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Home > Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences > AIDS Psychiatry

AIDS Psychiatry Service

Director: Glenn J. Treisman, M.D., Ph.D.

CONTACT INFORMATION

AIDS Psychiatry Service
Meyer 119
The Johns Hopkins Hospital
600 North Wolfe St.
Baltimore, MD 21287-5371
Phone 410-955-6328 / Fax 410-614-5913

OVERVIEW

The Johns Hopkins AIDS Psychiatry Service (APS) is a multidisciplinary team formed in 1989 to provide clinical care to HIV-infected patients, as well as to develop and implement education and research programs on the psychiatric aspects of HIV infections. The APS is directed at the treatment of psychiatric conditions that drive the HIV epidemic, interfere with the treatment of HIV, or diminish the quality of life of patients infected with HIV.

FACULTY AND STAFF

In addition to the director, the APS is staffed by three psychiatrists, one psychiatric resident, two psychologists, a substance abuse counselor, and two psychiatric nurses.

Psychiatrists
                Andrew Angelino, M.D.
                Jeffrey Hsu, M.D.
                Adam Kaplin, M.D.
Psychologists
                Heidi Hutton, Ph.D.
                Wayne Hunt, Ed.D.
Substance Abuse Counselor
                Nicholas Schweizer, M.A.
Psychiatric Nurses
                Jack Bonner, R. N.
                Oliver Radcliffe R.N., M.S.N.

SERVICES OFFERED

Since its inception, the APS has evaluated and treated many hundreds of patients with HIV disease and psychiatric disorders. Services include outpatient evaluation and treatment, coupled with continuous care through inpatient consultation on medical, chronic care, and psychiatric wards. The complexity of treating HIV-infected patients with multiple medical problems who are also taking psychotropic medications requires close consultation between medical and psychiatric teams. This integration results in better outcomes, improved compliance, and decreased frequency of undesirable drug interactions. Surveillance continues to show high rates of improvement in our patients with psychiatric disorders as well as improvements in substance use outcomes.

Services are provided at the adult HIV outpatient clinic known as the Moore Clinic and in the inpatient medical and psychiatric wards at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. APS also has arrangements with the Eastern Baltimore City STD Clinic, the Druid Hill STD Clinic, the Park West Medical Center, and Baltimore City Mental Health Centers to provide specialty consultation and to accept treatment referrals. There are also outreach clinics in Baltimore, Harford, Ann Arundel, Howard, and Carroll counties.

Services are based on the following principles:

Comprehensive diagnosis and treatment for patients seen in consultation and follow-up.
Improved access to services for psychiatric patients seen in the Moore Clinic as well as outside consultations with Baltimore City and County agencies.
Integrated and continuous care, enhanced by operating in a primary care clinic, and by providing services to the same patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

APS also provides lectures, seminars, and other educational programs to physicians, primary care providers, psychiatrists, medical students, residents, mental health caregivers, and others.

REFERRALS

Patients are referred to the AIDS psychiatry service by their primary provider in the Moore Clinic in The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Patients from outside the Clinic who wish to be seen should have their primary medical provider contact Dr. Treisman at 410-955-6328.

RESEARCH

Imaging Depression in HIV
This research program, led by Adam I. Kaplin, M.D., Ph.D, is investigating the mechanism by which depression arises in individuals who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Click here for more information.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Medical students, residents, and fellows rotate on the various services associated with the APS (Medicine and Psychiatry).

Click here for more information on resident training.

Click here for more information about postdoctoral fellowships.

SELECTED ARTICLES

Thompson A, Silverman B, Dzeng L, Treisman G. Psychotropic medications and HIV. Clin Infect Dis. 2006 May 1;42(9):1305-10. Epub 2006 Mar 27. Review. PMID: 16586391

Raines C, Radcliffe O, Treisman GJ. Neurologic and psychiatric complications of antiretroviral agents.J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care. 2005 Sep-Oct;16(5):35-48. Review. PMID: 16433108

Himelhoch S, Moore RD, Treisman G, Gebo KA. Does the presence of a current psychiatric disorder in AIDS patients affect the initiation of antiretroviral treatment and duration of therapy? J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2004 Dec 1;37(4):1457-63. PMID: 15602123

Treisman GJ, Kaplin AI. Neurologic and psychiatric complications of antiretroviral agents. AIDS. 2002 Jun 14;16(9):1201-15. Review. No abstract available. PMID: 12045485

Angelino AF, Treisman GJ. Management of psychiatric disorders in patients infected with humanimmunodeficiency virus. Clin Infect Dis. 2001 Sep 15;33(6):847-56. Review. PMID: 11512090

Treisman GJ, Angelino AF, Hutton HE. Psychiatric issues in the management of patients with HIV infection. JAMA. 2001 Dec 12;286(22):2857-64. PMID: 11735762

RELATED LINKS AT JOHNS HOPKINS

Click here for the Johns Hopkins AIDS Service
Click here for the Moore Clinic

Quick Links

THE PSYCHIATRY OF AIDS
A Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment
Glenn J. Treisman, M.D., Ph.D. and Andrew F. Angelino, M.D.

Excerpt
“The effective recognition and treatment of psychiatric disorders in an HIV clinic can overcome these problems [of adherence to medical care]. To achieve this, psychiatric services in HIV clinics are directed at three primary goals:

Improved quality of life for persons with HIV. The treatment of psychiatric disorders results in reduced psychiatric symptoms and improved function. Patients can work, engage in relationships, enjoy activities, and live more independently. They feel better, and they live better.

Increased ability to tolerate and engage in medical treatment. The treatment of psychiatric disorders leads to better adherence to medical regimens and scheduled medical appointments. Alleviating psychiatric symptoms leads to a better foundation for medical treatment because of improved function. Patients with resources obtain better treatment, and patients in relationships have the necessary support to help them with difficult treatment. They also have more reasons to live longer and to work at caring for themselves.

Decreased risk for transmitting HIV. Patients responding to psychiatric treatment are better organized and able to engage in preventive measures. Patients who are no longer depressed take better care of themselves and those who are no longer addicted to drugs have better control over their relationships and sexual lives.

The results of these interventions benefit the patients, the medical team, and society as a whole. The patients have improved outcomes, and the medical team members develop a sense of satisfaction and therapeutic optimism for the care of patients. Decreased propagation of the epidemic improves the general human condition.”

Click here for more information and to order the book.

Treisman, Glen J.,M.D., Ph.D. and Andrew F. Angelino, M.D. Forward by John G. Barlett, MD.
The Psychiatry of AIDS: A Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment. pp. 4-5 @ 2004 The Johns Hopkins University Press. Reproduced with permission of the The Johns Hopkins University Press.