News

Below is an editorial (with the above title) taken from the newsletter of the Society of Biological Psychiatry and written by its editor Stephen M. Strakowski MD.

The misdiagnosis of rape as a mental disorder has been a forensic disaster-allowing the widespread misuse of involuntary psychiatric hospitalization to facilitate a form of questionably constitutional preventive detention. Fortunately, there is now considerable hope that this sad episode will soon come to a much needed end.

I do not hear loud applause for our current antidepressant armamentarium. I believe I hear the sound of one hand clapping.

I have previously framed a series of questions inviting Professor McGorry to state clearly his current positions on: the accuracy and suitability of attempting to predict psychosis; the types of preventive interventions that he believes are indicated and those (perhaps antipsychotics) that clearly are not . . .

A meta-analysis of the Omega-3 fatty acid EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) as therapeutic supplement for major depression followed the above study online September 6 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

"I'm all over it, because I'm looking for something to help," declared Army Vice-Chief of Staff General Peter W. Chiarelli, quoted in USA Today News September 20, in his response to a study finding an increased risk of suicide in US military personnel with low Omega-3 fatty acid serum levels.

Custody disputes often produce anxiety for all involved. Whether you are a treating child psychiatrist or custody evaluator, it is imperative to have a clear idea of your role.

With all the justifiable concerns about our next DSM, I frankly have more concerns about treatment. After all, diagnosing is really most important as far as it leads to the necessary treatment to help the patient.

Substance use disorders are associated with significant morbidity and mortality that affects individuals and their families. Preventing the onset of an SUD in adolescence remains a critical area of clinical and public health significance.

Freedman, Forman and Nelsen bloggers

The diagnosis of T1DM can be devastating to both the child and family. Because of the potential for immediate life-threatening complications of poorly controlled diabetes, family members must readjust their approach to daily living.

A depot antipsychotic regimen is less likely to be discontinued than an oral dosage form . . .

Increased activity of the enzyme phospholipase A2 (PLA2) has been documented in schizophrenia and is now reported to occur in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy . . .

A bidirectional relationship between schizophrenia and epilepsy emerged from an analysis of a health insurance database . . .

Depression, anxiety, and delirium are 3 examples of common but frequently challenging areas of distress in pediatric palliative care patients.

The articles in this Special Report reinforce the lesson that children come with parents. This is one of first lessons that I teach my residents: you can’t work with a kid in a vacuum. Parents who do not feel some connection with a caregiver will not bring their child to treatment or follow the recommendations of the treatment team.

This column has always been about the world of molecular mental health research. I revisit the technology in this column, now aimed at one of molecular neuropsychiatry’s most intractable, frustrating lines of research: the molecular/cellular basis of schizophrenia.

What follows is an excerpt from Dr Knoll’s introduction to his series Tales From the New Asylum, several of which are posted on his blog.

On the wide range of symptoms in schizophrenia, including alterations of the dopaminergic and/or glutamatergic systems, abnormal neurodevelopment, and the theory of immune system imbalance.

An initiative from the BRIDGE study group has determined that approximately half of patients presenting with a depressive episode are mistakenly diagnosed with unipolar major depression.

blog title

I don’t like to use the worn out word . . . “bruise” in my poems, but this morning . . . one appears on my inner thigh

Several available agents in addition to methylene blue are being investigated for bipolar disorder and were in a in a recent review.

A New Study Looks at What Works-And What Doesn’t

Depression, PTSD, panic disorder, and abuse of alcohol and drugs are more insidious, quieter forms of illness that can cause the same desperation and disability as psychotic disorders.

A study presented by Canadian investigators at the 24th Congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) in Paris, September 5 evaluated whether methylene blue can reduce residual symptoms of depression and mania in bipolar disorder.

“The e-mail earnings . . . the enduring, rewarding relationships you’ve always wanted . . . a higher sense of purpose and life satisfaction . . . less stress . . . overall happiness.” All this in just 2 convenient 50-minute sessions!

What is associated with increased suicidal risk in soldiers? In what group is the incidence of postpartum depression highest? These questions and more in this quiz.

Are antidepressants active placebos or lifesavers? Are they overprescribed? Are clinical trials of these drugs insufficient?

Mental health reform is one of the world’s “grand challenges.” Mental, neurological and substance-use (MNS) disorders constitute 13% of the global burden of disease, surpassing both cardiovascular disease and cancer.