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ZusammenfassungFormale Denkstörungen, insbesondere konkretistische, sind ein charakteristisches Merkmal schizophrener Psychosen, welche das Verständnis von idiomatischen Redewendungen, Metaphern und Sprichwörtern im Alltag erschweren oder verunmöglichen. Um die Assoziation zwischen dem Ausmaß des Konkretismusʼ und dem Schweregrad der schizophrenen Erkrankung zu untersuchen, absolvierten 28 Personen mit Schizophrenie nebst der kognitiven Leistungsdiagnostik einen Screening-Sprichwort-Test. Unsere Befunde zeigten einen Zusammenhang zwischen Akuität der schizophrenen Erkrankung und dem Ausmaß des Konkretismusʼ. Der mögliche Mehrgewinn einer Berücksichtigung dieses Befundes bei der Behandlung betroffener Personen wird diskutiert.

Expert testimonies and judges of 224 lawsuits of the years 1991 to 2001, who lead to the order of Preventive Detention in the German federal states of Bavaria, Brandenburg, Northrhine Westfalia and Saxony were analysed. Offenders with the order of Preventive Detention have mostly committed violent and/or sexual offences. Nearly two third of the inmates show personality traits with relevance for psychiatry or even personality disorders. Thus the discrimination between forensic psychiatric measurements and preventive detention is difficult. The quality of forensic psychiatric reports does not reflect the complexity of this task. They show diagnostic and prognostic weaknesses.

OBJECTIVE From a psychiatric viewpoint the internet as a communication medium bears some risks but also has some exceptional potential. The paper reports about an internet based discussion board that specifically addressed people with borderline personality disorder and that was continuously moderated by mental health professionals. METHODS Discussion board participants were monitored over the course of the study with regard to the perceived helpfulness of the board discussion and psychological symptoms assessed with brief versions of the Symptom Checklist (SCL-10) and the Borderline Symptom List (BSL-15). RESULTS With more than 16 000 log-ins during the last month the web board found wide acceptance. The majority of the users stated, that the internet can easily reach people with mental health problems and reported that the continuous support by mental health professionals was helpful. Over the course of the project the web board users reported reductions with regard to the severity and frequency of borderline symptoms. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that the internet might be helpful in the treatment of borderline patients, especially with regard to the coordination of therapeutical interventions or as an amendment of traditional face-to-face therapies.

The concept "stalking" refers to willful, malicious, and repeated following or harassment of another person that threatens her or his security. Although there is nothing new about the occurrence of this conduct it has been discussed in psychiatry more intensely in recent years. As a result there are a few attempts at classification, without any claim of general validity. Patterns of stalking behaviour reflect a wide spectrum from aggressive actions in the course of conflicts in a relationship to schizophrenia. Thus, it is not adequate to classify this as a psychiatric disorder per se. Thorough diagnostic assessments are mandatory before introducing legal measures, whereas if these are omitted, the term "mental disorder" may be inappropriately used in a wider sense. This may entail unfavourable consequences to be discussed in this paper.

Aspects of "stalking" behaviour have been discussed predominantly in the Anglo-American psychiatric literature. However following new legal regulations, "stalking" is expected to gain relevance for the German forensic psychiatry. "Stalkers" are a heterogeneous group presenting with a wide range of relational or even psychotic motives for their behaviour. Therefore careful diagnostics are required. Legal responsibility can be estimated by assessing the capacity of the offender to understand (cognitive functioning) and to control his behaviour (volitional functioning). The severity of possible restrictions can be assessed by comparing them to the known impairments in cases of erotomania.

After summarising the legal requirements of contractual capacity, an attempt is made to define the term will with psychiatric conceptualisations. Possible restrictions of a free declaration of will are outlined. Symptoms, which possibly influence cognitive preconditions of will and personal values, are taken into account. Our considerations are supposed to improve orientation in this complex field and to contribute to the communication between psychiatric expert and the court. However, the analysis of each individual case remains essential.

The diagnosis kleptomania is based on diagnostic criteria which describe a particular distinctive behaviour. Both the DSM-IV and the WHO-ICD10 neglect the different etiologic possibilities. The high co-morbidity of kleptomania with other mental disorders is another problem. The assessment of legal responsibility should not only focus on the analysis of the stealing act, but has to consider potential associated psychopathology. It appears insufficient to describe complex organic disorders (for example a dementia) with the term kleptomania. However, the forensic relevance of kleptomania, which seems to be very rare, is a result of symptom progression, decreasing satisfaction and feelings of shame or distress.