Shadow: A Blow So Appalling
Here’s why it is painful to see a man cry: he’s not supposed to. Emotions are arresting when society tells us they should not be expressed. In the case of a grown man crying, there are some thousands...
View ArticleLessons to Learn: Female Educators Who Sexually Abuse Their Students
Education is a noble profession, and society places a great deal of trust in those who dedicate their lives to teaching children. Unfortunately, a small percentage of those educators use their position...
View ArticleManaging Suicide Risk in Borderline Personality Disorder
Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are often high users of health care and may present with multiple crises and minor incidents of self-harm or threats.1As with the boy who cried wolf,...
View ArticleFamilial Influences on Adolescent Substance Use
Substance use disorders (SUDs) are associated with significant morbidity and mortality that affects individuals and their families. Problems with substance use most often emerge during adolescence and...
View ArticleThe Duty to Protect: When Has it Been Discharged?
Here, the author presents the case of Mr P, a 40-year-old man with bipolar disorder and substance use disorder, including the patient’s symptomatology, treatment subsequent to hospitalization, concerns...
View ArticleNeuroscientific Mirages: Are We No More Than Our Brains?
In the middle ages, scholars often began their debates and expositions with the formula: videtur quod non,meaning, “it would appear that such and such is not true.” Thus, the scholars defended their...
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The Adolescent Brain Is Different: Criminal Responsibility
Consider this vignette: Sixteen-year-old John and 2 friends go to a club where they get into a verbal argument with 3 members of a rival gang. After receiving a particularly gross insult, John pulls...
View ArticleEvacuation of Psychiatric Inpatients from Bellevue Hospital Post Hurricane Sandy
Four hospitals in New York City were evacuated in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan was one of those hospitals; 61 incarcerated psychiatric patients had to be...
View ArticlePodcast on Bath Salts: Not for Human Consumption
Bath salts and herbal incense—synthetic legal intoxicating drugs (so-called SLIDs)—have become the focus of grim national headlines lately. According to James Knoll, MD, forensic psychiatrist and...
View ArticleBiological Consequences and Transgenerational Impact of Violence and Abuse
Every year, more than 1 million children are exposed to sexual or physical abuse or neglect in the United States.1 Childhood physical or sexual abuse is associated with adult health problems, including...
View ArticleWhen Discipline Was the Therapy: Hans Fallada’s The Drinker
Alcohol has had a long and checkered history in human affairs. Dating back millennia to ancient Egypt, its consumption has been associated with sacredness as well as frivolity. And since...
View ArticleEthical Aspects of Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy
The issue of self-disclosure in psychotherapy is one of complexity and some evolution.1-16 Most discussions about the practice refer to boundary questions because self-disclosure by the therapist to...
View ArticleEthics, Psychiatry, and End-of-Life Issues
At the end of life, psychiatrists are often asked to assess a patient’s capacity to refuse treatment, but the role of the psychiatrist in this situation is much broader. Even...
View ArticleCrime in the Military—Madness, Badness, and Survival
On October 17, 2010, a 20-year-old Army private deployed to Afghanistan shot and killed a captured Taliban soldier he had arranged to guard.1 After his arrest, he was taken to...
View ArticleCustody Disputes: The Role of the Child Psychiatrist
Child psychiatrists may become involved in child custody disputes. When parents divorce and are unable to agree on custody of their children, they proceed to court to have a judge...
View ArticleReconstructing How My Parents Survived the Shoah (1939-1945)
I was 9 years old in December 1959 when I left and 60 in July 2011 when I returned to Lodz, Poland. My return—a journey through time as well as...
View ArticleCreating a Forensic Subspecialty
There are many reasons to add a forensic subspecialty in your practice. Maybe you are becoming burned out by the demands of HIPAA and managed care; who wouldn’t be? Perhaps...
View ArticleWhat? A Lawyer Wants Therapy Records?
Many a psychologist has been confronted by the ever-present confusion that seems to take place when patient files are requested as part of a legal proceeding. This confusion frequently leads...
View ArticleRunning the Gauntlet: The Treating Psychologist in Court
Psychologists who do not identify as forensic psychologists know that they need to be prepared for those occasions when they may find themselves transported to that venue by no choice...
View ArticleBut The Judge Ordered Me To Do It: Dealing With A Court Order
During a recent risk management consultation a psychologist reported how a judge had ordered him to render a forensic recommendation regarding a family that he had been treating. This psychologist...
View ArticleThe Motives Behind Murder of UK Member of Parliament Jo Cox
A man has now been charged with murder in connection with the shooting of UK Member of Parliament Jo Cox. The attacker is reported to have shouted “Britain First” as...
View ArticleThe Experience of Correctional Psychiatry: Q&A with Patrick Gariety, MD
TCPR: Dr. Gariety, please tell us a bit about your background. Dr. Gariety: I’ve been in practice for 23 years, starting out in community mental health, followed by 13 years...
View ArticlePsychopharmacology in Jails: An Introduction
If you are interested in part-time correctional work, the best place to start is often the local jail—as opposed to a prison. What’s the difference between the two? A jail...
View ArticleMoving Beyond Motives in Mass Shootings
As psychiatrists, our stock-and-trade is understanding our patients’ motives—and in general, understanding what makes people “tick.” So, it may seem surprising that when it comes to mass shootings,...
View ArticleCT Ranks High on Study of Psychopathy by Location
Washington D.C. has the highest number of psychopaths, according to a nation-wide study. But Connecticut ranked second overall and first per capita. The research, conducted by Ryan Murphy, Ph.D.,...
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