Advances in basic behavior and neuroscience research have been stunning, but until quite recently, efforts to encourage the clinical application of new knowledge have not kept pace. To aid in applying new knowledge to important public health issues, the National Institutes of Health has placed emphasis on "translational research," which aims to provide a bridge between basic research and clinical care. Particularly promising areas of study are highlighted.
Asthma is a serious health condition that can be exacerbated by emotional triggers. Furthermore, depression in these patients can affect treatment compliance, thus worsening prognosis. What role does psychiatry play in treating these patients?
Verbal de-escalation involves validating a patient’s experience, establishing a collaborative relationship, and finding solutions to ensure the patient’s needs are met. More in this quiz.
Here's compelling reason for judicious use of restraint and seclusion, and a review of various alternative approaches.
More details on the APA Assembly meeting in Washington discussing Desmond Tutu being designated as convocation speaker for the American Psychiatric Association’s recent annual meeting.
In this CME, learn more about frontotemporal lobar degeneration and the several overlapping syndromes that it encompasses, as well as how to distinguish behavioral variant frontotemporal lobar degeneration from other psychiatric disorders.
The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) program: how it evolved, clinical applications, and goals.
A previously healthy 35-year-old woman was admitted to a New York City hospital after presenting to the emergency department (ED) with a 10- to 14-day history of generalized weakness, progressive frontal headache, and lethargy. She immigrated to Brooklyn, New York, from urban Haiti 9 years previously and had not returned to Haiti since. She denied any recent travel elsewhere and had no pets. An HIV antibody test, performed 4 months before ED presentation, was negative.
Insurance, Medicare, Pay-for-performance, P4P
The Treatment for Adolescents With Depression Study (TADS) represents the single largest and potentially most informative clinical trial of adolescents with depressive illness. The overall aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of standard interventions for adolescent outpatients with moderate to severe depression.
I believe that holistically understanding health policy - as seen through both “donkey” and “elephant” eyes - makes me a better clinician.
Maltreatment at an early age casts a very long shadow. Here: a look at the long-term effects of early childhood trauma.
Autism is demanding increased attention by professional and lay audiences; prevalence seems to be increasing. There are differing opinions about whether the increase is due to greater recognition and reporting, diagnostic expansion and substitution, or increasing acceptability.
Hypertonicity in plantar flexion is a frequent complication of traumatic brain injury (TBI), which affects more than 1.5 million persons in the United States.
While some psychiatrists may doubt the connection between climate disruption and psychiatric disorders, the evidence is growing stronger every day.
The authors share a model for psychiatrists interested in collaborating with traditional healing and medicine.
Psychiatrists may find themselves embroiled in matters that extend beyond the routine doctor-patient relationship unless they are clear about the differences between their treatment and forensic roles.
Dr Jeffrey Metzner's brief article, "Evolving Issues in Correctional Psychiatry" (Psychiatric Times, September 2007) related many of the difficulties and complexities of the corrections world; however, it did not mention the greatest problem of all--"deinstitutionalization," which, over the past half century, has resulted in the wholesale diversion of patients with chronic mental illnesses--many of whom cannot be managed as outpatients--from hospitals to jails and prisons.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death in younger (10- to 14-year-old) adolescents in the United States and the leading cause of death in this age group in other countries, including China, Sweden, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
Insights Into Depression & Anxiety: Living With an Ambiguity in Clinical Practice: Antidepressant Drug-Drug Interactions
Measuring amyloid-beta (Abeta) protein levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and using positron emission tomography (PET) to image amyloid in the brain might become the best diagnostic test for presymptomatic Alzheimer disease (AD), according to a study published online in December 2005 and appearing in the March issue of Annals of Neurology.
As with most tests in medicine, the results of computerized neurocognitive tests are not diagnostic, but they are useful adjuncts to the diagnostic process.
The most common psychiatric sequelae following trauma include major depressive disorder, somatoform pain disorder, adjustment disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In law, trauma that precipitates PTSD is viewed as a tort, which stems from the root word "torquere" (to twist), as does the word torture. In a sense, plaintiffs do allege torture in personal injury cases. A tort constitutes a civil or private wrong, as opposed to a criminal wrong, and rests on the general principle that every act of a person causing damage to a legally protected interest of another obliges that person, if at fault, to repair the damage (Slovenko, 1973).
Bipolar disorder is a longitudinal disorder defined by multiple episodes that may occur years apart. As a result, the proper diagnosis requires careful evaluation of both the current symptoms and the patient’s history.
In the first of a two-part Special Report, the evaluation and management of psychosis is explored across a range of disorders and clinical contexts.
Alzheimer disease (AD) affects between 6% and 8% of Americans older than 65 years. As the population of older adults increases, the number of persons with AD is expected to rise from 4.5 million in 2000 to 13.2 million by 2050.1 This disease is important not only because of the number of patients affected but also because it leads to significant physical and emotional burdens on families and caregivers.
The distress and functional impairment associated with PTSD may make it difficult for IPV victims to benefit from interventions to increase their safety and reduce their exposure to violence. Empirically supported PTSD treatments include pharmacotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Incorporating these treatments into interventions to improve victims' safety and reduce exposure to violence may improve their effectiveness in protecting women from IPV.
Residency was going according to plan until a phone call changed everything.
Various populations of patients can benefit from telepsychiatry. The goal is not to replace local mental health resources but to enhance existing capabilities. This article articulates successful interventions as well as topics to consider when developing a telepsychiatry service.
Psychiatrists need to understand how living in violent families and neighborhoods increases the likelihood of trauma and the psychiatric sequelae associated with it as well as how to respond in the aftermath.