Would a Diagnostic Label Improve Your Rx For These Children?
February 15th 2012Each of the boys in question could meet criteria for the DSM-5 proposed criteria for Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD). But do you think that these presentations are all the same syndrome that share a similar neurobiological basis, family history, and response to treatment?
The Science and Politics of PTSD
February 14th 2012The first half of the 20th century saw 2 world wars, indiscriminate aerial bombing of civilians, the dropping of the atomic bomb, and the Holocaust-all of which created intense trauma for soldiers and civilians.Yet it was not until the American intervention in a post-colonial civil war in Southeast Asia that the psychiatric community in the 1970s formally described what we now call PTSD.
History of a Suicide: My Sister’s Unfinished Life
February 10th 2012Mostly prose with effective inclusion of poetry, author Jill Bialosky adds an important survivor’s perspective in her book of her sister's suicide. To clinicians in particular, the book may serve as a window into the psychic lives of those left behind following a tragic end.
Beyond DSM-5, Psychiatry Needs a “Third Way”
February 9th 2012The recent spate of Op-Eds in the New York Times says it all: both the psychiatric profession and the general public have strong feelings about the pending DSM-5-what many in the media like to call “Psychiatry’s Bible.” These emotions are certainly understandable.
Elimination of Psych Services at Cedars-Sinai Could Foreshadow Similar Cutbacks Elsewhere
February 9th 2012Cedars, the preeminent private hospital in L.A. and considered the “hospital to the Hollywood stars,” said it would continue staffing of psychiatric support that is an adjunct to patient care throughout the medical center.
Whatever Happened to Speculative Thought? Some Historical Evidence Against Evidence-Based Medicine
February 4th 2012Any physician can predict death as the outcome of a fatal illness, but the physician who can predict death from among seeming randomness has certainly acquired a superior level of insight.