In a blog post with the title: Harnessing the Collective Intelligence the author of the blog The Amazing World of Psychiatry wrote an extensive review of the blogs written by psychiatrists with links to pages of interest. The most important blogs written by psychiatrists in the Blogosphere are securely reviewed and links to several posts are provided with a short introduction. An excellent review Throughout this blog, I have reviewed numerous other blogs and in so doing have curated a very small part of the web. The reviews have been my opinions and interpretations of the blogs and have included links .....read more »

At the blog: Frontier Psychiatrist an extensive interview with Nicholas Tromans, a Senior Lecturer at London’s Kingston University. He is the author of Richard Dadd: the Artist and the Asylum. Nice interview. Richard Dadd (1 August 1817 – 7 January 1886) was an English painter of the Victorian era. Following a long tour of the Middle East in the early 1840s he succumbed to a schizophrenia-type illness, following which he murdered his father and fled to France where he attacked another traveller. After his return to England he spent over forty years in the Bethlem and Broadmoor, during which period most .....read more »

This thoughtful and enlightening ten minute programme, edited and narrated by consultant psychiatrist Dr Mark Salter, explores the causes and consequences of stigma against mental illness and challenges us to rethink our attitudes towards people with mental health problems. The style is a montage of still images with music and commentary. Powerful and thought-provoking. Stigma because we don't understand mental illness..... ..read more »

Now, addiction is not Dr Shock's specialty but I have attended a lecture on this subject a few years ago by one of the authors Robin M. Murray and was very impressed by the subtlety of his research and reasoning. Moreover, I've often been questioned about this subject by our med students just before starting their clerkship psychiatry. The size of the problem: The global number of people in the world who used cannabis at least once in 2007 was between 143 and 190 million persons Highest use in North America, Western Europe, West and Central Africa and Oceania the concentration of psychoactive .....read more »

During clerkship or residency individuals new to psychiatry find it hard to accommodate. Psychiatry rotation is still not compelled for GP's and emergency medicine while these are probably the first to encounter psychiatric patients in different forms of distress. For those starting a rotation of psychiatry being it clerkship or otherwise here are a few tips to get you started. Treat the patients with dignity and respect at all times. You will never regret it. Try not to be afraid of psychiatry or psychiatric patients, you cannot catch madness. Mental health stigma and prejudice is real and widespread. Make sure you are not .....read more »

[blackbirdpie id="106733188298186752"]   I don't think the situation is different in The Netherlands compared to the authors observations from the literature. More involuntary admissions of shorter duration, what do you think? ..read more »

A short animated film on the image of psychiatrists - written, directed and narrated by Dr Kamran Ahmed. In short it also explains the work of a psychiatrist. Entertaining and it really captures most of what psychiatry in our modern days really is. Thanks Mind Hacks ..read more »

Please participate with this survey, especially European citizens. Let your voices be heard on this important topic. Results will be presented during the upcoming annual meeting of The American Psychiatric Association in Honolulu, Hawaii. It's up at ShrinkRap Please help us get a sense of the public sentiment towards psychiatry, psychiatrists, and psychiatric patients. We will be including this information in our presentation on The Public Face of Psychiatry at this year's annual meeting of The American Psychiatric Association. Please read all of the answers for all of the questions, then choose all that apply. If you choose "other," please type .....read more »

Once in a while some really clinical relevant results in research is published. Picture this: first time psychoses, recovered with antipsychotics. Still stable after one year. Should we discontinue the antipsychotic medication? Nope, discontinuation of the antipsychotic in first time psychotic patients after one year increases the risk of relapse. After one year patients were gradually withdrawn from medication (n=11) and 9 patients continued their antipsychotic regimen. Due to the amount of patients relapsing after discontinuation the tial was ended prematurely. During the trial it appeared that, in contrast with continuation, gradual withdrawal from antipsychotic medication was almost invariably followed .....read more »

Oxytocin is not the social panacea, it's not a universal prosocial enhancer that can render all people social-cognitive experts. In my previous post Oxytocin was only of benefit to less socially proficient individuals not in more socially proficient individuals. So can it be useful for patients with schizophrenia or autism. Patients with schizophrenia with negative symptoms often have inappropriate social skills or lack of interest or ability to socialize with other people. It's often hard for them to make friends or keep friends, or they're not caring to have friends. Patients with autism spectrum disorders often fail to pick up .....read more »