Teaching psychiatric ethics

In the last decade, we have witnessed a burgeoning of interest in ethical issues amongst psychiatrists. Teaching of the subject, however, remains at a rudimentary stage. Various approaches to such instruction are available, particularly modelling (students observe their experienced counterpart), the case method (examining specific clinical situations which involve a need for ethical decision-making), and the seminar approach (trainees are exposed to a core body of knowledge, mainly theoretical in nature). Faced with these different teaching models, the University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry has opted for a blend of all three approaches, which incorporates two goals: an increase in the trainees' sensitivity to the many intricate moral dilemmas facing the psychiatric profession; and their familiarity with salient concepts in moral philosophy which constitute a basis for ethical reasoning and which have a bearing on clinical practice. The teaching programme comprises the following: a pair of trainees prepares a presentation on an aspect of psychiatric ethics under the supervision of a senior psychiatrist. A moral philosopher assumes the role of discussant of the ethical problems raised by the trainees; this is followed by a general discussion. Topics have included involuntary hospitalization, dual loyalty, suicide, psychiatric diagnosis, and ethical issues in various spheres of psychiatric practice such as sex therapy, psychotherapy and child psychiatry. The approach has worked effectively and proved rewarding to all participants involved.     

Citizen minds,citizen bodies: the citizenship experience and the government of mentally ill persons

The concept of citizenship is becoming more and more prominent in specific fields, such as psychiatry/mental health, where it is constituted as a solution to the issues of exclusion, discrimination, and poverty often endured by the mentally ill. We argue that such discourse of citizenship represents a break in the history of psychiatry and constitutes a powerful strategy to counter the effects of equally powerful psychiatric labelling. However, we call into question the emancipatory promise of a citizenship agenda. Foucault's concept of governmentality is helpful in understanding the production of the citizen subject, its location within the ‘art of government’, as well as the ethical and political implications of citizenship in the context of mental health.     

伴ADHD的对立违抗性障碍儿童行为特征分析

目的：了解伴注意缺陷／多动障碍(ADHD)的对立违抗性障碍(0DD)患儿的行为特征。方法：以ICD-10作为诊断标准对门诊就诊儿童进行诊断，得到ODD伴ADHD者40例(64.52％)．ODD不伴ADHD者22例(35．48％)。自编家庭情况调查表调查患儿的基本情况。用家长填Achenbach儿章行为量表评定儿童行为。结果：与ODD组相比。合并ADHD组的家长更多对患儿经常打骂和严厉管教：对儿童的不良行为更多地采取打骂的方式。合并组父亲急燥易怒者比ODD组多；合并组起病年龄及就诊年龄比ODD组早：合并组在CBCI。思维、注意问题，违纪、攻击行为，外化性问题，行为总分均高于ODD组。结论：ODD合并ADHD的患儿在思维、注意问题，违纪、攻击行为，外化性问题方面表现更突出，家长对儿童管教方式及不良行为处理方式影响ODD的发生。提示要注重ODD、ADHD的早期干预。     

Citation patterns in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry: Cultural ethnocentrism revisited?

The country/region of origin of all original papers appearing in the International Journal of Psychiatry (IJGP) during the first 9 years of its publication was recorded. A more detailed analysis of citation patterns was carried out on the 105 original articles published during 1992. The results indicated that 50–60% of the articles emanated from the United Kingdom but that in general authors cited a broad range of specialities from journals published around the world. North American authors tended to cite North American sources more frequently than did their counterparts from other countries. There was evidence that the impact of the IJGP is increasing despite its omission from some scientific reference databases.     

Marital status and depression: a study of English national admission statistics

Data are presented from the English national statistics for first admissions with affective disorders during the years 1982-1985. Overall rates per 10(5) of the population aged over 15 years were 36.1 for men and 59.1 for women. The peak incidence for depressive neurosis was middle adulthood, that for affective psychosis much later. The widowed and divorced showed much higher rates than the single and married for all types of disorder. Marriage appeared less protective for women than for men. The age-incidence relationship among the divorced and widowed was exaggerated for depressive neurosis and reversed for psychosis. The results are interpreted in terms of a (possibly biological) releasing effect of age upon affective psychosis that could be overwhelmed by severely adverse social circumstances. The findings support the validity of the distinction between affective psychoses and depressive neurosis.     

The Hampshire Depression Project: development and piloting of clinical practice guidelines and education about depression in primary health care

This paper describes the development and piloting of a comprehensive educational programme about recognition and management of depressive illness in primary care. Full evaluation of the effectiveness of the programme is currently underway in a randomized controlled trial, the Hampshire Depression Project (HDP), involving 56 general practices. The programme consists of clinical practice guidelines, practice-based seminars and follow-up sessions. Each part of the programme has been designed to be flexible, clinically oriented and relevant to all members of the multidisciplinary primary care team. The pilot study established the need for a systematic approach to the access of practices and practice teams, and the organization and process of the seminars. Application of this approach was associated with excellent attendance in the main programme.     

The burden of brain diseases in Europe.

The burden [as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO)] of brain diseases (neurological, neurosurgical and psychiatric diseases together) is very high and yet resources spent on these diseases are not necessarily commensurate with the extent of this burden. However, hard data on the burden of brain diseases in Europe have not previously been easily accessible. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 1990 study conducted jointly by the WHO, Harvard University and the World Bank provided new measures that are now becoming universally accepted and have been used also in a repeat study: The GBD 2000. The key parameter of the study is disability adjusted life years (DALY), which is the sum of years of life lost (YLL) caused by premature death and years of life lived with disability (YLD). In the present report, data from the GBD 2000 study and from the World Health Report 2001 on brain diseases is extracted for the territory of Europe. This territory corresponds roughly to the membership countries of the European Federation of Neurological Societies. The WHO's Report has a category called neuropsychiatric diseases, which comprises the majority but not all the brain diseases. In order to gather all brain diseases, stroke, meningitis, half of the burden of injuries and half of the burden of congenital abnormalities are added. Throughout Europe, 23% of the years of healthy life is lost and 50% of YLD are caused by brain diseases. Regarding the key summary measure of lost health, DALY, 35% are because of brain diseases. The fact that approximately one-third of all burden of disease is caused by brain diseases should have an impact on resource allocation to teaching, reasearch, health care and prevention. Although other factors are also of importance, it seems reasonable that one-third of the curriculum at medical school should deal with the brain and that one-third of life science funding should go to basic and clinical neuroscience. In addition, resource allocation to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases should be increased to approach, at least, one-third of health care expenditure. With the present data on hand, neurologists, neurosurgeons, psychiatrists, patient organizations and basic neuroscientists have a better possibility to increase the focus on the brain.     

精神科儿少住院患者的42年资料回顾

目的了解从1958年8月本院正式成立儿童精神科以来,42年中儿童住院病人的情况,以掌握及了解儿童和少年精神障碍的发展趋势。方法从1958年8月到2000年9月之间住院的所有病人的病历共1327份,逐一记载所需资料内容,并将所有资料进行分析。结果患儿年龄主要集中在13—14岁,并涉及3—16岁各年龄段。以儿童和少年期最多,文化程度以初中和小学居多。在早期,精神障碍诊断不规范,90年代后,诊断趋于标准化,位于前五位的诊断是：精神分裂症、精神发育迟滞、脑器质性精神障碍、情感性精神障碍、行为障碍。90年代以来,每年住院儿童病人数量均呈增长趋势。结论在住院期间,儿童少年病人既要接受治疗,又需进行儿童间交友训练,而在成人精神科病房,在这一点上不能满足住院患儿的需要,不利于儿童和少年的综合治疗,所以在我院开设儿童青少年病房有重要的意义。