James Phelps, MD

Treatment decisions lie on a continuum—befitting a dimensional approach to diagnosis.

Exploring cognitive biases toward the DSM and their avoidable effects on treatment decisions.

Despite recent advances in research on bipolar disorder, it remains a complex and even mysterious condition.

Whatever the etiology, some extreme views come very close to the behaviors of bipolar mania, as illustrated in a recent documentary.

Let us look at two major trends in our evolving understanding of this complex mood disorder and its treatment, to wrap up 2018 and to consider the year ahead.

Three simple steps may better align your practice with available data on the efficacy and safety of thyroid supplementation in physiologic doses.

Dr Phelps puts thyroid dysfunction into clinical context for patients with comorbid mood disorders.

Old data have recently been gathered and systematically presented-reinforced by a new study, but perhaps contradicted by another. So it’s time to revisit this story.

A rare but serious reaction to this treatment can have immunological consequences. As with all medications, however, the latest alert does not change how psychiatrists manage the risks.

How many people who take an antidepressant truly have severe difficulties when they try to taper off? Or, is it “all in their mind”?

When the treatment doesn’t work, consider the options. Or, question your diagnosis.

Transcranial direct current stimulation delivery systems differ from one another in design, action, and results. One has been shown to be significantly better than sham treatment for bipolar depression. What does this mean for clinical practice?

This statin shows promise in reducing symptoms of bipolar disorder and depression. Still, one must be cautious and think through the treatment plan for each patient.

A working model that explains how a single shift can produce seemingly opposite symptoms.

“We were surprised to find that SSRIs and other antidepressants aren’t very effective at keeping depressed patients out of hospital.”

Questions and caveats about dosing remain.

Which is more important, for whom?

We are using 4 different approaches to bipolar diagnosis, according to the author of this commentary.

A spectrum approach to diagnosis.

A window into what your colleagues actually think and do.

Do you think you have all the answers? For this quiz, you do.

One of the many facets of bipolar disorder is an energy problem-including at the neuronal level.

What is the possibility that the very illness we’re trying to improve is getting worse-with treatment?

Look how close we are to the ideal: free online bipolar psychotherapy that is as effective as seeing a live therapist.

Is dysphoric hypomania a phase of mania itself? Or does it represent a descent into a mixed state?

A brief overview of the many trials that have asked this weighty question.

Treatments for borderlinity and bipolarity are quite different. What if just 3 items from a standard screening questionnaire could increase your diagnostic certainty by 30%?

Is it time to think outside the light box for treatment of seasonal depression?

A new protocol makes light therapy an option for patients with bipolar depression.

Be cautious: not all obsessive thinking is OCD.