Depression

It was not until the introduction of this MAOI that the term “atypical depression” began to emerge to describe a particular variant of nonendogenous depression.

Identification of atypical features is important in the treatment of depression for both treatment selection and prognosis, especially when initial measures prove ineffective. The concept of atypical depression has evolved over many years, and now it appears timely for a further revision.

What are the options for treating major depressive disorder in children and adolescents? This case offers readers a chance to give their feedback and to interact with the authors, who will present teaching points based on your comments.

There are many rapidly effective treatments for mania in bipolar disorder. However, there are relatively few options for bipolar depression, and none that are rapidly effective-even though bipolar depression constitutes between 20% to 50% of all depressive disorders.

What are the advantages of adjunctive benzodiazepine therapy in comorbid depression and anxiety? Which therapy has the strongest evidence base for treating patients with late-life depression? These and more in this quiz.

Transphobia is rampant in the US. Transgendered and LGBTs are bullied and victimized at alarmingly high rates. How, then, to protect these people from physical harm and treat mental health concerns?

The role of subtyping and bipolarity in TRD was discussed in Part 1 of this 2-part article. Here we review a number of the most common confounding factors of TRD but limit our scope to comorbidities that can be directly addressed and treated by psychiatrists.

Two recent publications provide clinically relevant information about the risk to benefit ratio of antidepressants for the treatment of MDD in youths, adults, and the elderly.

Of the 3 informative articles included in this special geriatric collection, 1 offers a perspective on the treatment of depression that does not focus on somatotherapy. The others remind us of 2 additional geriatric Ds of importance: drugs and driving.

This article provides a practical overview of the available evidence-based treatment and discusses circumstances in which certain interventions may be preferred over others.

The FDA Neurological Devices Panel met to consider the Agency’s proposal to reclassify cranial electrotherapy stimulator (CES) devices to Class III with premarket approval.

There is rapidly escalating interest in drugs that target the glutamatergic neurotransmitter system, especially NMDA receptor modulators. The hope is that they will fill the large unmet need for rapid-acting antidepressant medications with efficacy in treatment-resistant depression.

Importantly for lay and clinician readers alike, the book Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety reads as humor-laced triumph with many lost battles along the way rather than enduring unrelenting tragedy.

Grief is the psychological, behavioral, social and physical reaction to a loss that is closely tied to a person’s commitment to heal.

Knowledge of how different antidepressants are likely to affect parameters of sleep can provide an important basis for selecting an appropriate antidepressant drug among the roughly 2 dozen marketed options to meet the needs of depressed patients.

Much of the controversy on the relationship between grief and depression following recent bereavement has focused on whether the so-called “bereavement exclusion” in DSM-IV should be eliminated, as some have proposed, in the DSM-5.

The New York Times ran a front-page story regarding numerous controversies surrounding the DSM-5, most notably, the issue of eliminating the so-called bereavement exclusion in diagnosing a major depressive episode. Here, Dr Pies responds to Dr John Grohol, Psychologist and Editor of the Psychcentral Web site.

Some say that study subjects who are not severely depressed may respond better to placebo than subjects who are severely depressed. Is the data thus unreliable?

In this clip from A&E's Hoarders, Dr Suzanne Chabaud counsels a family living in a hoarding household.

Medicare announced in October that it would pay for depression screening in primary care settings that have “staff-assisted depression care supports” in place to ensure accurate diagnosis, effective treatment, and follow-up.

The race to patent bio-tests for schizophrenia and depression: some say this initiative is destined to fail.

The goal of treating the whole patient, ie, integrating the mind-body connection into mental health care inititiatives, is to provide health care professionals with tactics to effectively identify interdependent conditions of the mind and body that impair psychiatric well-being, as well as strategies for successful treatment and management options in the clinical setting to improve patient care, outcomes, and overall wellness.

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.

Mood and cognitive disorders are major public health problems, and care for patients with such conditions is of growing importance as the population ages. Here, geriatric psychiatrist Jeffrey Lyness, MD, of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York offers teaching points about the evaluation of depression in older persons.

Researchers have tried lots of different kinds of tests from EEGs to blood-based biomarkers. Now genetic tests are a very popular means of trying to understand different psychiatric disorders.