Neupsy Key

Impulse-control Disorders Impulse-control disorders (ICD) is an as yet poorly understood grouping of seemingly related conditions, the symptoms of which overlap elements of many other conditions. They seem to have…

Legal Issues The interface between psychiatry and law is in flux, partly because of recent patient’s rights legislation (based on the constitutional assurance that no person shall be deprived of…

The Elderly Patient More than 35,000,000 Americans are older than 65: 85% have a chronic illness (usually medical), and 20% to 30% have a psychiatric illness (most common in the…

Biologic Therapy ANTIPSYCHOTICS These are the “major tranquilizers” that revolutionized psychiatry by providing an effective treatment for large numbers of psychotic patients (1). Their antipsychotic effect is due not to…

The Psychotherapies Dozens of different psychotherapies address innumerable different patient problems (1). With the possible exception of a few specific behavioral and cognitive-behavioral methods applied to several discrete problems, rigorous…

Mental Retardation There are 2 to 4 million mentally retarded persons in the United States (1% to 2% or more of population, depending on upper cutoff; M:F = 1.5:1; coded…

Personality Disorders Personality is a consistent style of behavior uniquely recognizable in each individual. Personality disorders (Axis II of DSM, p. 685) refers to personality characteristics of a form or…

Sleep Disturbances Sleep disorders are extremely common: 40% of the population have had trouble sleeping within the past year, 10% have had diagnosable insomnia, and 3% to 4% have had…

Psychosexual Disorders These disorders are often first brought to the attention of the general physician. The three distinct categories are the following: Psychosexual dysfunction: Inhibition in sexual desire or psychophysiologic…

Psychiatry of Drug Abuse Drug abusers are common (6% lifetime prevalence in the United States as a whole, but pockets exist with much higher prevalence; M > F for all…