A lone gunman killed 20 children and 6 adults including himself at a Connecticut) School He used guns registered to his mother. The emergence of ASD and PTSD Acute Stress Disorder and/ Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) were identified as happening after a major incident such as this one. The symptoms that can be present in this situation were reviewed as well as some possible long term effects. The grieving process was also discussed. In the aftermath of such situations, attention is often focused on people with mental illness who might have the potential do do violence and/or commit a copycat crime even though in retrospect this is very small proportion of the population.The gun control issue and related psychological factors were also discussed.
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6 Oct 2011A recent article published in JAMA has concluded that depression is associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke morbidity and mortality.
This important topic is further discussed.
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4 May 2011The dictionary definition of ” consumer, client, patient, provider and care giver ” are examined under the thesis that “we are not providers consumers or clients. The special bond of psychiatrists as well as other mental health professional with their patients is noted and the potential erosion of that relationship is discussed.
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17 Mar 2010An 82 year old grandmother with her family’s support requests termination of hemodialysis that she is receiving for end stage renal disease.
A second psychiatric opinion determines that she really does not want to die and she had mistakenly believes that is what her family wished. After a family meeting, the family is able to readjust their support of her and she continues on dialysis. There is a brief review of various forms of dialysis treatment and the fact that Medicare pays for this treatment regardless of the age of the patient.
