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Psychiatry

The Role Of Depression In Couples Involved In Murder-suicide And Homicide

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Abstract

Twelve couples in cases of murder-suicide were compared to 24 couples in cases of homicide during the period 1978 to 1987 in Albuquerque, N.M. Data were obtained from police, the courts, hospital records, and interviews with friends and family of the deceased. The most striking findings were that perpetrators of murder-suicide were depressed (75%) and men (95%), while perpetrators of homicide were not depressed and one-half were women. The data indicate that the murder-suicide and homicide groups are two different populations....

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Paranoid Personality Disorder Paranoia Personality Traits

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What is Paranoid personality disorder?

Paranoid personality disorder is characterized as a longstanding suspiciousness and mistrust of people in general. Paranoid individuals are suspicious, resentful, hostile and often times irritable and angry. The essential picture of paranoid personality disorder is a pervasive and unwarranted tendency to interpret other people's actions as deliberately demeaning or threatening. Combined with this is the desire to remain free of close personal relationships in which there is a chance of losing power or self-control. Paranoid individuals frequently, without justification, question the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends, family and associates. In the workplace, they tend to be jealous of coworkers, guarded, and loners, often times isolating themselves from others. They react with anger even to constructive criticism and have a tendency to be quarrelsome, abrasive and would much rather work alone. It is commonplace for them to turn a small issue or problem into a catastrophic issue....

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Symptoms Of Substance-Induced Psychotic Disorder

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Substance-Induced Psychotic Disorder

A large number of toxic or psychoactive substances can cause psychotic reactions. Such substance-induced psychosis can occur in multiple ways. First, people may inadvertently ingest toxic substances by accident, either because they don't know any better (as is the case when a child eats lead paint chips, or mercury in tuna fish), or by mistake (such as when someone eats a poison mushroom they thought was safe, or gets food poisoning from mishandled food). Alternatively, people may take too much of a legitimately prescribed medicine, medicines may interact in unforeseen ways, or doctors may miscalculate the effects of medicines they prescribe. Finally, people may overdose on recreational drugs they commonly use (such as cocaine), or become dependent on drugs or alcohol and experience psychotic symptoms while in withdrawal from those substances. While the substance induced psychosis is triggered and then sustained by intoxication or withdrawal,...

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The Return of the Alienist?

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Journal description

The Journal of Psychiatric Practice (formerly the Journal of Practical Psychiatry & Behavioral Health) provides up-to-date and accurate information for psychiatrists and psychologists who are providing mental health care in general private practice. This unique peer-reviewed journal combines clinically applicable reviews, case studies, and articles on treatment advances.

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Psychiatric Study Of A Mass Murderer

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Abstract

Careful examination including review of the psychological test data failed in our opinion to reveal evidence of psychosis. The diagnosis of sociopathic personality was based upon the history of poor social adjustment, intolerance of frustration and discipline, antisocial behavior, nomadism, poor work record, egocentricity and lack of judgment together with the findings upon examination.

His statement that he had faked insanity on his second admission to hospital and the absence of amnesia for this episode do not exclude a diagnosis of Ganser syndrome. It was our opinion, however, that the symptoms were consciously determined. On his first admission, limited attempts at simulation were seen in his responses on the projective tests and also in his claim of previous electroshock therapy. Due to lack of space, this report does not include all the findings of our examinations during the 44 days the patient was in hospital The psychological tests will be reported later in a psychological journal....

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The Therapist-patient Privilege: A Brief Guide For Mental Health Professionals

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Introduction

1. Definition. "Privilege" is a question of evidence law. It gives the patient or client the right to prevent the therapist from disclosing confidential information. It imposes no obligation upon the therapist to take the initiative in protecting the patient's confidences. The precise details of privileges --including whether therapists other than licensed clinical psychologists and psychiatrists are included -- vary considerably from state to state.

2.0. Privilege belongs to patient. The therapist-patient privilege "belongs" to the patient. In legal terms, it is like a piece of property. Only the patient can establish the privilege and take the necessary steps to assert or waive it. The mental health professional (MHP) must take his or her direction from the patient.

What is privileged?

3.0. What the patient says in a private therapy session. What the patient or client tells a therapist during a therapy session may or may not be privileged. ...

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Memory Erasure

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Memory erasure is the selective artificial removal of memories or associations from the mind.

There are many reasons that research is being done on the selective removal of memories. Potential patients for this research include patients suffering from psychiatric disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder, or substance use disorder, among others.[1]

Memory erasure has been shown to be possible in some experimental conditions; some of the techniques currently being investigated are: drug-induced amnesia, selective memory suppression, destruction of neurons, interruption of memory, reconsolidation,[2] and the disruption of specific molecular mechanisms.[1]... 

Current research Drug-induced amnesia Drug-induced amnesia is the idea of selectively losing or inhibiting the creation of unwanted memories using drugs. Amnesia can be used as a treatment for patients who have experienced psychological trauma or for medical procedures where full anesthesia is not an option. Drug-induced amnesia is also a side-effect of other drugs like alcohol and rohypnol.[11]...

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False Memories And False Confessions: The Psychology Of Imagined Crimes

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It involved two sisters who, in 2015, had given the police vivid descriptions of being sexually abused by a close female relative. They alleged that the abuse had taken place between 1975 and 1976. The lawyer, who was representing the defendant, wanted Shaw's input as an expert witness.

Shaw, a criminal psychologist at the London South Bank University, was struck by how unusual the scenario was. "Usually, in cases of sexual abuse, the father is the accused," she says. "In this case, it was a girl." At the time of the alleged abuse, the sisters had been around four and seven years old, and the relative was between ten and 12.

As she leafed through the interview transcripts, Shaw noted the older sister's language. "She kept saying, 'My childhood was rough and I buried so much. I think it was my coping mechanism, I must have just blocked it.' ...

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The Origin Of Psychiatry:the Alienist As Nanny For Troublesome Adults

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Abstract

Discusses the historical, political, economic, and cultural origins of psychiatry. The author distinguishes between the origins of the medical and psychiatric professions, noting that medicine began with persons seeking relief from pain, while psychiatry began with persons seeking relief from the socially unacceptable behavior of their relatives, who were unwilling patients. The author argues that psychiatry was based on coercion and had nothing to do with healing. Madhouses are described as English inventions that were convenient to wealthy families and profitable to madhouse keepers. The role of clergy as madhouse keepers is addressed, highlighting the Western tradition of interpreting insanity in religious terms. Other topics discussed include critics of "madhousing" and "madhousing" as depicted in English literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)...

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Running Amok

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Running amok, sometimes referred to as simply amok or gone amok,[1] also spelled amuk, from the Malay language,[2] is "an episode of sudden mass assault against people or 6 usually by a single individual following a period of brooding that has traditionally been regarded as

occurring especially in Malay culture but is now increasingly viewed as psychopathological behavior".[3] The syndrome of "Amok" is found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV TR).[4] The phrase is often used in a less serious manner when describing something that is wildly out of control or causing a frenzy (e.g., a dog tearing up the living room furniture might be termed as "running amok".)...

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The Scapegoat Identity

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One of the most important of personal assessments we can give to ourselves, and one which will pretty quickly tell us whether or not OK are living authentically is answering this question: What thought or emotion runs me?  What emotion or thought gets me to do things I don't even want to do? 

Is it guilt?  Does guilt come around fairly frequently telling me that IF I don't do X, Y, or Z I am going to have to contend with horrible feelings of guilt later?  Do I  hang out with people I don't want to hang out with, do and say things I don't want to do and say-because I fear that if I don't I will feel guilty later?  Do I feel like I might be thought of as a "bad" person or, worse yet, a "selfish" person if I don't do that thing the guilt is urging me to do? ...

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Rape Fantasies As A Function Of Exposure To Violent Sexual Stimuli

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Abstract

Twenty-nine male students, classified on the basis of questionnaire responses as sexually force oriented or non-force oriented, were randomly assigned to exposure to rape or mutually-consenting versions of a slide-audio show. All subjects were then exposed to the same audio description of a rape read by a female. They were later asked to create their own fantasies. Penile tumescence and self-reports of arousal indicated that relatively high levels of sexual arousal were generated by all of the experimental stimuli. No differences in arousal during the exposure phase were found as a function of the manipulation in the content of the slideaudio show. Sexual arousal during the fantasy period, assessed by means of self-reports, indicated that those who had been classified as force oriented created more arousing fantasies after having been exposed to the rape version of the show, whereas those classified as non-force oriented created more arousing fantasies following the mutually-consenting version...

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An Analysis of Interpersonal Manipulation

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Abstract

The term ‘manipulation’ is frequently employed but rarely discussed or defined in psychiatric circles. This paper reviews previous conceptual analyses of the term by philosophers and psychiatrists, and examines its use in ordinary discourse. A series of characteristics which comprise the conceptual core of the term when it is unambiguously applied in interpersonal settings are proposed. Manipulation is contrasted with other behavior control methods such as rational persuasion and coercion, with emphasis on the role played by deception and the communicative context in which the manipulative transaction occurs. It is argued that manipulative behavior is fundamentally intentional, and the usefulness of the concept of ‘unconscious manipulation’ is questioned. Though the proposal that Manipulative Personality Disorder be formally recognized as a new diagnostic category is rejected, it is urged that the concept of manipulation receive wider attention and discussion within the mental health community...

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Language And Thinking In Psychosis. Is There An Input Abnormality?

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Abstract

We studied "formal thought disorder" in schizophrenics, schizoaffectives, and manics by examining syntax processing and perception of meaning, using the "embedded click" and "memory for gist tasks," two paradigms that were developed by psycholinguists. To control for generalized performance deficits, a matched-task design was used. Contrary to expectation, patients did worse on a matched memory for digits task than on sentence processing. At a six-month follow-up examination, schizophrenics' performance did not improve while other patients' did. We concluded that psychotic patients have no specific language perception deficit but do have a short-term memory deficit. This deficit tends to remit for manics and schizoaffectives, but not for schizophrenics...

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How to Practice Evidence-Based Psychiatry Basic Principles and Case Studies

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Description

The use of evidence-based guidelines and algorithms is widely encouraged in modern psychiatric settings, yet many practitioners find it challenging to apply and incorporate the latest evidence-based psychosocial and biological interventions. Now, practitioners have an outstanding new resource at their fingertips. How to Practice Evidence-Based Psychiatry: Basic Principles and Case Studies accomplishes two goals: it explains the methods and philosophy of evidence-based psychiatry, and it describes ways in which psychiatrists and other mental health specialists can incorporate evidence-based psychiatry into their clinical practices. Uniquely relevant to psychiatric clinicians, this is the only book on evidence-based medicine specific to the field of psychiatry that addresses integrated psychopharmacology and psychotherapies.

This new book first provides an expansion on the popular text the Concise Guide to Evidence-Based Psychiatry, updating the sections on clinical trials, the teaching of evidence-based medicine, and the effective treatment of patients with complex comorbid ...

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Using Hypnosis For Therapeutic Abreactions.

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Abstract

Abreaction, the dramatic reliving of traumatic events under hypnosis, is a powerful therapeutic intervention useful in the treatment of victims of trauma. First systematically applied in World War I, abreaction coupled with psychotherapeutic processing of the recovered material is increasingly being used with victims of child abuse and chronic PTSD. Abreactions are helpful in recovering dissociated or repressed traumatic material, reconnecting missing affect with recalled material and for transforming traumatic memories. Although abreactions can be induced with medications, hypnosis is the method of choice except in acute situations where it is not possible to establish rapport. A variety of hypnotic techniques for the induction and management of abreaction are discussed, together with the indications and contraindications for their use...

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