We now offer state-of-the-art, interactive psychiatric tools at our new website, MyTherapy. You can use your computer to: make psychiatric diagnoses, keep a private diary (to document, graph and statistically analyze your week-by-week progress), and test your brain (memory, concentration, verbal fluency, orientation, and thinking speed or executive functioning). Join discussion...

Marriage provides greater psychological benefits to depressed people compared to people who are not depressed before they walk down the aisle, a new study reveals. This remains true even though marriage quality is poorer for depressed individuals. Adrianne Frech and Kristi Williams, Ph.D. from Ohio State University in Columbus co-wrote the study. It appears in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. Join discussion...

Stimulating different parts of the brain with implanted electrodes could help treat the nearly two million people in the United States who suffer from severe depression but fail to respond to conventional treatment. Join discussion...

Girls who suffered childhood sexual abuse are more likely to develop alcoholism later in life if they possess a particular variant of a gene involved in the body’s response to stress, according to a new study led by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The new finding could help explain why some individuals are more resilient to profound childhood trauma than others. “With this study we see yet again t Join discussion...

While depression appears to be common in early Parkinson’s disease (PD), it is often not treated or diagnosed, according to newly released research. A contingent of researchers from across North America found that just over 27 per cent of PD subjects screened positive for depression, while 40 per cent of subjects’ depression went untreated. This study, authored by Bernard Ravina, MD at the University of Rochester and funded by the National Institutes of Health in the USA, is the first to sys Join discussion...

Our results suggest that brief interventions (PMI and BIA) that link alcohol consumption with trauma injury and consequences of drinking can be effective in reducing drinking and consequences related to drinking in a significant portion of at-risk nondependent drinkers. Join discussion...

Heavy prenatal alcohol exposure does not always lead to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS); sometimes it can lead to cognitive and behavioral deficits in the absence of craniofacial features needed to make an FAS diagnosis. A new study has found that children and adolescents prenatally exposed to alcohol have altered responses in frontal-striatal areas, brain regions that may inhibit behavior. Results are published in the August issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Join discussion...

The family assessment is one component of the comprehensive psychiatric assessment of the child or adolescent with a psychiatric disorder. This guideline reviews the basic principles in conducting a family interview that gathers history relevant to the child’s disorder and observes family interaction associated with the child’s disorder. It reviews basic information that must be covered in all evaluations and the information required in complex and specialized situations. The parameter emphas Join discussion...

This report provides guidance in the clinical approach to the evaluation of suspected physical abuse in children. The medical assessment is outlined with respect to obtaining a history, physical examination, and appropriate ancillary testing. The role of the physician may encompass reporting suspected abuse; assessing the consistency of the explanation, the child's developmental capabilities, and the characteristics of the injury or injuries; and coordination with other professionals to provide Join discussion...

By the American Psychiatric Association. Join discussion...