Dr. Stein examines the relationship of the two "signature injuries" experienced by Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) troops, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Studies show that a minority of individuals develop persistent emotional, somatic, and/or cognitive sequelae of traumatic exposure. Remarkably, the mechanism (emotional vs. biomechanical) or locus (head vs. other physical) of injury is a weak determinant of whether an individual develops PTSD, persistent postconcussive symptoms (PCS), or both. The frequent convergence of PTSD and PCS symptoms in military personnel is discussed, with an emphasis on studies that evaluate risk factors and outcomes. A general approach to management is discussed, as are new directions in diagnostic and therapeutic research.

Upon the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

1. List criteria for the diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI);
2. Review the extent of symptom overlap between mTBI and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and
3. Describe new directions in the diagnosis and management of comorbid mTBI and PTSD

Increasing numbers of teens and young adults cut, scratch or burn themselves to feel better. Treatment providers (and family members) can inadvertently escalate self-injury unless shown effective ways to support these individuals. Join us in this high-energy, practical session replete with video clips and case examples.

By participating in this activity, attendees will be able to:

1. Explain why individuals self-injure and how "cutting" and "burning" differ from suicide;
2. Learn to screen for self-injury; and
3. Learn practical and effective "strategies" to use with individuals who engage in this harmful behavior.

Do the media merely "reflect" the real world - as Hollywood and network executives would have us believe - or do they cause real-life problems as well? Teenagers spend an average of 6 hours a day with media: how much of an impact does that have on their attitudes and behavior? The answer lies partially in some voluminous and difficult media research and partially in the realm of common sense. This talk will try to illuminate what we know about the impact of the media on adolescents, what we don't know, and what we need to do to find out. The topics of violence, advertising, obesity, sex & sexuality, drugs, and new technologies will be explored, along with videotaped clips to illustrate the problems and some of the solutions. Several suggestions for parents and for schools will be presented.

Upon the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

1. Illustrate the nature of current television programming for children and teenagers (topic areas = violence, commercialism, sex, drugs).
2. Discuss the impact of television programming on children and teenagers and how such effects were determined by research.
3. Analyze how the adverse effects of TV and other media can be mediated by parents and by school media literacy program.

Increasing numbers of teens and young adults cut, scratch or burn themselves to feel better. Treatment providers (and family members) can inadvertently escalate self-injury unless shown effective ways to support these individuals. Join us in this high-energy, practical session replete with video clips and case examples.

By participating in this activity, attendees will be able to:

1. Explain why individuals self-injure and how "cutting" and "burning" differ from suicide;
2. Learn to screen for self-injury; and
3. Learn practical and effective "strategies" to use with individuals who engage in this harmful behavior.

For the first time in a decade, youth suicide is on the rise.

By participating in this activity, attendees will be able to:

1. Identify two new trends in youth suicide and why they are so troublesome;
2. List both the subtle and obvious factors leading to suicide in children and teens-including the "Big 3"; and
3. Describe the four essential parts of suicide screening of youth.

Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are returning home. Because so many are reservists, they will be coming back into civilian life.The prevalence of mental health disorders in these returning veterans is significant and very different in the clinical presentation than others with such conditions as PTSD. This seminar will address the identification of those veterans and their families in need, clinical interventions, and problems/solutions that therapists may face in providing services at all stages of the war experience, pre-deployment, deployment, and the return home.

By participating in this activity, participants will be able to:

1. Understand the importance of providing psychological, social, and/or psychiatric support for families of servicemen and service women in the different phases of War.
2. Appreciate the need for varied services (including addressing legal issues) to be delivered in different settings, including schools, work, places of worship, etc.
3. Gain further knowledge treating multiaxial aspects of the serviceman or service woman- and their families.

Public outrage has justifiably ensued when convicted sex offenders who are released from prison commit subsequent sexual assaults.  At least seventeen states currently allow for the indeterminate civil commitment (i.e., locked psychiatric placement) of those sex offenders assessed as dangerous once they have completed their prison terms. These SVP statutes have engendered controversy both on constitutional and ethical grounds. All the DSM-IV-TR system can provide is a catalog of the specific mental disorders.  But which ones should count towards SVP civil commitment?

Upon the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

1. Identify why twenty states have passed statutes mandating long term civil psychiatric commitment for sexually violent predators who are about to be released from prison.
2. List the legal and ethical difficulties that make this one of the most controversial areas in all of mental health practice.
3. Differentiate how well or poorly different DSM diagnoses fit into the statutory definition of mental disorder that triggers sexual predator civil commitment proceedings.

Is it better conceptualized as a state, a trait, or a culture-bound construct? Are there predictable and universal causes of human happiness? To what degree is one's degree of happiness modifiable by any life event or intervention? In this session, participants will get an introduction to the science of subjective well-being. The session will provide an overview of the history, epidemiology, social psychology and neurobiology of happiness.

By participating in this activity, attendees will be able to:

1. Identify the three psychological components of subjective well-being
2. Discuss the evidence that happiness is or is not related to wealth, health, love, or sexual activity; 3)Discuss the evidence of an inborn component to human happiness and;
3. List four interventions likely to lastingly enhance subjective well-being.

This session will provide participants with an overview of human aggression. Based on the speaker's new chapter in the forthcoming Kaplan/Sadock Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, this talk will summarize what we know about the origin, pathophysiology, and clinical management of aggression as it occurs in multiple disorders--from ADHD to organic brain injury. Sample cases will be used to illustrate optimum management based on state of the art literature review.

By participating in this activity, attendees will be able to:

1. Identify the brain regions most important for regulating individual human aggression;
2. Discuss how the evolutionary adaptation of sociality helps to explain war;
3. List the 7 big factors that help account for collective human aggression; and
4. Discuss the evidence that interventions to reduce intergroup prejudice can enhance the prospects of long-term peace.