Compulsive Personality Disorder

The idea that there may be genetic influences on how we think about God and politics is usually greeted with disbelief, even scorn. "Ludicrous," was the intense response of a distinguished psychologist-friend upon hearing me explore this topic in a brief paper.

Many of the things that we busy ourselves with have no apparent utility. Blogging, playing games, and collecting come to mind. To declare that we are compelled to do these things may be too strong, but we do pursue these activities with little deliberation and without concern as to their usefulness. The ubiquity of these pursuits suggests that these activities or their variants helped humans survive at some point and that they now rest on innate brain programs.

Epidemiological studies report a lifetime prevalence rate of 24.9% for (any) anxiety disorder. Feelings of anxiety can also be related to normal fear of pain, loneliness, ridicule, illness, injury, grief, or death. In both these types of situations, anxiety can be difficult to deal with. Consequently, benzodiazepines, which offer almost immediate symptomatic relief for anxiety, can be quite appealing to many persons.

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.

A discussion of the epidemiology, assessment, diagnostic dilemmas, and treatment of avoidant personality disorder.

Diagnosis of the two main major eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, can be difficult because of denial of symptomatology by the patients and problems with some of the diagnostic criteria. Although CBT has been the most effective, there are no treatments available that can guarantee a cure for either disorder. Medication is only a helpful adjunct to the treatment of anorexia, while many controlled studies that show antidepressant medications are effective in reducing binge/purge behavior in bulimia.

How does the role of culture affect disease presentation? The author reviews the impact of religion, ideology and upbringing on the epidemiology of OCD in Egypt.

Stereotypical portrayals of people with mental illness are as old as Hollywood itself. What are some of the clinical implications of the continued stigmatization of the mentally ill in television and film?

Psychopharmacology can be useful in all stages of couples' therapy. Using a high-functioning couple as a case example, the author illustrates how psychopharmacology, together with psychotherapy, can be used to facilitate treatment success.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), now more commonly called complexpartial seizure disorder so as to include seizures that originatein the frontal foci, straddles the borderland between psychiatryand neurology.