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The address of the retiring president of the American Psychiatric Association has been a traditional part of the annual meeting of the association since 1883. The presidential address, which has explicitly been exempted from general discussion or criticism, has become an opportunity for the elected leader of the association to reflect on the state of the profession. Over the last 120 years, the presidents of the association have themselves engaged with the history of psychiatry in ways that reflect the changes in psychiatry of the time. In the process, memory has served a professionalizing purpose, as some aspects of psychiatry's history have been remembered while others have not. In the presidential addresses, history is not just a story about the past but also a story about psychiatry's self-definition and its future.

A suvey of board-certified psychiatrists concerning attitudes toward the dissociative disorders diagnoses in the DSM-IV is discussed.

EXPERT ANALYSIS FROM THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRISTS ANNUAL MEETING KAUAI, HAWAII - The way Dr. James (Jay) H. Shore sees it, current advances in technology are transforming the practice [...]

The study of normal behavior or what constitutes it, otherwise known as normatology, has profited much from the contributions of Melvin Sabshin and Daniel Offer. Their prolific output has proven useful in guiding psychiatric decisions on such sensitive issues as suicide and abortion and physician-assisted methods. Psychiatrists may influence social opinion but to a certain extent and to a degree that does not run counter to established norms.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) fails to be accepted as a disease despite the growing scientific concern. Many people feel that psychiatrists fabricate this disorder for providing compensation to trauma suffers such as Vietnam veterans. Literature and movies provide detailed discussion on PTSD victims including women and children. Development of treatment approach for the disorder requires research and knowledge on traumatic stresses and counseling therapies. Knowledge regarding legal aspects of PTSD is also essential.

Objective: After passage, in November 1994, of Oregon's ballot measure legalizing physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill persons, the authors surveyed psychiatrists in to determine their attitudes toward assisted suicide, the factors influencing these attitudes, and how they might both respond to and follow up a request by a primary care physician to evaluate a terminally ill patient desiring assisted suicide. Method: An anonymous questionnaire was sent to all 418 Oregon psychiatrists. Results: Seventy-seven percent of psychiatrists (N=321) returned the questionnaire. Two-thirds endorsed the view that a physician should be permitted, under some circumstances, to write a prescription for a medication whose sole purpose would be to allow a patient to end his or her life. One-third endorsed the view that this practice should never be permitted. Over half favored Oregon's assisted suicide initiative becoming law. Psychiatrists' position on legalization of assisted suicide influenced the likelihood that they would agree to evaluate patients requesting assisted suicide and how they would follow up an evaluation of a competent patient desiring assisted suicide. Only 6% of psychiatrists were very confident that in a single evaluation they could adequately assess whether a psychiatric disorder was impairing the judgment of a patient requesting assisted suicide. Conclusions: Psychiatrists in Oregon are divided in their belief about the ethical permissibility of assisted suicide, and their moral beliefs influence how they might evaluate a patient requesting assisted suicide, should this practice be legalized. Psychiatrists' confidence in their ability to determine whether a psychiatric disorder such as depression was impairing the judgment of a patient requesting assisted suicide was low.

John C. Nemiah has made a lasting impression on the people he has worked with and on students who knew him as a teacher. His dedication to medical education and commitment to maintaining the highest medical standards have fueled changes aimed at increasing the understanding of psychiatry. His literate approach to psychotherapy have informed science about the human and creative side of this field.

We adapted the Bem Sex-Role Inventory to survey psychotherapists' beliefs about gender-appropriate behavior. Women were more likely to choose the androgynous and masculine categories while men were more likely to choose the undifferentiated category as reflecting optimal mental health. Reasons for this difference and its effect on psychotherapy practice are discussed.

A 1939 survey of neurologists, psychologists and psychiatrists revealed the attitudes of these professionals toward Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory. The questionnaire was structured such that responses indicated to what extent Freud's tenets were accepted by the respondents. The results ranged from those who completely accepted psychoanalysis as a valid method of diagnosis, to those who thought that Freud made minimal contributions to the field. The researcher summarized the prevailing view that Freud made lasting but indirectly beneficial contributions to the field.

The famous Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler advocated pseudoscientific views during the last years of his life. The apparent reason was to continue to contribute to science after his retirement, when [...]

High Bridge, spanning the Harlem River and connecting Manhattan to the Bronx, is the oldest bridge in New York City. It is also an aqueduct, or used to be. Built [...]

MEMO PAD IN SESSION: John Galliano donned a three-piece navy suit and a tie for his latest confessional: a Q&A with renowned French psychiatrist Boris Cyrulnik in French newsweekly Le [...]