Psychiatric Matters Germane, Timely…and Needed: Part 2

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_crop","fid":"20923","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image media-image-right","id":"media_crop_3507934964499","media_crop_h":"0","media_crop_image_style":"-1","media_crop_instance":"1371","media_crop_rotate":"0","media_crop_scale_h":"190","media_crop_scale_w":"200","media_crop_w":"0","media_crop_x":"0","media_crop_y":"0","style":"float: right;","title":" ","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]]Part 2 of Trends in Psychiatry picks up on the 3 articles and the related CME activity we featured in Part 1 of this Special Report. In this issue, we provide articles on stigma, telepsychiatry, and designer drugs-which carry the import, urgency, and value we have set as selection criteria for this Report. We also have in this issue of Psychiatric Times a CME activity on DSM-5 that I think is one of the best and most balanced explanations of this book I have seen.

I was honored to be asked, not by myself (!), to contribute to this special section. My choice of topics was the stigma our patients and families-even our profession-experience and what must be done to mitigate this corrosive force. My article, “The Painted Bird: Stigma and Mental Illness,” focuses on what can work, not just well-meaning efforts but empirically demonstrated initiatives that need our professional expertise and advocacy.

As a public health doctor and one faced with continuing workforce shortages of psychiatrists, especially in rural and underserved areas, I welcomed the article “Rural Telepsychiatry: The Future Is Bright” by Joan Daughton, MD, and Carl B. Greiner, MD. In addition to clinical care, telepsychiatry offers wonderful opportunities for live training and building professional communities with common interests and commitments. The authors provide information on how to implement this practice and some offer fine clinical examples.

“‘Designer Drug’ Use and Abuse: Implications for Psychiatrists” by Daniel Castellanos, MD, and Patricia Junquera, MD, is a balanced exploration of the candy store of drugs available to and widely, and sometimes wildly, employed by Americans of all ages. We have lost the “war on drugs,”¹ so what are sensible approaches to clinical practice, public policy, and our own weekend indulgences? This article sets the clinical foundation for approaching questions as critical as they are necessary for our society to consider.

As I mentioned, this issue of Psychiatric Times offers a terrific CME article on DSM-5, “Diagnosing Psychiatric Disorders: The Synchronization of DSM-5 and ICD-10-CM” by Ihsan Salloum, MD, MPH, and Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes, MD, MBA. With all the controversy over the publication of DSM-5, we need a clear, informed, and balanced view of this critical book that addresses its context and its contributions and limitations. This article does just that.

Articles on matters germane, timely, and needed-that is what is here (and in our October issue) for you, our readers. Enjoy and learn.

Disclosures:

Dr Sederer is Medical Director of the New York State Office of Mental Health, Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Medical Editor for Mental Health for The Huffington Post, and Medical Advisor for Turner Broadcasting’s new multimedia platform upwave. He has served as Mental Health Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and as Medical Director of McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. He received the 2013 Irma Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents by the American Psychiatric Association, which also recognized him as the 2009 Psychiatric Administrator of the Year. His most recent books are The Family Guide to Mental Health Care (New York: WW Norton; 2013) and The Diagnostic Manual of Mishegas (with Jay Neugeboren and Michael B. Friedman; North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 2013).

References:

1. Sederer LI. The “war” on drugs. 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lloyd-i-sederer-md/drug-war_b_1833357.html. Accessed September 9, 2013.