By: Dr. Stephen M. Raffle
Tel: 415-461-4845
Email Dr. Raffle
All psychiatric reports evaluate something, but not always the same thing. For example, eligibility for benefits, or fitness to do a job. To make sense of the report, the reader must determine what is being evaluated and how it is being done. Psychiatric reports are not created equal. To be meaningful, the diagnoses and conclusions in a psychiatric report must be supported by data contained in the report.
Diagnosis is most often presented at the end of the report. Psychiatric diagnoses usually are expressed along a 5-Axis paradigm:
"If symptoms are present, they are transient and expectable reactions to psychosocial stressors (e.g. difficulty concentrating after a family argument; no more than slight impairment in social, occupational, or school functioning (e.g., temporarily falling behind in school work)."
[1] Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Test-2 The most widely used and thoroughly researched objective personality inventory, the MMPI-2 consists of 567 True-False questions. Scores are reported as "T" scores: mean score is 50, standard deviation is 10; a T-score of 70 is higher than that of 98% of the normative population. It provides indicators to assess the validity of the profile and gives measures of ten aspects of the subject's emotional status as well as the quality and style of his thought processes.
[2] MillonTM Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III
DISCLAIMER: The information provided on this website and in this article do not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult with their own legal counsel for the most current information and to obtain professional legal advice before acting on any of the information presented.
Stephen M. Raffle, M.D., a Board Certified Forensic Psychiatrist, has over 36 years of experience offering his expert opinion in Federal and State jurisdictions. Dr. Raffle has consulted for attorneys, insurers, employers and judges. His track record and experience is impressive: over 5000 psychiatric evaluations, 700+ depositions, 150+ trials, a successful clinical practice, teaching career at U.C. Medical School, and Hastings College of the Law postgraduate course "Trial and Appellate Advocacy" for 11 years instructing attorneys about the direct and cross-examination of expert witnesses.
©Copyright - All Rights Reserved
DO NOT REPRODUCE WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION BY AUTHOR.
10/24/2011· Human Factors
Sleep, Science, and Policy Change
By: Dennis Wylie
Policies can be very difficult to change, and advocates of change who claim a logical or scientific foundation need valid, reliable, and convincing data. An example of the process is the policy of regulating truck drivers' hours of service in order to reduce motor vehicle crashes.
7/14/2009· Human Factors
A standard can be defined as a document issued by a recognized agency, and dealing with design and/or safety requirements relating to a specific product or type of activity. Such agencies include the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (051-IA) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). OSHA standards are generally legally binding for an employer, while ANSI standards are generally of an advisory nature. The term "industry standard," however, is ordinarily taken to have a broader meaning, including formal standards as just defined, and also including designs and procedures not required in formal standards, though prevailing in a specific industry, and which represent generally accepted custom and practice.
7/14/2009· Human Factors
When a person becomes aware of a dangerous situation, a time-interval must elapse before he can take defensive action against it. This time interval, commonly called the reaction time, has been found to be about 0.7 second for all normal persons, regardless of their background and training. This suggests that the reaction time depends on some basic aspect of the human physiology-involving the brain, nervous system, and muscles-which does not vary much from person to person.
