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=2131083&t=1362492959565" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>It is yet unclear whether the overwhelming shock of Newtown will galvanize action not only to prevent future mass murderers, but also to finally reduce the public health and mental health risks of more chronic, common, and routine gun violence in America. <br style="clear:both;"/> Tue, 5 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/couchincrisis/content/article/10168/2131020?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=1661965&t=1362429072625" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>The discovery of an unknown family member can bring about joy or grief, and raise many clinical questions about the psychodynamics that are at play within families.<br style="clear:both;"/> Tue, 5 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/eghigian/content/article/10168/2130801?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=2092806&t=1362172166182" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>Concerns are raised about DSM-5 revisions in the definition of depression. Many worry that eliminating the bereavement exception in the guidelines for the diagnosis of major depressive disorder represents a dangerous move.<br style="clear:both;"/> Fri, 1 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/frances/content/article/10168/2130515?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=2130527&t=1362078996509" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>DSM-5 has moved a section called “Psychological Factors Affecting Medical Condition (PFAMC) from the of the book (where it is not a mental disorder) to front and center in the chapter on Somatic Symptom Disorders (where now it will be a mental disorder).<br style="clear:both;"/> Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/frances/content/article/10168/2129374?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=1661997&t=1361474891846" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>Diagnosing rape as mental disorder is an improper use of psychiatric diagnosis and promotes the abuse of psychiatric commitment to further what would otherwise be an unconstitutional form of preventive detention.<br style="clear:both;"/> Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/moffic/content/article/10168/2128528?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=2128539&t=1360957845850" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>The therapeutic effect of animals on humans. If we treat them well, they can provide healing to us.<br style="clear:both;"/> Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMT http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blog/frances/content/article/10168/2128069?CID=rss <img src="http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=1869937&t=1360771138667" border="0" align="left" height="50" width="50" style="padding-right:5px; padding-top:2px"/>DSM-5 must emphasize that physical symptoms deserve the respect of a thorough work-up before assuming their cause is psychiatric. And people with defined medical illnesses should not be casually mislabeled as also mentally ill just because they are upset about being sick.<br style="clear:both;"/> Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMT