On November 28, Psychiatric Times published an article titled Psychiatric Diagnosis and Treatment of Somatizing Neuropsychiatric Disorders. The authors are Daniel T. Williams, MD, and Alla Landa PhD, both from Columbia University Psychiatry Department. The article’s lead-in states: “Although the somatizing disorders cover a vast array of symptomatic domains across many medical specialties, this article… Continue Reading
Justina Pelletier Is Back Home
I guess everybody knows by now that Justina Pelletier is back with her parents after 16 months in the custody of Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. According to a Boston Globe report dated June 9, top DCF officials recently submitted papers to the court asking that Justina be returned to the custody of her… Continue Reading
Social Services and Psychiatry
The controversy surrounding Justina Pelletier and her family has expanded its scope in recent months, and has now become a general public scrutiny of Massachusetts’s Department of Children and Families. On April 29, State Governor Deval Patrick gave a press conference in which he announced the resignation of DCF Commissioner Olga Roche. I think there’s… Continue Reading
Justina Pelletier: The Debate Continues
On April 1, 2014, Slate published an online article titled Mitochondrial Disease or Medical Child Abuse? The author is Brian Palmer. Slate is a daily, general interest web magazine, founded in 1996, that provides “analysis and commentary about politics, news, business, technology and culture,” and is a subsidiary of the Washington Post. Brian Palmer is… Continue Reading
DSM-5 And Somatic Symptom Disorder
Under DSM-IV, a “diagnosis” of somatization disorder entailed a history of physical symptoms for which, despite thorough medical evaluation, no satisfactory physical etiology could be established. In DSM-5, this “diagnosis” was replaced by somatic symptom disorder. This is essentially similar to DSM-IV’s somatization disorder – with one critical difference. The newer “diagnosis” can be assigned… Continue Reading