Psychiatric Associates of Atlanta Mental Health News |
Sunday, September 14, 2003
Judge Allows Prosecutors' Psychiatrist to Evaluate Muhammad By Josh White Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, September 11, 2003; Page B01 John Allen Muhammad will be evaluated by a well-known psychiatrist who has testified in some of the nation's most notorious criminal cases, though a judge ruled yesterday that Muhammad won't have to discuss his state of mind during last fall's sniper shootings. Prince William County Circuit Court Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. yesterday allowed prosecutors to hire Park Dietz, a California forensic psychiatrist, to interview Muhammad. Dietz has evaluated such suspects as Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers.
Court says warning is OK, testifying is not A split among federal appeals courts sends a mixed message on breach of confidentiality and leaves the government considering an appeal to the Supreme Court. By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. Sept. 15, 2003. Physicians should break physician-patient confidentiality and come forward to police if they believe a patient is in danger of harming someone, but they shouldn't testify at a patient's trial, a federal appeals court has ruled. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California, in its Aug. 22 ruling, goes to great lengths to differentiate between the two actions, ultimately saying that a physician testifying against a patient in a courtroom would have a far more damaging impact on the physician-patient relationship than a physician going to authorities to report information. Sunday, September 07, 2003
Power of Positive Thinking May Have a Health Benefit, Study Says By ERICA GOODE New York Times Most people accept the idea that stress and depression chip away at the body's natural ability to fight off disease. But many medical scientists have remained skeptical that the mind can exert such a direct influence over the immune system. In recent years, however, evidence has accumulated that psychology can indeed affect biology. Studies have found, for example, that people who suffer from depression are at higher risk for heart disease and other illnesses. Other research has shown that wounds take longer to heal in women who care for patients with Alzheimer's disease than in other women who are not similarly stressed. And people under stress have been found to be more susceptible to colds and flu, and to have more severe symptoms after they fall ill. |
