Psychiatry in the New Millennium

In an era where scientific advances frequently make even the most recent scientific or medical journal articles dated soon after their publication, it is more crucial than ever for practitioners to be able to effectively evaluate new information. Using the millennium as a benchmark for surveying progress in the field, this indispensable volume captures the current state of the discipline and considers its future evolution. Key chapters by some of the field's most respected practitioners consider the impact of changing conceptual, organizational, and philosophical issues, as well as of neuroscience research findings, on the shape of the discipline. The current and future relevance of psychoanalysis; the role of social psychiatry as translator and bridge between the worlds of treatment, practice, and public policy; and the need for a new multiaxial diagnostic system that addresses motive and meaning as well as the biological and genetic contributions to behavior are just a few of the issues explored. Other chapters consider the role of genetics and molecular biology in research on mental illness; the potential uses of functional brain imaging in clinical practice; a clinical model for selecting psychotherapy and/or pharmacotherapy; and the challenge of developing research methods for assessing treatment effectiveness. Also examined are issues such as practice guidelines, managed care and the financing of mental health treatment, and the ethical conduct of the psychiatrist. The book's final chapters survey the psychiatric workforce of today and tomorrow, including its composition and education, and, finally, offer predictions about psychiatry in the next century. In Psychiatry in the New Millennium, psychiatrists and residents alike will find information vital to their understanding of both this century's psychiatric foundations and the next century's new discoveries.