News

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe and often chronic anxiety disorder that can develop following exposure to an event involving actual or perceived threat to the life or physical integrity of oneself or another person. Epidemiological studies such as the National Comorbidity Survey1 estimate that more than half the population of the United States has experienced one or more traumatic events and that 8% of the population has met criteria for lifetime PTSD. Thus, trauma and PTSD are significant mental health problems.

Delirium is a disorder that lies at the interface of psychiatry and medicine. It is an acute organic syndrome caused by an underlying medical condition and is defined clinically by disturbances in cognitive function, attention, and level of consciousness.1 Delirium is considered a syndrome because of the constellation of signs and symptoms associated with the disorder, coupled with a wide variety of potential etiologies.

The following case histories illustrate some of the clinical aspects of delirium that were described in the preceding article. Each case is followed by a discussion of the diagnosis, identification of the etiology, and subsequent treatment of an episode of delirium.

Although suicidal ideation occurs in roughly 5% to 14% of pregnancies,1 suicide attempts are relatively rare (0.04%) and are associated with substance abuse and poor pregnancy outcome.2 After a suicide attempt, the clinician must first consider the possibility of recurrence of self-destructive behavior by assessing the woman's motivation, her attitude toward the pregnancy, and the severity of her depressive symptoms.

In this issue, Drs Heinrich and Sponagle present a thorough overview of the challenges of detecting and treating delirium in the emergency care setting. They also address the high risks involved when the diagnosis is missed. The difficulties of identifying and appropriately managing delirium are not new. However, the importance of doing so is taking on a greater significance because of certain current and forecasted realities that will affect the nation's emergency departments (EDs).

Ronald Fieve and his colleagues were among the first to document milder versions of manic symptoms-hypomania-in the 1970s, observations that did not make it into DSM until 1994.This book appears mainly to be intended for families and patients; clinicians might find some parts simplistic and other parts informative.

Pathological gambling (PG) is characterized by persistent and recurrent maladaptive patterns of gambling behavior (eg, a preoccupation with gambling, the inability to control gambling behavior, lying to loved ones, illegal acts, and impaired social and occupational functioning).1 With past-year prevalence rates similar to those of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder,2 it is apparent that PG has become a significant public health issue. The aim of this article, therefore, is to introduce clinicians to the assessment and treatment of PG with the hope that early interventions will reduce the considerable personal and social costs associated with the disorder.

Early findings from a national study are shedding light on differences in the type and prevalence of mental disorders in US-born and immigrant Latinos, as well as differences among Latinos from various countries of origin.

Psychiatry is the go-to specialty for determining whether a patient in need of inpatient hospitalization or has an alternative motivation?

Studies have shown that many pharmacologic agents are effective in the treatment of acute mania and bipolar relapse education.

NEW YORK -- Low birth weight and child abuse combine synergistically to increase the later risks of depression by 10-fold and social dysfunction by nearly ninefold, researchers here said.

Pharmacotherapy of Acute Schizophrenia

Risk Factors for Suicide in Patients With Schizophrenia

Reading the Ability of a Patient to Change His or Her Life

From Our Readers

Poetry of the Times

DVD Aims to Educate Clinicians, Patients on Borderline Personality Disorder

Despite significant advances in our understanding of the nature of the disease and development of more effective treatments, schizophrenia remains one of the most challenging medical conditions of our time.

On Taking the Helm

Persons with childhood-onset schizophrenia appear to have the poorest outcome among those in whom schizophrenia is diagnosed.

The Metabolic Syndrome and Schizophrenia: Clinical Research Update

Depression and Diet in Elderly Community-Dwelling Mexican and European Americans

Adult Growth, Internalizations, and Synaptogenesis

Nonconventional and Integrative Treatments of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (Part 1)

Psychological Therapies for Schizophrenia: Family and Cognitive Interventions

Treatment of Low Back Pain

New Act by Congress Gives Boost to Autism Research

Biological Markers and the Future of Early Diagnosis and Treatment in Schizophrenia

Organized and early acute stroke treatment has been shown to improve functional deficits, reduce the need for institutionalization after stroke, and reduce patient mortality. Today, stroke research has evolved to incorporate an integrated, multidisciplinary treatment approach. Data from a study done in 2005 in Ontario, Canada, demonstrate the utility of providing rapid and integrated acute stroke treatment in a real-world setting. The study evaluated functional outcomes associated with rehabilitation services that are part of a flagship stroke treatment program initiated by the Ontario government. The hope for the future is that this approach to patient management will reduce associated health care costs, which are anticipated to increase dramatically in the coming decades.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of postneonatal death in the United States.1 This unfortunate disorder is characterized by the sudden, unexpected death of an of infant between ages 1 and 12 months whose cause of death remains a mystery in the aftermath of a thorough postmortem examination that includes an autopsy, an investigation of the death scene, and a careful review of the infant's medical history. New research, published in the November 2006 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association,2 that made recent headlines confirmed earlier research by the same investigative team3,4 showing that serotonergic brain stem abnormalities may be the at the root of SIDS.