Denial of Mental Illness, or anosognosia, is a physiological syndrome that makes a person unable to understand that they are sick and dysfunctional and that their judgment is impaired. a) About 50% of people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder do not believe they are ill b) About 20% ofU.S. women will have a major depressive episode…
Social media, such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and blogs are inappropriate for doctor-patient communication because they are too informal and lack the atmosphere of professionalism. They promote casual conversation and blur the boundary between personal and professional relationships. Accordingly, Dr. Covert does not use the social media to dispense medical advice, respond to clinical…
Dr. Covert’s office policy is that neither he nor his staff communicate with patients by email about any issues related to their psychiatric treatment. The reason is that exchanging emails would circumvent the normal psychotherapeutic process and create the expectation that we would continually monitor for emailed patient messages. However, we do maintain a 24-hour…
Due to a sharp increase in marijuana as well as surges in ecstasy and methamphetamine use, the Director of National Drug Control recently announced a 9% overall increase in substance abuse. This trend appeared to be linked to changing attitudes regarding the perception of the harm caused by these drugs and the political trend to…
Army General Raymond Odierno, commander of joint forces in Iraq, estimates that 30% of all troops suffer from PTSD. Other military officials say it’s virtually impossible for anyone to emerge unscathed in some way from combat. What is more monolithic than the murderous methods of our adversaries is the incompetent, hostile reception our injured vets…
Researchers at Harvard Medical School have reported that conventional magnetic resonance imaging or MRI machines detected 94 percent of individuals with a high-functioning form of autism. This disorder is diagnosed in one in 110 children in the U.S., afflicting four times the number of boys as girls. Earlier detection may allow earlier intervention to assist in the development…
On November 16, 2010 in Houston, Texas Dr. Covert attended a scientific presentation by Ontario, Canada based psychiatrist Dr. Michael K.S. Cheng, noted expert and lecturer who has written an article in Psychiatric Clinics of North America on the therapeutic alliance between psychiatrists and their patients. This alliance refers to their collaborative partnership, agreement on…
Cannabis use has been linked to earlier onset and poorer treatment outcomes in both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Substance abuse, especially of cannabis, is associated with earlier ages of onset in both these patient groups as well as poorer response to treatment and clinical outcomes. Cannabis users developed bipolar disorder nine years earlier than non-users.…
Recent research shows that behavioral addictions are three times more common in people with bipolar disorder than in the general population. These behavioral addictions include pathological gambling, compulsive buying and sexual and word addictions. In one study, one third of bipolar patients had at least one behavioral addiction compared to 13 per cent in the…
Some of the best medications used in general medicine and psychiatry will be cheaper in 2011. Among those losing their patents this year are Lipitor and Plavix, the top selling cholesterol and clot prevention drugs. Also coming off patent protection are the antibiotic Levaquin, Concerta for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Zyprexa, for schizophrenia and…
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