Bipolar Disorder

What is comorbidity? Psychiatric comorbidity refers to the occurrence of 2 or more mental or substance use disorders within a certain period. Research shows that comorbidity of substance use and other psychiatric disorders is common and often worsens the prognosis for each disorder.

Considerable debate exists about the value and wisdom of initiating "definitive" pharmacotherapies, particularly antidepressants, in the psychiatric emergency setting. In this article, the nature and prevalence of medication prescriptions for patients discharged from an urban psychiatric emergency service (PES) and the extent to which pharmacotherapy initiation was predictive of patient follow-through with aftercare were evaluated.

This study determined the prevalence of at-risk drinking in a psychiatric emergency service (PES) and compared the characteristics and functioning of at-risk drinkers with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder with those of at-risk drinkers with depression or anxiety disorders. Of the adult patients who entered the PES and met study criteria, 148 had schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and 242 had depression or anxiety.

Panic disorder occurs in about 1 in 5 individuals who have bipolar disorder. Anxiety amplifies the distress caused by depression and mania, but pharmacological approaches are tricky and under-studied. Frequent comorbidity and evidence of a possible genetic relationship of bipolar and panic disorders are suggestive of a causal relationship between the 2. Thus, it may be fruitful to look more closely at evidence for common biological abnormalities in both disorders to find a pathophysiological mechanism that links mania, depression, and panic attacks. Mood episodes and panic attacks can both be modeled as the result of deficits in amygdala-mediated emotional conditioning. From this model, some insight may be gained for potentially helpful treatment strategies for the 2 disorders when they occur together.

The construct of bipolar spectrum disorder remains a work in progress. Its precise boundaries are still a matter of considerable debate. Some psychiatrists are convinced that it is widely overdiagnosed. It is possible that depending on the clinician and the clinical setting both views are correct.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality, especially in young adults. Recognition and early accurate diagnosis of neurobehavioral TBI sequelae are important in reducing the severity of postinjury symptoms. Sequelae of TBI include cognitive impairments, personality changes, aggression, impulsivity, apathy, anxiety, depression, mania, and psychosis.

Ronald Fieve and his colleagues were among the first to document milder versions of manic symptoms-hypomania-in the 1970s, observations that did not make it into DSM until 1994.This book appears mainly to be intended for families and patients; clinicians might find some parts simplistic and other parts informative.

Pathological gambling (PG) is characterized by persistent and recurrent maladaptive patterns of gambling behavior (eg, a preoccupation with gambling, the inability to control gambling behavior, lying to loved ones, illegal acts, and impaired social and occupational functioning).1 With past-year prevalence rates similar to those of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder,2 it is apparent that PG has become a significant public health issue. The aim of this article, therefore, is to introduce clinicians to the assessment and treatment of PG with the hope that early interventions will reduce the considerable personal and social costs associated with the disorder.

Studies have shown that many pharmacologic agents are effective in the treatment of acute mania and bipolar relapse education.

DVD Aims to Educate Clinicians, Patients on Borderline Personality Disorder

The Metabolic Syndrome and Schizophrenia: Clinical Research Update

Depression and Diet in Elderly Community-Dwelling Mexican and European Americans

Persons who have anxiety disorders commonly self-medicate with alcohol and other drugs, a recent survey confirmed. The results were published in the November 2006 issue of The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.

Clinical depression is an increasingly well-recognized sequela of epilepsy (see "Optimizing Treatment of Seizures by Addressing Psychiatric Comorbidities," Applied Neurology, August 2006, pages 41-42). Questions are therefore surfacing as to whether patients with epilepsy are being adequately identified and treated.

Intermittent explosive disorder (IED) is not yet on the radar screens of many psychiatrists, but it is more prevalent than panic disorder and warrants extensive research and attention, 2 experts on IED said recently.

Medications used in the treatment of bipolar disorder are commonly associated with weight gain. Antipsychotic drugs have been implicated in new-onset diabetes.

The prevalence of substance use disorders in patients with schizophrenia is greater than the rate observed in the general population, with a dramatic increase since the 1970s. Several theories exist to explain the high rate of comorbidity. The "self-medication" hypothesis suggests that persons may abuse substances to treat underlying psychotic symptoms or adverse effects of medications commonly used to treat schizophrenia.

Once his colleagues began to recover from the shock, the death of Dr Wayne S. Fenton triggered a discussion in the professional and lay press about the risks of violence to mental health professionals posed by mentally ill patients. Fenton was found unconscious and bleeding in his office in Bethesda, Md, on Sunday, September 3, 2006. He had been beaten severely around the head and died at the scene.

Upcoming recommendations from a bipartisan presidential commission on possible long-term changes in the Medicaid program have mental health advocates sitting on the edge of their seats.

Bipolar disorder is often seen as a perplexing illness by patients and clinicians alike. In recent years, there has been a growing appreciation in psychiatric circles of the disorder's prevalence. This increased attention has filtered its way down to the general public, which, in turn, has produced sometimes sensationalistic media portrayals of manic depression, a number of speculative books about historic figures and noted artists who purportedly had the illness, and an array of self-help books marketed to individuals (and their families) afflicted with the disorder.

Patients with a serious mental illness (SMI), such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, may underreport co-occurring medical conditions. Dr Amy Kilbourne and colleagues performed a cross-sectional analysis of 35,857 patients from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Registry to determine whether SMI patients were less likely to report a co-occurring medical condition. Results were published in the August 2006 issue of The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.

More than 1 in 20 adults nationwide suffer from compulsive buying, according to a telephone survey of 2500 adults. And contrary to popular opinion, “compulsive buying appears to be almost as common in men as in women,” according to Lorrin M. Koran, MD, first author of a recently published prevalence study of compulsive buying behavior in the United States. Six percent of women and 5.5% of men in the study reported symptoms considered to be consistent with compulsive buying disorder.

Despite the accepted validity of Hispanic as a distinct demographic and cultural category, we have only fragmentary evidence and scarce guidelines regarding the treatment of mentally ill Hispanic Americans. This article provides a brief review of the topics with the most clinical relevance to diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders in Hispanic Americans.

Several readers have responded with comments and concerns regarding my column, "Do Physicians Use Practice Guidelines?" Since the issues these readers raised are important and concern many psychiatrists, they merit some discussion.

A discussion of the intellectual, social, and historical similarities and differences between sacred texts and the DSM would require a full-length book, but we will concentrate here on 5 main aspects: controversy, communication, interpretation, change, and power.

In a recent article on genetic counseling in psychiatry, Christine Finn, MD, and Jordan W. Smoller, MD, ScD, noted that family and twin studies have documented the familiality and heritability of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, anxiety disorders, autism, attention-deficit/hyper- activity disorder (ADHD), and Tourette syndrome, among others, and that molecular genetic studies have begun to identify possible susceptibility loci for several of these disorders, most notably schizophrenia.

Investigational drugs and novel applications of established agents for psychiatric illness were described in a number of reports at the 46th annual NIMH-sponsored New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit (NCDEU) meeting in Boca Raton, Fla, June 12-15, 2006.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious illness involving multiple symptoms and mal adaptive behaviors. According to DSM-IV, “the essential feature of borderline personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects” (p. 650). This pervasive pattern of instability also applies to behaviors that are impulsive and potentially damaging, including excessive spending, sexual promiscuity, reckless driving, binge eating, and substance misuse.

Older adults have higher rates of suicide than younger adults in many industrialized nations.

Initial studies-such as the stepped collaborative care intervention, Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP), and German Algorithm Project (GAP) phase 2-predominantly investigated whether following an expert opinion–based clinical algorithm (irrespective of the content of the algorithm) led to a better outcome than treatment as usual did