The Perplexing History of ECT in Three Books
August 12th 2010Despite these divergent books, it is important to avoid characterizing ECT as controversial. The Shorter-Healy and Dukakis books should dampen the controversy, because they characterize ECT as a safe, effective, and important treatment that psychiatry almost forgot. With its emotion-laden accusations and name-calling, the Andre book will inflame opinions.
Screening for Depression in Clinical Practice: An Evidence-Based Guide
August 5th 2010Screening for Depression in Clinical Practice, which reviews the current body of knowledge on mental health screening in the medical setting, is a reference text written primarily for the consultation-liaison specialist, but it will be of use to the general psychiatrist and the interested primary care physician or medical specialist.
The Rise and Fall of the Biopsychosocial Model
July 7th 2010Ultimately, Dr Ghaemi endorses a pluralistic approach and a “method-based psychiatry” in contrast to the eclecticism of the BPS. This method-based approach recognizes that one method may be more correct than others on the basis of empirical data and conceptual soundness (the “less is more” view), versus the BPS model, in which all methods can be equally correct (the “more is better” view).
A Clinician’s Guide to Statistics and Epidemiology in Mental Health: Measuring Truth and Uncertainty
April 7th 2010Is A Clinician’s Guide to Statistics and Epidemiology in Mental Health what we have been waiting for? Yes and no. It contains solid descriptions of concepts such as the P value and confidence intervals, and it has extensive discussions of the history of modern statistical methods. Perhaps its greatest strength involves critiques of the interpretations of several studies that have mistakenly become cornerstones of clinical lore.
Psychiatrist on the Road: Encounters in Healing and Healthcare
September 1st 2009After 18 years as a senior clinical psychiatrist at a New England inner-city mental health clinic, Dr Lawrence Climo was understandably surprised and saddened when he was given 2 weeks’ notice that his services were no longer needed. Financial constraints meant the clinic was replacing him with a nurse. Although his wife told him it was an opportunity, he remembers thinking that health care reform made him feel that his professional skills were “almost irrelevant or at least unmarketable.”
Textbook of Violence Assessment and Management
June 5th 2009The foreword to the Textbook of Violence Assessment and Management promptly reminds readers that the mental health system has been invested in the prediction and prevention of violence since its inception. In a field dedicated to promoting wellness via the management of cognition, emotion, and behavior, violent thoughts, feelings, and actions are of primary concern. When psychiatric illness or psychological distress manifests as violence, the costs in terms of human suffering are extreme, wreaking havoc in the lives of patients, clinicians, and society at large-often with irreversible consequences.
Woody Allen and Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona
May 8th 2009For Allen, that film was the measure of Bergman’s genius, and it reached aesthetic heights that he conceded his own films would never attain. Bergman, like his Knight, Allen observed, could not put off the ultimate checkmate nor would his great art secure for him a personal afterlife as intellectuals wanted to believe. Allen was sure that Bergman would barter each great film he had made for another year of life so he could go on making films.
The Bipolar Disorder Answer Book: Answers to More than 275 of Your Most Pressing Questions
July 2nd 2008Education is a cornerstone for the effective treatment of bipolar disorder. The Bipolar Disorder Answer Book is a recent addition to the resources available for patients and their families. Each of the newly emerging self-help books offers different perspectives and emphasis. This book sets out to cover a broad range of relevant topics. Although it begins with the usual discussion of diagnosis and treatment, it quickly moves on to specific issues, such as securing care (both outpatient and inpatient), relapse prevention, comorbid illnesses, “survival tips” for friends and family, insurance coverage, and disability resources.
Bipolar II: Enhance Your Highs, Boost Your Creativity, and Escape the Cycles of Recurrent Depression
March 1st 2007Ronald Fieve and his colleagues were among the first to document milder versions of manic symptoms-hypomania-in the 1970s, observations that did not make it into DSM until 1994.This book appears mainly to be intended for families and patients; clinicians might find some parts simplistic and other parts informative.