Couch in Crisis

Editors' choices of noteworthy psychiatry blogs, CMEs, research studies, cases, and books from around the Web.

A commentary that is both professional and personal in nature, written by a psychiatrist who has helped hundreds of transitioning patients adapt to their external gender appearance and societal expectations.

Treatments that work well for most don’t work well for all. And even effective treatments have side effects and complications. This is true of medication and surgery-and it is also true of psychotherapy.

Precision medicine seems to be the new hot topic in the research world. What precisely is it?

Is it okay for the media to show terrorist-sponsored torture videos? Are there no psychological effects of this kind of “show”?

Many years ago, the model approach to mental health treatment was the therapeutic community: "As Aristotle noted long ago, man is a social animal and only in a social unit can he experience a whole life." More in this blog.

A case report of an acute, transient, reversible depression prompts us to think in a different way about depression.

The author concludes that people inappropriately placed in psychiatric hospitals can lead to grave violation of human rights.

A commentary on civility and ethical standards in the aftermath of terrorist events in France.

This is usually one of the first questions asked by patients and their families following a psychotic episode, suicide attempt, or manifestation of any serious mental illness. More from the Director of NIMH.

A commentary on France's response to recent acts of terrorism that unified a nation and the world, co-written by a psychiatrist who was at the Paris Rally.

Can we predict risk for depression? There are no genetic tests or imaging tests that can be used to predict individual risk. But a longitudinal study at Stanford University is worth watching.

The Psychiatric Views on the News series for Psychiatric Times attempted to bring together societal events and psychiatry to start a conversation. Is a psychiatric view on the news important? If so, what other stories have caught your attention, and why?

Clinically relevant information by our Section Editors, on topics such as bipolar disorder, digital media in psychiatry, ethics, history, major depressive disorder, military mental health, schizophrenia, and sleep disorders.

Mental disorders have become a global commodity. According to the author, "a diagnostic fad heavily promoted first in the US has now quickly spread around the world."

I had planned to make this month’s column about the best 10 advances in psychiatry during 2014. While some things changed for the better for our patients and their families-and our profession-I’ve been having a hard time with my list.

How do we catch up with other developed countries to create a compassionate, cost-effective mental health system? Psychiatric Times posed this question to some of the leading experts in the field.

“Distress” hardly captures the inner world of those with severe forms of psychotic illnesses. Terms like “agony,” “torment,” and “anguish” would be much closer to the mark, for many patients.

Recently there has been considerable controversy and confusion around how the word "psychosis" should be used, if indeed it should be used at all. More in this commentary.

A slideshow on some of this year's blogs at Psychiatric Times, written by leaders in the field of psychiatry.

Dostoevsky wrote 135 years ago, but his critique of forensic psychiatry and forensic psychology stands the test of time.

Through archival footage and interviews, the documentary "Prozac: Revolution in a Capsule" does a remarkable job of capturing the time when transformation ignited the collective imagination.

In this commentary, the author states, “We must get back to treating the whole person, not just his brain circuits. The brain is involved in all we do and what we are, but it is also itself influenced by our psychology and social context.” Care to weigh in?

There are probably many social, economic, and familial forces at work in generating the trend toward public incivility, and it would be silly to blame the Internet for the riot in Keene.

We need to join forces with our natural allies: the patients we treat and their families, as well as government, community, and business leaders, to make addressing the impact of violence and abuse one of our highest public health priorities.

For this psychiatrist, learning a section of the Talmud known as Megillah brought to light an important exchange that has implications in therapy and psychopharmacology, regardless of theoretical stance.

Everyone, in their own way, wants what's best for people with mental health challenges, but risks and benefits are interpreted through a personal lens.

What can we do to fix our broken mental health system? Psychiatric Times posed this question to some of the leading experts in the field.

Whether these psychiatrists helped or hindered societal events probably depends on one's political perspective.

For those suffering from severe mental illness, this is the worst of times. Walk the streets of any city and you will find multitudes of the mentally ill left homeless to fend as best they can for themselves.