International journal of psychiatry in medicine
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Int J Psychiatry Med · Sep 2021
Racism and persistent disparities: Difficult conversations on the road to equity.
The convergence of the major social events of the COVID 19 epidemic and the racial protests around the George Floyd killing spurred many conversations and calls to action for racial justice. The Behavioral Science Forum of 2020 invited a plenary presentation to discuss guidelines for medical education institutions to improve their anti-racism curricula. ⋯ Presenters provided (1) a breakdown of the step by step process of addressing these issues with faculty, residents, and staff, (2) guidelines for improving recruitment and retention of diverse student populations, and (3) small group breakouts and a subsequent discussion forum for participants to bring their experiences into the conversation and develop their personal call to action. The wrap-up discussion and "Zoom chat" yielded emotional responses and specific ideas for participants and other faculty in medical education to do their part in developing anti-racism curricula.
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Int J Psychiatry Med · Jul 2021
Observational StudyThe effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the incidence of deliberate self-harm injuries presenting to the emergency room.
The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11th March 2020. The UK government introduced strict social distancing measures on 23rd March 2020, with the country put into a full lockdown to further halt the spread of the virus.The aims of this article are to ascertain whether there was a rise in the incidence of deliberate self-harm (DSH) presentations to the emergency department at a level one trauma center associated with the introduction of lockdown measures. ⋯ Societal lockdown measures secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic have had a significant effect on the mental health of patients. One way this can be detected is through an increased incidence and severity of deliberate self-harm injuries presenting to the ED. These findings, in conjunction with the available, literature provide valuable implications for community and emergency physicians and psychiatrists for any future wave of disease or pandemic.
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Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric illness that is relatively common among patients presenting for treatment in primary care clinics. Physicians in primary care often face difficult decisions about how and when to intervene when a patient is experiencing depressive, manic, or hypomanic episodes consistent with bipolar disorder. ⋯ Collaboration among health and mental health practitioners is key in helping manage the "peaks and valleys" of bipolar disorder. Special considerations need to be made to routinely assess for impulsivity, suicidality, and patient progress throughout the course of treatment.
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Int J Psychiatry Med · Mar 2020
Presence, resilience, and compassion training in clinical education (PRACTICE): Evaluation of a mindfulness-based intervention for residents.
Residents’ well-being tends to decline in the course of training, yet research on preventive and restorative interventions for residents is limited. Mindfulness-based interventions have been successfully employed to support well-being in practicing physicians, but their impacts on residents are not well established. ⋯ The results of this study support the use of mindfulness-based interventions in resident wellness programs. The lack of an enduring effect indicates the need for a maintenance phase intervention.