Severe alcohol dependence and frequent relapses in this patient prompts his son to produce a durable power of attorney for health care. He demands that the physicians declare his father to lack decision-making capacity. More in this ethics case report.
Pica, a condition in which a person is compelled to eat non-food items such as dirt, paper, plaster, cigarette ashes, and other substances, is increasing in prevalence in adults. More in this patient education summary.
Amidst the anguish and heartbreak felt by the victims’ families, there are always two haunting questions: What motivates someone to kill strangers wholesale in a seemingly senseless way? And what, if anything, can we do to stop these tragedies from recurring?
New national cohort prospective study finds increased, though rare, cardiovascular risks associated with stimulant use in children and adolescents with ADHD. Is your patient at risk?
If you’ve never surfed the web for sites that critically examine psychiatry, I highly recommend it-though it’s not for the faint of heart.
More than 50 years have passed since One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was published, and almost 40 years since the movie was released, but the issues seem as relevant today as they were back then. If you haven’t seen the film or have forgotten what you saw, see it again as soon as you can. Here's why.
When psychosocial treatments are delivered with high quality and fidelity, outcomes improve. That is the parity all of us should be fighting for. More in this commentary by NIMH Director Thomas Insel, MD.
Death penalty cases are extravagantly expensive and drain funding from programs that might actually reduce crime.
In Angst: Origins of Anxiety and Depression, Dr Jeffrey Kahn offers an alternative perspective on the evolution of common mental health disorders by considering the adaptive nature of symptoms that modern clinicians deem pathological.
An overview of special coverage on advances in the treatment of alcohol use disorders.
Very few heavy drinkers receive treatment and fewer still are prescribed medications with demonstrated efficacy. Here, a summary of current research, key takeaways, and highlights from a study on topiramate treatment for heavy drinkers by the lead author of that study.
In addition to the approval of novel medications for alcohol use disorders, the past several years have been marked by an emphasis on development, standardization, and dissemination of new behavioral therapies, including computer-based interventions.
There is increasing evidence and support for medications for alcohol use disorders to be used in regular clinical practice, and not to be limited to specialty substance abuse settings. Here, special considerations for pharmacological management.
This easy-to-read manual represents the author's concise views on how to achieve “more accurate” diagnoses with DSM-5, as well as when to avoid DSM-5 altogether.
As a psychiatrist, I have spent years training to help others deal with loss and suffering. When it is your own loss, however, you realize that you are sometimes powerless to shield yourself from your pain.
A brief psychological portrait of this psychiatrist/poet.
To run an effective telepsychiatry practice, a solid partnership between skilled personal on-site with patients and the psychiatrist on the other end of the call is a must.
In the US, 38,000 drug overdose deaths occur per year, and it is estimated that 75% are opioid-related. The good news is that addiction is a treatable disease. More in this discussion of opioid addiction, the use of naloxone, and Good Samaritan laws.
A limited sampling presented here lends no support to Dr Thomas Szasz’s claim that 19th century physicians regarded the term “mental disease” as merely a figure of speech; on the contrary, several prominent physicians of this era recognized such conditions as both real and debilitating.
First published in August 1992 in Psychiatric Times, this psychiatrist joyfully recounts a memorable outing with his grandson.
22 Years after he wrote of a memorable beach outing with Igor, his toddler grandson, this psychiatrist looks back on their joint adventure through a life "full of adventures, full of wonders!"
Media coverage of murderous rampages comprises a grisly-and vastly profitable-reality show. I’ll call it a Slaughterfest. Why do therapists continue to take part in this offensive entertainment?
How to manage EHRs is at the top of the list of physician concerns, according to past AMA President Jeremy Lazarus, MD. The first psychiatrist to lead the AMA in over 70 years, Dr Lazarus addressed the Assembly at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting in New York in May.
If you haven't read this book that was recently republished by The New York Review of Books, here's why you might want to take a look.
As the use of social media becomes necessary for the online presence of medical professionals, this topic will continue to be essential for the training of both current and future psychiatrists.
This review focuses on clinically important interactions that occur between foods and medications prescribed for psychiatric disorders.
Clearly, some with schizophrenia fare better without antipsychotic drugs. But not all. Many individuals with schizophrenia are better off taking antipsychotic drugs for long-term.
Mood disorders in older adults are neither inevitable nor particularly resistant to treatment. With attention to the special needs of older patients during evaluation, treatment, and follow up, clinicians can help many patients derive greater enjoyment from their later years.
Psychiatrists experience the impact of managed care perhaps most acutely during the utilization review process, which has become a standard tool for the review of treatment modalities and levels of service in the managed care environment.
The authors emphasize the importance of risk and protective factors and risk prediction models; analyze the growing evidence base for preventive interventions; and describe the concept of mental health promotion.