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In addition to their use in the management of epilepsy, anticonvulsants are indicated for management of bipolar disorder, mania, neuralgia, migraine, and neuropathic pain.

Other disorders include those not currently listed such as complex somatic symptom disorder; those proposed for reclassification such as body dysmorphic disorder; and those proposed to by subsumed under other diagnoses such as somatization disorder, pain disorder associated with psychological factors, and hypochondriasis.

Anxiety Disorders

Included in this list of disorders are those proposed for possible reclassification such as obsessive-compulsive disorder; those proposed for removal such as agoraphobia without a history of panic disorder; those proposed to be subsumed under other diagnoses such as panic disorder with or without agoraphobia; and those not currently listed such as substance-induced tic disorder, hoarding disorder, olfactory reference syndrome, and skin picking disorder.

Mood Disorders

Among other things, the Work Group for this class of disorders is examining whether premenstrual dysphoric disorder should classify as a separate disorder from mood disorders or a specifier for mood disorders.

My “most important achievement to date” is that I’m capable of even the simplest forms of basic cognition. I can remember, perceive, speak, feel, think, solve, and-sometimes-pay attention.

DSM5 fourm topics

Over the past several months, Psychiatric Times has posted numerous-and often stinging-critiques of the DSM5 process. Readers have reacted to the ongoing heated debates between Allen Frances, MD, who oversaw the development of DSM-IV, and the DSM5 Task Force with significant interest. Now you can weigh in with your own opinions, suggestions, and recommendations on our DSM5 forum, which features proposed revisions by topic.Select a topic below to add your comments.

Included in this list of disorders is the recommendation that the category include substance use disorders and non-substance addictions such as gambling and Internet addiction. The category has tentatively been retitiled "Addiction and Related Disorders."

Included in this category is the recommendation that the category be divided into 3 broad syndromes: delirium, major neurocognitive disorder, and minor neurocognitive disorder. The Work Group is also exploring removing dementia, categorizing behavioral disturbances, and selecting specific domains and measures of severity of cognitive functional impairment.

The White Ribbon is an instant classic of European cinema. Filmed in black and white and set in a rural village in northern Germany circa 1912, it may remind you of early Bergman, Buñuel, and other great European filmmakers of the black-and-white era, but it is an homage to none of them.

This is the second installment of a new series in which clinically relevant research is briefly discussed and, perhaps more important, a few tips on how to read and interpret research studies are presented. Your feedback, suggestions, and questions are eagerly solicited at rajnish.mago@jefferson.edu.

Readers who know me well will not be surprised by my citing the Tao Te Ching-but some may be taken aback by my quoting football legend, Kurt Warner, who announced his retirement recently.1 Mr Warner had some wise things to say about leaving a job under your own steam, while you are still in good health-and preferably, before you are shown the door. As I prepare to step down from the editor in chief position at Psychiatric Times in June, I believe I can honestly claim that these conditions apply to my departure. The “hail and farewell!” is intended to encompass both my leave-taking from the helm and my greetings to the incoming editor in chief-my friend and colleague, James Knoll, MD.

The overall effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is well known, but its speed of action is much less talked about. Here I review what is known about the time course of action of ECT in depression.

Select members of the Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive, Posttraumatic, and Dissociative Disorders Work Group, among others, are addressing the proposed revision of the definition of a mental disorder. Do you agree with their rationale?