Forensic Psychiatry

Cases that come to our attention as malpractice claims, ethics claims, or Board of Registration complaints raise the question: why did the treating clinician not terminate the treatment before things got so out of hand?

Detailed, thoughtful descriptions throughout a Practical Guide to Correctional Mental Health and the Law provide context and make this reference a realistic and practical resource.

Bath salts and herbal incense-synthetic legal intoxicating drugs (so-called SLIDs)-have potentially serious adverse effects-including acute psychosis, delirium, violent behavior, seizures, and cardiovascular emergencies.

An increasing number of patients are being brought to the emergency room because of bath salts and/or herbal incense toxicity.

Psychotherapists have fiduciary power and-from a risk management perspective-the clinician must act in a manner in which misconduct cannot be inferred. In terms of boundary violations, some preventative measures (like psychodynamic education) can be taken.

In treating a female who sexually abuses a minor, what should the clinician keep in mind? Is the treatment plan different for a female offender than a male?

Structured around fictional case vignettes, this book presents the different pathways through which one enters the mental health system. Patients can better judge whether they are being offered the optimal treatment modality and can more effectively assess the stylistic match between themselves and their therapist.

According to this week’s Time Magazine, the American Psychiatric Association has just recruited a new public relations spokesman who previously worked at the Department of Defense.

Mrs E, who is 80 years old, lives in the community with the help of a 24-hour-a-day home health aide. She is forgetful and requires assistance with many activities of daily living.

Like all other sectors of government, state mental health budgets will be slow to recover and will be shaped by current policy priorities and litigation mandates imposed in multiple states.

I was 9 years old in December 1959 when I left and 60 in July 2011 when I returned to Lodz, Poland. My return-a journey through time as well as space-was a continuation of a trip from my home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I teach and practice clinical and forensic psychiatry, to Berlin, where I gave a number of presentations at a conference of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health (IALMH).

Here, Mr Hazelwood answers questions about serial murderers that are commonly posed to him. The term serial murderer (or serial killer) was not even a part of the forensic lexicon until the 1970s . . .

A history of trauma is most uniquely related to which psychiatric disorder? Which medical comorbidities are associated with an increased risk of suicide in older adults? These questions and more.

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.

Accurate diagnosis is absolutely crucial in SVP hearings because the potential outcome is so consequential-involuntary incarceration in a psychiatric hospital that may well last a lifetime. In no other clinical or forensic situation does so much ride on the presence or absence of a psychiatric diagnosis.

We will remember Professor Shuman as an exceptional scholar, a valued collaborator, and a cherished friend.

Here we address some of these problems of meaningless phrasing, empty shells, and template-distorted recording in an attempt to improve clinical documentation for both clinical care and risk management.

The DSM-5 Web site has recently been revised-the term “Pedohebephilia” disappears altogether, but the concept of “Hebephilia” lives on...

It is my honor-and my distinct pleasure-to welcome 4 new members to the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.

In this podcast, Dr Thomas Gutheil talks about a key challenge facing psychiatrists. . . valid medical record keeping. Here: important tips from an expert based on an article he coathored with Dr Robert Simon.

In psychiatry, it seems like our traditions are often ignored or discarded as being outdated. Do we not have some time-tested literature that is still relevant to our psychiatric times?

“I’m so cold, so weary in my abandonment. Go and find my Mother, O Wind. Take me to the house I never knew.”

Whenever a suicide happens in the New Asylums, a palpable, muted dread descends over the institution...it is added as another sedimentary layer to the strata and culture of the particular institution. Before things get too deeply buried, it is important to excavate...

Depression, PTSD, panic disorder, and abuse of alcohol and drugs are more insidious, quieter forms of illness that can cause the same desperation and disability as psychotic disorders.

What role do you play in managing stalking behaviors? How can you read between the lines and determine which stalker type behavior a patient's communication suggests?