Neurologists' understanding and management of conversion disorder

BACKGROUND: Conversion disorder is largely managed by neurologists, for whom it presents great challenges to understanding and management. This study aimed to quantify these challenges, examining how neurologists understand conversion disorder, and what they tell their patients. METHODS: A postal survey of all consultant neurologists in the UK registered with the Association of British Neurologists. RESULTS: 349 of 591 practising consultant neurologists completed the survey. They saw conversion disorder commonly. While they endorsed psychological models for conversion, they diagnosed it according to features of the clinical presentation, most importantly inconsistency and abnormal illness behaviour. Most of the respondents saw feigning as entangled with conversion disorder, with a minority seeing one as a variant of the other. They were quite willing to discuss psychological factors as long as the patient was receptive but were generally unwilling to discuss feigning even though they saw it as their responsibility. Those who favoured models in terms of feigning were older, while younger, female neurologists preferred psychological models, believed conversion would one day be understood neurologically and found communicating with their conversion patients easier than it had been in the past. DISCUSSION: Neurologists accept psychological models for conversion disorder but do not employ them in their diagnosis; they do not see conversion as clearly different from feigning. This may be changing as younger, female neurologists endorse psychological views more clearly and find it easier to discuss with their patients

DSM-5: a collection of psychiatrist views on the changes, controversies, and future directions

The recent release of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) by the American Psychiatric Association has led to much debate. For this forum article, we asked BMC Medicine Editorial Board members who are experts in the field of psychiatry to discuss their personal views on how the changes in DSM-5 might affect clinical practice in their specific areas of psychiatric medicine. This article discusses the influence the DSM-5 may have on the diagnosis and treatment of autism, trauma-related and stressor-related disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, mood disorders (including major depression and bipolar disorders), and schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Ptolemée, Géographie, IV, 5, 24 et le papyrus Rainer n° 259

Wessely Charles. Ptolemée, Géographie, IV, 5, 24 et le papyrus Rainer n° 259. In: Revue des Études Grecques, tome 32, fascicule 146-150,1919. pp. 504-507

Un fragment de l'Oreste d'Euripide avec notation musicale

Wessely Karl. Un fragment de l'Oreste d'Euripide avec notation musicale. In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 36ᵉ année, N. 3, 1892. p. 162

Le Papyrus musical d'Euripide

Wessely Charles, Ruelle Charles-Émile. Le Papyrus musical d'Euripide. In: Revue des Études Grecques, tome 5, fascicule 19,1892. pp. 265-280

Are the Armed Forces Understood and Supported by the Public?:A View from the United Kingdom

Despite the importance of public opinion in supporting the military and their missions, little is known about how the UK public perceive their Armed Forces. This article reviews and evaluates available research and opinion poll data of public attitudes toward the UK military and situates the evidence within the civil–military gap literature. Current evidence suggests public regard for the UK Armed Forces is high despite low levels of support for the Iraq and Afghanistan missions. Public understanding of the work of the Armed Forces is limited. Nonetheless, the United Kingdom’s long history of military deployments may have given the public an “intuitive understanding” of the basic realities of the military compared with other European states. There are indications of differences in attitudes between the UK Armed Forces and wider British society, but no firm evidence that the civil–military “gap” has become a “gulf” as claimed by some military leaders. </jats:p