Ross J. Baldessarini, MD, PhD

The goals of psychotherapy education in medical school should be based on these seven ideals.

A diminished interest in psychotherapeutic interventions runs the risk of missing patients' emotional, social, and practical needs (including medication-modifiable symptoms) and, thus, less clinically responsible care.

Mood switching is not uncommon and it is much more prevalent in depressed juveniles than in depressed adults, and there is a large apparent excess of antidepressant-associated switching over reported spontaneous diagnostic changes to bipolar disorder. Details here.

Major mood disorders have been associated with increased suicidal behavior. This is especially true in patients with a mixed, manic-depressive, or dysphoric-agitated state.