Bipolar Disorder

On November 21, 2011, John Oldham, MD, president of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), wrote a response letter to Don W. Locke, EdD, president of the American Counseling Association, who had some concerns with proposed revisions for DSM-5.

The articles by Arline Kaplan and Hagop Akiskal, MD, in the November 2011 issue of Psychiatric Times highlight the race to patent bio-tests for schizophrenia and depression.

Currently, there are 350,000 Americans who receive maintenance dialysis for renal failure, and this predominantly elderly population with multiple comorbidities is growing.

Biomarkers for mental disorders is a field whose time has come. Optimists will say within a few years, pessimists might say a decade or beyond.

The petition to reform DSM-5 continues to gain momentum. In its first full week, more than 2300 people have already expressed their disapproval of the DSM-5 proposals and their desire to see dramatic changes. And the numbers are growing each day.

On the BSDS what score range indicates that there is a moderate probability of bipolar spectrum disorder? During euthymia, bipolar patients may have chronic impulsivity that predisposes them to aggression-especially those with comorbid features of which disorder? These questions and more in this quiz.

In Part 3 of this 3-part series, Dr Dilsaver discusses dichotomization versus a continuum model and concerns that bipolar disorders are over-diagnosed.

A recent front page story by Shari Roan in the Los Angeles Times explores the heated controversy over the DSM-5 proposal to include a Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD) in DSM-5. I very much oppose the inclusion of this new "disorder."

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

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 . . .

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.

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

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.

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

Addressing the Underlying Causes of Treatment Resistance

Treatment of anxiety can be a challenge, since the mainstay of treatment may adversely affect the course of bipolar disorder.

Regretfully, if we are to judge the progress of DSM-5 by the incoherence of a recent commentary by the Chair and Vice-chair of the DSM-5 Task Force, we have a lot to worry about.

Hoarding has broad-reaching implications, including a substantial public health burden linked to occupational impairment, poor physical health, and demand for social services.

It is our responsibility as psychiatrists to educate the media and the public in general.

Dear Mrs. -- You have asked me about the cause of your mood disorder, and whether it is due to a "chemical imbalance."

I was ready. In my mind I rehearsed agreeable sermons about diet, exercise, and MMR vaccines I’d use to shepherd my courteous new patients to wellness. It’s like I wanted to replace my memories of psychiatric patients with the most wholesome medical facts.

Newly developed blood tests for schizophrenia and for depression designed to augment current diagnostic approaches have attracted increased attention at recent major scientific meetings.

Polypharmacy has become so ubiquitous that more accidental overdoses are now caused by prescription drugs than by street drugs. The question naturally arises whether this almost routine use of multiple psychotropic medications make sense?

Martin Whiteley is an MP who represents Perth in the Australian parliament. He has been actively involved in mental health issues and succeeded in a crusade to curb what had been Perth's alarming overdiagnosis and overmedication of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).