Dear Colleagues:
Welcome to the February issue of Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience. Psychiatry continues to be a core focus of the journal, and so I am always pleased when we can include an article from our long-standing department, “Psychotherapy Rounds,” which is guest edited by Dr. Paulette Gillig from Wright State University. This month, James and Countryman present an excellent didactic case that illustrates the use of play therapy. In their timely article, “Psychiatric Effects of Military Deployment on Children and Families: The Use of Play Therapy for Assessment and Treatment,” the authors artfully use a composite case example to review the use of play therapy to treat children who are having psychiatric issues related to the deployment of one or both parents.
Next, we present an interesting editorial piece contributed by Stephen Thein and Atul Mahableshwarkar entitled, “It’s Only a Little Ice: A Personal View with Companion Commentary.” Thein and Mahableshwarkar share their own viewpoints on the decision-making processes used in clinical trials and how these processes might be improved.
Following this, Christensen presents a unique patient case in his article, “The Development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Following an Unusual Life Event: A Case Report.” He describes the development of posttraumatic stress in a middle-aged man, with no prior psychiatric history, after he ingested part of a candy bar he later discovered to be infested with maggots. The author hopes this case report adds to the literature supporting a broader diagnostic view of posttraumatic stress in the absence of life-threatening stressors.
Finally, we present two of our regular columns. In this month’s “The Interface,” Sansone and Sansone examine the literature on the assessment and treatment of rumination in primary care settings in their article, “Rumination: Relationships with Physical Health.” And in this month’s installment of “Research to Practice,” Steve Targum interviews Junko Kitanaka from Tokyo, who has written extensively about “overwork suicide” and the responses taken by both the Japanese government and Japanese psychiatrists to deal with this dilemma. In the interview, “Overwork Suicide in Japan: A National Crisis,” she shares some of her compelling research and perspective on overwork suicide with us.
We hope you enjoy this month’s issue. As always, we invite your comments and your submissions.
Sincerely,
Amir Kalali, MD
Editor, Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience
