Opportunity to Change Practice, Perception of Psychiatry Is Now
The future is now. That’s what APA President Jeffrey Lieberman, M.D., told APA members today during his presidential address at APA’s 2014 annual meeting. He opened with a recitation of recent APA successes including.... >>read more



Time Is Ripe to Seize the Moment in Psychiatry
Psychiatry, psychiatric patients, and APA are at a turning point, said incoming APA President Paul Summergrad, M.D., today at the Opening Session of APA’s 2014 annual meeting. Increased public attention to mental health, extraordinary scientific opportunities, and the unfolding of health care reform mark this as a crucial time in history.... >>read more/watch video


Murphy Discusses 'Helping Families' Legislation at APA Assembly
Patients with serious mental illness have a right to treatment and a right to get better. That’s what Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) said in an address this morning to the APA Assembly, in which he discussed the bill he is sponsoring in Congress titled the “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act” (HR 3717).... >>read more


Vice President Joe Biden to Present Lecture Tomorrow
Vice President Joe Biden will deliver the William C. Menninger Memorial Convocation Lecture tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the Javits Convention Center in Hall 3E, Level 3. The Convocation of Distinguished Fellows will be held later tomorrow at the same location and its regularly scheduled time: 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Hall 3E, Level 3, of the Javits Convention Center.

Please note: Seating is limited; however, a live feed of the audio and video will be available at four other locations.


APA's Incoming President-Elect Discusses Priority Issues
Among the issues that Renée Binder, M.D., APA's incoming president-elect, will be addressing in the coming year is to prepare psychiatrists for practice in the 21st century. Every APA member needs to be a part of the process, she says. She is interviewed by Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., editor in chief of Psychiatric News. >>watch video


Data Inform Population-Based Approach to Suicide Prevention
Psychiatrist Gregory Simon, M.D., senior investigator at the Group Health Research Institute, talked to annual meeting attendees about a “learning health care system” describes how data are helping to determine population-based risk for suicide. >>watch video


DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality Disorders
The process of change can be complicated, as the Work Group on Personality and Personality Disorders (PDWG) for DSM-5 experienced firsthand, said John Oldham, M.D., M.S., senior vice president and chief of staff of the Menninger Clinic and Baylor Professor of Psychiatry, as well as past president of APA, at an interactive session with psychiatry residents today. The session was co-led by Andrew Skodol, M.D., research professor at the University of Arizona and recent chair of the PDWG.... >>read more


Grief, Major Depression, and the Bereavement Exclusion: DSM-5’s View
The removal of the so-called “bereavement exclusion” from DSM-5 was one of the most contentious decisions the DSM-5 work groups made, and many clinicians continue to find the distinction between ordinary grief and major depression confusing. However, said Ronald W. Pies, M.D., at APA’s 2014 annual meeting, grief and depression are actually distinct constructs, despite some overlapping features.... >>read more


NIDA Discusses Innovative Approaches to Treat Substance Use Disorders
Annual meeting attendees who wanted to know more about the latest innovations in treating addiction gathered yesterday at the “Biological Approaches to Treat Substance Use Disorder” session sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)..... >>read more/watch video


What's New in Pediatric Psychopharmacology?
Throughout the past decade, a number of pivotal clinical trials, mostly funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, have significantly expanded the data available for clinicians who treat children with mental disorders, according to Christopher Kratochvil, M.D....>>read more



Expert Discusses Pharmacological Interventions for Elderly
Pharmacologic intervention on the C/L service was the focus of a workshop presented today by Sandra Jacobson, M.D. The workshop covered advanced practices of diagnosis and treatment involving a variety of syndromes—catatonia, neuroleptic sensitivity, serotonin syndrome, akathisia, tardive dyskinesia, and nonconvulsive status epilepticus—as well as issues such as psychotropic use in patients with hepatic or renal impairment.... >>read more


Genetic Knowledge of Mental Illness Growing by Leaps and Bounds
The long era of nonreproducible findings in the genetics of mental illness is over—or should be, said Matthew State, M.D., Ph.D., at APA’s 2014 annual meeting. “The molecular clues provided by genetics are offering novel insights into pathophysiology.”.... >>read more