Additional Titles & Roles
- Consultation Psychiatry
- Psychiatry-Oncology
- Forensic Psychiatry
Education & Training
- Residency: Johns Hopkins University, 1999
- MD: University of Kansas, 1995
Major Awards
- Outstanding Clinical Faculty Educator, University of Missouri School of Medicine, 2015
- Excellence in Research Mentoring, University of Missouri School of Medicin, 2015
- Winner, Eric Hoffer notable book award for “We Came in Peace for all Mankind”, 2009
- Mitchell B. Balter Award for Antipsychotics and Risk of Breast Cancer Study, 2023
Areas of Clinical Interest
Extreme Overvalued Beliefs
Oncology/ Breast Cancer
Forensic Psychiatry
Research Interests
While the definitions of delusion and obsession are familiar to most psychiatrists, overvalued ideas are less known, but are a key aspect of phenomenology in threat assessment. An important characteristic seen in mass shooters is fixation. Fixation is defined as an increasingly pathological preoccupation with a person or a cause. It typically causes deterioration of social and occupational functioning.
Dr. Rahman has been researching the concept of extreme overvalued beliefs. An extreme overvalued belief is a fixation that is shared by others in a person’s cultural, religious, or subcultural group. The belief is often relished, amplified, and defended by the possessor of the belief and should be differentiated from an obsession or a delusion. The belief grows more dominant over time, more refined and more resistant to challenge. The individual has an intense emotional commitment to the belief and may carry out violent behavior in its service.
Dr. Rahman has also conducted grant funded research on antipsychotics and breast cancer. Although no clear causal link between antipsychotic use and breast cancer has been established, antipsychotics that raise serum prolactin levels are associated with a higher risk of breast cancer than antipsychotics that produce smaller increases in prolactin levels. All women age =40 should be offered a referral to a clinic that can provide screening mammography.
Key Publications
- Rahman T, Ash DM, Lauriello J, Rawlani R, (2017 Oct). Misleading Guidance From Pharmacogenomic Testing. Am J Psychiatry. 174(10): 922-924.
Read publication »Misleading Guidance From Pharmacogenomic Testing. - Rahman T, Clevenger CV, Kaklamani V, Lauriello J, Campbell A, Malwitz K, Kirkland RS, (2014 Jun). Antipsychotic treatment in breast cancer patients. Am J Psychiatry. 171(6): 616-21.
Read publication »Antipsychotic treatment in breast cancer patients. - Rahman T, Resnick PJ, Harry B, (2016 Mar). Anders Breivik: Extreme Beliefs Mistaken for Psychosis. J. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law. 44(1): 28-35.
Read publication »Anders Breivik: Extreme Beliefs Mistaken for Psychosis. - Rahman T, Grellner KA, Harry B, Beck N, Lauriello J, (2013 Oct). Infanticide in a case of folie à deux. Am J Psychiatry. 170(10): 1110-2.
Read publication »Infanticide in a case of folie à deux. - Rahman T, (2019 Apr). Should Trackable Pill Technologies Be Used to Facilitate Adherence Among Patients Without Insight? AMA J Ethics. 21(4): E332-336.
Read publication »Should Trackable Pill Technologies Be Used to Facilitate Adherence Among Patients Without Insight? - Rahman T, Meloy JR, Bauer R, (2019 May). Extreme Overvalued Belief and the Legacy of Carl Wernicke. J. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law.
Read publication »Extreme Overvalued Belief and the Legacy of Carl Wernicke.
Funded Research Projects
Siteman Investment Program- Antipsychotics and Breast Cancer (PI)