Role Of Psychiatry Research Articles

Psychiatry is essential for now but might eventually disappear (although this is unlikely to happen any time soon).

Objective:To provide an overview of specific aspects of historical and possible future trajectories of psychiatry.Conclusions:Psychiatric treatments alleviate suffering, promote physical health, and are associated with increased longevity. As the biological underpinnings of mental illnesses are slowly uncovered, they generally cease to be primarily part of psychiatry (e.g. epilepsy, anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis). If this process continues, the biological basis of all symptom-based ‘mental illnesses’ might be described, and psychiatry absorbed into neurology and other disciplines. This will be a positive development if it provides better treatment for mental illness and psychiatric symptoms in other conditions, which is psychiatry’s sole concern. Psychiatry’s own survival as a distinct discipline is irrelevant if other disciplines can do the job better, possibly in collaboration. Given the tiny impact of neuroscience on psychiatry to date, the disappearance of psychiatry is unlikely to occur anytime soon, if ever. It is possible that human psychological functioning and psychiatric suffering are sufficiently complex and changeable as to defy complete, fine-grained, neuroscientific explanation. This would leave a role for psychiatry indefinitely, treating the immensely disabling, biologically unexplained clusters of symptoms that we currently call ‘mental illnesses’, increasingly in collaboration with, or absorbed within, other disciplines in medicine.

‘Can you hear me?’: communication, relationship and ethics in video-based telepsychiatric consultations

Telepsychiatry has long been discussed as a supplement to or substitute for face-to-face therapeutic consultations. The current pandemic crisis has fueled the development in an unprecedented way. More and more...

Critical phenomenology and psychiatry

Whereas classical Critical Theory has tended to view phenomenology as inherently uncritical, the recent upsurge of what has become known as critical phenomenology has attempted to show that phenomenological concepts and methods can be used in critical analyses of social and political issues. A recent landmark publication, 50 Concepts for Critical Phenomenology, contains no reference to psychiatry and psychopathology, however. This is an unfortunate omission, since the tradition of phenomenological psychiatry—as we will demonstrate in the present article by surveying and discussing the contribution of Jaspers, Minkowski, Laing, Basaglia, and Fanon—from the outset has practiced critical thinking, be it at the theoretical, interpersonal, institutional, or political level. Fanon is today a recognized figure in critical phenomenology, even if his role in psychiatry might not yet have been appreciated as thoroughly as his anticolonial and antiracist contributions. But as we show, he is part of a long history of critical approaches in psychopathology and psychiatry, which has firm roots in the phenomenological tradition, and which keeps up its critical work today.

Psychiatry's modern role in functional neurological disorder: join the renaissance.

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Mental health in pandemic times - a review

IntroductionAny outbreak of pandemic dimension will most likely produce a serious amount of distress and prejudice to anyone, in particular when it comes to mental health. The pandemic impact in primary care and in the psychiatric emergency department are some of the topics discussed in this review.ObjectivesIt aims to review, evaluate and reflect over the impact of a deadly coronavirus pandemic on mental health, as well as presenting possible long-term challenges and potential ways to approach it.MethodsA non-systematic literary review was performed on the Pubmed, PsycInfo and Cochrane databases using the key words “covid-19”, “psychiatry”, “self-isolation” and “telepsychiatry”.ResultsGlobally and, as expected, there has been a general increase in need for psychiatric assessment and treatment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionsThe role of psychiatry has faced quite some challenges in such a short period of time: the rise of telepsychiatry; the management of patients with both a psychiatric disorder and an infection with the new coronavirus and the need to provide an adequate psychiatric assistance in the emergency room has become the new normal.

Evaluating psychiatrists’ attitudes and expectations about pharmacists’ role in psychiatry in Jordan

Abstract Objectives Evaluating Jordanian pharmacists’ roles in psychiatry from psychiatrists perspective. Methods An electronic survey was sent to 100 psychiatrists registered in the Jordanian Psychiatrists Association. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression. Key findings A total of 80 psychiatrists completed the survey (response rate 80%). Most psychiatrists thought that pharmacists are unable to give individuals with mental illness enough time to discuss their medications (62/80, 77.6%) and to monitor psychotropic medications (PM) efficacy (50/80, 62.6%). Around half of respondents thought that, in the future, pharmacists would not be able to suggest PM for patients (42/80, 52.6%), nor changes in PM dosages (37/80, 46.3%). Most psychiatrists emphasized the importance of psychiatric courses to improve pharmacists’ role. Conclusion Although psychiatrists were generally not satisfied with the current role of pharmacists, they had positive expectations about pharmacists’ competency to do certain activities and to assist them in designing drug therapy plans.

The ABCs of successful vaccinations: A role for psychiatry

The ABCs of successful vaccinations: A role for psychiatry

Qualitative research methods in psychiatry in India: Landscaping the terrain.

Background:Qualitative research methods (QRMs) bear a critical role in psychiatry as they explore the phenomenology of psychiatric illness and its sociocultural dimensions. However, there is limited evidence regarding its use in psychiatric research in India.Aim:This study, under the aegis of mapping qualitative health research in India initiative, attempted to landscape the use of QRMs in psychiatry and elicited expert opinion on its potential, perceived quality, and scope for improvement.Materials and Methods:We reviewed studies using qualitative methodology published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry (IJP) and the abstracts presented at the Annual Conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society (ANCIPS) between 2010 and 2019. Titles and abstracts were screened and shortlisted; full-text articles were checked to identify the relevant ones. In addition, ten experts comprising psychiatry journal reviewers, editors, and conference scientific committee members were interviewed to elicit their views and suggestions.Results:Out of 356 papers published in IJP between 2010 and 2019, only 12 papers used QRMs: five qualitative and seven mixed methods. Out of 2297 abstracts published between 2010 and 2019 in ANCIPS, only 28 had used QRMs, consisting of 20 qualitative and eight mixed methods. The findings reveal that qualitative research is still an understudied domain in Indian psychiatry with a substantial need for rigor and quality.Conclusions:To catalyze the use of qualitative research in Indian psychiatry, continuing medical education programs through workshops or webinar mode need to be imparted. These trainings should aim at building skills on qualitative study design, data collection, analysis, and writing.

Biology's Contributions to Social Psychiatry's Future

Objective: To create conditions favorable to social psychiatry overcoming constraints on the range of interventions that psychiatry makes available to patients and communities. Methods: The author reviewed the history of psychiatry's range of practices, research, and training from mid-20th century to present and social concerns with future risks to mental health and well-being. Using Medline, Google, legislative sources, and major news reports, he ascertained the relationships among psychiatric activities, social policies, community resources, and public attitudes toward sciences relevant to health care. Results: Since mid-20th century, psychiatry has become increasingly evidence based in molecular and related fields of biology. After mid-20th century, this biological turn eclipsed social psychiatry functions quickly in the United States with the withdrawal of federal public funding and a constriction of commercial funding for patient care. By the 21st century, professional priorities and governmental federalist funding priorities precluded most psychiatric activities beyond office and hospital-based patient care. With these shifts, American psychiatry did not support social psychiatry practices and other international needs for mental health services. Modern biologically oriented psychiatry limits its future abilities to meet national and international social psychiatry needs by not calling upon 21st century evolutionary biological. By fostering balance and integration among individuals, populations, environments, and a group's historical cultural heritage, Darwin's biology validates social psychiatry adapting a full range of primary, secondary, and tertiary preventive mental health-care services, training, and research resources to meet individual and population's needs. Conclusions: A community's needs define psychiatry's social role in health care. Evolutionary biology promises social psychiatry a comprehensive conceptual grounding focused on how an individual and population affect and are affected by their environments and histories. Without this broad scientific foundation, psychiatry may forfeit the opportunity to gain public trust of how science comprehensively informs and supports human health and well-being.

The role of psychiatry in championing positive life outcomes for children and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders and their families.

Children and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders make up an estimated 10% of the population. Addressing health inequalities and poorer life outcomes is essential to deliver better quality care. Two parent-carers working in national roles in England suggest ways to increase understanding and work together in coproduction to achieve this.

Letter to the Editor Regarding Barranha´s Paper: "Is There a Role for Psychiatry in Physician-Assisted Death in Portugal?"

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Trends in Psychiatric Residency Education and Practice From 1944 to 2019: A Loving, Informal, and Highly Personal Review Served With Gently Roasted Sacred Cow.

In celebration of the American Psychiatric Association's 175th anniversary, the author presents an overview of major trends in psychiatric residency education over the past 75 years, from 1944 to 2019, using narrative review and personal perspectives infused with occasional irreverence. In both 1944 and today in 2020, psychiatric educators have been challenged by having too many patients, too few clinicians, too few teachers, and too little knowledge. Over the course of these years, psychiatric residency training has adapted and evolved in response to major ongoing shifts in psychiatric practice patterns shaped by economic, social, and cultural forces, academic regulations and processes, roles for psychiatry vis-à-vis other health and mental health professions, diagnostic and scientific models, psychotherapeutic, psychosocial, and biological treatment paradigms, methods of education, and methods of educational evaluation. Trends in psychiatric education have moved from loosely and irregularly structured clinical and didactic curricula to much more highly regulated and bureaucratized program requirements and processes, from faith-based beliefs and practices to increasing reliance on evidence-based faith, from the availability of Federal funds directly supporting stipends and teachers to the disappearance of those funds, from few to increasing numbers of women entering psychiatry (and all of medicine), and persistent concerns about recruiting excellent and diverse US medical school graduates into residency. Psychiatric educators will continue to help generate, synthesize, sustain, and disseminate meaningful narratives and to prepare future generations of psychiatric residents armed with iteratively better myths and conceptualizations about human nature, purpose, and our place in the universe-and about how to better confront and reduce psychiatric suffering through psychotherapeutic, psychosocial, and biological treatment strategies. Trends are onward and upward.

Cerebrospinal fluid, antineuronal autoantibody, EEG, and MRI findings from 992 patients with schizophreniform and affective psychosis

The central role played by cerebrospinal-fluid (CSF) examinations including antineuronal autoantibody (Ab) testing is increasingly recognized in psychiatry. The rationale of this study was to present a multimodally investigated group of patients. In total, 992 patients were analyzed for CSF alterations: 456 patients with schizophreniform and 536 with affective syndromes. Ab measurement included testing for established antineuronal IgG-Abs against intracellular antigens in serum (Yo/Hu/Ri/cv2[CRMP5]/Ma1/Ma2/SOX1/TR[DNER]/Zic4/amphiphysin/GAD65) and for cell surface antigens in the CSF (NMDAR/AMPA-1/2-R/GABA-B-R/LGI1/CASPR2/DPPX). In 30 patients with “red flags” for autoimmune psychosis, “tissue tests” were performed. Additional diagnostics included MRI and EEG analyses. CSF white-blood-cell counts were increased in 4% and IgG indices in 2%; CSF-specific oligoclonal bands were detected in 4%; overall, 8% displayed signs of neuroinflammation. In addition, 18% revealed increased albumin quotients. Antineuronal Abs against intracellular antigens were detected in serum in 0.6%. Antineuronal Abs against established cell surface antigens were detected in serum of 1% and in the CSF of 0.3% (CSF samples were only questionably positive). Abnormal IgG binding in “tissue tests” was detected in serum of 23% and in CSF of 27%. In total, 92% of the Ab-positive patients demonstrated at least one sign of brain involvement in additional diagnostics using CSF, MRI, EEG, and FDG-PET. In summary, CSF basic analyses revealed signs of blood–brain-barrier dysfunction and neuroinflammation in relevant subgroups of patients. Established antineuronal IgG-Abs were rare in serum and even rarer in the CSF. “Tissue tests” revealed frequent occurrences of Ab-binding; therefore, novel antineuronal Abs could play a relevant role in psychiatry.

Sex, gender and gender identity: a re-evaluation of the evidence.

In the past decade there has been a rapid increase in gender diversity, particularly in children and young people, with referrals to specialist gender clinics rising. In this article, the evolving terminology around transgender health is considered and the role of psychiatry is explored now that this condition is no longer classified as a mental illness. The concept of conversion therapy with reference to alternative gender identities is examined critically and with reference to psychiatry's historical relationship with conversion therapy for homosexuality. The authors consider the uncertainties that clinicians face when dealing with something that is no longer a disorder nor a mental condition and yet for which medical interventions are frequently sought and in which mental health comorbidities are common.

Dylematy aksjologiczne w psychiatrii sądowej

The position of court psychiatry, or that of a psychiatrist in the society, is linked to the social attitude to persons who are mentally ill. Currently, we see a change in the traditional perception of the role of psychiatry and the image of a psychiatrist in the society. It must be highlighted that the process involves the whole medical profession; however, psychiatrists are at the forefront. It is difficult to understand the causes of opinions without looking at the history.

Special Report: Racism and Inequities in Health Care for Black Americans

<i>Special Report:</i> Racism and Inequities in Health Care for Black Americans

A Critical Realist Reflection on the Power Threat Meaning Framework

A critical realist reflection on the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) is offered. By way of introduction, critical realism is discussed in relation to varieties of constructivism. It is aligned with earlier forms linked to the symbolic interactionist tradition but not with more recent postmodern forms. This positioning is explained before moving onto a shared agenda of anti-positivism, which in part, explicitly or implicitly, underpinned the collective stance of those writing the PTMF. In particular, epistemic and ontic fallacies associated with psychiatric positivism are explained and a case is made to reinstate the value dimension to mental health work. That case has been evaded by the specious claim of positivism to separate facts from values. Not only should the moral context of patient conduct be addressed but so too the role of psychiatry in society, particularly in relation to coercive social control.

Domestic violence against women and the COVID-19 pandemic: What is the role of psychiatry?

A heightened risk of domestic violence has been associated with infection-reducing measures undertaken by governments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychiatric services can play a key role in addressing this issue by (a) addressing certain risk factors for perpetration of domestic violence through, for example, assertive identification and management of substance misuse; (b) providing support, advocacy and treatment services for victims of domestic violence; and (c) multi-agency working to strengthen medical and social responses to domestic violence. At a time like this, it is important that multi-disciplinary mental health services are strengthened, rather than depleted, in order to address the pressing issues at hand.

How Does Climate Change Impact Psychiatry and Our Patients?

How Does Climate Change Impact Psychiatry and Our Patients?

Adrian James, M.B.B.S., Elected President of Royal College of Psychiatrists

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article ProfessionalFull AccessAdrian James, M.B.B.S., Elected President of Royal College of PsychiatristsSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:31 Jan 2020https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2020.2a17AbstractAdrian James, M.B.B.S., will serve a three-year term as president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists beginning in July.Justin GraingeAdrian James, M.B.B.S. (left), has been elected the next president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych). He will become president on July 1, when the term of the current president, Prof. Wendy Burn, ends.The RCPsych is the professional organization representing psychiatrists throughout the United Kingdom. James will serve a three-year term.“This is a pivotal time for psychiatry,” he said in a statement from the RCPsych. “I will focus my energies on achieving parity of esteem, addressing workforce well-being, and championing diversity and the needs of marginalized groups.”James is a consultant in forensic psychiatry at Devon Partnership NHS Trust, providing mental health and learning disability services in Devon, England, as part of Britain’s National Health Service.The position of president is the most senior post in the college, which has a national and international leadership role in psychiatry. The president also chairs the college’s Council and Board of Trustees. Burn said in a statement, “I know that [James] will bring passion and commitment to the continuation of the work that I have been doing to ensure that care for our patients is improved.”APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., congratulated James and the RCPsych. “Dr. James will not only be an exceptional leader for psychiatrists in the U.K., but also a valuable colleague on the world stage as we work together for our patients and our profession,” Levin said. “The Royal College of Psychiatrists is such an important partner and friend in all our efforts to promote psychiatry and mental health around the world. I look forward to our continued collaborative efforts to provide equity and esteem to people with mental illness, humane care, and effective treatment.”Levin was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the RCPsych during the college’s International Congress last July. ■ ISSUES NewArchived