Category: Blog on Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine

Are you creative? Creativity and psychiatric disorders are linked together; Study shows genetic link – By David Findley

A new study reveals that there is a prospect of an overlap between genetic components which result in an individual’s creativity and some psychiatric disorders.

The study involved examining genetic material from more than 86,000 people in Iceland and identified the genetic variants that had link with a heightened risk of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Then the researchers dug deeper into variants in a group which consists of more than a 1,000 people who had been members of national societies of artists such as actors, dancers, visual arts, musicians and writers in Iceland. Continue reading “Study Shows Genetic Link Between Creativity and Psychiatric Disorders”

Castle Connolly Top Doctor Award recipients are selected based on peer nominations, medical education, training, hospital appointments, professional achievements and more.    Of the hundreds of thousands of American physicians, fewer than one percent are selected to be Castle Connolly Top Doctors.    Dr. Alan Manevitz has achieved a hard earned recognition.

 

According to HealthDay News, Women, people with chronic medical conditions, the poor and those without health insurance are more likely to struggle with “serious psychological distress,” U.S. health officials reported Thursday.

Serious psychological distress is a term that identifies people who are likely to be diagnosed with a mental disorder that limits their lives, according to the researchers. Overall, they found that about 3 percent of Americans surveyed have serious psychological distress. Continue reading “Women, Poor, Uninsured Face Increased Risk of Psychological Distress”

A recent study in Science led by Takefumi Kikusui, an animal behaviorist at Azabu University in Japan is reviewed by Alan Manevitz, MD

What’s the most significant/striking finding here? Were you surprised to find that this feedback loop with oxytocin exists with dogs and humans? Why or why not?

Gaze between humans has always been demonstrated to have importance in communication (though we know that blind people can also develop trustworthy and excellent communication without gaze).  Oxytocin is released in the maternal-baby relationship during gazing.  While oxytocin has been associated with contributing to social bonding, it is not surprising that the same may exist with ‘man’s best friend’ i.e. dogs. The finding of positive oxytocin biological loops mediated by dyadic interactive interactions supports this. The area of the brain is currently thought to be in the anterior cingulated cortex, a region strongly acted upon by oxytocin systems. This biological mechanism may have led to the domestication of dogs earlier in history.
Continue reading “New Study Explains Bio-Chemical Bond Between Humans and Canines”

Dr. Alan Maneviz was interviewed by CBS2 concerning the Germanwings tragedy. THe segment was broadcasted on March 27, 2015.

According to Dr Manevitz, everything is speculative until we learn more about the specifics of the medical and/or psychiatric disorder he was suffering from.  The major question is why he would decide to take his aggression directed inward and direct it outwards and take so many people with him in this horrible catastrophic way. As facts emerge, we may find character or personality traits that influenced and distorted his thinking to hide his medical issues from his employers, disregard his doctors instructions and fuel his rage to act the way he did.