With an ongoing desire for “natural” products, and disappointment with the cost and efficacy of current prescription medications, more patients have turned to supplements. As a psychiatrist, the more you know about these supplements, the better you can have a conversation about their known risks and benefits.

Is acupuncture a useful alternative therapy for your patients? Perhaps. In 2007, the National Health Interview Survey noted that more than three million American adults were using acupuncture each year to ease chronic pain, a number that is likely to have risen in the past five years.

Documents:  Complementary and Alternative Medicines in Psychiatry...

Drew Ramsey, PhD, author of “50 Shades of Kale,” discusses how diet is tied to mental health and offers tips on how to help your patients improve their diets and improve their minds.

James Lake, MD, of the International Network of Integrative Mental Health, discusses details on integrative mental health care and how it is the best way to care for our patients.

Patients often report alcohol use as a way to “self-medicate” mood symptoms. A new study demonstrates that this self-medication may serve as a precursor to the development or persistence of alcohol dependence, as defined by the DSM-IV.

After reading these articles, you should be able to…

DSM-5, published in 2013, includes a new, all-encompassing category, “autism spectrum disorder” (ASD), which incorporates autism and a number of autism-related disorders, including Asperger’s syndrome.

ASD occurs in one out of 50 school children and at least 1% of older adults. About one third of people with developmental challenges have other mental health difficulties, and these patients are often referred to general outpatient psychiatric services for assessment and management.

Help your patients with autism and other developmental disabilities find compatible and fulfilling jobs with these great tips from Dr Scott Standifer, author of “Adult Autism & Employment: A guide for vocational rehabilitation professionals.”