ADHD

The evidence showing a relationship between mental disorders in childhood and adulthood has increased in the last several decades.

The psychiatric community has a need for diagnostic and predictive tests. Some recent techniques have just become available for clinical care.

A House committee is seeking to prohibit FDA members who have a financial interest in a company proposing a new drug (or in its competitors) from voting on new drug approvals from that company.

autism, mirror neuron defect

The use of psychiatric medications in children, including antidepressants (such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and drugs used to manage attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, are continuing to be reviewed by the FDA.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs for children won't require . restrictive black box labeling, as the FDA has reversed its earlier ruling.

A second opinion on the need for new warnings on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs from the FDA advisory committee contradicts The Pediatric Advisory Committee recommendation.

Pediatric psychosomatic research shows that emotional, behavioral, and psychiatric symptoms are found more often in children and adolescents with chronic illnesses than in healthy children.

Delirium must be diagnosed accurately, prevented, and treated because of its pervasiveness and the associated risks of morbidity and mortality.

There is a tendency to avoid psychiatric medications during pregnancy, but the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in pregnant women means that women and their physicians must make impromptu decisions regarding the initiation or continuation of drug therapy.

ADHD, epilepsy, depression

Each year, more than 2 million individuals in the United States sustain a traumatic brain injury. Increased vigilance for previously undiagnosed or incidental TBIs in general mental health populations may lead to more effective clinical management.

The recent evolution of neuropsychiatry/behavioral neurology as a subspecialty represents a paradigmatic shift regarding the responsibility of psychiatrists in diagnosing and managing behavioral disorders with concomitant and demonstrable brain pathology such as dementia or head injury. This authors define the clinical usefulness of electroencephalography in evaluating neuropsychiatric disorders.

Sleep-associated movement disorders are common in the general population. When patients complain of sleep disturbance, psychiatrists should consider,and question for, features of nocturnal movement disorder.

cognitive enhancement, cosmetic neurology

Parkinson disease, addictions, pathologic gambling

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental conditions in the general population, including in children and adolescents. Young people can present with a pattern of anxiety symptoms somewhat different from that typically seen in adults. One of the most common aspects of this difference is that children (especially younger ones) may not report overt worries or fears, but instead manifest pronounced physical symptoms.

Pavuluri MN, Birmaher B, Naylor MW. Pediatric bipolar disorder: a review of the past 10 years. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2005; 44:846-871.

There has been increasing interest in the overlap between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and substance use disorders. Pharmacotherapeutic treatment of ADHD in children reduces the risk for later SUD in adolescence and adulthood. In contrast, medication treatment of substance-abusing adolescents with ADHD does not reduce the SUD. Diagnostic and treatment strategies for adults with ADHD plus SUDs are discussed.

Research Review: Update on Child and Adolescent ADHD

sleep apnea

Published a decade ago, the original National Comorbidity Survey focused largely on anxiety and depression. In an exclusive interview, the survey's designer, Ronald C. Kessler, Ph.D., talks with Psychiatric Times about the just-published replication study, which found that the combined lifetime prevalence of impulse control disorders is higher than that for either mood or substance use disorders.

In recent years, depression and stress have emerged in the discussion of the impact of psychosocial aspects on coronary heart disease. Several studies indicate that these factors result in risk elevation comparable to hypercholesterolemia and hypertension.

The incidence of polypharmacy is on the rise, and with the increase comes a greater risk of drug-drug reactions. One survey estimated that patients seeing a psychiatrist may be six times more likely to receive multiple psychotropic medicines compared to patients seen by a primary care physician. This article provides an overview of the extent of polypharmacy, the factors driving the phenomenon and issues clinicians should consider when treating patients who are already taking medicines for other illnesses.

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.