Articles, Leading Stories

April 1st, 2012

Conversion disorder: Medical mystery with psychological underpinnings

By Phyllis Hanlon

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition (DSM-IV) classifies conversion disorder as one of the somatoform disorders characterized by medically...

April 1st, 2012

Opposition to Taunton State’s closure intensifies

By Catherine Robertson Souter

Since the announcement of plans to permanently shutter Taunton Hospital at the end of 2012, opposition to the closure has intensified. With State Senator Marc Pacheco...

April 1st, 2012

Veterans treating veterans; a growing niche

By Phyllis Hanlon

Now that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down, this country can expect a tremendous influx of returning veterans. With this surge comes a greater need to...

April 1st, 2012

Study: Manual changes could result in false-negative diagnoses

By Pamela Berard

Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital determined that recommended changes in the upcoming revision to the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fifth edition” (DSM-5) could...

April 1st, 2012

Medical schools commit to Joining Forces initiative

By Janine Weisman

Marc B. Hahn, D.O., knows how fast the U.S. military can get a soldier injured overseas back on American soil. He was chief of pain management and an attending anesthesiologist...

April 1st, 2012

New commissioner outlines priorities

By Catherine Robertson Souter

Gov. Deval Patrick recently announced that Marcia Fowler, M.A., J.D., had been chosen to take on the role of commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health...

April 1st, 2012

Research Domain Criteria could enhance how clinicians diagnose

By Jennifer E Chase

For several years, a workgroup at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Md., has been designing a framework for creating a new way to classify mental...

April 1st, 2012

SAMHSA merges approaches for one recovery definition

By Janine Weisman

Can recovery mean the same thing to someone with a mental health disorder and someone with a drug or alcohol addiction?

The answer is ‘yes’ under the Substance Abuse...

April 1st, 2012

Hospital studies CBT for treatment of body dysmorphic disorder

By Jennifer E Chase

A new five-year study at Rhode Island Hospital – in collaboration with the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston – will for the first time test...

April 1st, 2012

Possible change in autism definition raises concern

By Jennifer E Chase

With the publish date of the DSM-5 roughly a year away, a new community of skeptics has emerged in autism advocates and clinicians, many of whom fear a revision to the autism...