A significant number of patients have some degree of personality pathology that can interfere with treatment, whether they receive medication or some form of psychotherapy. But how can clinicians develop a strong therapeutic alliance with patients who have personality disorders? An expert explains.
A comprehensive adjustment to life after having had a psychotic episode and diagnosis of schizophrenia is a relatively new concept. An expert describes the post-psychotic adjustment process.
We have medications that can affect serotonin, norepinephrine, and-to a lesser extent-dopamine. Many other neurotransmitters are involved with mood disorders, but we have no medications yet to target them. Neurostimulation offers a non-systemic somatic approach to depression, often with an improved side effect profile. More in this Q&A.
The son of convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff died this week. As Andrew Madoff's death indicates, you don't stop being a father when your children are adults.
"That brother is my sister," says the commander of a former Navy Seal who who has now transitioned into being a female.
Suicide is not being adequately addressed in terms of prevention, and part of that process is better education of mental health professionals and primary care physicians. More in this expert Q&A.
In fighting Ebola in West Africa, healthcare givers have knowingly put their own lives at risk. If that isn't following the medical ethics principle of putting the patient first, what is?
If there is an action that is further from sitting next to someone and trying to understand the psychology of their brain, it is standing next to someone and preparing to behead them.
A video summarizing key points of a presentation titled “Agitation and Aggression: Managing the Acute Episode and Beyond, An Evidence-Based Approach.”
People feel free to post comments on social media sites that they would never dare say to someone’s face. The cure, if only a partial one, is to get out of social media and to start living a real life. What is your opinion on this issue?
The menopausal transition is characterized by sex hormone variability and a vulnerability to depressive symptoms and major depressive episodes. The rate of new-onset major depressive episodes is increased during the menopausal transition, as is the experience of depressive symptoms.
Chronobiology-the science of daily (circadian), monthly, tidal, and seasonal rhythms-has undergone exponential growth in the past decade, with major discoveries at the molecular and neuroanatomic level.
If we didn't so stigmatize the severely mentally ill, we would feel an urgent responsibility to rescue them immediately from prison and homelessness.
Military veterans are ubiquitous in our practices and in our lives. The impact of the past several years of armed conflict is greater than many think-and much greater than simply the number of veterans in your practice or your community.
A proper psychiatric diagnosis requires the ability to elicit information, identify symptoms, and recognize behavioral patterns. Dr Michael First, author of DSM-5 Handbook of Differential Diagnosis, summarizes key points in this brief video.
The “story behind the story” is not the over-prescription of antidepressants-though it happens-but the under-availability of optimal treatment.
Imagine an end to psychiatric episodes that threaten job and family, no more hospitalizations, and a chance for a long life not cut short by mental illness and its complications. What can we take away from the HIV/AIDS story for the treatment of mental illness?
All psychiatrists must familiarize themselves with relevant reporting statutes and be knowledgeable about what constitutes neglect or abuse.
Maltreatment at an early age casts a very long shadow. Here: a look at the long-term effects of early childhood trauma.
The number of persons affected by elder mistreatment and self-neglect is growing-with consequent increases in morbidity and premature mortality.
Why do you need to know about Munchausen by Proxy? Answers here.
Substantial progress has been made in the development of etiologic models of intimate partner violence and interventions for individuals who assault their intimate partners. These authors provide details.
The authors-both well-known specialists-attempt to integrate the two fundamental ingredients of psychotherapy and pharmacology in the treatment of bipolar disorders.
Until I attended the recent Graphic Medicine conference at Johns Hopkins, I did not appreciate the skyrocketing popularity of “graphic novels” as “illness narratives,” writes this psychiatrist.
This case stresses the importance of identifying cultural issues that arise in mental health clinical encounters.
At a time when our field is under attack from many quarters, it is critically important to be able to discuss what it is that we do as psychiatrists in a non-defensive and intellectually rigorous manner. Help here.
A brief review of interesting new findings on suicidality and depression treatment in youths.
A mother recalls seeing a donation box with a photo of a little boy with leukemia in a grocery store checkout line but never one of a child with serious mental illness. How can this be if twice as many children and young people die from suicide than those who die of all cancers combined? More in this commentary.
Fifty Shrinks allows us to see ourselves through the sensitive eyes of a colleague and artist.