Psychiatric Times Vol 19 No 12

A new report released by the Bush administration details the fragmentary nature of the current mental health care system. A few successful programs work despite the current system, not because of it.

I try to make him an ordinary patient with a list of drugs and diagnoses strung together in a necklace of initials: CAD, CABG, DM2, HTN.

There is no doubt that the number of applications for disability is rising. How should psychiatrists deal with patients who ask for disability without compromising the therapeutic alliance or the goals of therapy?

Mental health care professionals must be aware of the responsibilities and conflicts that present when patients are children and adolescents. Prescribing medications to minors and working with the child's guardian in treatment decisions are discussed.

Psychiatrists must identify ethical conflicts that arise among their practice, personal beliefs, and the needs and beliefs of the patient.

Discussions of psychiatric ethics often devolve into discussions of applicable law. Although ethics is often operationalized by a society's laws, ethics differs dramatically in its foundations, framework and purpose.