Clinical Psychiatry News articles from February 2006

Clinical Psychiatry News archives from February 2006

Targeted prevention getting attention.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
February 1, 2006... SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. -- Studies aimed at preventing psychiatric illnesses in targeted populations are relatively new, promising, and problematic, researchers said at the annual meeting of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. "Over the...

Adults reporting poor mental health, 2004.(VITAL SIGNS)
February 1, 2006... Adults Reporting Poor Mental Health, 2004 Note: Data represent events of 1-30 days in the previous 30 days. No data were available for Hawaii. Sources: Kaiser Family Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention RICHARD...

Study should ease concerns on newer antidepressants: suicide risk fell 60% after treatment.(beliefs)
February 1, 2006... Psychiatrists say a new study should help convince the public that newer antidepressants do not appear to be associated with a risk of suicide. In the study of about 60,000 enrollees at Group Health Cooperative (GHC), a nonprofit health...

Teens' illicit drug use down, but Rx abuse up.(drug use)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Use of illegal drugs among adolescents continues to decline modestly, but abuse of some prescription drugs is increasing, according to a survey of 49,000 students in 400 secondary schools nationwide. Overall, the use of any...

Psych disorders common in kids with HIV.(Human immunodeficiency virus)(Disease/Disorder overview)
February 1, 2006... SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. -- Whether infected at birth or through risky behavior, youth with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome often have psychiatric disorders, Dr. Maryland Pao said at the annual meeting of the...

Package insert rule aims to improve patient safety.
February 1, 2006... Prescription drug package inserts will soon have a new format that Food and Drug Administration officials believe will reduce the risk of medical errors. A goal of the "major revisions" recently announced by the FDA is to prioritize...

Defending the 'drug man'.
February 1, 2006... "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings...." Cassius in Julius Caesar, Act I, Sc. 2, Line 145 --William Shakespeare Over the past several years, the pharmaceutical industry has replaced...

Expect higher standards in research.
February 1, 2006... Peer-reviewed research should provide clear guidance to clinical practice. However, there is considerable information that we as physicians have a right to expect from peer-reviewed research but are not getting. This deficiency makes it harder...

How different are we?(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2006... I am writing in reaction to two articles ("Exploring Terrorists' Motivations," October 2005, p. 19 and "Perfect Soldiers," Books, the Children of the Brain, p. 85). It seems to me that one impediment to understanding the psychology of...

'Eliminating' mental illness?(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2006... Your excellent article about the common etiologic factors shared by patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder might have asked the question: Give or take a certain amount of genetic/constitutional liability running through some families,...

More thoughts on dissociation.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2006... I would like to add a few thoughts to Dr. Paul J. Fink's recent discussion ("Dissociative Disorders," Fink! Still at Large, December 2005, p. 12). The type of organization used by Robert B. Oxnam, Ph.D., when it works, seems to allow for...

Connecting the musical docs.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2006... I was surprised to see the recent article on music, since I had just returned from playing in the 30th year of the Chicago "Do-It-Yourself Messiah" concerts--I play the trumpet ("Physicians of Notes Share Their Love for Music," The Rest of...

We need real advocacy.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2006... To Dr. Gary Annunziata, I would like to say "mega dittos" ('AMA Isn't Helping Physicians," Letters, October 2005, p. 15). Finally, somebody said what I have been thinking. I speak to a lot of psychiatrists and physicians in other...

Performance standards damage trust.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2006... The only "national performance standards" that physicians should be held accountable for are behaviors with proven positive impacts on clinical outcomes (as a primary effect) that are entirely under their control ("IOM Calls for Standard...

Counseling patients about adoption.(FINK! STILL AT LARGE)
February 1, 2006... Most adopted children begin searching for their birth parents during their teenage years. ("Children Process Adoption Throughout Early Years," CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY NEWS, December 2005, p. 37). Such searches can prove anguishing for adoptive...

Coping with the death of young patients.(emotions)
February 1, 2006... The death of a patient is the ultimate "bad outcome" in health care, yet few physicians or nurses are prepared to deal with the emotions of such experiences. Especially early in training and in hospital settings, where patient deaths are...

Only the lonely.(Haruki Murakami short story being adopted as Tony Takitani film)
February 1, 2006... Haruki Murakami, arguably Japan's preeminent contemporary novelist, who wrote the short story upon which the new film "Tony Takitani" is based, is a cartographer of human existence. He explores and maps the boundaries between the real and the...

Depression study may help guide prescribing.(care and treatment)(clinical trials)
February 1, 2006... Routine, quantitative measurement of depression symptoms and treatment side effects at every clinical visit may help physicians to determine when to change their prescribing patterns for treating depression, findings from the STAR*D study...

Treatment for resistant depression.(care and treatment)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... Some patients with resistant depression respond to orbitomedial frontal surgical lesions with significant improvement or complete remission, but there have been no reliable indicators of success--and research should address this gap, reported...

Anxiety and aggression.(comparisons)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Social anxiety was associated with psychological dating aggression in a study of 412 college undergraduates, Jessica Fales and her colleagues reported in a poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive...

Impulse control difficult to study.(care and treatment)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Impulse control disorders are a group of conditions in which the patient has a drive to perform harmful acts or fails to resist an impulse. Examples codified in the DSM-IV-TR include pathological gambling, kleptomania, pyromania,...

Genetic screening for AD appears beneficial.(Alzheimer's disease)(care and treatment)
February 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Screening for the [epsilon]4 form of the apolipoprotein E gene may be more likely to provide psychological benefit than harm to the adult children of people with Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Robert C. Green said at an international...

Prolonged exposure therapy lessens PTSD symptoms.(posttraumatic stress disorder)(care and treatment)(clinical trials)
February 1, 2006... TORONTO -- Prolonged exposure therapy appears to significantly reduce symptom severity in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder associated with combat or terrorist attacks, according to an Israeli study presented at the annual meeting of...

Pain relievers.(Adult Psychiatry)(Cartoon)
February 1, 2006... "Your family thinks you spend too much time on your cell phone. How do you feel about that?"

Treating stage fright.(THE PSYCHIATRIST'S TOOLBOX)
February 1, 2006... Treating performers with stage fright--when the anxiety and avoidance are stressful enough to become a social phobia--is therapeutically challenging and rewarding. With our help, however, many patients suffering from this disorder can learn to...

Perfectionism prominent in social phobia, depression.(side effects)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Adults with a primary diagnosis of either social phobia or major depression were significantly more prone to perfectionism than were panic disorder patients or controls, wrote Heather Wheeler, Ph.D., in a poster presented at the...

Lithium lowers suicide rates in bipolar disorder: metaanalysis shows treatment is linked to fivefold drop in attempts, completions.(drug use)(care and treatment)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... PITTSBURGH -- Lithium is an effective and underused agent for curbing the risk of suicide and suicide attempts in patients with bipolar disorder. In a quantitative metaanalysis of 31 studies that assessed lithium's ability to cut suicide...

Cocaine-induced psychosis and schizophrenia.(EVIDENCE-BASED PSYCHIATRIC MEDICINE)(Disease/Disorder overview)
February 1, 2006... The Problem You are working in an emergency department. A patient presents in an acutely psychotic state, but his urine drug screen is positive for cocaine. You have no prior records or knowledge of the patient. The Question Is it...

Childhood abuse predicts adult anxiety disorders.(care and treatment)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Emotional abuse during childhood was significantly associated with adult pathological worry, Iwona Cheminski, Ph.D., reported in a poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies....

The art of Karen Blair.(health aspects)
February 1, 2006... The Web site for artist Karen Blair starts out with a striking statement: "All the pictures and all the writing on this site are my own. It is an honest place. My blood carries the template for schizophrenia. Because of what my blood made my...

ADHD: switching to atomoxetine can help.(attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder )(care and treatment)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... TORONTO -- Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder can be successfully cross-tapered from a stimulant to atomoxetine with significant improvements in their ADHD symptoms, Dr. Humberto Quintana reported in a poster at the joint...

Some patients respond well to reduced doses of atomoxetine.(drug use)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... TORONTO -- Reducing the dose of atomoxetine may be possible for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder who have responded well to the medication, Dr. Jeffrey Newcorn reported in a poster at the joint annual meeting of the...

Narcolepsy drug is safe, effective for ADHD.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
February 1, 2006... TORONTO -- Modafinil is safe and effective in treating pediatric attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, decreasing symptom scores twice as much as placebo, according to two posters presented at the joint annual meeting of the American...

Conditioned placebo dose reduction tested for ADHD.(drug use)(attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... SAN DIEGO -- Children with ADHD were effectively treated on 50% of their optimal stimulant dose by pairing placebo pills with their stimulant medication, Dr. Adrian Sandler reported at the annual meeting of the Society for Developmental and...

Compliance puts new spin on psychosis treatment: adolescents with prodromal psychosis had better outcomes with antidepressants than antipsychotics.
February 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- Adolescents with prodromal psychosis who were being treated with second-generation antipsychotic drugs had significantly higher rates of medication noncompliance than adolescents who had the same early symptoms and were taking...

Symptoms of pediatric delirium often overlooked, mistreated.(medical errors)
February 1, 2006... SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. -- Pediatric delirium is rarely discussed in the medical literature and hardly ever diagnosed in practice, but Dr. Susan Beckwitt Turkel contends that children may be as vulnerable as elderly patients. "I think when...

Some symptoms of PDD respond to medications: pharmacotherapy has shown some promise for reducing aggression, inattention, and hyperactivity.(pervasive developmental disorders)
February 1, 2006... TORONTO -- Some symptoms associated with autism--including hyperactivity, inattention, stereotypy, and aggression--can be improved with pharmacotherapy, Dr. Christopher McDougle said at the joint annual meeting of the American Academy of Child...

Puberty and body dissatisfaction in girls.(health aspects)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Pubertal changes were more likely to trigger body dissatisfaction in white girls than in African American girls in a study of 331 girls, reported Tiffany Floyd, Ph.D., in a poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association...

PTSD and asthma.(posttraumatic stress disorder)(side effects)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... Adolescents with asthma who have experienced a life-threatening event--as well as their parents--are significantly more likely to experience posttraumatic stress symptoms than are adolescents with less severe asthma or healthy controls,...

Substance abuse and suicide.(drug abuse)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Substance abuse within 48 hours of suicide was far more common among white adolescents than African American adolescents in an investigation of 75 cases, wrote Dr. Steven J. Garlow of Emory University, Atlanta, and his colleagues. The...

OCD often cormorbid with ADHD.(obsessive-compulsive disorder)(attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder)(comorbidity)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... More than 25% of children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder had comorbid attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in a consecutive study of 94 patients, reported Dr. Gabriele Masi and her associates at the Scientific Institute...

Dysthymia in older adults needs further study.(research)
February 1, 2006... STOCKHOLM -- Much remains unknown about dysthymia and minor depression in older adults, particularly when it comes to differences in the pathogenesis of early- and late-onset disorders and the interaction of these disorders with comorbidities,...

Refractory depression in elderly too complex for guidelines.(surveys)
February 1, 2006... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A survey of 50 psychiatrists from across the country provides insight into treatment of refractory depression in the elderly, Dr. William Apfeldorf said at a psychiatric symposium sponsored by the University of New Mexico,...

Hearing loss linked to 'unsuccessful' aging.(health aspects)
February 1, 2006... ORLANDO -- Elderly persons with hearing loss are more likely to describe themselves as aging unsuccessfully, compared with their peers who hear well, despite the absence of any other chronic conditions, according to a study presented as a...

MRI helps distinguish cognitive impairments: use of technology has potential to lead to subtype-specific prophylaxis or therapy.(care and treatment methods)(Magnetic resonance imaging)
February 1, 2006... PORTO, PORTUGAL -- MRI used in combination with neurologic/neuropsychometric evaluations enables physicians to distinguish among three subtypes of mild cognitive impairment, thus potentially permitting early and effective subtype-specific...

Computer assessment promising for mild cognitive impairment.(diagnosis)
February 1, 2006... QUEBEC CITY -- Computerized assessment of mild cognitive impairment is an area of great promise and potential problems, Jason Brandt, Ph.D., said at a conference sponsored by the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. A slew of new...

Paratonia in patients: a clinical marker of Alzheimer's disease?(diagnosis)
February 1, 2006... SAN DIEGO -- The presence of paratonia in patients with Alzheimer's disease may be a sign of cognitive decline, according to the results of a small study. "Paratonia may be useful as a way of looking at the progression of Alzheimer's...

Try integrated psychotherapy for complex issues.(care and treatment)
February 1, 2006... STOCKHOLM -- Integrated individual psychotherapy may be the best method for addressing complex issues that are often unique to geriatric patients, Dr. Joel Sadavoy said at the 12th Congress of the International Psychogeriatric Association. ...

Denial may lead to undertreatment of fall-related injuries.(care and treatment)
February 1, 2006... ORLANDO -- Denial is a frequently used coping strategy in geriatric patients with fall-related injuries and is likely a risk factor for inadequate treatment, accorording to study findings presented at the annual meeting of the Gerontological...

Exit talks have minor effects on injured drinkers.(interview of drunkards)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... BETHESDA, MD. -- Brief negotiation interviews with emergency department patients who have engaged in harmful and hazardous drinking behaviors may not be much more effective in reducing the frequency and quantity of drinking than providing...

Novel drug boosts smoking cessation rates: varenicline is a safe and effective treatment for breaking the smoking addiction cycle, studies find.(drug therapy)
February 1, 2006... DALLAS -- The first agent from a new drug class was safe and effective in helping patients stop smoking in three phase III studies that involved more than 3,000 patients. Treatment with varenicline, a selective nicotinic acetylcholine...

Gender differences observed in beliefs of AA participants.(Alcoholics Anonymous)(care and treatment)
February 1, 2006... SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- Men and women are similarly devoted to long-term participation in Alcoholics Anonymous, progressing at about equal rates through the 12 steps that define the voluntary, nonprofit program for problem drinkers. But a...

Buprenorphine demand surpassing patient limit.(supply and demand)
February 1, 2006... SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. -- At a recent workshop on office buprenorphine prescribing, the first question addressed was: Is the 30-patient limit likely to be revised? The urgency of the question is another sign that physicians who choose to become...

Detox with buprenorphine more lasting than clonidine.(drug therapy)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. -- Opiate addicts who go through withdrawal using buprenorphine are nine times more likely to complete their withdrawal regimen than are patients who use clonidine, a large National Institute on Drug Abuse-sponsored trial...

Drug-related emergency department visits from June to December 2003.(table)(Table)
February 1, 2006... Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits From June to December 2003 Adverse reaction, 25% Overmedication, 17% Seeking detox, 10% Suicide attempt, 6% Alcohol only, 4% Accidental ingestion, 3%...

Perspective.(Community Psychiatry)
February 1, 2006... If children in this country were denied access to the polio vaccine despite the undeniable proof that it prevents the devastating disease, the uproar about the ethical implications would be unprecedented. Yet the failure to implement proven...

Mental health care for the caregiver.(health aspects)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... People with Alzheimer's disease are not the only ones who suffer from its devastating effects. Family caregivers of Alzheimer's patients are also at risk for a range of psychosocial, emotional, and even physical problems. This population also...

'Psychological autopsy' can help explain death: a 16-item checklist can be used to help determine if a patient's death was accidental or self-inflicted.(forensic psychiatry)
February 1, 2006... MONTREAL -- A psychological autopsy can be helpful in determining the causes of a patient's death, Dr. Elena Swartz said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. The idea of a psychological autopsy began at...

Pain relievers.(Forensic Psychiatry)(Cartoon)
February 1, 2006... "I still feel the peeve."

Sleeping problems in mood, anxiety disorders: make sure that primary antidepressant prescribed does not aggravate patient's sleep problems.(side effects)
February 1, 2006... Nearly every psychiatric disorder has sleep disturbance as a potential symptom. Sleep should be an object of inquiry in the initial assessment. Asking the patient about sleep is "a useful way to build rapport: Most people are quite...

Hallucinations are not 'benign' in Parkinson's disease.(research)(risk factors)
February 1, 2006... SAN DIEGO -- So-called benign hallucinations associated with dopaminergic treatment for Parkinson's disease rarely remain "benign," calling into question the accuracy of the term. Researchers at Rush University in Chicago studied the...

Gene expression may be 'therapeutic target' for stroke.(Neuropsychiatric Medicine)
February 1, 2006... SAN DIEGO -- Characteristic patterns of gene expression in blood samples can now identify patients with migraine, Tourette's syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 1, tuberous sclerosis type 2, Down syndrome, and early ischemic stroke, among other...

Physicians, others face greater risk of developing Parkinson's.(Neuropsychiatric Medicine)(Clinical report)
February 1, 2006... Physicians and individuals with 9 or more years of education are at an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a study by Dr. Roberta Frigerio of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and her colleagues. Individuals...

Ischemic stroke triggers race against the clock.(Neuropsychiatric Medicine)(Disease/Disorder overview)
February 1, 2006... For every hour an acute ischemic stroke is untreated, the human forebrain loses 120 million neurons, 830 billion synapses, and 447 miles of myelinated fiber--the equivalent of 3.6 years of normal aging. The numbers lend a new urgency to the...

OSA-hypopnea syndrome: atrial overdrive pacing not useful.(Neuropsychiatric Medicine)(obstructive sleep apnea)
February 1, 2006... Atrial overdrive pacing proved ineffective in most cases of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome, while nasal continuous positive airway pressure showed strong efficacy, according to a comparison study by Greek researchers. Dr....

Armodafinil improves daytime wakefulness in CPAP users.(Neuropsychiatric Medicine)(continuous positive airway pressure)(Drug overview)
February 1, 2006... DENVER -- The investigational drug armodafinil significantly increased daytime wakefulness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea who experienced excessive sleepiness despite regular nighttime continuous positive airway pressure therapy,...

Extra vitamin D fails to cut fibromyalgia pain.(Pain Medicine)(Clinical report)
February 1, 2006... SAN DIEGO -- Vitamin D supplementation did not lessen fibromyalgia symptoms in a small trial, a finding that casts doubt on the theory that vitamin D deficiency underlies some patients' pain and that screening vitamin D levels would identify...

Shedding weight aids fibromyalgia.(Pain Medicine)(Brief article)(Clinical report)
February 1, 2006... Behavioral weight loss treatment benefited overweight and obese women with fibromyalgia syndrome, reported Jennifer R. Shapiro, Ph.D., and her colleagues at the University of Albany, State University of New York. In a 20-week pilot study,...

Study links polycystic ovary syndrome with depression.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
February 1, 2006... MONTREAL -- A total of 35% of those with polycystic ovary syndrome also had depression in a case-control study of 206 women. "We recommend that women with PCOS should be routinely screened and adequately treated for depression," study...

HIV notification, counseling soar with rapid HIV testing.(Across Specialties)
February 1, 2006... QUEBEC CITY -- The use of rapid human immunodeficiency virus testing has had a profound impact on primary care settings in New Jersey, Dr. Denise Young reported in a poster at the annual meeting of the North American Primary Care Research...

Five children in Minnesota test positive for poliovirus.(Across Specialties)
February 1, 2006... A small outbreak of poliovirus infection has been reported among unvaccinated children living in rural Minnesota. All cases to date have been linked to the live attentuated virus used in the oral polio vaccine, according to the Minnesota...

Postdeployment screening seeks to uncover potential problems.(Across Specialties)
February 1, 2006... SAN FRANCISCO -- The Department of Defense conducts a thorough medical screening of each service member returning from a theater of operations, but civilian physicians must still be on the lookout for combat-related illnesses, Maj. Robert B....

Payment system thwarts obesity TX efforts.(Across Specialties)
February 1, 2006... With the obesity epidemic growing, physicians are facing a payment system that hasn't caught up. Although coverage varies by payer, most Medicare carriers do not pay for office visits coded only for obesity and the same is true for most...

Early intensive glucose control slashes risk for CVD.(cardiovascular disease )
February 1, 2006... SAN DIEGO -- Tight glucose control early in the course of type 1 diabetes reduces the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease events by more than half, Dr. David M. Nathan reported at the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes...

Alcohol ads, underage drinking.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Youth people who see more alcohol advertisements end up drinking more, according to a study published in the January issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (2006;160:18-24). Researchers from the University of Connecticut,...

Parity law extended.(laws, rules and regulations)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... The law requiring employers to provide the same caps on mental health coverage as they do for physical health coverage has been extended for another year. The Mental Health Parity Act, which does not apply to substance abuse or chemical...

Mental health screening snapshot.(surveys)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... More than half the states provide education or information to primary care providers to help them focus on young children's early mental health development, according to a survey from the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP). As...

Behaviors leading to death.(risk factors)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... By the time they enter adulthood, a large percentage of American youth have already begun the behaviors that lead to preventable causes of death, according to a study from the Carolina Population Center and the University of North Carolina at...

Money for psychiatric hospitals.(proposals)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Inpatient psychiatric facilities would receive an average 4.2% increase in their Medicare payments under a proposal from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The proposed rule would affect about 1,800 facilities, including certified...

Feds offer warning on Rx assistance with Part D.(insurance)
February 1, 2006... Some Medicare beneficiaries may still qualify for extra help in purchasing drugs through patient assistance programs, despite the new Medicare Part D drug benefit that started last month. But pharmaceutical manufacturers that offer...

Need for control drives assisted suicide requests: patients who went through with assisted suicide wanted to be self-reliant until the end, studies show.(research)(Statistical data)
February 1, 2006... SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. -- The key factor motivating the terminally ill to seek assisted suicide under Oregon's Death with Dignity Act--a sense of control--should prompt a rethinking of end-of-life care, Dr. Linda Ganzini said at the annual...

Physician-rating game fraught with difficulty.(ratings)
February 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The lists of "best doctors" published in magazines may not be all they're cracked up to be, several speakers said at a health care competition conference sponsored by Health Affairs journal and the Center for Studying Health...

The challenges of caring for an aging parent.(care and treatment of dementia)
February 1, 2006... Now in his fifth year of dementia, 86-year-old Leonard Winakur doesn't know what day it is. If he's not sleeping when his son Dr. Jerald Winakur drops by for a visit (as Dr. Winakur does nearly every day), sometimes he'll engage his son in...

Study clarifies effects of outpatient commitment.(Practice Trends)
February 1, 2006... MONTREAL -- Outpatient commitment can be a useful tool if it is implemented for a long enough period and combined with more frequent services, Dr. Marvin S. Swartz said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law....