Psychiatric Times Vol 21 No 13

Despite the increasing number of elderly nursing home patients with dementia or Alzheimer's disease, there are problems providing appropriate care. Two of the major difficulties are lack of Medicare reimbursement and poor staff training. How can we better care for these elderly patients?

It has been well established that there is a high incidence of depression in conjunction with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. What are the best assessment and diagnostic methods, and which treatments will produce the best results?

The relationship between depression and epilepsy is bidirectional as not only are patients with epilepsy at higher risk of developing depression but patients with depression have a three- to sevenfold higher risk of developing epilepsy. Several studies have found that the presence of depression in patients with intractable epilepsy was a stronger predictor of poor quality of life than the frequency and severity of seizures. The principles of managing depression in epilepsy are reviewed in this article.

Allegations of complicity by Chinese psychiatrists in abuse and persecution of members of the Falun Gong continues to trouble the World Psychiatric Association. Are the steps being taken to learn the truth enough? Dr. Stone provides a look at the events that have unfolded to date.