When The Hospital Fires the Bullet….

The 2/13/16 New York Times article “When the Hospital Fires the Bullet” tells the truly incredible story of a Houston college student who had never been in trouble and was admitted to a local inpatient psychiatric facility for symptoms of the manic phase of his bipolar disorder. In an effort to subdue this student’s classically […]

How Did Aaron Alexis Get a Security Clearance?

Comment by Mark Levy MD forensic psychiatrist & Medical Director at Forensic Psychiatric Associates, LP This is an excellent, comprehensive and balanced review of the behavioral issues pertaining to security clearance and how many of these were either missed or overlooked in the case of Aaron Alexis.One point I would add as a forensic psychiatrist […]

A Prospective Study of Trait Anger and PTSD Symptoms in Police by Susan M. Meffert, MD, MPH et al

It is unknown whether anger is a risk factor for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, arises as a consequence of PTSD, or both. Two hypotheses were tested in 180 police recruits: Greater trait anger during training will predict greater PTSD symptoms at one year; greater PTSD symptoms at one year will predict greater state anger at one year. Both hypotheses were confirmed, suggesting that trait anger is a risk factor for PTSD symptoms, but that PTSD symptoms are also associated with an increase of state anger. Increased anger is important not only because of the impact it has on individual distress and physical health, but also because of its potential public health impact.