The Adolescent Brain Is Different: Criminal Responsibility Consider this vignette: Sixteen-year-old John and 2 friends go to a club where they get into a verbal argument with 3 members of a rival gang. After receiving a particularly gross insult, John pulls out a handgun and fires 3 shots at one of the gang members. He misses, but one of his shots hits a 15-year-old girl in the head and kills her. John is tried in adult criminal court and is convicted of murder.
The Duty to Protect: When Has it Been Discharged? Here, the author presents the case of Mr P, a 40-year-old man with bipolar disorder and substance use disorder, including the patient's symptomatology, treatment subsequent to hospitalization, concerns for risk upon release, and the outcome.
Custody Disputes: The Role of the Child Psychiatrist Child psychiatrists may become involved in child custody disputes. When parents divorce and are unable to agree on custody of their children, they proceed to court to have a judge determine custody and visitation rights.
Suicide: Psychache and Alienation Psychache (sīk-āk), a neologism coined by suicidologist Edwin Shneidman,1 is unbearable psychological pain—hurt, anguish, soreness, and aching. Shneidman theorized that unresolved psychache results in suicidal behavior.
Can Suicide Be Prevented? The Role of Lithium and Other Psychotropics Suicide—completed and attempted—represents a major clinical and public health challenge. The CDC has ranked suicide as the 11th leading cause of death among persons over age 10 (33,289 suicide deaths were reported in the United States in 2009, and this rate has been stable for many years).1
Risk Analysis: Tips for Health Care Practitioners Any health care practitioner who collects, manages, and stores patient information faces the risk that his or her data may be lost, misused, or accessed by or disclosed to unauthorized individuals.
