This article is for amusement only. I love it when I come across a clever title of a paper (or a book) and appreciate the authors’ creativity. So, I want to share some of these, related directly or indirectly to mental health, with you.
“Bipolar missed states”
An article about why it is important to not miss the diagnosis of mixed states in persons with bipolar disorder.
“Mind over platter”
A paper about how pre-meal planning can help control of meal size (Brunstrom, 2014).
“Weighing in on bariatric surgery”
An Editorial giving the authors’ views about bariatric surgery (Wolfe and Morton, 2005).
“Physician alerts to increase antidepressant adherence: fax or fiction?”
A study of whether faxed alerts to physicians about the possibility, based on claims data, that their patients may not be taking their antidepressant are effective.
“What should we say to patients with symptoms unexplained by disease? The ‘number needed to offend'”
Self-explanatory. Stone et al. (2002)
Backfired
Sometime, authors may try to use a clever title, but it may end up being funny in a way they may not have intended.
“Friends with benefits: on the positive consequences of pet ownership”
McConnell et al. (2000)
Which one was your favorite? Please post under “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page.
If you come across any that you think were great, please share them at the bottom of this page.
Related Pages
Laughter is the best medicine
Scientists’ Silly, Dark, and Sometimes Inappropriate Humor (link to external website)
References
Goodman NW. From Shakespeare to Star Trek and beyond: a Medline search for literary and other allusions in biomedical titles. BMJ. 2005 Dec 24;331(7531):1540-2. Review. PubMed PMID: 16373745; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1322261.
Goodman N. Familiarity breeds: clichés in article titles. Br J Gen Pract. 2012 Dec;62(605):656-7. PubMed PMID: 23211252; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3505405.
Whissell C. The trend toward more attractive and informative titles: American Psychologist 1946-2010. Psychol Rep. 2012 Apr;110(2):427-44. PubMed PMID: 22662397.
The papers with clever titles
Bambauer KZ, Adams AS, Zhang F, Minkoff N, Grande A, Weisblatt R, Soumerai SB, Ross-Degnan D. Physician alerts to increase antidepressant adherence: fax or fiction? Arch Intern Med. 2006 Mar 13;166(5):498-504. PubMed PMID: 16534035.
Berk M, Dodd S, Malhi GS. ‘Bipolar missed states’: the diagnosis and clinical salience of bipolar mixed states. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2005 Apr;39(4):215-21. Review. PubMed PMID: 15777356.
Brunstrom JM. Mind over platter: pre-meal planning and the control of meal size in humans. Int J Obes (Lond). 2014 Jul;38 Suppl 1:S9-12. Review. PubMed PMID: 25033963; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4105578.
Clancy F. Desperately seeking solutions. Minn Med. 2006 Mar;89(3):30-5, 51. PubMed PMID: 16669430.
McConnell AR, Brown CM, Shoda TM, Stayton LE, Martin CE. Friends with benefits: on the positive consequences of pet ownership. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2011 Dec;101(6):1239-52. PubMed PMID: 21728449.
McGorry PD, Yung AR, Bechdolf A, Amminger P. Back to the future: predicting and reshaping the course of psychotic disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008 Jan;65(1):25-7. PubMed PMID: 18180425.
Stone J, Wojcik W, Durrance D, Carson A, Lewis S, MacKenzie L, Warlow CP, Sharpe M. What should we say to patients with symptoms unexplained by disease? The “number needed to offend”. BMJ. 2002 Dec 21;325(7378):1449-50. PubMed PMID: 12493661; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC139034.
Wolfe BM, Morton JM. Weighing in on bariatric surgery: procedure use, readmission rates, and mortality. JAMA. 2005 Oct 19;294(15):1960-3. PubMed PMID: 16234503.
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Fax or fiction is great