Psychopharmacology

Opening certain potassium channels in the brain reduces depressive symptoms and anhedonia.

A quick primer on nomenclature, issues to consider, and switching.

Prazosin appears to be effective and perhaps the best medication for selected patients, including those with bipolar disorder.

Enlightening survey results reveal what psychiatrists think about medical marijuana/cannabis use, how or whether to discuss with their patients, and what biases might get in the way of such conversations.

Cannabis use has prompted symptoms such as dizziness, sleepiness, and fatigue in older patients. Are there any benevolent effects?

Multidisciplinary insights on helping patients with ADHD during the COVID-19 pandemic, medication abuse, and other factors affecting care.

The war experiences of physicians and scientists shaped their research agendas.

What is the long-term, real-world effectiveness of pharmacotherapies for schizoaffective disorder? An investigation into 2 nationwide cohorts of patients living with schizophrenia provides new details.

If patients decline electroconvulsive therapy, psychiatrists still have many good options.

Aducanumab is named 1 of the 5 “Drugs to Watch” for 2021.

Does switching antipsychotics quell weight gain in patients with severe mental illness? A meta-analysis of 59 relevant studies provides insights.

It is important to monitor and alter psychotropic medications and dosages in older patients as needed. This slideshow serves as quick reference on the effects of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes in the elderly.

Are current systems of mental health care alienating children and adults from the meaning inherent in their own emotional difficulties?

A study finds that testing genetic variations can predict outcomes and medication blood levels in patients with depression.

How often do your patients share with you the positive and negative effects of medications?

This comprehensive approach for assessing and addressing potential cardiac complications before prescribing psychotropics can enhance care.

Psychiatrists who prescribe certain medications need to mitigate cardiac risks.

As we learn about the effect of COVID-19 on patients with bipolar and other psychiatric disorders, clinicians should be prepared to ask questions to uncover new syndromic behaviors.

Why are serum levels so important?

Research on a new kind of cannabis treatment prepares to move forward.

As physicians first, psychiatrists must consider the big picture, without reflexive and thoughtless prescriptions for psychotropics—even if many, including medical professionals, assume that is all we do.

Nearly half of the prescriptions for benzodiazepine among older adults are potentially inappropriate, so how best to do no harm?

As our knowledge about herbal cannabis, the endocannabinoid system, and cannabinoid pharmacology expands, should psychiatrists discuss these issues with their patients?

Although botulinum toxin does not have regulatory approval for the treatment of depression in the United States, some reports indicate neurotoxin treatment may mitigate symptoms.

Be on the lookout for these novel psychoactive substances.