Psychiatry

Depression has certainly been in the popular press of late. You may or may not agree with the idea summarized in the NY Times Magazine that low mood states are adaptations that help with social problem solving. Read More

What if different mental disorders in families are in fact linked and we're ignoring evidence that could identify and treat at risk children much earlier. This is in fact the exciting direction of a growing body of new research. New York State Psychiatric Institute's Myrna Weissman says ignoring such work represents the "unacceptable gap between research and training." Read More

Simply throwing the baby out with the proverbial bathwater is really not an option as regards DSM-V. What the DSM-V and psychiatry need to re-integrate into their neurobiological paradigm is the dynamic power of psychology to both cause mental disorders and to heal them. Read More

We often make automatic judgments of "symptomatic" behavior: delusions, far example, show that one is mentally ill. The theory of labeling/normalizing urges caution in making these judgments because of possible effects on social relationships and thereby on self. (Scheff 1999). There is a social-emotional component in interaction that can be managed independently of the content. Read More

In the United States of Disorder, we must have a diagnosis to get insurance to pay for treatment. So, it literally pays to have a problem. But, what would be the appropriate response to an abusive boss who makes every day at work a waking nightmare? Read More

Analyzing Menand's recent New Yorker piece, "Head Case." Read More

A potpourri is a mixture or collection of miscellaneous items. If you follow Potpourri what will this basket of psychological odds and ends look like? Should you mark this site and watch for new installments? Let's see what you can expect. Read More

Given a lump of clay or some canisters of Play-doh, how would you depict each member of your family of origin? It's cool art therapy intervention #9 and it's all about a creative way to explore your family system. Read More

I recently had the pleasantly unpleasant experience of being cursed on the internet. Now this is not an unusual event. As we all now know, the anonymity of the internet brings out some of the least salutary features of human character. Internet road rage, we should call it, this freedom from civility that emerges from being unknown. Unpleasant then, but pleasant too. Read More