The future of psychiatry: A report from Stanford Medicine magazine

It’s time for psychiatry to “hug the sciences.” That’s what Laura Roberts, MD, chair of the school’s psychiatry department, says in a special report on the future of psychiatry in the new issue of Stanford Medicine magazine.

In the report, “Inside the head: The future of psychiatry,” Roberts talks about efforts to end the historic split between psychiatry’s two camps - those favoring psychotherapy and those favoring biological treatments.

Also in the report:

• “Brain power:” the lead article, on psychiatry’s tentative embrace of biology, with a particular focus on neuroimaging.
• “Sleuth of the mind:” a Q&A with writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks, MD, on the brain’s amazing recuperative powers.
• “Positive charge:” a feature on physical treatments for depression, including transcranial magnetic stimulation and deep brain stimulation.
• “Neuroscience of need:” a look at the neuroscience of addiction.
• “Autism answers:” a story about giving parents of children with autism the scientific skills to study what therapies and treatments work best for their children.

This issue’s “Plus” section, featuring stories unrelated to the special report, includes:

• “Hit record:” an article on the effort to finally figure out what goes on inside a brain during a concussion.
• “Transition point:” a story about what happens when a Stanford professor with a man’s body decides to become a woman, and what this tells us about the health challenges for transgender people

Previously: Cancer’s next stage: A report from Stanford Medicine magazine, Surviving survival: The new Stanford Medicine magazine is out and New Stanford Medicine magazine explores bioethics.
Sculpture by Federico Carbajal Raya; photo by Victor Vargas Villafuerte