News

Discovering the biological basis of major depressive disorder (MDD) could lead to improved medication and therapeutic treatment for patients with this condition. To date, the cause of MDD is not well understood, but researchers believe that elevated levels of the brain serotonin, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), may play a role.

Maintaining abstinence from alcohol "one day at a time" may be easier with appropriate treatment, but even with the best treatment it can become more difficult as the days add up.

Bulimia nervosa is a disorder with a complex cause. The disorder is most commonly seen in women, generally with onset in adolescence.

A syndrome described as purging following the ingestion of normal or small amounts of food in normal-weight persons has gained increasing attention in the field of eating disorders. Various terms have been used in the literature for this newly characterized syndrome, with purging disorder and eating disorder not otherwise specified-purging (only), or EDNOS-P, used most frequently.

Patients' beliefs about antidepressant drugs are a key factor driving adherence to therapy. According to a recent study, beliefs about efficacy and adverse effects, along with demographic attributes, are among the factors affecting antidepressant adherence.

Psychiatry has seen a transition from art to science in the past century and, largely because of 2 developments in the past several decades, this has also been the case for the field of eating disorders.

In this overview of pica, we review its causes and prevalence. In addition, we discuss some of the associated complications as well as current treatment strategies.

Although several antimanic agents are available to treat individuals with bipolar disorder (BD), many patients have a less than satisfactory response or experience adverse effects.1 With the exception of lithium, all of the current antimanic agents are either anticonvulsant or antipsychotic drugs. It is remarkable that no drug has been developed specifically for BD, especially because this illness was conceptualized more than a century ago.

This article discusses the role of µ-opioid receptors (MORs) in antidepressant treatment and major depressive disorder (MDD). Specifically, it focuses on how the endogenous opioid system affects response to pharmaceuticals.

Since the discovery of dopamine as a neurotransmitter in the late 1950s, schizophrenia has been associated with changes in the dopaminergic system. However, the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia cannot explain all the symptoms associated with this disorder. Therefore, research has also focused on the role of other neurotransmitter systems, including glutamate, g-aminobutyric acid, serotonin, and acetylcholine (ACh) in schizophrenia.

The vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT) is a membrane-embedded protein that transports monoamine neurotransmitter molecules into intraneuronal storage vesicles to allow subsequent release into the synapse.1,2 By accumulating both newly synthesized neurotransmitter molecules and freshly returned neurotransmitter molecules from the synapse, VMAT function plays a critical role in the signaling process between monoamine neurons. The VMAT exists in 2 distinct forms: VMAT1 and VMAT2.3

Everyone would probably agree that the practice of clinical psychiatry has changed profoundly over the second half of the past century. One of the most remarkable changes has been the rapid development and expansion of clinical psychopharmacology, which has become, like it or not, a dominant part of the clinical practice of most psychiatrists. Available treatments for mental disorders changed and our armamentarium broadened. We have numerous medications for psychiatric disorders. We even use medications for disorders traditionally considered only amenable to and suitable for psychotherapy.

The modern era of psychopharmacology is only 60 years old, having begun with the discovery of the psychotherapeutic benefits of reserpine, lithium, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and chlorpromazine in the late 1940s and early 1950s, which was followed a few years later by the synthesis and testing of the tricyclic antidepressants and benzodiazepines.

If you had asked me a year ago if I could have faced what I am about to describe and come out on the other side I would have said "Hell, no!" It has been a year of pain and struggle, and although certain parts cannot be changed, I still think that if things had been handled a little differently I might not have gone through some of what I did. Here is my story.

"I've lost my interest in sex." As psychiatrists, we hear this concern (if we ask) from women in a variety of situations: those who are depressed, postpartum, menopausal, traumatized, and those who have been treated with psychotropic medications. Thankfully, we have many interventions, both behavioral and pharmacological, to use in addressing sexual issues.

The expression "quality of life" is an intuitively familiar and popular concept, and it epitomizes the public's hopes and expectations. In clinical settings, it demands the inclusion of patients' feelings, attitudes, and opinions in medical decision making.

Vietnamese Amerasians and the former political prisoners of South Vietnam are living legacies of the Vietnam War. Now that many live in the United States, it is important for psychiatrists to have an understanding of their life experiences and be able to recognize psychiatric disorders that are common among them.

The ocurrence and severity of anxiety disorders have been correlated with fluctuations in female sex steroid levels in both epidemiological and experimental studies.1-5 Female reproductive hormones play a role not only in the development and course of anxiety disorders but also in treatment response.

Suicide is a devastating, tragically frequent outcome for persons with varying psychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia. An estimated 5% to 10% of persons with schizophrenia commit suicide and 20% to 50% attempt suicide during their lifetime.1,2 Patients with schizophrenia have more than an 8-fold increased risk of completing suicide (based on the standardized mortality ratio) than the general population.3

The cultural and demographic profile of the United States is undergoing a rapid transformation. In many areas of the country, there is no longer an ethnic majority but a multiplicity of racial and cultural groups.

A variety of conditions may account for the sleep difficulties experienced by many older adults, including specific sleep disorders, circadian rhythm disturbances, and medical and psychiatric comorbidities.

The 1994 death of Nicole Brown Simpson and the subsequent highly publicized murder trial of her ex-husband, O.J. Simpson, brought increasing national attention to the problems of domestic violence and intimate partner murder. In 2000, there were 1247 female victims of intimate partner murder in the United States.1 Fully one third of female murder victims were killed by an intimate partner.1 On the positive side, rates of female victimization by intimate partner violence and murder appear to have decreased in the recent past.

"Jack" has been in our emergency department at least 100 times in the 4 years I have worked at the Veterans Affairs Hospital. I first encountered him in the medical ICU, where he was hospitalized multiple times with chest pain and ECG changes after cocaine binges.

An international team of experts recently proposed expanding the diagnostic criteria for several subtypes of bipolar disorder, adding a pediatric bipolar disorder category and eliminating the schizoaffective disorder category.

Medical journals have a unique image in the US health care system. Because most of them adhere to a strict system of critical peer review, they are often seen as unimpeachable sources of accurate information about the safety and efficacy of new medications.

Recently, a number of studies have examined the characteristics of early-onset schizophrenia spectrum disorders and medication treatment for youths with schizophrenia.

Why is it that experiencing a new love relationship or coping with a severe crisis has such different outcomes for different persons?

Over the past 2 years, I have struggled with my dual role as a resident and a mother. My husband and I moved to the United States in 2002 with high hopes and expectations.

The Supreme Court's 2006 decision in Clark v Arizona1 was one of the most unexpected defeats the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has had since it began regularly submitting amicus briefs to the Court 35 years ago.

Nearly one sixth of the world's population has experienced mass violence, be it abducted Ugandan children who are forced to commit atrocities against their families and serve as child soldiers or Iraqi civilians who daily live with bomb blasts, killings, and sectarian violence.