Editorials

Leo Sher, M.D. The World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) was founded in 1974. Currently, Societies of Biological Psychiatry of Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, […]

Sándor Kalmár, M.D., Ph.D. The development of civilization acquainted men with a new danger: making a phone call during driving a car. Its significance does not only derive from taking a considerable number of lives, but also from causing vast financial damage. The two major groups of mortality due to external reasons are suicide and […]

Zoltan Rihmer, M.D., Ph.D. Recent studies show that tricyclic and other “old generation” antidepressants can negatively affect the driving capacity (causing somnolence, concentration difficulties, etc.), and the same is true for benzodiazepine use. However, SSRIs and newer antidepresants are much less dangerous in this respect. Combination of mobile phoning and old generation antidepresants/benzodiazepines could be particularly dangerous.

Masahito Fushimi, M. D., Ph. D. Cell phone usage while driving is prohibited in Japan as well; however, hands free devices are allowed. Car accidents caused by cell phone usage are sometimes reported on the news, and although these do not particularly seem to account for a large percentage of accident reports, these accidents could […]

Debora Ganz, B.A. This issue is a perfect example of a public health issue that is regulated largely by political and economic forces. Due to the Federal Preemption laws which are the laws that “prohibit localities from enacting such laws” to ban cell phone use while driving, there are a handful of states that simply […]

 Leo Sher, M.D. The Mount Sinai Medical Center has been recognized as one of the nation’s leading hospitals in the 2011-2012 “Best Hospitals” issue of U.S. News & World Report. The Mount Sinai Medical Center is ranked 16 out of 4,852 hospitals nationwide, and received a spot on the U.S. News “Honor Roll” of America’s […]

Steven Lippmann, M.D. Obviously, utilization of a car phone while at the wheel is dangerous. Some people might not realize the risks. Personal responsibility at curbing such use has generally not worked well. However, the degree of compromise at reaction times and in attention warrants legislative action by all states to outlaw such practice. There […]

Leo Sher, M.D. Cell phone distraction causes nearly 3,000 deaths and more than 300,000 injuries in the United States every year. The U.S. National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) suggests that about 25 percent of all car accidents are caused by distractions. Dialing numbers, receiving calls and holding conversations on cell phones while driving […]

Leo Sher, M.D. The 10th World Congress of Biological Psychiatry was held on May 29 – June 2, 2011 in Prague, Czech Republic. The Congress was organized by the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP). The opening ceremony was conducted on May 29th. Prof. Florence Thibaut, WFSBP President, Dr. Leos Heger, Minister of […]

Leo Sher, M.D. The article, “Temperaments mediate suicide risk and psychopathology among patients with bipolar disorders” by Maurizio Pompili, Zoltan Rihmer, Hagop Akiskal and their associates has attracted my attention. The authors studied a large group of patients with bipolar disorders. They showed that certain personality features predicted both suicide risk and psychopathology. Among other […]