Archive for 'Psychiatry' Category

Distinguishing Bereavement from Major Depressive Episode

Normal bereavement begins within a few months of the loss of a loved one and is accompanied by symptoms similar to those of a Major Depressive Episode (tearfulness, feelings of sadness, insomnia, poor appetite, weight loss, difficulty concentrating, irritability).  Major Depressive Episodes may accompany or follow normal bereavement and can be identified by several key [...]

Identifying the Red Flags of SSRI Therapy

One physician’s approach to limiting the adverse reactions to antidepressant medications: PCPs must watch for at least the following clues to determine, post hoc, which patients might be hurt by antidepressants: Patient has a dramatic response (my rule of thumb: be very concerned if the patient is 50% better in less than 4 weeks or [...]

Diagnosing ADHD with EEG

he use of QEEG [Quantitative EEG] is based on findings that individuals with ADHD have a distinctive pattern of brain electrical activity that is often referred to as “cortical slowing”; this is characterized by an elevation of low frequency theta waves and a reduction of higher frequency beta waves in the prefrontal cortex. Theta wave [...]

Empathy's Strengths & Weaknesses in Medical Education

In a third study, Dr. Dyrbye found that when tested for empathy, medical students at baseline generally scored higher than their nonmedical peers. But, as medical students experienced more burnout, there was a corresponding drop in the level of empathy toward patients. “What do they really need to know before graduating from medical school, and [...]

Comfort Crying Patients like a Pro

Crying can be a completely natural and expected response to information… You also don’t know what else is going on in the patient’s life; sometimes your news is actually the single straw—as unremarkable as it may be—that, according to the proverb, breaks the camel’s back. You don’t have to do anything if your patient is [...]

Medical Students on Mental Illness

A recent study published in Medical Education demonstrated that undergraduate medical students react less positively towards mentally ill patients in primary care than to patients in good health or with a chronic physical illness, such as diabetes. Even when they are more difficult to manage they still have a disease comparable to somatic illness or [...]

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP)

Mary E. Muscari, PhD, CPNP, APRN-BC at Medscape… …usually describes the deliberate production, or feigning, of physical or psychological symptoms in another person who is under the individual’s care. …usually involves a mother and young child; however, there have been cases of MSBP involving illness produced or feigned in other adults and even in pets [...]

Bipolar Disorder: In-Home Testing

a company is selling a testing kit that you can use yourself, in the privacy of your own home, to see if you have genes that increase the risk of bipolar disorder.   Psynome™ – tests for two mutations of the GRK3 gene that are associated with bipolar disorder.   Psynome2™ –tests for gene mutations [...]