These articles are going to cover a lot of ground very fast. Hold onto your hat.

Shocking news from the research trenches: It is not enough to just assess patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQL). It is not enough to tell patients the results of the assessment. It is not even enough to discuss the problems that the assessment reveals! (Rosenbloom, S. K., Victorson, D. E., Hahn, E. A., Peterman, A. H., Cella, D., 2007).

Who could have predicted that? Anybody. Read more →

Welcome to the seventh edition of Brain Blogging – a semi-monthly blog carnival that aims to review posts “related to the brain and mind that go beyond the basic sciences into a more human and multidimensional perspective.” Read more →

Last month, the U.S. Senate approved what will be known as the Mental Health Parity Bill. This piece of legislation will require group health plans with mental health benefits to offer them at the same level as physical health benefits. The measure does not affect individual insurance plans but only group. This bill certainly destigmatizes mental illness by not allowing mental health to be treated differently by health insurers. Some highlights include having the same deductibles, copayments, number of visits, days of coverage, and annual or lifetime limits as physical illness. It also includes substance abuse treatment. Read more →

The psychiatric profession is under attack by the Church of Scientology. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a Scientology advocacy group, released an intense “documentary” called “Psychiatry: An Industry of Death” in 2006. Recently, I stumbled upon a video clip of this pointed film. Interestingly, many videos under the general theme of anti-psychiatry have emerged since Tom Cruise’s outburst on Oprah. Read more →

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM, includes descriptions and classifications of most mental disorders. Published by the American Psychiatric Association, the DSM is widely used by mental health specialists to aid them in the diagnosis of a mental disorder. DSM-IV is the fourth edition of this manual which is the product of consistent and careful revisions of the previous versions.

Some say, that due to the involvement of the psychiatrists in the writing of this manual, it reflects a medical model approach to the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. Read more →

Who wants to admit that they need to see a psychiatrist? There is often an inner sense of shame and disgrace when people seek psychiatric consultation, yet the pain of mental illness compels many people to seek help from family doctors or psychiatrists.

Most people who suspect mental illness initially go to their family doctors. However, it is valuable if the ill person knows the pro’s and con’s of consulting their family doctor about their mental symptoms as opposed to a psychiatrist or who specializes in diagnosing and treating mental illness. Read more →