Editorial Credits/ Crédits éditorials

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Advertising Rates / Tarifs publicitaires (PDF)

Original Research Expression of Depressive Symptoms in a Nonclinical Brazilian Adolescent Sample
Clarice Gorenstein, PhD, Laura Andrade, MD, PhD, Elaine Zanolo, Rinaldo Artes, PhD
(PDF)

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and General Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents Following a Wildfire Disaster
Brett M McDermott, MBBS, Cert Child Psych, FRANZCP, Erica M Lee, BA, Dip Psych, Marianne Judd, BSc Psych, MEd, Peter Gibbon, PhD
(PDF)

Individual Change in Methylphenidate Use in a National Sample of Children Aged 2 to 11 Years
Elisa Romano, PhD, Raymond H Baillargeon, PhD, Isabel Fortier, PhD, Hong-Xing Wu, MSc4, Philippe Robaey, MD, Mark Zoccolillo, MD, Richard E Tremblay, PhD
(PDF)

An Introduction to Economic Evaluation: What’s in a Name?
Jeffrey S Hoch, MA, PhD, Carolyn S Dewa, MPH, PhD
(PDF)

Recherche Originale *Méthadone et Syndrome d’Apnées du Sommeil
Philippe Durst, MD, Jérôme Palazzolo, MD, PhD, Jean-Pierre Peyrelong, MD, Michel Berger, MD, Michel Chalabreysse, MD, Michel Billiard, PhD, André Vialle, MD
(PDF)

Review Paper
Using Metaanalysis to Evaluate Evidence: Practical Tips and Traps
Raymond W Lam, MD, FRCPC, Sidney H Kennedy, MD, FRCPC
(PDF)

Brief Communication
Experimental Affective Symptoms in Panic Disorder Patients
Thea Overbeek, MD, PhD, Koen Schruers, MD, PhD, Ine Docters van Leeuwen, BSc, Tineke Klaassen, MD, PhD, Eric Griez, MA, MD, PhD
(PDF)

Book Reviews
(PDF)

The Treatment of Drinking
Problems: A Guide for the Helping Professions.
Review by
Nady el-Guebaly, MD, FRCPC

Bipolar Disorder: A Clinician’s Guide to Biological Treatments.
Review by
Review by: Rakesh Jain MD, MPH
Shailesh Jain, MD, MPH


Handbook of Female Psychopharmacology
Review by
Laura Calhoun, FRCPC

Sleep and Dreaming: Scientific Advances and Reconsiderations.
Review by
Alan Douglass, MD

Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Obesity. A Clinician’s Guide.
Review by
Hany Bissada, MD, FRCPC

Cognitive Therapy of Personality Disorders. Second Edition.
Review by
W John Livesley

Letters to the Editor
(PDF)

Hemorrhages During Escitalopram–Venlafaxine– Mirtazapine Combination Treatment of Depression

Re: Lorazepam-Induced Prolongation of the QT Interval in a Patient With Schizoaffective Disorder and Complete AV Block

Reply: Lorazepam-Induced Prolongation of the QT Interval in a Patient With Schizoaffective Disorder and Complete AV Block

Lithium-Associated Anencephaly

Aripiprazole-Induced Seizure

Prevalence of Bipolar Disorder and Major Depression Among Patients Seen in Primary and Secondary Care in Finland

The Need for More Community Nursing for Adults With Intellectual Disabilities and Mental Health Problems

Improvement in Tardive Dyskinesia With Aripiprazole Use

Book Review

Sleep Disorders

Sleep and Dreaming: Scientific Advances and Reconsiderations. Edward F Pace-Schott, Mark Solms, Mark Blagrove, Steven Harnad, editors. New York: Cambridge University Press; 2003. 360 p. US$33.00.

Review by: Alan Douglass, MD
Ottawa, Ontario

This is a complex book of most unusual design. Its discussion of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and its relation to dreaming is highly technical and theoretical, yet extremely broad.

The book begins with 5 chapters, each averaging 20 pages, by recognized experts from as far afield as Allan Hobson (neurophysiology), Robert Vertes (REM memory consolidation), and Antti Revonsuo (evolutionary hypotheses of dreaming). The unusual aspect is that the specific points raised in these chapters are numbered and then treated point by point to a page of criticism from about 80 different academics representing virtually every related field—psychology, psychiatry, neurology, neurophysiology, and even philosophy. Finally, the original 5 chapter authors respond to these critiques. The overall effect is that of attending an academic conference on REM sleep and dreaming, yet having much more than rough notes of the proceedings!

The book is quite scholarly. It is densely written and closely argued. Many of the writers use their space to illuminate the way in which their own life’s work bears on the topic at hand, which in itself provides a marvellous overview of the area. While the book is a superb compilation for academics, it is a daunting volume for anyone with only a casual interest in REM sleep and dreaming. It is certainly not an undergraduate text, although it could be an excellent reference for graduate students or medical specialists.

An example from the text gives an idea of the level of the discussions. In Mark Solms’ chapter, he suggests that dreaming and REM sleep are controlled by different brain mechanisms: REM by cholinergic mechanisms in the brainstem and dreaming by dopaminergic mechanisms in the forebrain. As evidence, he cites forebrain seizures, forebrain electrical stimulation, and dopamine agonists as possible ways to increase dreaming without increasing REM duration or density. He notes that dreaming is completely abolished by ventromedial frontal lobe lesions that nevertheless leave REM sleep intact. Allan Hobson, the noted neurophysiologist who, along with Robert McCarley, is the originator of the most widely accepted neurophysiological model of REM sleep, counters that “the ghost of Sigmund Freud haunts Mark Solms’s dream theory . . . Only those data which can be retrofitted into Freud’s dream theory are deemed worthy of theoretical attention . . . his major theoretical orientation is psychoanalytic.” He goes on to paint Solms’s apparently physiological theory as a resuscitation of Freud’s dream-as-wish-fulfillment hypothesis—and so it goes.

Major issues tackled by other authors include whether memory consolidation occurs in REM sleep, whether true dreaming occurs in non-REM sleep, and whether REM-like processes can occur covertly. Finally, the last 50 pages of this 360-page book consist of academic references, and remarkably, the editors have put all the references from all the chapters and commentaries together in one section and in alphabetical order. For any academic in the field, these alone are worth the price of the book. For the average psychiatrist, however, I think this book will be too deep.

Excellent / Excellent
Very Good / Très bon
Good / Bon
Fair / Passable
Not recommended / Pas recommandé