On the Birth of Psychodynamic Psychiatry.

Psychodynamic psychiatry emerged from psychoanalytic theory, but the influence of the latter has been only partial. Equally important are other disciplines outlined within is article. Modern psychodynamic publications and presentations should honor all of the foundational pillars of the field.

Editorial: Therapeutic Factors in Treatment of Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder.

In this issue of Psychodynamic Psychiatry, Michael Stone discusses therapeutic factors in the treatment of patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). He emphasizes the great diversity of borderline patients and points out that a number of manual-based therapies, each described by an acronym, generally achieve positive therapeutic results in the short term. Many borderline patients require years of psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and additional treatments, however.

Comparison of Sexual Experience and Behavior between Bipolar Outpatients and Outpatients without Mood Disorders.

Sexual behavior over the past year of 32 outpatients with Bipolar disorder is compared to that of 44 Comparison patients that had never had an episode of affective illness. Subjects were outpatients treated with drugs and psychotherapy in routine office practice. Differences in sexual behavior between the two groups as a whole were minimal, but meaningful differences emerged when subgroups were compared.

Sexual differentiation of childhood play: a contemporary psychoanalytic perspective.

Freud (1905/1953) anchored his theories of unconscious psychological functioning in observations and inferences about childhood sexuality. These ideas remain influential among psychoanalysts today. Much progress subsequently occurred in extra-psychoanalytic research in human sexuality.

Is increased sexual behavior a symptom of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents?

While there is consensus that bipolar disorder exists in children and adolescents, its diagnostic criteria are debated. Excessive sexual behavior has been reported in youth who may have juvenile bipolar disorder (JBD), and has been termed "hypersexuality." Although there is no universal definition of this term, this observation has led to a hypothesis that increased sexual behavior characterizes the bipolar syndrome in children and adolescents, and differentiates it from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.