Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials are nothing new. They’ve been around for a long time and there are conventions about how they’re conducted and reported. The outcome parameter is measured at intervals over the duration of the study, then the results for the placebo and the treatment arms are displayed graphically [or sometimes in a […]
Groupthink: "A mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action." Irving Janis 1972 On election night last month, we witnessed a powerful example of the phenomenon of Groupthink as the Republican […]
Something extraordinary happened in psychiatry in our recent past. Something that I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams. The two men who had shepherded the revolution in psychiatric diagnosis [DSM-III, DSM-IIIR, DSM-IV, and DSM-IVTR], Drs. Robert Spitzer and Allen Frances, not only became critics of the DSM-5 Revision, they came out of retirement […]
In the DSM-II, the Mental Disorders without known physical cause were partitioned into two groups: The Psychoses [III. PSYCHOSES NOT ATTRIBUTED TO PHYSICAL CONDITIONS LISTED PREVIOUSLY] and the Neuroses [IV. NEUROSES]. The Psychoses were Disorders that would more likely be found to have a biological cause at some future juncture and were treated with biological […]
American Psychiatric Association Board of Trustees Approves DSM-5 APA Press Release ARLINGTON, Va. December 1, 2012) – The American Psychiatric Association (APA) Board of Trustees has approved the final diagnostic criteria for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). The trustees’ action marks the end of the manual’s comprehensive […]
Weekend Vote Will Bring Controversial Changes To Psychiatrists’ Bible NPR: All things Considered by Alix Spiegel November 30, 2012 This weekend, 20 people from around the country will meet in a nondescript hotel room in Arlington, Va., and take a vote. A passing stranger who stumbled on this group wouldn’t see much of anything, just […]