Psychiatric Times Vol 19 No 5

Ask me about power and I'll tell you cigar smoke, the way it darkens like a thunderhead

The increased money being spent on marketing pharmaceuticals directly to patients is raising questions. Are patients indeed benefiting by becoming more aware of their health, or are they simply being used as a target market for the latest drug?

Patient Drug Information From Mass Media Sources

New medications for the treatment of various addictions are currently under investigation. However, there are still substantial barriers, on the part of health and social policies and the patients themselves, to patients receiving these new treatments. Many of these issues were explored at the 2001 American Society of Addiction Medicine's State of the Art in Addiction Medicine conference.

Several confounding factors need to be taken into account before labeling a patient as treatment-resistant. What options are available for treating a patient with schizophrenia who has been diagnosed as such?

Although treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder has improved, a large percentage of patients do not respond to pharmacological therapy. What familial or comorbid factors might influence the outcome for these patients?

For various reasons, up to half of patients stop taking their prescribed antidepressant within three months. Side effects are often the biggest obstacle in maintaining treatment adherence. How can clinicians help patients deal with the sexual dysfunction and weight gain that often accompany psychotropic treatment?

There is a range of meaning that underlies patients' violent acts against themselves. The usefulness of so-called "safety contracts" to actually predict suicidal behavior is questioned.