Hollywood portrayals of child and adolescent mental health treatment: implications for clinical practice.

This article examines the portrayals and myths of child and adolescent psychiatry relevant to the current practitioner. Although behavioral and emotional problems abound onscreen, the formal diagnosis of youth mental illness is uneven and rare. Common myths of brainwashing, incarceration, parent blame, parent supplantation, violence, and evil are explored, with current commercial examples of each.

Can telepsychiatry replace in-person psychiatric assessments? A review and meta-analysis of comparison studies.

Objective: The authors conducted a review and meta-analysis of the literature comparing telepsychiatry with "in-person" psychiatric assessments.

Method: Approximately 380 studies on telepsychiatry published between 1956 and 2002 were identified using MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and cross-referenced bibliographies. Of these, 14 studies with an N > 10 compared telepsychiatry with in-person psychiatry (I-P) using objective assessment instruments or satisfaction instruments.

Legal and ethical challenges in telepsychiatry.

Telepsychiatry in the 21st century poses a wide range of legal and ethical challenges. The authors review issues related to licensure, credentialing, privacy, security, confidentiality, informed consent, and professional liability in the use of telepsychiatry services and illustrate the discussion with hypothetical clinical vignettes. It is clear that there will be a need in the immediate future to create legal instruments as well as formal professional ethical guidelines for the practice of telepsychiatry.

A review of the costs of telepsychiatry.

Objective: S: The issue of whether telepsychiatry is worth the cost or whether it pays for itself is controversial. This study investigated this question by reviewing telepsychiatry literature that focused on cost.

Method: S: Approximately 380 studies on telepsychiatry published from 1956 through 2002 were identified through MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and cross-referenced bibliographies.