Top Psychiatry Searches in 2019

Cannabidiol As An Adjunctive Treatment For Schizophrenia. Cannabis continues to be the most commonly used illicit drug in the US. However, the potential beneficial effects of CBD on cognition in patients with schizophrenia have critical importance, since cognitive deficits are common in schizophrenia (up to 75%-85% of patients), usually precede other symptoms, and respond minimally to the available pharmacological treatments.

More Reasons For Concern About Adolescent Cannabis Use. Cannabis is a widely used drug of abuse in adolescents. With legalization of marijuana, adolescent cannabis use may increase. More details in this article by Karen Wagner, MD.

Immunotherapy as Personalized Medicine for Schizophrenia? The investigation of immune system abnormalities in schizophrenia, though ongoing for decades, has received significant renewed interest, stimulated in part by our increased understanding of brain-immune interactions that occur in other chronic medical disorders. Two compelling case reports provide additional evidence for potential mechanistic associations between the immune system and schizophrenia.

Battered Woman Syndrome: Is It Enough for a Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity Plea? Twenty-five years after the Lorena Bobbitt trial, the case gained a renewed interest this year. A look back shows how far we have-and haven’t-come in conceptualizing sexual violence.

Depression’s Journey From Monoamines to Glutamate. Psychiatry has finally crossed into a new paradigm in the treatment of TRD, bringing the glutamate system on board to join the modulation of the monoamine systems. March 5, 2019, turned out to be an important day for psychiatric providers as well as individuals suffering from treatment-resistant depression. This was the day that esketamine (Spravato) was FDA-approved as an intranasal spray to combine with a traditional oral antidepressant to treat individuals that, despite aggressive and adequate traditional psychopharmacological treatments, remained severely depressed. There are many stories within this story explored in this article.

6 Ways to Protect the Kidneys While Prescribing Lithium.When lithium works in bipolar disorder, it tends to work for the long term. That’s a good thing for the 30% to 40% of patients with bipolar disorder who are lithium responders. It means they can stay well longer with fewer medication changes. They can also benefit from the medical benefits of lithium, which include a lower risk of stroke, heart disease, cancer, neurologic illnesses, dementia, and all-cause mortality. Unfortunately, all of these benefits come at a cost to the kidneys.

Sex Addiction: Playing Now in Theaters. In recent years, efforts have been made to conceptualize sex addiction. Kafka proposed diagnostic criteria for hypersexual disorder (HD), presented as a non-paraphilic sexual disorder with an impulsivity component. In one description, persons with HD display an uncontrolled urge to engage in repetitive sexual behaviors (from cybersex to pornography), often in response to dysphoric states or stressful life events, and experience distress or impairment in function. HD was a new disorder proposed for inclusion in DSM-5. However, the diagnosis was rejected because of the lack of a general consensus in the psychiatric field. More in this 2018 piece.

An Integrated Care Approach to Identifying and Treating the Suicidal Person in Primary Care. Although psychiatrists may be better trained to treat patients with suicidal thoughts, most patients with suicidal ideation are receiving care outside of specialty psychiatric settings and can benefit from interventions in primary care.