大象传媒

PATIENT CASE HISTORIES
Carmen Callil is the author of Bad Faith, a book about the 鈥淓ichman of France鈥�, Louis Darquier and about his daughter, Carmen鈥檚 own psychiatrist, Anne Darquier. In her book, Carmen strongly criticises the late Dr Robert Hobson, a psychotherapist who wrote about the case history of his patient, Anne Darquier, in his book, Forms of Feeling. Although Dr Hobson changed Anne鈥檚 name, Carmen contends that not only was the content of his case history unfair, he also failed to protect Anne鈥檚 identity.

In a forthcoming book review in the British Journal of Psychiatry, Gerald Russell, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry from the Institute of Psychiatry, speaks in defence of his former colleague, Dr Hobson. He says that Carmen Callil is mistaken in accusing Dr Hobson of breaking rules and that her criticisms will make it harder for practitioners to publish case histories about their patients.

Professor Russell fears that since the 1995 British Journal of Psychiatry new guidelines - requiring that before patients鈥� written case histories could be submitted for publication, written consent had to be obtained and key personal details changed so that they could not be identified - it has been virtually impossible to get case histories into the Journal.

To discuss the importance of writing about and publishing patient case histories, Professor Raj Persaud is joined by Professor Gerald Russell, Carmen Callil, Peter Tyrer, Editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry and Dr Chris Mace, Chair of the Faculty of Psychotherapy of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

POLONIUM-210
In the midst of last November鈥檚 radiation poisoning from Polonium-210 of the Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko, it was easy to forget that scores of people in the capital could also have been victims and that the potential for mass panic was present.

In the past week, one of the key agencies involved in managing this unique public health hazard, held a conference in London to examine the whole incident. Dr James Rubin reveals the findings of new research investigating the psychological reaction of the public, as well as those directly touched by the incident. He also talks about his latest follow-up study into the psychological impact of the July 7th 2005 terrorist bombings on Londoners.