Addictive Disorders: Updates and Findings
December 1st 2014An introduction to the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry and its coverage of topics such as alcohol use disorders, e-cigarettes, prescription opioid use and abuse, cannabis use, stimulant use, medical marijuana, gambling, and opioid antagonist therapy to prevent overdose.
Introduction: A Biopsychosocial Model of Care
November 28th 2014The past decade has been an exciting one for the field of psychosomatic medicine. It has been recognized as a specialty and now has a certification examination. In this Special Report, we discuss some of the approaches that are being taken to special populations within the psychosomatic medicine community.
Brief Psychotherapy at the Bedside: Existential Neuroscience to Mobilize Assertive Coping
November 28th 2014For severely ill patients, understanding the neurobiological underpinning of assertive coping provides an additional map for rapid assessment, formulation, and intervention to bolster assertive coping.
Transplant Psychiatry: Issues for Clinicians
November 28th 2014The role of transplant psychiatrists is to assess both transplant and donor candidates to determine capacity to consent to the surgery, recent stressors and coping skills, social supports and availability of caregivers, and whether there are psychological or substance abuse issues that would affect outcomes.
The Curse of Cassandra and Insights by Psychiatrists
November 26th 2014Who hasn’t been at a public gathering and, after identifying yourself as a psychiatrist, heard someone respond nervously, “Can you read my mind?” Just as Thanksgiving can be compromised by family conflict, being a psychiatrist can at times feel like a curse in our public lives.
Controversies of Using Buprenorphine for Maintenance in Opioid Dependency
November 19th 2014The use of buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid dependence is on the rise. However, buprenorphine withdrawal has its own withdrawal symptoms that in many cases can be as severe as symptoms of opioid withdrawal.
New Federal BRAIN Research Discoveries Are Targeted to Improve Clinical Practice
November 17th 2014Although the early focus of the NIH component of the BRAIN Initiative is on tool development, the examples listed in this article show that these tools will have relevance to practicing clinicians within the lifetime of the Initiative.
The Psychiatrist, the Aliens, and “Going Native”
November 14th 2014After years of working with troubled individuals claiming to have been abducted by extraterrestrials, Harvard University Professor John Mack published a book. What made Mack and the book so controversial was the fact that he had come to accept that his patients’ stories were an accurate description of real events.
A Psychological Travelogue: From Casablanca to Morocco
November 12th 2014Although 2 weeks of protected touring is hardly enough time to get a sense of Morocco, there was a familiar parallel to cross-cultural psychiatry. Let the patient tell you what they are about culturally, respect that particular point of view, relate to them as they wish, and support that with study.