Psychiatry Commons^™

The Potential Role Of Psychiatry Residents' Councils, J. Thomas Pichot, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

There are numerous books and articles within the scientific literature that deal with issues of training psychiatry residents and the characteristics of that milieu. Those authors that deal primarily with stress usually discuss the sources of the stress and the resultant behavioral changes that are manifested by the trainees. Typically, are relatively small portion of the discussion is devoted to how these problems are, or might be, addressed. This paper, while not itself intended to be an overview of stress in residency; will concentrate on a literature review of some specific aspects of the residency training process, primarily role definition …

The Physical Examination In Psychiatry, Scott Patten, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

The physical examination is a neglected aspect of the psychiatric assessment. For example, a survey of ninety-eight practicing psychiatrists, conducted by Patterson (1) in 1978, found that none of them routinely performed physical examinations on their patients. More than one-half of these psychiatrists reported that they no longer felt competent to do so. One situation in which psychiatrists do often perform physicals is while admitting patients to hospital. However, the quality of these examinations is often poor (2 ,3).

An indifferent attitude toward the physical examination has persisted in psychiatry despite numerous publications emphasizing the importance of medical assessment (2-8). …

Some Comments On The Concept Of The Ego-Ideal, Gurmeet Kanwal, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

In a review of the literature on the ego-ideal my impression has been that this concept has been placed in the position of a stepchild of the structural model of the mind, falling somewhere between the ego and the super-ego, and yet remaining loosely linked to both. Authors such as Jacobson (1954), Hartmann and Lowenstein (1962), Sandler (1963), and Schafer (196 7), have regarded the ego-ideal as a substructure of the super-ego. Others like Annie Reich (1953, 1954), Lampl de-Groot (1947), Peter Bios (1972), and Chasseguet-Smirgel (1975), have tended to view the two as being separate structures.

The purpose of …

Editor's Column, Gregory B. Sullivan, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

In selecting, or as now in introducing the table of contents of each new issue of the Jefferson Journal, or in response to some occasional question as to the orientation of the Journal, the ghostly concept of eclecticism reappears. In choosing a residency training program in psychiatry, the nascent resident of the 1980's was usually met with a chorus of "eclectic" brochures and training directors, each describing their own version of this ideal. Having comfortably accepted this pleasingly vague and democratic ideal, it was disconcerting to hear my own training director, Dr. Harvey Schwartz, challenge this descriptive term. He …

Resident Editorial Board

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

List of Resident Editorial Board for Volume 6, Number 2, 1988 issue of Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry.

Letters To The Editor

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

Letters to the Editor, Volume 6, Number 1, 1987.

A Personal Journey, Shimon Waldfogel, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

MAUS A SURVIVOR'S TALE

Art Spiegelman

New York Pantheon Books 1986.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Reconsidered, Christopher J. Mcdougle, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDERS: THEORY & MANAGEMENT

Edited by Michael A. Jenike, Lee Baer, William E. Minichiello

Littleton, Mass, PSG Publishing Company, In c.1986. 196 pages, $24.50

In Response: The Usefulness Of Neutrality, Paul A. Dewald, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

The term "neutrality" as used in psychoanalysis has multiple meanings, each carrying major emotional significance. In that sense "neutrality" is a term which evokes the metaphor of the "Six Blind Men and the Elephant."

In her paper, "The Usefulness of Neutrality," Julia Jones Zawatsky uses the term to express a variety of issues related to a complex and difficult clinical situation. Neutrality includes the therapist taking an equidistant position from the various forces involved in the compromise formation used to solve psychic conflict. She also uses the term to acknowledge the multiple facets of the therapist's conscious and unconscious …

Brief Communication: A Resident Elective Abroad, P. Conlon, M.B.

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

Elective study abroad during a residency is unusual, although this is not uncommon for medical students and fellows. There may be several reasons for this. Resident training programs are structured to last three or four years in North America and traditionally are under the auspices of specific university departments. This is a relatively short period of training compared to European countries, and consequently there tends to be less flexibility, and therefore less mobility, in training. Residencies also tend to be a combination of education, training and service requirements, and as programs have a specific allocation of positions for each year …

A Psychiatric Perspective On Erectile Dysfunction, Syed Ahmed, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

Erectile impotence is a common family health problem, with exact incidence unknown, that adversely affects both men and their female partners. It is classified as "inhibited sexual excitement" in DSM-III and is defined as the inability to attain or maintain a penile erection until completion of the sexual act. It had been stated formerly, without supporting evidence, that 90% of erectile disorders were "psychogenic. " Today, however, only about one-third are so classified (1). In Kinsey's (2) series, the prevalence of impotence was less than 2% until the age of 40 years; it increased to 6-7% at age 55 …

The Use Of Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy For Relapsing Depression, Ted A. Matzen, Md, Ronald L. Martin, Md, Tim J. Watt, Md, Douglas K. Reilly, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

It is generally accepted that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment of major depressive episodes in patients with both unipolar and bipolar affective disorders (1). Yet, repeated relapse of depression occurs in some patients, even with vigorous maintenance therapy on antidepressant drugs (2-4). This often necessitates rehospitalization for ECT. In past decades, several authors suggested that periodic outpatient ECT was efficacious as a maintenance therapy (5-7). Recently, maintenance ECT was recommended by Fink (8), and Maletzky (9), but barely mentioned in two reviews (10,11), and discouraged in another (12) . However, a recent nationwide survey has disclosed that such …

The Effect Of Acute And Chronic Ethanol On Dopamine Turnover In The Caudate Nucleus Of The Rat, Rif S. El-Mallakh, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

It is generally believed that acute and chronic ethanol (EtOH) administration alters the activity of catecholamines in the brain, however, the specific effects of EtOH on the dopaminergic system are disputed (I). Acute EtOH administration has been variously reported to decrease (2,3), increase (4,5), and cause no change (6 ,7) in dopamine (DA) synthesis and turnover. Likewise, chronic EtOH treatments have been reported to decrease (2,8) and increase (9, 10) DA synthesis and turnover. Many of these apparently conflicting results are explained by the use of different animal models (rat (2, 3,6,7,10), rabbit (6), and mouse (4,5,9)), different methods of …

Bioethical Issues In The Management Of Gender Dysphoria, George R. Brown, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

The term "gender dysphoria" ( I) describes a heterogeneous group of individuals who express varying degrees of dissatisfaction with their anatomic gender (hence "gender dysphoria"), and the desire to possess the secondary sexual characteristics of the opposite sex. Only a minority o f these patients can be considered on the extreme end of a spectrum of subjective dissatisfaction with assigned anatomy and societally sanctioned gender role (i.e., "transsexual"). The number of such patients presenting to psychiatric clinics has greatly increased subsequent to the 1966 publication of Harry Benjamin's seminal work, The Transsexual Phenomenon (2), and extensive media coverage of individual …

Presentation And Differential Diagnosis Of Hyponatremia In A Schizophrenic Adult Male, Michael J. Sedlacek, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

The diagnosis o f hyponatremia can prove to be a challenging task since initial symptomatology may mimic psychiatric illness. Accurate diagnosis and subsequent treatment is essential as this disorder can progress to seizures, coma and death if not recognized. Neither the true incidence nor the etiology of hyponatremia in the schizophrenic population has been established, but a definite association has been shown to exist. A recent retrospective study involving over 20,000 hospital admissions found a 5.8% incidence of hyponatremia in the schizophrenic population as compared with a 0.36% incidence for all admissions (1). The following case illustrates the features of …

Accepting Dependence, Julia Zawatsky, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

There is an increasing emphasis on short term treatment in Psychiatry. Short term treatment may not provide the time necessary to permit the regression and foster the dependence necessary for successful treatment.

Supervising Residents Treating Multiproblem Patients: Transformations Of Therapeutic Narcissism, Susan J. Olson, Md, Valerie A. Westhead, Md, Jean M. Goodwin, Md, Mph

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

While much of the literature on psychotherapy supervision focuses on teaching psychotherapeutic techniques, most residents and supervisors realize that there is another agenda: making the often drained and narcissistically injured therapist feel better. The beginning therapist's self-esteem is especially vulnerable to injury because most psychiatric residents have "heavily committed themselves to a field of endeavor for which ... they are relatively untested" (I). Coupled with this, they are often assigned the most difficult and demanding patients, those with narcissistic disorders who are unable to soothe themselves. Both Searles (2) and Balint (3) describe the barrage of counter transferences usually experienced …

Editor's Column, Gregory B. Sullivan, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

An exhibition of paintings of the American Old West caught my attention one afternoon, after I had wandered across the street from our affiliate V.A. outpatient clinic to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. A popular theme among these romanticized views of the American frontier was the image of the trapper; alone, silent figure working at the nation's interface with the unknown. Several paintings depicted a custom known as the rendez-vous, a semi-annual occurrence wherein the trappers gathered eastward to river outposts in order to socialize, trade information and hand-made maps, restock supplies, and display for sale the …

Resident Editorial Board

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

List of Resident Editorial Board for Volume 6, Number 1, 1998 of Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry.

Letters To The Editor

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

Letters to the Editor.

Book Review: The Soft Voice Of Reason, Emanuel E. Garcia, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

FREUD AS AN EXPERT WITNESS

K. R. Eissler

Madison, Connecticut, International Universities Press 1986, 449 pages.

Book Review: Towards A Practical Guide To The Therapy Of The Borderline Patient, Gregory B. Sullivan, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

EFFECTIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY WITH BORDERLINE PATIENTS:CASE STUDIES

Robert J. Waldinger, M.D .John G. Gunderson, M.D.

New York, Macmillan 1987, 232 pages

Book Review: Adapting Psychotherapy For An Underserved Population, Lorna Clark-Rubin, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

PSYCHOTHERAPY IN THE COMMUNITY:A PSYCHOANALYTICALLY BASED GUIDE TO THE TREATMENT OF THE ADULT

Eric Lager, M.D., Israel Zwerling, M.D.with Joseph Slap, M.D., Samuel Bullock, M.D. Warren Smith, M.D.Warren H. Green, Inc., St. Louis

1983. pp. 190.

The Witness, Paul D. Zislis, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

I want to tell you a story. Why? I don't know. Perhaps so that you will understand. Perhaps so that I will understand. It is a story of the present. It is a story that allows a little comprehension of the past. And it is a story that reveals glimpses of the future.

First this preface:

For years I have been drawn as if by a magnet to the subject of the Holocaust. I have read much about it, spoken to some who survived it, seen films on it, visited museums concerned with it. I have seen the faces …

Developmental Stages Of Learning Psychotherapy, Duncan B. Clark, Phd, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

The contradictory philosophies of the major schools of psychotherapy present a dizzying array of alternative approaches for the psychiatry resident. The academic efforts that have been made to synthesize differing approaches to psychotherapy have not met with widespread acceptance. Part of the reason why such a synthesis has been slow in coming may be found in the stages of development the practitioner goes through in learning psychotherapy. The concepts of developmental psychology discussed by Chandler (7) in describing the adolescent's confrontation with relativism and "epistemological loneliness" can help us understand some of the cognitive problems faced by the psychiatry resident. …

A Brief Note On A Psychotherapeutic Technique Described By Glover And Its Application During Psychiatric Residency, Emanuel E. Garcia, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

Few would dispute the existence of a general tendency to blame psychological ailments on physical problems. For example, we often attribute changes in mood to the somatic effects of the weather, irritability to diet, apathy to physical exhaustion, etc. How many of us can deny at some time having attempted to explain to our spouses that an outburst of temper was really the fault of our indigestion, let us say? Of course, our spouses are rather skeptical. And as psychiatrists we too preserve a skepticism towards the explanations of this kind which our patients so often provide. This is not …

The Ideal Psychiatry Training Program: A Resident's Viewpoint, James E. Deming, Jr., Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

The journey between medical school graduation and specialty board certification in one's chosen field of medicine may comprise the most challenging, exciting and important times of a young professional's life. This journey is called residency education. While the most obvious objectives are cognitive education and practice in the field, trainees also face fundamental life challenges such as developing identity, intimacy and a direction for their own generative goals in the world.

Psychiatry residency should be viewed as a personal as well as professional developmental process (1). It contains all of the turbulence of adolescence revisited (2), where "normative crises" (3) …

War Of The Worlds Revisited: The Effect Of Watching "The Day After" On Mood State, David G. Daniel, Md, Frances Wolff, M.Ed., Maribeth Smith, Ma

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

In the fall of 1983, "The Day After," a fictional account of a nuclear attack on a civilian population, was broadcast on television in the United States and viewed by I00 million Americans . "The Day After" was said to differ from previous movie treatments of nuclear war by the vividness with which it forced its audience to experience the ground zero effects of a nuclear blast on human beings (I) . In what was described as "the most horrifically searing footage ever to pass a network censor,"the audience was shown "group immolation, a carnage of mass vaporization" and "graphic …

Beastly Beatitudes (1): The Case Of A Patient With Severe Borderline Personality Disorder, Paul D. Zislis, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

The newspapers, tabloids, and novels are filled with it. So are the television shows and movies. Sensationalism. The public can' t get enough of it. A crazed killer stalks an innocent victim who is alone, isolated and helpless, and he brutally tortures her to death. Sound familiar? The case at hand is a fascinating one which, though perhaps surrounded by the trappings of such sensationalism, provides us with some insight into the inner workings of one patient 's tortured mind.

L-Deprenyl, A Selective Mao-B Inhibitor, Raymond W. Lam, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are now recognized as effective medications in the treatment of major depression (1). However, their clinical use has been limited by the risk of severe hypertensive reactions to oral tyramine challenge. Prevention of this so-called "cheese effect " requires adherence to diet restrictions that can lead to problems with patient compliance to MAOIs.

L-deprenyl is a selective MAO-B inhibitor that is reportedly free of the "cheese effect" (2). This review will discuss the clinical and theoretical importance of this interesting drug.