Suicide with psychiatric diagnosis and without utilization of psychiatric service

Background  

Considerable attention has been focused on the study of suicides among those who have received help from healthcare providers. However, little is known about the profiles of suicide deceased who had psychiatric illnesses but made no contact with psychiatric services prior to their death. Behavioural model of health service use is applied to identify factors associated with the utilization of psychiatric service among the suicide deceased.     

The survival of psychiatric diagnosis

Past and current debates about applying medical diagnoses to psychological difference in society are examined. Beginning with a brief historical overview from antiquity to 'anti-psychiatry' and a summary of recent debates, the article then offers two case studies of common diagnoses ('depression' and 'schizophrenia'). The main challenge for social science is no longer about what is wrong with psychiatric diagnosis (that is now well rehearsed) but how to account for how and why it has survived. In answering this question about survival, inter-disciplinary work could attend to the pre-empirical positions of mental health researchers; the ways in which mental disorders are similar and different to physical disorders; and the interest work of different social groups defending or attacking psychiatric diagnoses in varying contexts.     

D-psicose is a rare sugar that provides no energy to growing rats

D-Psicose (D-ribo-2-hexulose), a C-3 epimer of D-fructose, is present in small quantities in commercial carbohydrate complexes and agricultural products. We have previously reported that D-psicose supplements in diets suppressed hepatic lipogenic enzyme activity The lower fat accumulation in rats fed D-psicose may be due to lower lipogenesis in the liver. The present study examined the energy available in D-psicose for rat growth. Male Wistar rats received 7 g daily of a basal diet to which fixed amounts of sucrose, D-fructose, or D-psicose (0.5-2.0 g) were added for 20 d. Body weight gain and body energy gain increased with increases in sucrose and D-fructose, but not with D-psicose. One gram of sucrose, D-fructose, and D-psicose produced a net energy gain of 2.29, 1.76, and 0.007 kcal, respectively. The efficiency of energy deposition from D-psicose was 0.3% that of sucrose. The energy value of D-psicose was effectively zero. These results suggest that D-psicose is a rare sugar providing zero energy that may be useful in sweeteners for obese people as an aid for weight reduction.     

High court says exposure without consent is a crime

The Canadian Supreme Court held that HIV-positive people can be subjected to criminal prosecution for exposing their sex partners to HIV, if the sex partners did not know that the other was HIV-positive. The partner does not need to become infected to establish the existence of significant risk. Based on this conclusion, the Supreme Court of Canada granted a new trial of Henry Cuerrier on two counts of aggravated assault. Cuerrier had originally been acquitted of the charges by a trial court. The Supreme Court also suggested that if the use of a condom is shown to reduce the risk of infection, then a defendant may argue that it is not necessary to disclose a person's HIV status when condoms are used.     

Labeling effects of a controversial psychiatric diagnosis: a vignette experiment of late luteal phase dysphoric disorder

During the 1990s debate arose about the inclusion of Late Luteal Phase Dysphoric Disorder in the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Opponents argued that the inclusion of this category would increase stigma and be used as a legal defense for child abuse and other violent crimes. Proponents argued that it would decrease stigma and enhance treatment seeking. Using an experimental vignette design, we tested these propositions in a study of 307 men and women living in Putnam County, New York. In general, the results do not indicate a pervasive negative impact of this label. On the other hand, labeling the disorder a "psychiatric condition" did increase recommendations for psychiatric help.