From the Editors

Every general psychiatrist needs to understand certain fundamental elements of child and adolescent psychiatry. In particular, psychiatrists who treat adults need to be knowledgeable about disorders that may occur during childhood or adolescence and continue to affect individuals into adulthood, such as developmental disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, major depression, and conduct disorder. Our Review article, by Syed Naqvi, M.D., covers all these topics. As with every issue of the journal, our choice of content in this one, devoted to child and adolescent psychiatry, is guided by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology recertification outline so that FOCUS can help psychiatrists prepare for recertification as well as create a lifelong learning and self-assessment program.

Many general psychiatrists also treat older adolescents in their clinical practice. Given the current public debate about depression, suicide, and use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in adolescents, our Clinical Synthesis article, by David Shaffer, F.R.C.P., F.R.C.Psych., is pertinent and timely. Dr. Shaffer is a leading expert on adolescent depression and suicide, and we are pleased to present his useful clinical review.

In this issue, as part of our ongoing effort to better serve our readership, we introduce a new feature of FOCUS. On occasion, responses from our readers include clinical questions stimulated by articles that have appeared in the journal. In response to such questions, forthcoming issues of FOCUS will feature an “Ask the Expert” section. One or two questions from readers will be answered each month. Please send in questions about your clinical conundrums for our experts. The questions and their answers will be keyed to our FOCUS topics; future issues will cover depression, personality disorders, psychosomatic medicine, sleep and eating disorders, and sexual disorders. E-mail your questions to Kristen Moeller, CME Program Manager for FOCUS, at [email protected]. Please note that we can address only questions sent via e-mail.

Thank you for your continued interest and feedback.