Many are worried that the latest edition of the psychiatrist's 'bible' labels everyone as ill – but this has an upsideEach edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has a massive impact on psychiatric practice and medical education around the world. The book lists mental disorders and explains how to diagnose them. Seen as a gold standard, it dictates diagnostic practice in mainstream medicine.Every media mention of DSM calls it the "bible" of mental health, and, like the latter, it generates passionate controversy. Proposals for the next edition, due in 2013, have sparked international protest, as DSM-5 looks as if it will lower the threshold of what counts as mental disorder. Critics have argued that new categories lik...MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

Conclusions: Results suggest that developmentally modified parent–child CBT may show promise in 4- to 7-year-old children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology)

Conclusions & Implications: The present study demonstrates the validity and utility of the UTBAS scales in assessing negative cognitions associated with speech-related anxiety among adults who stutter. Results also confirm previous evidence of a high rate of social phobia among adults who stutter, and reveal that the UTBAS discriminates between adults with and without social phobia. In terms of clinical applications, the UTBAS scales could be used to screen for indicators of social phobia among adults who stutter, and may prove useful in identifying negative cognitions which have the potential to impact treatment outcomes. PMID: 20653516 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders)

Abstract: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we measured amygdala reactivity to faces varying on threat intensity in patients with generalized social phobia (GSP) and healthy controls. GSP patients exhibited greater amygdala reactivity to threat faces at high and moderate intensities. More subtle displays of social threat are sufficient to evoke a fear-related neural response. (Source: Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging)

Here are some common symptoms (Source: The Doctors Lounge - Health News)

Here are some common symptoms Source: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Page: Anxiety (Source: MedlinePlus Health News)MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

Here are some common symptoms Source: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Page: Anxiety (Source: MedlinePlus Health News)

Here are some common symptoms Source: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Page: Anxiety (Source: MedlinePlus Health News)

Authors: Brumariu LE, Kerns KA The purpose of this study was to test Manassis' proposal (Child-parent relations: Attachment and anxiety disorders, 255-272, 2001) that attachment patterns (secure, ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized) may relate to different types of anxiety symptoms, and that behavioral inhibition may moderate these relations. Using a story stem interview to assess attachment and children's reports of anxiety symptoms, we found some support for these hypotheses in a sample of 10-12 years olds. Security was related to lower levels of all types of anxieties, except separation anxiety. Ambivalence was positively related to separation anxiety, although this relation was stronger for boys. Although avoidance was not related to anxiety, disorganization was positively relat...

CONCLUSIONS: Although adults who stutter in the present study were characterized by significantly higher rates of mood disorders than matched controls, they do not appear to self-medicate with substances such as alcohol. Results are discussed in terms of treatment implications, and possible reasons why adults who stutter may avoid alcohol. PMID: 20643799 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR)

Arlin Cuncic, About.com's Guide to Social Anxiety Disorder, wrote this interesting blog post on comedians using mental health issues as material. While BPD is not well-known and thus unlikely to become fodder for a comedic routine, related conditions like depression can often become the butt of jokes. What do you think of Arlin's example-- funny or offensive? (Source: About.com Borderline Personality Disorder)

This study was a school-based cross-sectional study. Students in grades 6–8 (aged 10–16) from 12 schools in Kocaeli/Turkey were screened by the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A). The correlations of sociodemographic parameters with the SAS-A scores were examined. Data from a sample of 1,713 students (865 boys 50.4% and 848 girls 49.5%) were analyzed. A significant gender difference in the SAS-A points was found. Boys reported higher SAS-A total and subscale scores (except social avoidance and distress-general subscale score) than did girls. A significant negative correlation was found between socioeconomic status and social anxiety level. SAS-A scores were higher in those with a low socioeconomic level, and who were going to rural schools. The result of this study show...

There has long been interest in combining pharmacotherapy with psychotherapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). More recently, basic research on fear extinction has led to interest in augmentation of CBT with the N-methyl Daspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor partial agonist D-cycloserine (DCS) for anxiety disorders. In this article, the literature on clinical trials that have combined pharmacotherapy and CBT is briefly reviewed, focusing particularly on the anxiety disorders. The literature on CBT and DCS is then systematically reviewed. A series of randomized placebo-controlled trials on panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobia suggest that low dose DCS before therapy sessions may be more effective compared with CBT alone in c...MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

Conclusions: Though with limited power, these data provide preliminary support for the efficacy of duloxetine for GSAD, and suggest continued improvement but limited remission overall at 24 weeks for individuals remaining symptomatic at week 6. These observations warrant further controlled study. PMID: 20625362 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: CNS Spectrums)

(NaturalNews) Modern psychiatry went wrong when it embraced the idea that the mind should be treated with drugs, says Edward Shorter of the University of Toronto, writing in the Wall Street Journal. Shorter studies the history of psychiatry and medicine.Modern U.S. psychiatry has adopted a philosophy that psychological diseases arise from chemical imbalances and therefore have a very specific cluster of symptoms, he says, in spite of evidence that the difference between many so-called disorders is minimal or nonexistent. These "disorders" are then treated with expensive drugs that are no more effective than a placebo."Psychiatry seems to have lost its way in a forest of poorly verified diagnoses and ineffectual medications," he writes.Shorter calls for U.S. psychiatry to abandon its emph...

BACKGROUND: Safety behaviour plays an important role in the maintenance of social anxiety disorder (SAD). SAD patients engage in various safety behaviours in social situations in order to decrease the risk of negative evaluations from others. AIMS: The pre... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))

Mental illness is no laughing matter, but that doesn't stop comedians from poking fun at it.  The question is, should they?  Do they minimize the pain that these illnesses cause and make people less likely to ask for help?  Or do they provide some much needed comic relief?  Share your opinion with our Social Anxiety Disorder Guide Arlin Cuncic. (Source: About.com Depression)

This study compared response patterns of African American and Asian American undergraduates to White undergraduates on measures of depression, social anxiety, and worry. On the Beck Depression Inventory—II, response patterns for African American participants were roughly equivalent to the response patterns of White participants. On measures of worry and social anxiety, there were substantial differences, suggesting that the use of these measures in African American and Asian American populations may lead to biased conclusions. (Source: Assessment)MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

Conclusion: Few patients were excluded from a phobia diagnosis because of criterion C. We suggest that in DSM-5 this criterion be eliminated from the SAD and specific phobia criteria sets. Depression and Anxiety 0:1-6, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. (Source: Depression and Anxiety)

Content Type Journal ArticleCategory CLINICAL TRIAL REPORTDOI 10.1007/s11920-010-0130-xAuthors Dan J. Stein, University of Cape Town Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Groote Schuur Hospital Anzio Road, Observatory Cape Town South AfricaJonathan C. Ipser, University of Cape Town Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Groote Schuur Hospital Anzio Road, Observatory Cape Town South Africa Journal Current Psychiatry ReportsOnline ISSN 1535-1645Print ISSN 1523-3812 (Source: Current Psychiatry Reports)