May 3rd 2024
Which is the best recommendation for the treatment of alcohol use disorder?
A Risk Stratification Approach to Alcohol Detoxification
November 5th 2013The challenges of identifying patients at risk for alcohol withdrawal have been found to be mitigated by the development of a Risk Stratification Questionnaire, now being adopted by the VA regionally throughout New England. More in this video.
Read More
Treating the “Mind” Versus the “Brain” in Substance Dependence
June 25th 2013As we accumulate a greater war chest of patient experiences, we can better apply our skills as physicians to fill a space once occupied with alcohol-lubricated decision-making with smooth yet sober coping strategies.
Read More
The Role of Biological Tests in Psychiatric Diagnosis
May 23rd 2013"Psychiatric diagnosis is certainly imperfect -- but so is much of diagnosis throughout medicine. And whatever the current limitations, psychiatric diagnosis is useful and essential. There are no 'paradigm shifts possible til we learn a lot more. To imply otherwise is misleading and confusing to patients."
Read More
Shared Decision Making in the Treatment of Psychosis
April 15th 2013Psychiatrists vary in their eagerness to share therapeutic decisions with patients: some believe that adherence is paramount and paternalism is often necessary to prevent loss of insight with consequent impaired judgment and functional decline. These authors argue in favor of a radically more collaborative style.
Read More
Prison or Treatment for the Mentally Ill
March 8th 2013After each violent tragedy, the politicians hypocritically mourn and harrumph, but wind up buckling under pressure from the NRA, fiscal constraints, and the prison and gun lobbies. Repeated dramatic events can shake the complacency and cowardice of a stalemated Congress and state legislatures.
Read More
Comorbidity In Psychiatric Disorders: A Literature Review
January 19th 2013A list of recent articles highlighting the complexity of psychiatric and systemic illness, both in terms of overlapping clinical presentation and in the degrees to which systemic illness and psychiatric illness affect each other.
Read More
Comorbidities in Borderline Personality Disorder
January 10th 2013Borderline personality disorder typically coexists with depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. Symptoms of these conditions may lead the clinician to miss the diagnosis of personality disorder entirely. Careful diagnosis of BPD and comorbid disorders is the first step.
Read More
From Bath Salts to Spice and Beyond-Elucidating Emerging Drugs of Abuse
November 22nd 2012Spice, Bath Salts, and Salvia are emerging drugs of abuse, with patients increasingly turning to these agents. Since their legal status varies and they can be difficult to detect on standard drug tests, their popularity may be increasing.
Read More
The HEADS-ED: Review of a Mental Health Screening Tool for Pediatric Patients
November 6th 2012A 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.
Read More
Advances and Challenges in Treating Alcohol Dependence With Pharmacotherapy
November 2nd 2012Alcoholism 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.
Read More
Alcohol Disorders: Practical Tips From New Research
September 8th 2012In 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.
Read More