Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Vaccine To Curb Cocaine Addiction | Recognising Computer *Addiction* In Adolescents - 2:07 PM 6/13/2012 - Mike Nova's starred items

Google Reader - Mike Nova's starred items

Vaccine To Curb Cocaine Addiction - Mike Nova's starred items - 2:07 PM 6/13/2012

via prisons - Google News on 6/13/12


Prisons Breed TB
AllAfrica.com
By Kerry Cullinan, 13 June 2012 South Africa's overcrowded, poorly ventilated prisons are "melting pots" for tuberculosis infection, according to Professor Robin Wood from the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre. Speaking shortly before the start of the national ...

via prisons - Google News on 6/13/12

Wall Street Journal (blog)

ACLU: Releasing Old Prisoners Is Low Risk, Financially Prudent
Wall Street Journal (blog)
By Steve Eder Another organization is weighing in on the debate over whether aging prisoners should be released to cut costs. According to a report Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union, $16 billion is spent each year to incarcerate hundreds ...

via prisons - Google News on 6/13/12

al.com (blog)

Alabama prison chief faces budget cuts, challenges over Tutwiler abuse reports
al.com (blog)
(The Huntsville Times/ Michael Mercier) MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- The Alabama prison system has more than 25000 inmates in its custody. That growing population already puts its 29 facilities about 193 percent over capacity. Through converting gymnasium ...

and more »

via crime as a form of class warfare - Google News on 6/13/12

Russia Profile

No War, No Peace
Russia Profile
For the fifth year running, Russia has been trailing many other nations “where people live in peace and harmony,” said the report, citing the low-key warfare in the North Caucasus and the Kremlin's efforts to face down the ongoing middle-class protests ...

and more »

via addiction - Google News on 6/11/12


An Addict's Guilt: When It Helps And When It Hurts In Recovery
PsychCentral.com (blog)
By David Sack, MD The concept of an addict's guilt may seem foreign and contradictory to a loved one. During active addiction, people lie, lose their jobs and bankrupt themselves or their families seemingly without a second thought (though they often ...

and more »

via addiction - Google Blog Search by admin on 6/11/12
“This means they feel an urge to use their computer on a particular occasion, or always at the same time,” said Mr. Woelfling, adding there was no clear-cut line between addiction and non-addiction. A further sign of addiction ...

via addiction - Google News on 6/11/12

Mashable

6 Ways to Kick Your Facebook Addiction
Mashable
If your answer is yes, then it's time to put a stop to your addiction. Facebook is great for a lot of things. It can help you stay connected and share details of your life with family and friends. You can use it to promote your business (or yourself, ...

via addiction - Google News on 6/11/12


Vaccine To Curb Cocaine Addiction
Ivanhoe
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there were approximately 1.4 million people known to be addicted to cocaine across the United States in 2008. A new vaccine is currently being researched to help cocaine addicted ...
Cocaine vaccine gets a boost with molecular imagingMedical Xpress

all 4 news articles »

via addiction - Google News on 6/11/12


Industry must stop 'food addiction' attacks
Nation's Restaurant News
The new theory suggests that a restaurant is little better than a meth dealer, hooking customers on addictive foods — “bet you can't eat just one” — cooked up by an evil genius in a laboratory. Is your company adding sugar to cereals?


Mike Nova's starred items

via addiction - Google News on 6/12/12


Vaccine to curb cocaine addiction
CBS42
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there were approximately 1.4 million people known to be addicted to cocaine across the United States in 2008. A new vaccine is currently being researched to help cocaine addicted patients quit and to ...

and more »

via Psychology Today Blogs by Barry W. McCarthy, Ph.D. on 6/13/12
Magazines and blogs often promise that you can revitalize passion and regain irresistible sexual attraction in your relationship. In reality, these claims set you and your partner up for sexual failure. The romantic love/passionate sex/idealized couple phase of a relationship typically lasts between 6 months and 2 years.
read more

via Psychology Today Blogs by Elana Premack Sandler, L.C.S.W., M.P.H on 6/13/12
I’m still moved by Vice President Joe Biden’s speech from just before Memorial Day weekend, during which he shared with all of us just how close he had come to taking his own life.
In commentary a few days later, Washington Post opinion writer Michael Gerson praised Biden’s display of empathy, the ability to identify others’ emotions.
read more

via psychiatry - Google Blog Search by Chechar on 6/12/12
Or: The ten books that made an impact in my life before I became racially conscious 3.- Laing and Anti-Psychiatry (read in 1983) Sometimes it is not an entire book what causes a deep impression in one's values and ...

via Sciences Indexed Since 1998 on 6/13/12
Research on the attitudes of health care providers towards people with mental illness has repeatedly shown that they may be stigmatizing. Many scales used to measure attitudes towards people with mental illness that exist today are not adequate because they do not have items that relate specifica...

via Sciences Indexed Since 1998 on 6/13/12
Long-term forms of depression represent a significant mental health problem for which there is a lack of effective evidence-based treatment. This study aims to produce findings about the effectiveness of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in patients with treatment-resistant/treatment-refractory depres...

via psychiatry research - Google Blog Search by D Bunker on 6/12/12
Funding: MAT was supported by a PhRMA Foundation Sabbatical Fellowship grant, National Institutes of Health Grant Number P20 RR016454 from the INBRE Program of the National Center for Research Resources, and ...

via psychiatry - Google News on 6/13/12


Oppositional Defiant Disorder Linked to Symptoms of Schizophrenia Spectrum ...
Clinical Psychiatry News Digital Network
... in Stony Brook, NY, and Dr. Deborah AG Drabick of Temple University, Philadelphia, looked at 1160 children between the ages of 6 and 18 years who were consecutive referrals to a university hospital child psychiatry outpatient service.

via Psychiatric News Alert by noreply@blogger.com (Psychiatric News Alert) on 6/13/12

A new study of 665 young people in the third, sixth, and ninth grades finds patterns of nonsuicidal self-injury that vary by age and gender. Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the term for intentional, non-fatal, self-inflicted damage caused by cutting, hitting, burning, or excessive rubbing. Reported rates range between 7 percent and 24 percent of adolescents; however, little was known about rates among younger children.

Now the new study finds that even third graders engage in NSSI, with boys and girls doing so at about the same rate (7 percent to 8 percent). By sixth grade, boys (6 percent) are far more likely than girls (2 percent) to harm themselves. However, by ninth grade, those proportions are sharply reversed, with 19 percent of girls and just 5 percent of boys engaging in NSSI, wrote Andrea Barrocas, M.A., of the University of Denver, and colleagues in the July Pediatrics. The researchers urged both pediatricians and hospital emergency room personnel to fully evaluate cases of NSSI to help prevent negative physical and mental health outcomes.

To read a comprehensive review of how psychotherapy can successfully treat psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents, see the new book from American Psychiatric Publishing, Cognitive-BehaviorTherapy for Children and Adolescents.
(Image: Miroslav Dziadkowiec/Shutterstock.com)

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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Follow The Money | Psychology Today

Follow The Money | Psychology Today

DSM5 in Distress
The DSM's impact on mental health practice and research.
by Allen Frances, M.D.

Follow The Money

APA puts publishing profits above public trust
Published on June 11, 2012 by Allen J. Frances, M.D. in DSM5 in Distress
According to its own original schedule, DSM-5 was to have conducted its quality control in a Stage 2 of field testing. Stage 2 would be for rewriting criteria sets that did poorly in Stage 1 and retesting them to ensure they could now achieve reliability.
Stage 1 was a disaster — poorly designed and badly implemented. Constantly missing deadlines, it came in 18-30 months late (depending on how you count its start date). And many diagnoses had crazily low reliability, far below acceptable historical standards-suggesting either that the criteria sets were poorly written or the testing poorly done, or more likely both. The results were pretty much uninterpretable — except for confirming all the other indications that DSM-5 was badly off track and needed lots more work.
APA was faced with 2 choices: 1) go ahead with Stage 2 to clean up the mess; or 2) cancel Stage 2 and publish a poorly edited, unreliable, and untested DSM-5. APA cancelled Stage 2 and is rushing toward a forced, premature birth of DSM-5.
Since there is no pressing need to publish the DSM-5 quickly, let's follow the money. The APA budget depends heavily on the huge publishing profits generated by its DSM monopoly. APA needs the money badly. It is rapidly losing paying members; other sources of funding are also on a downward trend; and its budget projections require a big May 2013 injection of DSM-5 cash.

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And APA also has to adjust to the bloated cost of doing DSM-5 — an incredible $25 million dollars. For comparison, DSM IV cost about $5 million, more than half of which came from outside funding. APA feels compelled to recoup on this huge, mostly wasted, investment by getting DSM-5 to the bookstores ASAP. The assumption is that the market is captive and that DSM-5 will be a best seller despite its quality problems.
APA treats DSM-5 like a valuable publishing property, not as a public trust that importantly impacts on people's lives and public policy. It is excellent at protecting its 'intellectual property' with confidentiality agreements and at protecting its trademark and copyright with bullying threats of lawsuits. But APA has been sadly incompetent and wildly profligate in the day to day work of actually producing a safe and scientifically sound DSM-5. The rush now is all about money.
APA Medical Director Jay Scully strongly disagrees with me. He states his case in a piece titled 'DSM-5 Inaccuracies: Setting the Record Straight' Here are Dr Scully's comments (provided in full):
"In his Huffington Post blog dated May 30, 2012 titled 'DSM-5 Costs $25 Million, Putting APA in a Financial Hole,' Allen Frances, M.D., demonstrates either an embarrassing lack of knowledge and understanding of financial reporting or an intentional misrepresentation of facts in his continuing effort to attack the forthcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which is published by the American Psychiatric Association. Contrary to Dr. Frances's contention, APA is not in a "financial hole" at all. In fact, the very treasurer's report he purports to cite from in page two expressly states that there was a "preliminary year end surplus of $2.4M for the APA (the (c) (6) nonprofit entity) on a stand-alone basis and a deficit of $2.7M for the APF." The APF, or American Psychiatric Foundation, is an independent charitable subsidiary of APA whose mission is to advance the understanding, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders through public education, research, and training.
APF has no relationship with DSM-5. The APF deficit was a planned deficit encountered to support its philanthropic work, which benefits psychiatry, patients, and the public. The APA (the (c) (6) entity with the $2.4 million surplus) is responsible for the development of DSM-5. APA reports to its board of trustees on a consolidated basis, offsetting APF's deficit with APA's gains."
"Dr. Frances's statement that the consolidated deficit "was caused by reduced publishing profits, poor attendance at its annual meeting, rapidly declining membership, and wasteful spending on DSM-5" is either ignorant or intentionally false. And Dr. Frances apparently missed slide six of the report about reserves, which demonstrate an extremely healthy cash reserve that increases year after year. The strength of APA's reserves and the fiscally conservative approach of consolidating balances of the APA and the APF for a balanced consolidated budget demonstrate the competence of APA leadership."
"Dr. Frances also complains that the revision of DSM-5 has been more expensive than that of DSM-IV. That should not come as a surprise to anyone, particularly Dr. Frances. DSM-5, unlike DSM-IV, invited comments from the world, and the work groups and task force considered every one of the more than 25,000 comments received and conducted further research where indicated. DSM-5 has employed an open process where all comments are considered, revisions are made where appropriate and the ideas are sent out again for comment with the process repeating itself. The transparency associated with the process is expensive, but it is beneficial, and will help to ensure that DSM-5 is a meaningful tool for diagnosis of mental illness when it is published, on time, in 2013."
By saying "when it is published, on time, in 2013," Dr. Scully offers a fait accompli. He has set the DSM-5 publication date without any attention to the lousy Field Trial results, the petition from fifty-one mental health professional associations, the opposition from the Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine, the terrible beating DSM-5 is taking in the press, and the outraged consumer groups. Nothing in his response offers any reason for DSM-5 adhering to his arbitrary timeline. There is nothing to indicate that he understands that DSM-5 is the public trust and not an APA cash cow. Dr Scully is asking us to believe ten very unbelievable things:
1) Its three legal entities aren't just different parts of one APA pocket;
2) the American Psychiatric Foundation just cares about charity- somewhat hard to believe since APF was recently picked as America's 7th worst charity by a watchdog group. This is a pretty spectacular accomplishment given the number of charities in our country. See http://allreaders.net/top10worstcharities.html
3) APA isn't concerned about the budget deficit caused by reduced publishing profits and poor attendance at its annual meeting;
4) APA isn't worried about its rapid loss of membership and isn't trying to find more publishing dollars to fill the budget gap;
5) APA reserves haven't fallen below the one year's operating budget generally expected for a non-profit;
6) DSM-5 has cost $25 million (five times more than DSM IV) because it has had such a wonderfully open process;
7) DSM-5 can produce a usable product by next May;
8) APA isn't completely dependent on the publishing profits from its DSM monopoly to avoid suffering deficits that would be between $5-10 million a year.
9) DSM-5's Stage 2 Quality Control was not cancelled purely for financial reasons. What would be another excuse?
10) DSM-5 is not being rushed to press next May to fill what would otherwise be a gaping hole in the APA budget.
You decide how much, if any, of Dr Scully's arguments make sense. My view — if you want to understand why an unreliable and unsafe DSM-5 is being rushed prematurely to market — "Follow The Money."
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Monday, June 11, 2012

Military Suicides Continue Troubling Increase - Mike Nova's starred items - 9:19 PM 6/11/2012

Mike Nova's starred items - 9:19 PM 6/11/2012

 

via Psychiatric News Alert by noreply@blogger.com (Psychiatric News Alert) on 6/11/12
Despite enhanced education and antistigma programs and increased mental health screenings of members of the armed services, military health officials have been unable to stem the epidemic of suicides by members of the military. In fact, statistics released by the Pentagon late last week show that service members are taking their own lives at the rate of about one a day. This is occurring even as the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down. The Associated Press (AP) reports that in the first 155 days of 2012, 154 active-duty troops completed suicide, about 50% more than those who lost who died in combat in Afghanistan. During the same period last year, there were 130 suicides among active-duty military.

Among the causes to which the increase is attributed are posttraumatic stress disorder, exposure to combat, marital strife, financial problems, and the toll taken by multiple deployments. Also, seeking help for mental health problems is often seen as a sign of weakness and a barrier to advancement in the military. Psychiatrist Stephen Xenakis, M.D., a retired Army brigadier general, told the AP that these suicides are a "sign in general of the stress the Army has been under over the 10 years of war. We've seen before that these signs show up even more dramatically when the fighting seems to go down and the Army is returning to garrison."

To read much more about the problem of suicide among members of the military, see Psychiatric News here and here.

(image: Creatista/Shutterstock.com)
For previous news alerts, click here.

via psychiatric diagnosis - Google Blog Search by Yael on 6/11/12
As with any revision to American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic Manual (DSM), the release of the DSM-5 in 2013 is not without controversy. Parents of children diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, are especially concerned ...

via psychiatric diagnosis - Google Blog Search by Lisa Lambert on 6/11/12
When she was four years old, my daughter received a diagnosis of mood disorder, and when she was six, a new psychiatrist diagnosed her with bipolar disorder. I.

via Twitter / APAPsychiatric on 6/11/12
APAPsychiatric: Nominations call for 2013 American #Psychiatric Association National Election http://t.co/C8wE8ohC Send to election@psych.org #psychiatrists

via Twitter / NIMHgov on 6/11/12
NIMHgov: RT @YalePsych: We are pleased to host @NIMHgov's Dr. Pamela Collins, this Wed, to speak on global mental health. Details: http://t.co/jG ...

via Health News by Health Editor on 6/11/12
MONDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) — A seizure may be to blame for U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson’s two hit-and-run crashes that occurred Saturday in California’s San Gabriel Valley, according to a Commerce Department spokeswoman.“Secretary Bryson was involved in a traffic accident in Los Angeles over the weekend. He suffered a seizure,” Jennifer Friedman said [...]

via Psychiatric Times on 6/11/12
In light of our problems and uncertainties about the state of current psychiatry, or perhaps because of them, what might describe good psychiatry? Following are some suggestions for what we, as psychiatrists, can do.

via Health News by Health Editor on 6/11/12
MONDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) — Changes in walking speed among older adults may indicate the early stages of a type of dementia called mild cognitive impairment, researchers say. Their study included 93 people, aged 70 and older, who lived alone. Of the participants, 54 had no cognitive impairment, 31 had so-called non-memory-related mild cognitive impairment [...]

via Medscape Psychiatry & Mental Health Headlines on 6/8/12
APA President-Elect Jeffrey Lieberman discusses the ongoing grief vs depression controversy. Plus, a call to place more emphasis on etiology in psychiatric diagnosis.
Medscape Psychiatry

via psychiatry research - Google News on 6/11/12

Blood test to diagnose depression?
Times of India
Dr Eva Redei, who developed the test, is a professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, says that she finds the results of her research promising, particularly given what she calls the ...


via psychiatry research - Google News on 6/11/12

Medical Daily
Even 7 Year Old Kids Harming Themselves, Study
Medical Daily
A separate study published in Psychiatry Research says that children who resort to self-injury are at higher risk of attempting a suicide. According to this study, 70 percent of the children who engaged in NSSI reported a lifetime suicide attempt.
Study: Even 7-year-olds sometimes hurt themselvesThe Associated Press
Self-harm showing up in elementary schoolsMyFox Detroit

all 204 news articles »

via psychiatry - Google News on 6/11/12

Treating Childhood Anxiety With Computers, Not Drugs
Science Daily (press release)
The understandable reluctance to use psychiatric medications when it comes to children means child psychologists are always searching for viable therapeutic alternatives. Now Prof. Yair Bar-Haim of Tel Aviv University's School of Psychological Sciences ...

and more »

via psychiatry - Google News on 6/11/12

How to End a Psychiatric Epidemic: The Redemption of Psychiatry
Psychiatric Times (blog)
The Reichstag in Berlin had a sign: Willkommen, and something about psychiatry. Although I took German in high school, my German was a little rusty. I seemed to be looking around for my childhood friend who was now stationed in Germany with his wife.


via Twitter / APAPsychiatric on 6/11/12
APAPsychiatric: RT @APP_Publishing: Military Suicides Continue Troubling Increase: Despite enhanced education and antistigma programs and increased ... ...

via psychiatric diagnosis - Google News on 6/11/12

The Foreigner
Breivik Trial Day 34: Diagnoses and Knights Templar called into question again
The Foreigner
Breivik Trial Day 34: Diagnoses and Knights Templar called into question again. UPDATED: Today's trial witnesses included forensic psychology expert Pål Grøndahl, top Norwegian psychiatry professor Einar Kringlen and Eirik Johannesen from Bærum's ...
Norway killer 'not psychotic'Herald Sun
Autistic with Tourette's - but not pyschoNew Zealand Herald
Norwegian court gets to heart of Breivik trial: Is he sane?Christian Science Monitor
DAWN.com
all 82 news articles »

via international psychiatry journals - Google News on 6/11/12

Treating Childhood Anxiety With Computers, Not Drugs
Science Daily (press release)
The results of the trial were reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Children are comfortable with computers, explains Prof. Bar-Haim. And because of the potential side effects of medications or the difficulty in obtaining cognitive behavioral ...

and more »

via NYT > Health by By BENEDICT CAREY on 6/11/12
The study found more psychological and social problems among young adults from broken homes who had a gay parent.

via Behavior and Law - General and Forensic Psychiatry News Review by Mike Nova on 6/11/12
Google Reader - General Psychiatry News

6:33 PM 6/11/2012 - General Psychiatry News

"General Psychiatry News" bundle created by Mike Nova

A bundle is a collection of blogs and websites hand-selected by your friend on a particular topic or interest. You can keep up to date with them all in one place by subscribing in Google Reader.
There are
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Breivik Trial Day 34: Diagnoses and Knights Templar called into question again / News / The Foreigner — Norwegian News in English.

Breivik Trial Day 34: Diagnoses and Knights Templar called into question again - The Foreigner

from psychiatric diagnosis - Google News

The Foreigner
Breivik Trial Day 34: Diagnoses and Knights Templar called into question again
The Foreigner
Breivik Trial Day 34: Diagnoses and Knights Templar called into question again. UPDATED: Today's trial witnesses included forensic psychology expert Pål Grøndahl, top Norwegian psychiatry professor Einar Kringlen and Eirik Johannesen from Bærum's ...

Breivik Trial Day 34: Diagnoses and Knights Templar called into question again / News / The Foreigner — Norwegian News in English.

Breivik Trial Day 34: Diagnoses and Knights Templar called into question again

Published on Sunday, 10th June, 2012 at 22:08 under the news category, by Ben McPherson and Geetika Nautiyal and Lyndsey Smith .
Last Updated on 11th June 2012 at 23:25.
UPDATED: Today’s trial witnesses included forensic psychology expert Pål Grøndahl, top Norwegian psychiatry professor Einar Kringlen and Eirik Johannesen from Bærum's psychiatric outpatient clinic.
Lippestad, Breivik, Hein Bæra
Lippestad, Breivik, Hein Bæra
Photo: ©2012 Ben McPherson/The Foreigner


The defence also called in experts that had observed Breivik’s behaviour during his time at Ila.
Professor Einar Kringlen was the first to give evidence telling the court that he would not be introducing any new diagnosis.
He explained that the symptoms of schizophrenia tend to emerge between the ages of 18 and 20, but can appear suddenly even if the sufferer was acting normally before.
The professor had believed Breivik to be suffering from schizophrenia but after observing him in court, he now believes him to be legally sane.
Professor Kringlen agrees with the second psychiatric report that diagnosed Breivik as someone suffering personality disorders.
Questions were raised once again over the Knights Templar and whether Breivik’s belief that he was working for the organisation could be seen as a delusion. Kringlen says that the evidence points against it.
He told the court that he was not a big believer in psychiatric tests as people are able to lie in order to appear saner than they are. He said that he prefers good conversation.
After a short break, Eirik Johannesen took over from Kringlen on the witness stand. Johannesen is from Bærum's psychiatric outpatient clinic and also works one day a week in Ila prison.
He has had around 20 meetings with Breivik that lasted 90 minutes each, and told the court that Breivik refused to take any psychiatric or IQ tests he wanted to perform.
Johannesen says that Breivik seems to show very little remorse for his actions and is aware of how psychology can be used to manipulate people.
Eirik Johannesen also told the court that he disagrees with Professor Ulrik Malt’s diagnosis given during Friday’s proceedings that Breivik suffered from Aspergers Syndrome.
When questioned by defence lawyer Geir Lippestad about Breivik’s behaviour Johannesen said, “He's very concerned to be friendly and polite. He's very concerned with etiquette. But he's probably more relaxed [in prison] than he is here.”
Johannesen also explained that Breivik talked a lot about “We” at the beginning as well as rightwing networks, but that his focus appears to have shifted referring more to “I” when talking.
The expert said that Breivik has big ambitions but does not have the skills to achieve them.
Breivik commented that he was glad that the witness did not consider him insane. He also stated that the reason he doesn’t empathise is due to his military training.
After the lunch break Ila psychiatrist Arnhild Flikke, who has worked a lot with sufferers of schizophrenia and psychosis, gave testimony.
Flikke has had 10 meetings with Breivik since first meeting him in September, and said that she does not believe Breivik suffers from psychosis.
She explained that in her experience, people suffering from psychosis or schizophrenia often experience voices in their head and does not believe that Breivik shares this experience.
Lippestad asked Flikke about the Knights Templar, to which she replied that she does not know whether the organisation exists. The prosecution also mentioned the Knights Templar.
The witness said that the thing she is most confident about is that Breivik travelled to Liberia and London.
Flikke explained that Breivik does not remember the faces of those that he killed in July and that he had wanted to kill everyone that had been on the island.
She also said she believes that Breivik is criminally liable for the actions he took in July.
Flikke was also asked questions by the judge, who wanted to know if it was difficult to diagnose Breivik. The testimony concluded after these questions.
The third witness was Maria Sigurjonsdottir, also a psychiatrist. The defence began by asking about her role as an observer.
She said that when beginning to observe Breivik they did not want to diagnose along the way, they only observed symptoms until the end of the observation period.
Sigurjonsdottir described what she witnessed during the observation, saying that Breivik showed good long and short-term memory, good concentration and spoke coherently.
She said that none of the people observing Breivik believed that he was psychotic or suffering from delusions.
When questioned by Lippestad, Sigurjonsdottir stated that Breivik thought that he had a convincing argument for his political views.
After a break, Alexander Flataa took the stand. During his testimony, he said that 18 experienced professionals observed Breivik during a three week period but that no signs of psychosis emerged.
Nursing expert Bente Sundbye was the last to testify, and was asked about her part in Breivik’s observation.
She too stated that Breivik showed good memory and concentration which would have been difficult if he was psychotic.

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Published on Sunday, 10th June, 2012 at 22:08 under the news category, by Ben McPherson and Geetika Nautiyal and Lyndsey Smith .
Last updated on 11th June 2012 at 23:25.
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