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Article: Treating intellectually disabled patients.(PRACTICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY)
- Article from:
- Clinical Psychiatry News
- Article date:
- May 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 International Medical News Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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With increasing numbers of intellectually disabled individuals living in residential settings or with their families, psychiatrists in the community are becoming more involved in their care.
Many are unprepared. "Most psychiatric training programs don't include much experience in this area," said Dr. Mark H. Fleisher, director of the adult community psychiatry division at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.
These patients appear prone to the same spectrum of psychiatric disorders as the general population. "They have subaverage intelligence because their central nervous system has been damaged," Dr. Fleisher said. "Intellectual disability [one of several ...