The removal of the so-called “bereavement exclusion” (BE) from DSM-5 was one of the most difficult and controversial decisions the DSM-5 work groups made, and many clinicians continue to find the distinction between ordinary grief and major depression confusing.
Many patients report that smoking helps them with their stress and psychological disturbances. However, smoking may actually worsen some of these symptoms. When is the right time for your patients to quit?
There has been a lot of publicity about hearing loss as a predisposing factor to depression and dementia. What about visual problems? These questions and more in this expert Q&A.
It seems ironic that the Oedipus myth about self-inflicted blindness is so central to psychiatry, but there are few guidelines on treating sensory loss. Here, the evolution of an APA workshop on treating patients with visual impairments.
Running into an old friend at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting: Use hashtag #APAAM14.
Emergency psychiatry is helping to redefine acute mental health treatment-facilitating timely access, in less restrictive, outpatient levels of care, for patients in crisis.
When I’m hungry, I love to stroll past the campus barnyard and visit the colorful, caged characters who live, like me...
Why do so many die as a consequence of addiction? Sadly-and in some cases disastrously-affected individuals are never offered alternative approaches after one option fails. More in this commentary.
Recognition, management, and understanding of the broad range of sexual feelings in older adults is a key component to providing humane and competent care. More in this expert Q&A.
What differentiates this film from other Holocaust documentaries is that it documents the bonds between 4 Israeli-born siblings, recently bereaved, as much as it documents details about the fate of their father at the hands of Hitler’s henchmen.
A video featuring the author of the DSM-5 Handbook, Dr Michael First describes differential diagnosis and assessment, central components of clinical practice.
"Depression is overwhelming and overpowering, and it crushes its prey." Here: a pediatrician tells of her 40-year battle with severe depression, and offers insights about how to talk with someone who is depressed.
What happens when our patients get pregnant or plan to get pregnant? What if psychiatric illness manifests during pregnancy or the perinatal period? Dr Elizabeth Fitelson answers these questions and more in this video.
An overview of Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, a medical specialty committed to better understanding links between neuroscience and behavior and to the care of individuals with neurologically based behavioral disturbances.
The term “CTE” was introduced recently to describe progressive neuropathological changes and diffuse neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with a history of TBI. Here, a clinical overview of TBI and CTE.
Psychiatric comorbidity in epilepsy represents not only a matter of intellectual interest but also an important variable that affects prognosis in terms of morbidity and mortality.
For some patients with Parkinson disease, the neuropsychiatric complications are a greater source of morbidity than the motor dysfunction. This article focuses on the management of psychosis in Parkinson disease.
As with most tests in medicine, the results of computerized neurocognitive tests are not diagnostic, but they are useful adjuncts to the diagnostic process.
Many psychotherapies attempt to enhance patients’ problem-solving capacities, interpretation of images, and regulation of affective states. What areas in the brain play a role in these functions?
The tripling of ADHD rates in the last 20 years and skyrocketing use of stimulants are sure signs of a fad. The forces promoting it are, and will continue to be, formidable. More in this commentary.
The frayed dignity of the patient described in this poem, his intelligence matched by the inexplicable intransigence of his alcoholism, moved this VA psychiatrist to describe the clinical encounter, apropos for April, Alcohol Awareness Month.
Those who have experienced extreme trauma and their descendents have taught us much about resilience, renewal, and redemption-outcomes that are all recalled in this period of the Jewish Passover, Christian Easter, and Holocaust Memorial Week.
Vitamin D has been hailed as the “sunshine” vitamin with many therapeutic attributes. The authors explore the association between vitamin D deficiency and increased risk of depression.
In just 20 years, rates of ADHD have tripled and autism and childhood bipolar disorder have increased forty fold. The last thing our kids need is to be misdiagnosed with “Sluggish Cognitive Tempo” and bathed in even more stimulant meds. More in this opinion piece.
Dysexecutive syndromes result from damage to the anterior regions of the brain and present as a combination of disinhibition, disorganization, or apathy.
Since the terms “genius” and “creativity” have different definitions, Psychiatric Times asked a neuropsychologist and creativity expert to clarify how the terms are being used in scientific studies.
When Wordsworth rhapsodized about yellow flowers, it is doubtful that he expected his verse to translate into the mental health realm. Yet that is exactly what happened.
Placing black floor mats in front of exits to deter demented nursing home residents from dangerous wandering may pose ethical questions.
Global child mental health in low- and middle-income countries faces all of the challenges of Western society and many more. This article examines the issues.
Firearms are the means of death in thousands of suicides and homicides every year. There is no denying that free access and wide availability has made gun death a major threat to our public health. More in this commentary.