Dear Colleagues:
Welcome to the August issue of Psychiatry 2010. We start this issue with Trend Watch. In this article, authors investigated the current practice for treatment of schizophrenia. The data show that physicians consider one-product regimens 53 percent of the time, two-product regimens 29 percent of the time, and three or more products 18 percent of the time, with antipsychotic medications comprising 97 percent of treatment regimens. Dr. Leslie Citrome, Professor of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, and Director, Clinical Research and Evaluation Facility, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York, provides expert commentary.
Next, Kaley-Isley et al provide an excellent review on the use of yoga in children and adolescents as a complementary intervention to improve specific physical and mental health conditions. The authors review therapeutically useful information about yoga as well as the available evidence evaluating yoga as an effective intervention in children and adolescents for a variety of health-related problems.
Following this, Frazier et al present an unusual report of a patient with multiple pontine lesions who exhibited symptoms consistent with delusional parasitosis. The authors believe this is the first case report of delusional parasitosis associated with lesions at the root of the trigeminal nerve.
Next, Psychotherapy Rounds contributors Blankenship and Minshawi discuss the use of one particular visual support, an “emotions thermometer,” to help instruct individuals with autism spectrum disorders on recognizing and modulating their own emotions. The article also discusses anger management techniques that can be utilized once individuals have begun to recognize more subtle signs of irritability within themselves. A composite case example is provided for further illustration.
In this month’s installment of The Interface, Sansone and Sansone define and review demoralization, a dysphoric state encountered in both psychiatric and medical populations. The authors compare and contrast demoralization to depression and discuss the available assessment measures physicians and psychiatrists can use to distinguish the two mental conditions from one another.
Next, Jayaram et al review the practice of 15-minute checks on psychiatric inpatients who pose a suicide risk. The authors compare and discuss the standard forms for 15-minute checks from several major hospitals across the United States. The authors recommend that the observation practice of 15-minute checks be eliminated from the repertoire of nursing protocols for suicidal patients who are assessed to be at imminent risk for self harm on inpatient units. The authors make recommendations on how to best manage consistent observation of patients at risk for suicide.
Thinking about starting your own blog? Check out this month’s Risk Management column and learn the legal do’s and don’t’s of writing and maintaining a psychiatric blog.
And finally, don’t miss this month’s installment of Meymandi at Large, where Dr. Meymandi calls us all to action to prevent the failing of the United States education system.
Sincerely,
Amir Kalali, MD
Editor, Psychiatry 2010
