Monday, February 17, 2003

Repetitive Self-Injurious Behavior: The Emerging Potential of Psychotropic Intervention
Article in the February Psychiatric Times - "Repetitive self-injury can be one of the more difficult conditions to treat. What is the biochemical basis for self-injury and how can psychiatrists treat this condition?"  
  

Exploring Group Therapies
Article in the February Psychiatric Times - "Groups are important throughout the course of a patient's therapy, especially for patients who have substance use disorders. Group therapy's clinical and cost benefit is evaluated for its efficacy in preventing and treating substance abuse."  
  

Adverse experiences in early childhood cause brain adaptations that can lead to later disorders
Emory University Health Sciences Center press release at EurekAlert - "Adverse experiences both perinatally and during early childhood, including abuse, neglect and severe medical illness, can have both immediate and long-term consequences on the development of the central nervous system, according to accumulating research in rodents and primates." Investigators from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine on Staurday presented evidence detailing neural adaptations to early adverse experiences at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Denver.  
  

VA Heart Attack Care For Mentally Ill Shows Little Disparity
Research Communications Services item at InteliHealth - "Unlike many private hospitals, Veterans Affairs medical centers do a good job of providing equal care for heart attack patients with a history of mental illness or substance abuse, according to a study in the February issue of Health Services Research. Previous research on mentally ill patients in non-VA health systems shows they receive poorer care than those with no mental illness and have higher rates of mortality for several conditions, including heart attacks."