Jan_Cover_2013Dear Colleagues:
Welcome to the January issue of Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience and to our tenth year of publication. This month, we lead with our “Ethics in Psychiatry” column titled, “Five Ethical and Clinical Challenges Psychiatrists May Face When Treating Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder Who Are or May Become Suicidal,” by Howe. The author highlights the ethical components of these challenges and also discusses how ethical and clinical interventions, in most cases, overlap.

Next, Ali et al provide a review titled, “Alcohol: The Lubricant to Suicidality.” The authors elucidate the complex relationship between alcohol and suicide and how alcohol use may lead to suicide. The article also describes how alcohol affects brain neurophysiology in regards to suicidal behavior. 

Following this, George et al present an interesting case report titled, “Complex Hallucinations and Panic Attacks in a 13–Year-Old with Migraines: The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome.” The authors describe the case of a 13-year-old girl who was experiencing episodes of complex audiovisual hallucinations and panic attacks with intervals of complete recovery associated with episodes of migraine headaches. The “Alice in Wonderland Syndrome,” which is intimately associated with migraine and epilepsy, as well as a number of other neurological conditions, could explain her episodic neurobehavioral disturbance.

Finally, in this month’s installment of “The Interface,” Sansone and Sansone present “Cell Phones: The Psychosocial Risks.” The authors scan the literature and review and discuss several psychosocial risks associated with cell phone use, including user stress, disruptions in sleep, user’s risk of exposure to cyberbullying, and overuse, particularly among adolescents.

We are also pleased to include three letters to the editor on a variety of topics, including head-banging and its relationship to borderline personality disorder, treatment of binge drinking with aripiprazole and levetiracetam, and buspirone’s potential link to alopecia.

We hope you enjoy the issue. As always, we welcome your comments and submissions.

Sincerely,
Amir Kalali, MD
Editor, Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience