Vikram Patel gives an illuminating account of the practice of psychiatry in extreme low resource environments. He talks about the steps necessary to establish effective mental health care, describing first the assessment of needs, the importance of measuring the types of illness, prevalence and impact on daily life and the importance of efficient resourcing when planning. Whilst talking about the problems associated with institutions that still exist in some parts, he also talks about the beneficial work being carried out by other mental health care organisations. He is encouraging of the contribution that psychiatrists from more developed areas can make by working in these low resource environments.

In this podcast, Dr Gerald Rosen talks about malingering and the motivations that can lead to simulated psychiatric disorder. He explains how to deal with a suspected case and how to achieve the best outcome whilst maintaining the therapeutic relationship, providing case examples and advice from his own wealth of clinical experience.

Jean Théberge talks about the glutamatergic hypothesis of schizophrenia and discusses in some detail his study on longitudinal grey-matter and glutamatergic losses in first-episode schizophrenia.

Approximately 2-5% of children suffer from ADHD and in this podcast, Dr Katia Rubia begins by answering the question What is ADHD?, addressing the triad of symptoms – age inappropriate inattention, hyperactivity, impulsiveness – and raising some diagnostic and cultural issues. She then goes on to discuss in detail brain development and the neurobiological implications.

Robert Schug, based at the University of Southern California, talks about the neuropsychology of schizophrenia. In particular he discusses the approach in relation to those schizophrenics who go on to develop personality disorder problems of the antisocial type.

In this podcast Dr Gareth Owen gives an overview of phenomenology in psychiatry, discussing some of the historical background to the development of the discipline, some of the problems and how it relates in comparison with other disciplines such as a biological or psychological approach to a psychiatric disorder. He also touches on how we can bring a phenomenological understanding into our daily practice.

Approximately one in ten children suffer from anxiety disorders, and in this podcast Professor Ronald Rapee gives a broad overview of the different kinds of anxiety disorders common in children. He also discusses how anxiety disorders in children compare with those in adults, and highlights the nature of findings from epidemiological studies. He talks about some of the steps in diagnosis, and the aetiology behind anxiety disorders, including genetic and behavioural factors. Treatment is also touched on as well as some of the pitfalls to beware of when diagnosing and treating anxiety in children.

In this podcast, Professor Jim van Os discusses the importance of gene-environment interactions in the understanding of the aetiology of psychiatric disorders. He talks about the influence of environmental factors as the causes of psychiatric disorders as well as the genetic basis for psychiatric disorder, and discusses significant laboratory research findings as evidence for their interactions.

Professor Gerald Russell explores the issues surrounding the diagnosis and management of Eating Disorders. Outlining the different kinds of eating disorders that occur he also highlights the limitations of current classifications. He explores how psychiatrists make diagnoses and the factors that may make a diagnosis difficult. He goes on to discuss the important steps to take when planning the treatment and effective management of Eating Disorders.

Mr Robert Young explores the issue of deliberate self-harm including suicide and attempted suicide. He discusses the epidemiology and risk factors involved and some of the psychiatric theories behind self-harm. He also talks about the kind of evidence base and psychiatric research available and identifies the reseach needs that would benefit the field, particularly with respect to psychiatric treatments, interventions and towards tackling the causes of self-harm.