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SFPS members had the opportunity to listen to a talk given by Victor Reus, M.D. on the DSM-V. After assessing the information, Eli Merritt, M.D., president of SFPS, wrote a letter which encompassed members' ideas and preferences on the DSM-V to Dr. David Kupfer and Dr. Darrel Regier, the Chair & Vice-Chair to the DSM-V Task Force. Below you will find a copy of the letter. Dear Drs. Kupfer & Regier:
On October 29, 2008, the San Francisco Psychiatric Society was privileged to hear a lecture by Victor Reus, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry at UCSF, entitled, "The New DSM-V: Controversies and Opportunities." Inspired by this talk, the society wishes to communicate a strong opinion to the DSM-V Task Force as it embarks upon a revision of the manual.
Based on both the evidence and now more than two decades of experience with the DSM-III and DSM-IV, we stand in full support of integrating a dimensional approach into the current categorical diagnostic system.
More specifically, we request that the DSM-V Task Force 1) add a dimensional aspect to Axis I disorders and 2) replace the current categorical system for Axis II disorders with dimensional personality ratings.
Society members would be pleased to discuss these two specific requests with Task Force members at any time. Also, we request that this letter be forwarded to the Task Force's thirteen work groups and four study group chairs. If it is more convenient for you, please contact me with their mailing addresses, emails, or faxes, and we will forward them directly from my office.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Eli Merritt
President, San Francisco Psychiatric Society
cc: 80 members of SFPS
Victor Reus, M.D.
* * * * * "San Francisco Psychiatric Society Sponsors New Initiatives and an Open House at the Historic Mechanics Institute Library in Downtown San Francisco"
By Eli Merritt, M.D., The Northern California Psychiatric Physician, May/June 2008, 10-12 The San Francisco Psychiatric Society is pleased to announce numerous new initiatives as well as a successful Open House reception and dinner on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at the Mechanics Institute Library. Dr. Owen Wolkowitz of the UCSF Department of Psychiatry presented on "The New Biology and Pharmacology of Depression."
In October of 2007 I became the president of the San Francisco Psychiatry Society, succeeding Bruce Milin, M.D., with ambitions of 1) starting a SFPS website 2) inaugurating a psychiatry-related information service called Psychiatry Events Monthly 3) continuing regularly scheduled professional education events and 4) broadly speaking, making the SFPS as relevant and important to Bay Area psychiatrists as possible.
The website and Psychiatry Events Monthly are up and running at SFpsych.org. Psychiatry Events Monthly is an electronic calendar of psychiatry-related events taking place in San Francisco which will be available on the website and also emailed as a newsletter on the 25th of each month to Bay Area health professionals who subscribe.
The goal of Psychiatry Events Monthly is to connect health professionals in the Bay Area with educational events and opportunities in San Francisco which interest them. The events will cover a wide spectrum of topics, from psychopharmacology and psychiatric genetics to psychotherapy, developmental psychology, community psychiatry, neuroscience, and much more.
The website also describes the society's central mission of excellence in professional education and the benefits of membership. Soon the site will feature a "Find a Psychiatrist" function which links to an alphabetical list of those SFPS members who choose to be included as referrals.
In the spirit of excellence in professional education, joined together with the enjoyment of one another's company and dinner, San Francisco and other Bay Area psychiatrists attended an Open House and educational talk by UCSF professor Owen Wolkowitz on Wednesday, July 9. The event was noncommercial sponsored.
In his lecture, "The New Biology and Pharmacology of Depression," Dr. Wolkowitz discussed recent advances in the new molecular biology and neuroscience of depression, including steroid and neurosteriod systems, neurotrophic factors, inflammation, oxidation, and the telomere system, all findings which have tremendous impact on the day-to-day understanding and treatment of depression by psychiatrists.
Why do individuals suffering from depression have a greater risk of heart disease and dementia than controls? Dr. Wolkowitz's lecture explored answers to this and numerous other clinically-significant questions about depression and its treatment.
Exciting things are happening in the San Francisco Psychiatric Society. To learn about future events, sign-up for Psychiatry Events Monthly, or to join the society, go to SFpsych.org. Your membership gives you priority at SFPS professional education events, offers you the opportunity to be listed as a referral on SFpsych.org, aids the development of Psychiatry Events Monthly, and, more broadly, supports the society's mission to improve the clinical care of patients with mental illness. Feel free to contact Contact Us with questions or feedback at any time.
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