
DSM-II was published in 1968. DSM-5 will be published in 2013. How much progress have we made? I propose that we approach this question with a quiz.

DSM-II was published in 1968. DSM-5 will be published in 2013. How much progress have we made? I propose that we approach this question with a quiz.

Which tool is helpful in screening for sexual addiction? Is the symptom severity in women treated for substance abuse generally equivalent to that of males? Structural abnormalities in which brain areas have been associated with substance abuse? These questions and more in this quiz.

The legend of the “chemical imbalance” should be consigned to the dust-bin of ill-informed and malicious caricatures.

During the past year, I have been involved as an expert witness for the defense in 14 SVP cases (tried in California, Washington, and Iowa). My role has been to clarify what is meant by the wording of the Paraphilia section in DSM-IV. And it certainly does badly need explaining.


Early June, cumulus clouds building...in a mountain sky, the lake filled...with kids, their shining, half-naked

From my standpoint as the author of Unhinged, Dr Haldipur’s review is both good news and bad news.

Unhinged is one of many books published in the past few years critical of psychiatry. A book of scandals and debates, and a polemic of sorts-a “trahison des clercs”-rather than an intellectual discussion about psychiatry. Therein lies the trouble with psychiatry.

REMS programs are meant to focus on drugs that are associated with special risks that the FDA does not feel are sufficiently addressed by the standard prescribing information.

Treatment resistance in bipolar disorder is clinically familiar but lacks a standard definition. Numerous evidence-based treatments exist for all phases of bipolar disorder, and these should be optimized and fully explored.

A balanced review of the safety and efficacy of ECT is needed, which does not mean weighing anecdotal reports of memory loss equally with systematically collected clinical data.

The United States has often been characterized as a nation of hypochondriacs. This is patently not true but TV bombardment by pharmaceutical advertisements stirs anxiety and illness fears in the many worried well in our midst.

There are bad deaths and there are good deaths. Sometimes we can do nothing to affect which of these outcomes will occur, and other times there are variables that we can control.

Dr McGorry’s promotion of primary prevention has been well-intended but is clearly premature and carries with it considerable risks of harmful unintended consequences.

Talking to Families About Mental Illness aims to help primary care providers who want to offer family psychoeducation. This book targets non-psychiatrists who diagnose and treat mental illnesses.

Although the foundational and antifoundational traditions differ in their language and claims, both call into question the legitimacy of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment.

This article, based on a comprehensive review by Weathers and associates, provides a selective and brief summary of trauma and PTSD assessments in adults.

For women with metastatic or recurrent breast cancer, reductions in depression symptoms over the first year of a randomized controlled trial predicted longer survival times.

Many adolescents have taken to the Internet to discuss their struggles with psychiatric disorders not ordinarily diagnosed in persons under 18 years old (eg, bipolar disorder).

Medicine is not about making us feel better about ourselves-although this doesn’t hurt. In the case of addicts, it is about looking at the root cause of addictions and seeing the person-not just the addict-in front of us.

National Institute of Mental Health The mission of NIMH is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, more than 34,000 Americans die by suicide annually. Of these, 10% have never been given a psychiatric diagnosis.

Xavier Amador, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and an internationally sought-after speaker. Dr. Amador has over 25 years of experience working with adults, families, and couples. In addition to continuing to his private practice in New York City, Dr. Amador is the Founder and Director of the LEAP Institute. LEAP is for therapists, family members, law enforcement officers, and anyone seeking to break through an impasse with someone who is convinced they are right and you are wrong. He and the faculty at LEAP conduct regional seminars for couples and other groups.


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What’s the best way to avoid the paresthesias that can occur in some patients who discontinue SSRI or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) therapy?

What was your experience like as a psychiatry resident? No matter when or where you went to school, we want to know.

Dr Feinberg takes exception to much of what we wrote, or what he thinks we wrote, in our article “Early Antecedents and Detection in Schizophrenia”. We will do our best to reply to his criticisms of what we did write and try to point out where he is shadowboxing at issues that he has created but that we do not hold or endorse.

I wish to comment on the article by Drs McGlashan and Woods, “Early Antecedents and Detection of Schizophrenia” in the March 2011 issue of Psychiatric Times.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy will work with Congress to pass new legislation requiring all physicians with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registrations to undergo mandatory education on the use of long-acting and extended-release opioids.