SPOTLIGHT -
Hendrix Revisited: Joe’s Final Psychotherapy Session
After a code gray, it was clear to me that no matter one’s training, only such fundamental moments can enable one to answer affirmatively when asked, "Are you experienced?"
PET Shines Light on Early-Stage Alzheimer Disease
The goal of clinically relevant detection of neuropathological hallmarks may be in sight.
Immigration, Islamophobia, and Psychiatry
Given that “specific phobias” are a diagnostic category in DSM-5, is "Islamophobia" a diagnosable disorder?
A More Nuanced View of Hypomania
Is dysphoric hypomania a phase of mania itself? Or does it represent a descent into a mixed state?
Is Topiramate a Mood Stabilizer?
A brief overview of the many trials that have asked this weighty question.
Not Just a Matter of Semantics
In this Letter to the Editor, practicing psychiatrist Richard Krugley, MD makes the case against the term "assisted suicide" when applied to terminally ill patients. Drs. Pies and Geppert respond.
Introduction: Cognition, Rarely Discussed
What effects do illness and treatment have on cognition? Here's a deep dive.
Lithium Therapy, Bipolar Disorder- and Neurocognition
Functional mood stability can be attained with lithium therapy, but guidelines on how to get there have become increasingly sophisticated.
Cognitive Enhancers in Children and Adolescents: What Psychiatrists Need to Know
Personal enhancements (eg, cosmetic surgery) have gained societal acceptance, but cognitive enhancement poses significant ethical, philosophical, and sociopolitical issues.
To Google or Not to Google? Is “Patient-Targeted” Googling Ethical?
How would you handle information about a patient obtained from an Internet search? Take the quiz.
A Landmark Report on Addiction by Our Nation’s Doctor
Vivek Murthy, MD presented for the first time a report by a Surgeon General focused solely on addiction and its consequences.
Opioid Analgesics: The Myths-and the Facts
The overprescription of opioid analgesics has resulted in the growing use of heroin. Right?
Medical Marijuana and Dementia-Associated Agitation: Stirring the Pot
“Doctor, will you prescribe medical marijuana for my mother? I think it might help her agitation better than the medication you gave her last visit.”
Eight Enemies of Good Writing for the Lay Reader
It’s too bad that so many experts-in medicine and in other professions-can’t write for a lay audience. Here's some help.
A Coin Flip
But what if the patient was lying? It's hard to go to sleep at night and not wonder, “. . . what if I'm wrong?”
What Do Climate Change and Physician Burnout Have in Common?
American psychiatry is on the cusp of recognizing and tackling both physician burnout and climate change.
Committed: The Battle Over Involuntary Psychiatric Care
Here's a review of a book about involuntary psychiatric commitment-- a major source of controversy when the public tries to understand who psychiatrists are and what we do.
An Update on Melancholia
Functional vs structural; melancholic vs non-melancholic; and hierarchy of treatment are the focus.
Take Two Pills and ...
It's not about the specifics of preliminary studies about psilocybin. It's about the validation of research using psychedelic drugs in modern psychiatry.
Professionalism Defined
After your exams, after your diploma, after all the nights on call, missed dinners and diagnoses, after your apologies...
Apps for Suicide Prevention: What the Research Says
A review of smartphone tools for suicide prevention and recommendations for clinicians.
Building a Better Older Brain
There is no magic pill or fountain of youth that can build a better older brain, but there are several key strategies.
Do Patients Want to Know Whether Alzheimer Disease Awaits Them?
Older adults seem willing to take a hypothetical predictive test-and plan accordingly.
Effective Note-Writing: A Primer for Psychiatry Residents
An overview of various aspects of taking notes and suggestions for effective documentation.
Psychiatry Comic: Confidence Boost
Where would we be without mother birds?
Borderline or Bipolar: Can 3 Questions Differentiate Them?
Treatments for borderlinity and bipolarity are quite different. What if just 3 items from a standard screening questionnaire could increase your diagnostic certainty by 30%?
Eight Ways to Improve Cognition in Bipolar Disorder
For up to 60% of patients with bipolar disorder, simply treating their mood symptoms is not enough to help them return to a full life.
Deborah Danner and the Suffering of Schizophrenia
The nightmarish reality of psychosis is vividly detailed by Deborah Danner, a woman with self-described schizophrenia, recently shot to death by a New York City policeman.
5 Questions on Schizophrenia: Jan 2017
What are the key elements of attenuated psychosis syndrome? Answer this question and more in our quiz.
A 5-Question Quiz on MDD: Round 5
Are you up-to-date on somatic treatments for major depression? How about the optimal approach to resistant MDD? Take this quiz and find out.