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Two recent studies present clinical evidence that the use of stimulants to treat boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) does not increase their risk of later substance use disorders. This evidence provides clinicians and families with much needed reassurance.

Contemporary Western psychiatry subsumes diverse perspectives on the so-called mind-body problem, but there is still no consensus on a single best or most complete explanatory model of mind-body interactions. Western psychiatry describes brain function in terms of dynamic properties of neurotransmitters and electromagnetic energy fields.

The rising prevalence and dispersion of obesity in North America in the past decade is analogous to a communicable disease epidemic. Longitudinal and cross-sectional associations between major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and obesity have been established. Existing evidence also indicates that there is an association between bipolar disorder and obesity.

The loss of a loved one is one of the most traumatic events in a person’s life. In spite of this, most people cope with the loss with minimal morbidity. Approximately 2.5 million people die in the United States every year, and each leaves behind about 5 bereaved people.

Concern is on the rise about psychotropic medications-especially atypical antipsychotics-given to foster children covered under Medicaid. Two state Medicaid officials and a representative of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) spoke at hearings of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support on May 8. Rep Jim McDermott, MD (D, Washington), the only psychiatrist in Congress, has introduced legislation that requires states to improve care coordination for foster children.

The leading edge of the baby boom generation is rapidly moving into the treatment realm of geriatric psychiatry. As a cohort, baby boomers experimented more with alcohol and illicit drugs than did previous generations.

Older adults can present with anxiety or worries about physical health (illness, changes in vision or hearing), cognitive difficulties, finances, and changes in life status (widowhood, care-giving responsibilities, retirement). Clinicians need to be aware that older adults may deny psychological symptoms of anxiety (fear, worry) but endorse similar emotions with different words (worries, concerns).

Concern is on the rise about psychotropic medications-especially atypical antipsychotics-given to foster children covered under Medicaid. Two state Medicaid officials and a representative of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) spoke at hearings of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support on May 8. Rep Jim McDermott, MD (D, Washington), the only psychiatrist in Congress, has introduced legislation that requires states to improve care coordination for foster children.

News accounts and court records of detainee interrogations in such settings as the Guantnamo Bay detainment camp and the Abu Ghraib prison have sparked controversy over involvement of mental health professionals and behavioral scientists. Authors of articles in medical, psychological, legal, and scientific journals have struggled with complex ethical questions about psychiatrists and psychologists who participate in planning or implementing detainee interrogations.

Despite its wretched history, psychosurgery is back with a new name-neurosurgery for mental disorders-and with renewed confidence in its benefits.1 Two technologies are now available that produce small lesions in the brain: stereotactic microablation and gamma knife radiation (no burr holes necessary). Concomitant functional imaging allows for precision targeting that makes these procedures state of the art, but it is possible that deep brain stimulation (DBS), which has shown early promise in clinical trials and is an exciting research tool, may replace ablative procedures that destroy brain cells. Both new stereotactic neurosurgery and old psychosurgery were the focus of recent mass media reports.

In the era of genomics, psychiatry-like all areas of medicine-will likely undergo radical change. As genetic risk factors are uncovered and the dynamic nature of gene expression is elucidated, novel approaches to prevention will diminish or preempt diagnosis and treatment for many psychiatric and neurobehavioral disorders.

In clinical medicine, the term recovery connotes the act of regaining or returning to a normal or usual state of health. However, there is lack of consensus about the use of this term (which may indicate both a process and a state), as well as of the related word remission, which indicates a temporary abatement of symptoms. Such ambiguities also affect the concepts of relapse (the return of a disease after its apparent cessation) and recurrence (the return of symptoms after a remission).

Business groups are pressing the Department of Labor (DOL) to eliminate "serious mental illness resulting from stress" from the "serious health conditions" an employee can cite when requesting unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. The effort is being orchestrated by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and is being backed by personnel executives at companies such as Wal-Mart.

As an intern fulfilling my internal medicine outpatient rotation requirement, I worked in an urgent care walk-in clinic. One afternoon, I entered the waiting room to meet my last patient of the day. He was a 65-year-old white man who was receiving a workup for renal carcinoma.

He was in his early 60s and a master carpenter who had helped build our house in the east Texas piney woods some 20 years ago. When I asked him about his cousin who had helped him with the house, he paused and then said sadly, "Doc, he just lost his spit."

Poetry of the times

Two new studies of antipsychotic efficacy for nonpsychotic behaviors in persons with developmental disability provide data where there has been relatively little, but their contrary findings leave this a controversial use of medication.

Aristotle's concept of the incontinent will and Augustine's concept of the captive will.

A number of studies have found decreased scores on quality-of-life scales in persons with insomnia, which is associated with a wide assortment of daytime impairments, some intuitive and some startling.

The practice of one human being helping another to feel better through the use of talk is as old as humanity itself. As a profession, however, psychiatry has existed for only 100 years.

As new data emerge, the debate over whether atypical antipsychotics are superior to typical antipsychotics for treating patients with schizophrenia continues. The May 2008 issue of Psychiatric Services presented several studies that highlight current prescribing trends and opinions.

In working with adolescents, mental health care professionals often draw on their own developmental experiences to help guide their patients; however, nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is not likely to be a personal experience that psychiatrists can often draw on.

There is substantial comorbidity with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is important to determine the effect of comorbid ODD and CD on the clinical course in youth with ADHD. Biederman and associates1 recently published clinical findings from a 10-year prospective, longitudinal study of boys with ADHD, following them into early adulthood.

Addiction-related prevention, research, and treatment have remained important areas of concentration in the field of psychiatry.

The brutal murder of New York psychologist Kathryn Faughey and attempted murder of psychiatrist Kent Shinbach this past February has provoked warnings to psychiatrists about personal safety and overreliance on clinical judgment. David Tarloff, a person with schizophrenia, was indicted for the attacks. According to press reports, Tarloff blamed Shinbach for having him institutionalized in 1991. While he was wait-ing to see Shinbach, Tarloff allegedly entered Faughey's nearby office and slashed her to death with a meat cleaver and knives. Shinbach heard her screams, tried to rescue her, and was assaulted and robbed.

These are exciting times for genetics research: Science magazine chose our new appreciation of human genetic diversity as the scientific breakthrough of the year 2007.1 The year brought a new genetic bonanza with the announcement of the 1000 Genome Project, a plan to capture human diversity by obtaining the entire genome sequence information of 1000 individuals.

Mr A was desperate. He was about to lose yet another job, not because he was at risk for being fired, but because his lying behavior had finally boxed him into a corner. He had lied repeatedly to his colleagues, telling them that he had an incurable disease and was receiving palliative treatment. . .

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the major cause of death and disability among young adults. In spite of preventive measures, the incidence of a TBI associated with motor vehicle accidents, falls, assault, and high-contact sports continues to be alarmingly high and constitutes a major public health concern. In addition, the recent military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in a large number of persons with blast injuries and brain trauma. Taking into account that cognitive and behavioral changes have a decisive influence in the recovery and community reintegration of patients with a TBI, there is a renewed interest in developing systematic studies of the frequency, mechanism, and treatment of the psychopathological alterations observed among these patients.

Everyone is unique at the level of social, cultural, psychological, biological, and possibly "energetic" functioning. By extension, in every person, the complex causes or meanings of symptoms are uniquely determined. The diversity and complexity of factors that contribute to mental illness often make it difficult to accurately assess the underlying causes of symptoms and to identify treatments that most effectively address them.

The mind-brain dichotomy has been on a roller-coaster ride over the past few hundred years. Clinically astute European neuropsychiatrists in the 18th and 19th centuries described various neuropsychiatric disorders based on observations of their patients.