Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main qualification needed to progress from the basic training grade (senior house officer) to higher professional training (specialist registrar) in psychiatry. The Collegiate Trainees Committee (CTC) recognises that the MRCPsych examinations may generate anxiety in candidates and require a large investment in time and personal resources. The examinations are competitive, with approximately 50% of candidates passing on each attempt. It is worthwhile preparing well the first time, by planning in advance and understanding the critical factors for success. This article aims to help trainees preparing for the MRCPsych examination.

Writing about psychoanalysis or psychotherapy has traditionally included illustrative clinical material which helps to clarify and enliven complex theories. However, there is increasing interest in the ethical questions raised by the publication of confidential clinical material, informed by a post-modern culture emphasising individual rights and empowerment, increasingly supported in law, and equally, fascinated by celebrity and disclosure. It seems important for psychiatrists to engage in this debate which has implications for the future communication of clinical findings between psychotherapists and psychiatrists.

Sir: Chaloner (Psychiatric Bulletin, September 1999, 23, 589–66), suggests that being moved by the death of a cultural icon that you have never met, rather than by one's own suffering, may be thought of as a ‘Active personality disturbance’; a pathological process which may be a result of ‘ego impoverishment’ or a failure of development.

The antimuscarinic drugs procyclidine, orphenadrine, benzhexol and benztropine are used in psychiatric practice to alleviate the extrapyramidal effects of antipsychotic medication. These drugs may be prescribed on a regular, as-required or single-dose basis. They are usually taken by mouth, in tablet or liquid form, but for rapid onset of action procyclidine and benztropine can be given by intramuscular or intravenous injection.

The Law Lords in June 1998 overturned the judgement in the matter of L. v. Bournewood. The Law Lords, on a majority decision, were of the opinion that a compliant incapacitated patient such as L. does not need the formal powers of the Mental Health Act and admission to hospital and subsequent assessment and treatment for mental disorder can be based on the common law principles of necessity. However, this position is quite contrary to the Appeal Court judges' view, “The right of a hospital to detain a patient for treatment for mental disorder is to be found in, and only in, the 1983 Act, whose provisions apply to the exclusion of the common law principle of necessity” (L. v. Bournewood Community Mental Health Trust, 1997).

The Internet has been likened to a vast unmanned, unmanaged library that never closes. Its files are stored on a global, interconnected web of about 43 million computers. One hundred and forty-seven million people worldwide use its facilities including 7.2 million people in the UK. In such a big place it can be difficult to find things. To avoid this we invite you to join our guided tour. This series will highlight some of the major sources of useful information and also direct you to resources that a lone visitor might overlook.

Sir: Szasz's views (Psychiatric Bulletin, September 1999, 23, 517–519) are both illogical and barbaric.