Interview with Theodore A. Stern, MD, Timothy E. Wilens, MD, and Maurizio Fava, MD

How has Massachusetts General Hospital Comprehensive Clinical Psychiatry, 3rd Edition evolved since the previous edition? How has it evolved since the first edition?   

AUTHORS: The current edition has adapted to changes in diagnoses and treatments of several major psychiatric disorders. Updated criteria and interventions have extended to new classes of medications, neurotherapeutics, psychotherapies, and combination therapies. In addition, we have created new chapters on: the psychiatric management of patients with cardiac, renal, and gastrointestinal diseases; COVID-19 infection; burns, trauma, and intensive care; obesity and its management; global psychiatry; the interface of climate and psychiatry; sport psychiatry; school collaboration and consultation; and mindfulness and resilience.

What is the most exciting aspect of Massachusetts General Hospital Comprehensive Clinical Psychiatry, 3rd Edition? What chapter or topic covered in the new edition are you most excited about?  

AUTHORS: With the third edition, we are excited to cover advances in neuroscience and neurotherapeutics and translate that knowledge into novel treatments.

Who will find the greatest value from Massachusetts General Hospital Comprehensive Clinical Psychiatry, 3rd Edition and why? Has the audience changed since the book was first published?

AUTHORS: The target audience for this volume continues to be all healthcare providers who need up-to-date, readable, and credible information related to mental health conditions and their treatment. 

What new ideas, practices, or procedures would you like to highlight for the new edition?  

AUTHORS: We are pleased to highlight neurotherapeutic treatments.

What problem do you hope the future generation of your specialty will be able to solve?  

AUTHORS: The age-old problem of formulating a differential diagnosis persists. Understanding the biological, psychological, social, and existential etiologies and their co-morbidities remains a major focus for clinicians; ongoing research in these areas where needed. We continue to investigate more effective and rapid responses to treatments (e.g., ketamine) for major mental disorders (e.g., schizophrenia/psychosis, mood disorders, and substance use disorders).

Is there anything else about the book you’d like to say?  

AUTHORS: A strength of the book is that it covers the entire lifespan—from childhood to geriatric age groups—with clinical insights, depth, and broad-based expertise. Hundreds of our faculty have contributed to provide updated and/or newly created chapters (e.g., on global psychiatry, climate, sport, school collaboration, obesity, mindfulness) that have been edited to read as if they were spoken with one voice.

About the Authors

DR. STERN: My name is Ted Stern. I am the Ned H. Cassem Professor of Psychiatry in the field of Psychosomatic Medicine/Consultation at Harvard Medical School, Chief Emeritus of the Avery D. Weisman Psychiatry Consultation Service, and Director of the Thomas P. Hackett Center for Scholarship in Psychosomatic Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). I have focused my efforts at the interface of psychiatry and medicine as a clinician, researcher, author/editor, and teacher (having mentored scores of trainees and faculty members). I have co-authored more than 575 articles and chapters and authored or edited 60 books (including the Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of General Hospital Psychiatry; MGH Psychopharmacology and Neurotherapeutics; and MGH Comprehensive Clinical Psychiatry). I am also a past president of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of its journal Psychosomatics, now called the Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. I have been honored to receive the coveted Best Teacher Award from the graduating residents at the MGH/McLean Hospital psychiatry residency training program in each of the past four decades, the MGH Department of Psychiatry’s Award for Exceptional Mentoring, and the ACLP’s Thomas P. Hackett Award (its highest honor).

DR. WILENS: My name is Tim Wilens. I am the Division Chief, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Co-Director of the Center for Addiction Medicine. I am a child and adolescent psychiatrist specializing both clinically and as a researcher in pediatric psychopharmacology, and the overlap of substance use disorders and ADHD, bipolar, and other juvenile onset psychiatric disorders.

DR. FAVA: My name is Maurizio Fava. I am Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Slater Family Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. I am a psychiatrist and a psychopharmacologist specializing in the treatment and research of patients with depression and anxiety disorders.

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