Prevalence of depression in PD is estimated to range from 7% to 76%. The variation is largely attributed to the diversity of the populations under study, differences in the definition of depression, and the fact that some studies used point prevalence and other studies used monthly prevalence. Also, the prevalence of depression varies with fluctuations of cognitive status and other comorbidities that are an integral part of PD.
Depressive disorders and symptoms are common in cancer patients (up to 58% have depressive symptoms and up to 38% have major depression), worsen over the course of cancer treatment, persist long after cancer therapy, recur with the recurrence of cancer, and significantly impact quality of life.
This article focuses on data concerning the efficacy of mood stabilizers in the treatment of BPD.
Caregivers may face years of continuous exposure to physical and psychosocial demands with burdens that can include physical, psychological, social, and financial problems; embarrassment; overload; and resentment.
There is growing epidemiologic and clinical data that confirm progressive hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal hypofunctioning in aging men. What role does the HPG axis play in the complex psychobiology of male sexual and affective disorders? The treatment rationale, clinical indications and risks in using exogenous testosterone for late-life depression are explored.
Comorbidity of Dysthymic Disorders in Children and Adolescents by Atilla Turgay, M.D. Many patients with dysthymic disorders also have associated comorbid disorders. A detailed history will provide insight into the comorbidity profile, cross-sectionally and developmentally. Dysthymic disorder should be addressed clinically, as it may cause long-term chronic unhappiness and poor quality of life for the patient.
Migraine affects approximately 12% of the population, and a high percentage of these patients have comorbid psychiatric disorders. Knowing more about the interaction between headache and psychiatric factors can assist in evaluating and treating these patients.
In many preliminary studies, including one presented at the recent 2nd World Congress on Women's Mental Health, the naturally occurring steroid dehydroepiandrosterone has been shown to be an effective treatment for mild-to-moderate midlife depression. Questions remain, however, as to its mechanism of action, the risk of side effects and its interactions with medications.
Will the most effective treatments be available for your patients? Atypical antipsychotics and antidepressants that are being marketed or developed worldwide are reviewed.
Treatment successes can be hampered by treatment-refractory mood disorders. Nine key concepts are outlined to help guide the treatment of these patients.
Many adolescents experience depressive symptoms and some have episodes that go beyond transient feelings. Risk factors and predictive strategies are thwarted by the power of individual differences. Communicating with patient families; using the available innovative pharmacological, diagnostic and behavioral tools; and individualizing treatment approaches can improve outcomes.
Psychiatrists, neurologists, primary care physicians, physician assistants, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, social workers and other mental health care professionals. Continuing education credit is available for most specialties. To determine if this article meets the requirements of your specialty, please contact your state licensing board.
A recently published meta-analysis questions if efficacy data garnered from clinical trials is relevant to everyday clinical practice. The authors ponder if enough patients are being included, if they are being followed long enough afterward, and whether exclusion criteria are too broad?
Were you unable to attend the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in May? Read the first part in a series of summaries of important new research presented there.
Despite the development of better-tolerated antidepressants and more effective applications of nondrug modalities like cognitive-behavioral therapy, depressive disorders are often chronic or recurrent. The researchers point out that there has been relatively little evaluation of chronic depression, with most studies addressing short-term treatment of acute episodes.
Insomnia, the subjective sense of having inadequate quantity or quality of sleep, occurs in 20% to 35% of the general population. Not surprisingly, many insomniacs describe a variety of difficulties in their personal and professional lives.
New methods of conducting and evaluating research were as intriguing as their results at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-sponsored New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit Program's (NCDEU) 38th annual meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., June 10-13. The meeting has grown from a forum of NIMH-funded researchers reporting on their progress into a convention of approximately 1,000 clinicians, industry and regulatory personnel, and investigators marking the progress in psychopharmacology.
In the two years since receiving a $1.5 million private grant from William and Joy Ruane to study the effects of psychiatric medications in children and adolescents, the division of child psychiatry at New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI)-the nation's oldest psychiatric research facility-has opened a pediatric psychopharmacology research unit and established a federally supported research unit in pediatric psychopharmacology (RUPP), one of the first in the United States.
Is the rising use of psychotropic medication to treat anxiety and mood disorders incompatible with the psychoanalytic approach? As a psychopharmacologist and psychoanalyst who frequently provides consultation to analysts regarding medication for their patients, Steven P. Roose, M.D., has studied this question and presented his findings and opinions in various scientific papers, books and meetings.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults is a common-and, frequently undiagnosed-psychiatric disorder. This article will focus on the symptoms, associated features, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, prevalence, etiology and treatment of this illness.
