Press Releases
Patient reported outcomes have become more and more important in clinical practice and research. Evaluating subjective perceptions of patients has become mandatory for a full assessment of treatment responses. In this context, clinimetrics, the science of clinical measurements, provides unprecedented opportunities for psychosomatic assessment. This volume illustrates how this approach can be translated into everyday practice complementing and improving the medical interview. The most sensitive and reliable clinical methods are presented for evaluating specific psychosocial aspects of disease, i.e. childhood adversities, life events and chronic stress, lifestyle, sexual function, subclinical and affective disturbances, personality, illness behavior, well-being and family dynamics. Each chapter provides practical illustrations as to how crucial information can be obtained with specific methods individualized according to the patients’ needs. A hyperlink is provided to a website that contains many of the instruments assessed in the volume.
This book enables the reader to understand the value of patient reported outcomes in clinical practice. It is intended to expand and refine the skills of clinicians who work in general and specialized medicine and psychiatry, whether physicians, psychologists or other health professionals.
Clinical Challenges in the Biopsychosocial Interface: Update on Psychosomatics for the 21st Century
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Psychosomatic medicine may be considered to be one of the leading approaches to treating comorbid disorders and conditions. The chapters of this volume are written by experts in the field and present the newest developments in psychosomatic medicine, from basic science to clinical approaches and novel treatments. Discussed are communications with patients suffering from serious illness, basic science and management of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. Further psychiatric symptomatology in Huntington’s disease and its management as well as coping with losses, grief and mourning in prostate cancer are reviewed. Psychocutaneous diseases, the role of telomeres in stress and mental illness, dimensional psychopharmacology in somatizing patients and many other clinically important areas are also covered. Papers in this publication offer new information on the advances of contemporary psychosomatic medicine in variety of areas previously not sufficiently covered and are of valuable reading for psychiatrists, psychologists, internists, oncologists and primary care specialists.
Cultural Psychiatry with emphasis on its impact on etio-pathogenesis, diagnosis, clinical practice, preventive and research activities are topics discussed in this publication which give readers a general conceptual perspective of this field. Cultural aspects of psychiatric diagnosis in DSM-5 in particular and the current status of Cultural Psychiatry in European countries are discussed. Of unique importance to the field of psychosomatics are the reviews on so-called culture-bound syndromes and somatization and culture. Ethnopsychopharmacology, pharmacogenomics, current and future research perspectives in Cultural Psychiatry and bioethical dimensions of cultural psychosomatics are also reviewed. The volume closes with an epilogue and conclusions resulting from the examined topics. Psychiatrists, psychologists, social scientists and other mental health professionals involved in clinical practice and research groups as well as trainees and students will find that this publication provides a cogent perspective of current practice and research issues about a field that has enormous clinical relevance and which, until recently, has been systematically neglected.
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During the last years human sexuality has been the focus of interest and study by various disciplines. In this volume a multidisciplinary team of international experts discuss contemporary issues of human sexuality from updates on diagnosis to the management of various sexual dysfunctions. Reviews of the management of several female sexual dysfunctions, the impact of cancer on sexual functioning, the impact of trauma on sexual desire and function as well as the newest trends in sex therapy; androgen deprivation treatment of sexual behavior and autogynephilia are discussed in detail. Further, the complex interplay between the field of human sexuality and the Internet, psychological and cultural aspects of infertility are reviewed. A large amount of clinical material on topics rarely covered in other volumes will prove invaluable reading to clinicians from various disciplines such as psychiatry, psychology, urology, gynecology, sexology and sex therapy.
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This publication presents evidence about the magnitude and severe consequences of comorbidity of mental and physical illnesses from a personal and societal perspective. Leading experts address the huge burden of co-morbidity to the affected individual as well as the public health aspects, the costs to society and interaction with factors stemming from the context of socioeconomic developments. The authors discuss the clinical challenge of managing cardiovascular illnesses, cancer, infectious diseases and other physical illness when they occur with a range of mental and behavioral disorders, including substance abuse, eating disorders and anxiety. Also covered are the organization of health services, the training of different categories of health personnel and the multidisciplinary engagement necessary to prevent and manage comorbidity effectively. The book is essential reading for general practitioners, internists, public health specialists, psychiatrists, cardiologists, oncologists, medical educationalists and other health care professionals.
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This book offers a resource to aid in implementing psychosocial screening, assessment, and consequently integrating prevention, care and treatment (i.e. pharmacological, psychosocial rehabilitation and psychotherapeutic) in medicine. It is becoming increasingly recognized that one method of combating spiraling health care costs in developed nations is to integrate psychiatric care into medicine including primary care settings. This volume reviews the main issues relative to the paradigm of a person-centered and recovery-oriented approach that should imbue all medical areas and specialties. It proposes integration methods in screening and assessment, clinimetric approach, dignity conserving care, cross-cultural and ethical aspects, treatment and training as a basic and mandatory need of a whole psychosomatic approach bridging the several specialties in medicine. As such, the book addresses a topic that all physicians, including primary care and psychiatric professionals in a wide variety of mental health settings are currently discussing, planning and preoccupied with, namely the task of integrating mental health into all the medical fields, including primary care, cardiology, psychiatry, oncology and so on.
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This authoritative reference surveys mind-body healing concepts and psychosomatic medicine in diverse countries and regions of the world. It provides practical insights on the Western division between medical and mental healing and useful information concerning recent efforts to bridge that enduring divide, particularly in the use of ancient and indigenous healing knowledge in psychosomatic practice. Coverage compares and contrasts current applications of psychosomatic medicine and/or consultation-liaison psychiatry as conducted in such representative countries as France, Britain, China, India, Argentina, Canada, and the United States. And the book predicts how this synthesis of traditions and advances will progress as it:
- Traces the history and development of psychosomatic medicine.
- Reviews contributions of traditional healing methods to psychosomatic medicine.
- Analyzes national styles of psychosomatic medicine as practiced in specific countries.
- Compares the status of psychosomatic medicine / consultation-liaison psychiatry in various countries.
- Considers the future of psychosomatic medicine as the field, and the world, evolves.
Global Psychosomatic Medicine and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry expands the knowledge base for psychiatrists, primary care physicians, psychiatric and primary care residents, medical students, behavioral medicine specialists, and others who are interested global and regional perspective on providing biopsychosocial care. It is also relevant for advanced students in health psychology and behavioral medicine, and for professionals in related health fields.
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This book focuses on the assessment and treatment of patients with somatic symptoms, based on biopsychosociospiritual model. Specific assessment skills and treatment techniques are required to approach them effectively. A broad spectrum of knowledge about stress is also needed because stress is closely related to the onset and course of disorders with somatic symptoms.
This book consists of four parts. Part 1 ‘Stress’ explores stress, vulnerability, and resilience; intermediate mechanisms between stress and illnesses such as psychoendocrinology and psychoimmunology; the measurement of stress; and the relationship between stress and accidents.
Part 2 ‘Somatization’ deals with the concept, mechanisms, assessment, and treatment of somatization. In addition, somatic symptom and related disorders in DSM-5 is included. However, the approach to chronic pain is separately added to this part because pain is a major concern for patients with these disorders.
Part 3 ‘Specific physical disorders’ mainly deals with common and distressing functional physical disorders as well as major physical disorders. Therapeutic approach for individuals at risk of coronary heart disease is also included.
Part 4 ‘Religion, spirituality and psychosomatic medicine’ emphasizes the importance of a biopsychosociospiritual perspective in an approach for patients with somatic symptoms, especially depressed patients with physical diseases and patients with terminal illnesses because of the growing need for spirituality in such patients.
This book explores stress and a variety of issues relevant to the assessment and treatment of disorders with somatic symptoms in terms of biopsychosociospiritiual perspectives. It will be of interest to researchers and healthcare practitioners dealing with stress, health and mental health.