Addiction & Substance Use

In this time of Thanksgiving, the excerpt from “Thank Heaven for Little Girls,” most famously sung by Maurice Chevalier, conveys one of life’s blessings for fathers.

The number of medical diseases that can present with psychotic symptoms (ie, delusions, hallucinations) is legion. A thorough differential diagnosis of possible medical and toxic causes of psychosis is necessary to avoid the mistaken attribution of psychosis to a psychiatric disorder.

Although a romantic comedy, Silver Linings Playbook does not romanticize mental illness for the patient or for the family. What the film does display though is that a life with mental illness effectively treated can be filled with meaning, happiness, and love.

Now that President Obama has been re-elected, the Monday morning quarterbacking has begun. What went right in each campaign? What went wrong? Who is next to run in 2016?

Pharmacological and nonpharmacological strategies to treat and manage comorbid schizophrenia and addiction concern psychiatrists who are learning strategies to help improve functional outcomes.

A new screening tool based on the previously developed mnemonic designed to assist physicians with obtaining a psychosocial history from adolescents as part of a routine visit was developed by researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

Research over the past 2 decades has demonstrated that ADHD occurs frequently and causes considerable suffering in patients and their families. ADHD begins in early childhood and persists through adolescence and into adulthood in 70% of those affected.

Editor's note: Being a Therapist features intimate portraits of psychotherapists in their own work spaces.

Alcoholism is a chronic and serious disorder with often devastating consequences. One out of three families in the United States is negatively impacted by a family member's excessive drinking and painful drinking-related problems.

Assessments of partial culpability of adolescents are difficult in individual cases; however, the courts are moving away from mandatory sentencing to individual determinations, even for the most heinous crimes.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children and adolescents is a major public health problem. Psychiatrists have a crucial role in the management of young persons who have a TBI.

If we, as a people, continue to sacrifice genuine security for a false sense of freedom, we shall find ourselves in a nation neither secure nor free.

The president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges outlines the reasons psychiatrists are well positioned to lead in this emerging culture of medicine.

Contemporary psychoanalysts know that behavior is a form of communication. This book describes the work being done at the Austen Riggs Center, a psychodynamic institution in Stockbridge, Mass.

A plethora of studies support the hypothesis that inflammation plays a role in the pathophysiology of major psychiatric disorders.

"You turn on the television, and violence is there. You go to a movie, and violence is there."

The article focuses on eating disorders in males and presents information on similarities and differences between males and females as they relate to risk factors, clinical presentation, and treatment.

Boys with ADHD can present with different cognitive and behavioral patterns than girls with ADHD. Despite these factors, girls with ADHD remain at significant psychosocial risk into adulthood.

Improving our kids performance in school won't come from some vague, quixotic psychological fix. It requires they have better lives and better schools and that means us becoming a fairer society.

Earlier this year the American College of Physicians had to spell out that it is ethically appropriate for physicians to talk about cost with patients. This speaks to how far we as physicians have to go to be fully engaged in this conversation.

R.I.P. Rest Inspiring Psychiatrists. I am grateful for having known you.

Is the expression “mental illness” merely a metaphor? If so, does that tell us something about the persons we identify as having a mental illness? To clinicians who deal with devastating psychiatric disorders every day-and to those afflicted with these conditions-these questions may seem like a lot of semantic nonsense.

Do not be surprised if you hear more about hybrid models of psychiatric diagnoses included in DSM-5. The categorical and dimensional model approaches are 2 sides of the same coin as you look at the same patient from 2 different angles.

In this review, we discuss the established medications as well as experimental therapeutic options that may emerge as future medications for alcohol intoxication, withdrawal, and/or long-term abstinence maintenance or harm-reduced drinking.

Editor’s note: We are pleased to introduce Being a Therapist with this issue of Psychiatric Times. We hope you will enjoy the close-up views of these therapists.