Tales from the New Asylum

Warning: Antidepressants May Cause Messaging Manslaughter

September 19, 2017

Neither time nor science has given pause to some attorneys who exploit the misunderstanding that surrounds the putative "criminogenic" effects of antidepressants.

Maintenance of Certification and Self-Mortification

January 05, 2017

ByJames L. Knoll IV, MD

Dan Cotoman, MD

Health care and medical education must march ever onward-although recently there has been a growing uprising among the ranks of experienced physicians.

Forensic Psychiatry: An Essential Major Subspecialty

October 30, 2015

ByJames L. Knoll IV, MD

With a consistent and evolving presence in the US, forensic psychiatry has grown increasingly complex, with many specialty areas under its subspecialty umbrella.

Lessons From Litigation

May 28, 2015

ByJames L. Knoll IV, MD

In this article, the author covers some basic mapractice concepts and briefly address 2 key issues that frequently arise in the course of psychiatric malpractice litigation: documentation and the defendant psychiatrist’s deposition.

Tales From the New Asylum: Truth?

September 18, 2013

ByJames L. Knoll IV, MD

What is truth? In the end, it is not a forensic psychiatrist's place to judge. He or she is a cog in a bigger machine that is supposed to treat psychiatric illness.

When a Psychiatrist Is Given a Prison Sentence After a Patient Commits a Crime: Comments on a Disconcerting Case

April 10, 2013

ByJames L. Knoll IV, MD

American psychiatrists might be able to sympathize in the wake of recent mass tragedies leading to new, hastily conceived laws that directly impinge on psychiatric practice, confidentiality, and duty to protect third parties.

The Older Psychiatrist in an Era of "Unprecedented Change"

January 22, 2013

ByJames L. Knoll IV, MD

Mental rigidity can occur at any age, while wisdom and experience are hard-won--over time.

The Judas Ladder

August 09, 2012

ByJames L. Knoll IV, MD

This tale involves a “clever” inmate. He enjoyed the respectable rung of bank robber, but found he had suddenly descended to approximately the level of a sex offender. The reason for his slippage was the inmate code, which demands allegiance to other inmates under virtually all circumstances. “Ratting out” a fellow inmate may cost one his life, or at the very least, result in a decidedly anxious, paranoid existence.

The “Pseudocommando” Mass Murderer: A Blaze of Vainglory

January 05, 2012

ByJames L. Knoll IV, MD

The term “pseudocommando” was first used to describe the type of mass murderer who plans his actions “after long deliberation,” and who kills indiscriminately in public during the daytime.

Shadow: A Blow So Appalling

June 24, 2011

ByJames L. Knoll IV, MD

Here’s why it is painful to see a man cry: he's not supposed to. Emotions are arresting when society tells us they should not be expressed. In the case of a grown man crying, there are some thousands of years of cultural training laying down the prohibitive regulations.