Interventions addressing symptom education, service continuity, and daily structure are the most effective in avoiding inpatient stays in patients with schizophrenia who have had multiple hospitalizations, a study in the June issue of The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease reported.
The continuation of the epidemic of childhood obesity and overweight has major implications and consequences for future research in psychopathology.
Current treatments for autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are useful in some cases, but have little enduring impact. This had lead to many parents seeking nonconventional treatments that often border on quackery.
New findings in epidemiology, developmental psychiatry, and neuroscience offer the opportunity for a new perspective on the problems of juvenile delinquency and bring to bear the insights of modern psychiatry in the treatment and successful rehabilitation of juvenile offenders.
The inclusion of parents in their children's treatment for eating disorder is not universally accepted. However, recent studies suggest that families should be included in treatment and that they are often a powerful resource for helping their children recover.
Friendship with patients, particularly those with serious mental illness, may seem anathema for a psychiatric ethicist, yet there is a long and rich history of physician-patient friendship in medical ethics.
DSM-IV-TR emphasizes that patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) show a "instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts," and any five out of nine listed criteria must be present for the diagnosis to be made.
Because personality is shaped by experiences during childhood and adolescence, it is likely that mental disorders occurring during these years may have an influence on personality development.
While dementia is marked by such cognitive deficits as disorientation, memory loss and changes in intellectual functioning, these are not the symptoms that cause the most distress to caregivers.
College students are far less likely to kill themselves than are nonstudent peers, according to a 10-year research study examining suicide rates at 12 Midwestern campuses.
What does the term “polypharmacy” actually mean? Dr Pies likens polypharmacy to fire: just as the latter may either heat your house or burn it down, polypharmacy may either help or harm the patient.
Can sociodemographic and clinical variables predict outcome in cases of schizophrenia? Results from studies related to prognostic variables for schizophrenia have yielded interesting yet inconsistent results.
Although psychosis is rare in adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa restricting type, the possibility should be explored because it may be the underlying cause of the eating disorder.
The past few years have seen substantial progress in recognizing and treating several of the subtypes of bipolar disorder. This Special Report addresses the diagnostic challenges and the different strategies for managing these subtypes.
New ways to address medication adherence problems in patients with schizophrenia offer the hope of better treatment outcomes. Two new and promising approaches for individuals with schizophrenia are the use of environmental supports and cognitive adaptation training and cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Bipolar disorder I and II have the highest association with substance use disorder, compared with any other major psychiatric disorder. Treatment requires an integrated approach that includes specific psychotherapy as well as the use of medication.
Since its initial description by Kahlbaum (1828-1899) over a century ago, catatonia has been associated with psychiatric, neurologic, and medical disorders. Contemporary authors view catatonia as a syndrome of motor signs in association with disorders of mood, behavior, or thought. Some motor features are classic but infrequent (eg, echopraxia, waxy flexibility) while others are common in psychiatric patients (eg, agitation, withdrawal), becoming significant because of their duration and severity.
Using Antidepressants During Pregnancy: An Update
The presentation of patients to the emergency department following trauma is often complicated by the behavioral reaction to the accident that brought them there. In some cases, the mental reaction to psychological trauma is the primary presenting phenomenon. ED physicians and staff often use medication to treat the acute effects of psychological trauma. However, there is little empiric evidence to support this practice.
A discussion of the epidemiology, assessment, diagnostic dilemmas, and treatment of avoidant personality disorder.
The prevalence and debilitating nature of some of the personality disorders has impeded the study of psychopharmacology in these conditions. However, important advances have been made in the last several years.
This article focuses on data concerning the efficacy of mood stabilizers in the treatment of BPD.
An examination of recent research on psychosocial treatments for personality disorders, including randomized controlled trials and empirically supported therapies as well as dialectical behavior therapy.
When assessing a sleep-related problem in a psychiatric patient, investigating all possible causes may be more helpful than assuming the complaint is a result of medication or the underlying condition.
How does the difference between objective evidence and subjective evidence relate to the practice of psychiatry?
