Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
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Australas Psychiatry · Feb 2018
Historical ArticleParadigm shift in psychiatry: what may it involve?
This study aims to examine the potential nature of an ongoing paradigm shift in psychiatry that has been suggested to be occurring. ⋯ New findings in traumatology and neuroscience do form a potential platform for a paradigm shift. Prior conflicting paradigms are suggested to be due to biases arising from mental structures themselves. A new wholist perspective is proposed, which makes sense of and incorporates previous paradigms, and coheres recent understanding of right- and left-brain functioning and biopsychosocial traumatic processes and their ramifications. The perspective makes sense of the great variety of post-traumatic manifestations ranging from somatic to meaning-making dysfunctions. The wholist perspective may well be an important step in solidifying a fresh paradigmatic perspective in psychiatry.
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Australas Psychiatry · Dec 2017
Salt in the soul, steel in the eye and caution towards the winds: a mariner's guide for navigating a new academic psychiatry department.
This paper describes principles and advice regarding the development of a new academic psychiatry department within a medical school for aspiring academic psychiatrists. We describe general principles based on the experience of the foundation of the Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine at the Australian National University Medical School. ⋯ Perspicacious leadership and organisation are the foundation for an academic psychiatry department which delivers teaching, research and broader intellectual engagement with the medical and broader community.
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Australas Psychiatry · Oct 2017
Psychopathology of adolescents with an intellectual disability who present to general hospital services.
Adolescents with intellectual disability have increased rates of psychopathology compared with their typically developing peers and present to hospital more frequently for ambulant conditions. The aim of this study is to describe the psychopathology and related characteristics of a sample of adolescents with intellectual disability who presented to general hospital services. ⋯ The general hospital environment may offer opportunities for liaison psychiatry services to screen and provide management expertise for adolescent individuals with intellectual disability presenting for physical health issues.
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Australas Psychiatry · Aug 2017
A clinical update on posttraumatic stress disorder in burn injury survivors.
Burn injuries are complex traumatic events carrying high risks of acute physical and psychosocial morbidity. With greater survival, clinical and research attention has turned to psychosocial recovery outcomes and risk factors. It is timely to summarise current issues in posttraumatic disorders after burn injury for mental health and integrative care clinicians. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common outcome of severe burn injury. There are difficulties in delivering current best practice treatments to many survivors especially those in rural and remote areas and those with comorbidities. Vicarious traumatization of clinicians, families and carers requires attention and internationally there are moves to psychosocial screening and outcome tracking. ⋯ The role of the multidisciplinary treatment, integrated and trauma-informed care is essential. While level 1 evidence for PTSD treatments theoretically applies, adaptations that consider comorbidities and treatment contexts are often essential with further research required.
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Australas Psychiatry · Jun 2017
Are people with severe mental illness ready for online interventions? Access and use of the Internet in Australian mental health service users.
The Internet is increasingly used in mental health service delivery, but there are significant potential barriers to Internet access for persons with severe mental illness (SMI). There is a need to understand this group's access to, and confidence with using, the Internet, and current views on using online resources as part of mental healthcare. ⋯ Most people with SMI are active Internet users and, therefore, able to use interventions online.