Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introduced by a group of US clinicians in the mid-1970s, the term was adopted by the American Psychiatric Association for this symptom cluster under mood disorders in the 1980 version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), and has become widely used since.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common language and standard criteria and is the main book for the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders in the United States and is considered one of the "Bible's" of psychiatry along with the ICD, CCMD and the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders. Typically, 70 to 120 volts are applied externally to the patient's head, resulting in approximately 800 milliamperes of direct current passing between the electrodes, for a duration of 100 milliseconds to 6 seconds, either from temple to temple or from front to back of one side of the head. However, only about 1% of the electrical current crosses the bony skull into the brain because skull impedance is about 100 times higher than skin impedance.
Schizotypal personality disorder, also known as schizotypal disorder, is a mental and behavioral disorder. DSM classification describes the disorder specifically as a personality disorder characterized by thought disorder, paranoia, a characteristic form of social anxiety, derealization, transient psychosis, and unconventional beliefs. People with this disorder feel pronounced discomfort in forming and maintaining social connections with other people, primarily due to the belief that other people harbor negative thoughts and views about them. Peculiar speech mannerisms and socially unexpected modes of dress are also characteristic. Schizotypal people may react oddly in conversations, not respond, or talk to themselves. They frequently interpret situations as being strange or having unusual meaning for them; paranormal and superstitious beliefs are common. Schizotypal people usually disagree with the suggestion their thoughts and behaviors are a 'disorder', and seek medical attention for depression or anxiety instead. Schizotypal personality disorder occurs in approximately 3% of the general population and is more commonly diagnosed in males.
Frederick Carl Redlich ("Fritz") was a psychiatrist and academic administrator. He was dean of the Yale School of Medicine from 1967 to 1972.
The World Psychiatric Association is an international umbrella organisation of psychiatric societies.
Since the founding of the Church of Scientology in 1954 by L. Ron Hubbard, the relationship between Scientology and psychiatry has been dominated by strong opposition by the organization against the medical specialty of psychiatry, and of psychology, with themes relating to this opposition occurring repeatedly throughout Scientology literature and doctrine. According to the Church of Scientology, psychiatry has a long history of improper and abusive care. The group's views have been disputed, criticized and condemned by experts in the medical and scientific community and been a source of public controversy.
Nancy Coover Andreasen is an American neuroscientist and neuropsychiatrist. She currently holds the Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry at the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa.
Claybury Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Woodford Bridge, London. It was built to a design by the English architect George Thomas Hine who was a prolific Victorian architect of hospital buildings. It was opened in 1893 making it the Fifth Middlesex County Asylum. Historic England identified the hospital as being "the most important asylum built in England after 1875".
Juan E. Mezzich, M.D., Ph.D. was the president of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) from 2005 to 2008. He currently works as the Professor of Psychiatry and Director at the Division of Psychiatric Epidemiology and International Center for Mental Health at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University.
Royal Park Psychiatric Hospital, commonly known as Royal Park is a former Receiving House and Psychiatric Hospital located in Parkville. Operating for over 90 years, Royal Park Hospital was the first psychiatric hospital established in Victoria after the Lunacy Act of 1903, and was intended for patients with curable disorders. Built on the north-western edge of the 181 hectare parklands known as Royal Park, Royal Park Hospital along with Royal Melbourne Hospital, Royal Children's Hospital and Mount Royal formed the Parkville Hospital Precinct. Following the hospital's closure in the 1990s, several of the hospital's original buildings have been listed on the Victorian Heritage Register for their historic and architectural values.
Ahmed Okasha is an Egyptian psychiatrist. He is a professor of psychiatry at Ain Shams University Faculty of Medicine, Cairo, Egypt. He wrote books and articles about psychiatry and mental disorders. He is the first Arab-Muslim to be president of World Psychiatric Association from 2002 to 2005.
The World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) is a structured interview for psychiatric disorders. As the interview is designed for epidemiological studies, it can be administered by those who are not clinically trained and can be completed in a short amount of time. Versions of the CIDI were used in two important studies, the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) and National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) which are often used as a reference for estimates of the rates of psychiatric illness in the USA. The first version of the CIDI was published in 1988, and has been periodically updated to reflect the changing diagnostic criteria of DSM and ICD.
Shoba Raja has a highly specialised knowledge and experience of developmental issues of vulnerable groups particularly within the field of disability and mental health.
Peter Lehmann, D. Phil. h.c., is an author, social scientist, publisher, and an independent freelance activist in humanistic anti-psychiatry, living in Berlin, Germany.
Norman Sartorius is a German-Croatian psychiatrist and university professor. Sartorius is a former director of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Division of Mental Health, and a former president of the World Psychiatric Association and of the European Psychiatric Association. He has been described as "one of the most prominent and influential psychiatrists of his generation" and as "living legend"
Jayashri Kulkarni is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Alfred Health and Monash University who works in the area of women's mental health. She has written about Premenstrual syndrome. She has used hormones to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression in women. She founded and heads the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, a clinical psychiatry research centre which currently has more than 160 staff and students.
Janet B. W. Williams is an American social worker who focuses on the diagnosis and assessment of mental disorders. She is Professor Emerita of Clinical Psychiatric Social Work at Columbia University. She was a major force in writing the PHQ-9, a 9-question instrument given to patients in a primary care setting to screen for the presence and severity of depression.
Peter Yellowlees is a British-born American physician, researcher, entrepreneur, academic and administrator. He is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of General Psychiatry at University of California, Davis and is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Asynchealth Inc. He was the inaugural Chief Wellness Officer at UC Davis and held the Alan Stoudemire Endowed Chair in Psychiatry as the Director of Physician Health Program at UC Davis Psychiatry. He chaired the UCDH Wellbeing Committee.
Edith Helen Barrett CBE (1872-1939) was an Australian medical doctor and a founder of the Bush Nursing Association of Victoria.
