Bipolar Disorder

Oregon’s legislature has passed the bill: should the governor sign it? Most opinions on this issue are strong, and many have reached the point of invective. Even such a cool mind as Ronald Pies' has weighed in with an emotionally charged editorial.1 To speak in favor when so many are opposed seems only to invite more affective discharge. On the other hand, editorial views thus far may be moving us toward extremes on an issue that is highly complex. Perhaps a dialectic approach -– what value can we find in an opposing view? -- would be wise at this point. In that spirit, here are 4 considerations that I hope will be useful.

DSM-IV provides separate categories for Substance Abuse and Substance Dependence. The typical substance abuser is someone who gets into recurrent, but intermittent, trouble as a consequence of recreational binges. This is in contrast to the continuous and compulsive pattern of use that is typical of DSM-IV Substance Dependence.

I have been closely following the discussions of the proposed DSM5 in Psychiatric Times. Your publication of this discourse is a significant contribution to our field. As a research psychiatrist who has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers, I strongly support Allen Frances’ emphasis on the importance of continuity in diagnostic criteria for DSM5.

It is safe to say that few authors of mental health–related books would introduce themselves by presenting these credentials:

The issues being debated here have important long-term implications for psychiatry, and we are pleased to present these revised versions of 2 principal presentations.

Quick-which screening test or instrument has greater specificity for the target condition: the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test for prostate cancer, or the BSDS (Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale), for bipolar disorders?

Treating Child and Adolescent Mental Illness: A Practical, All-in-One Guide is just what its title promises: a clinically relevant, encompassing yet concise guide to child and adolescent mental health care. Dr Shatkin’s book serves as a useful primer for medical and mental health clinicians who do not specialize in the treatment of children and adolescents but who find themselves faced with the growing demand to provide mental health services to this sector. It is also a handy refresher for child and adolescent clinicians called on to treat disorders seen less often in their practices, as well as a reference for nonphysicians less familiar with psychopharmacological interventions.

While Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) broadens his conflict of interest (COI) investigations to include mental health leaders and associations, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), teaching hospitals, universities, and mental health organizations are intensifying their vigilance and taking corrective actions.

It is generally held that the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder (BD) are at risk for BD. The degree of risk is an important question for both clinicians and parents. A recent study of bipolar offspring by Birmaher and colleagues1 sheds light on this issue.

During my medical training in the early 1980s, I attended a Grand Rounds on health care reform. Sleep-deprived physicians-in-training are easily conditioned to snooze upright in their auditorium seats, and economics is not an interest of choice for me, but when the speaker told us that there would be no solution to rising health care costs except to fracture the bond between patient and doctor, I found myself engaging in nightmarish fantasies that in subsequent decades have come true.

The young adult years (18 to 29) are a critical time of transition, and they present unique challenges in regard to mental health issues and development. Until recently, most research has focused either on children and adolescents or adults. Grant and Potenza’s Young Adult Mental Health is a comprehensive text for clinicians and researchers who work with persons in the transitional period of young adulthood.

A pair of recent research articles has cast the public spotlight on treating schizophrenia in youths with antipsychotic medications.

In 2 previous editorials-“The ‘McDonaldization’ of Psychiatry” and “Doctor, Are You ‘Drugging’ or Medicating Your Patients?”-I focused on some serious problems in current psychiatric practice and on various shortcomings in our treatments. In the third “panel” of this editorial triptych, I want to take note of the considerable good that psychiatric treatment may bring to those who suffer with devastating illnesses.

You have prescribed an atypical antipsychotic for a patient who is undergoing psychotherapy. You need to check for signs of the metabolic syndrome with a physical exam. . . but is it ethical to touch the patient for this clinical purpose? Listen to ethicist Dr Cynthia Geppert examine the issues in her series “Living the Questions: Cases in Psychiatric Ethics.

The term “evidence” has become about as controversial as the word “unconscious” had been in its Freudian heyday, or as the term “proletariat” was in another arena.

What do we know about circadian rhythms and melatonin? And what further lessons do we need about circadian rhythms, light exposure, and melatonin to help our patients with disturbed sleep/wake cycles?

After formulating and signing “Melancholia: A Declaration of Independence,” an international cadre of psychiatrists recently launched a campaign to have the upcoming DSM-V recognize melancholia as a distinct syndrome rather than as a specifier for the mood disorders of major depression and bipolar disorder.

A study of the adverse effects of 4 second-generation antipsychotics in children and adolescents documented substantial weight gain during 11 weeks of treatment with each agent, with the increased abdominal fat that has been associated with development of metabolic syndrome in adults. Metabolic abnormalities emerged with 3 of the 4 agents, differing in type and severity with the agent and, in some cases, with the dose.

Results of a large study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health showed that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) might be equally effective in both patients with unipolar depression and those with bipolar depression. The study, led by Samuel H. Bailine, MD, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, NY, showed that the remission rate in both patient groups was higher than 60%.

Charles Bowden, MD, clinical professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, describes the management of patients with bipolar depression who are pregnant.

It is widely accepted that patients with schizophrenia have some degree of cognitive deficiency and that cognitive deficits are an inherent part of the disorder. Historically, there has been less focus on cognitive deficits in patients with bipolar disorder; however, numerous studies of cognition in patients with bipolar disorder, including several comprehensive meta-analyses of bipolar patients who were euthymic at the time of testing, have recently been undertaken.1-4 Each of these analyses found that cognitive impairment persists during periods of remission, mainly in domains that include attention and processing speed, memory, and executive functioning.4

Obesity has emerged as a significant threat to public health throughout the developed world. The World Health Organization defines overweight as a body mass index of 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m2 and obesity as a BMI of 30.0 kg/m2 or greater.1 Nearly two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese according to these criteria.2 Numerous health problems, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and cancer, are associated with obesity. In addition, overweight and obese persons are more likely than their normal-weight peers to have a variety of psychiatric disorders.

New compounds and novel applications for established products were evaluated in many of the clinical trials reported at the recent 49th annual NIMH-sponsored New Clinical Drugs Evaluation Unit meeting.

Award ceremonies abound, from the Oscars for film to the Clio awards for advertising, but none are as important to mental health and psychiatry as the NARSAD annual awards. NARSAD is a unique organization that is dedicated to mental health research, and the NARSAD awards are considered to be the most prestigious prizes in psychiatric research. On October 30, NARSAD presented its 22nd annual awards for outstanding achievement in mental health research. This year the prizes went to 8 distinguished scientists whose work is making a huge impact on the way psychiatric disorders will be diagnosed and treated.

Low levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar depression were shown to be associated with increased risk of suicide attempts. Hanga Galfalvy, PhD, assistant professor of clinical neurobiology at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, and her colleagues found that patients with the lowest levels of MHPG at baseline were more likely to commit highly lethal suicidal acts.

All pregnant women should be screened for bipolar disorder, according to a recent article by Verinder Sharma, MB, BS, professor of psychiatry and obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, and colleagues. This is because bipolar depression may be misdiagnosed as major depressive disorder in the postpartum period, resulting in delays in appropriate treatment.

Recent reports have noted an alarming decrease in the practice of psychotherapy among psychiatrists.

Charles Bowden, MD, clinical professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, describes the challenges physicians face when they treat patients with bipolar depression.

More than a thousand articles on mental disorders are published in medical journals each month! Also, clinicians have limited training, time, and inclination to keep up with reading research articles critically on a regular basis. Thus, a disturbing disconnect (for which there are no easy solutions) exists between clinical research and usual clinical practice.

Pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) is a serious psychiatric illness that impairs children’s emotional, cognitive, and social development. PBD causes severe mood instability that manifests in chronic irritability, episodes of rage, tearfulness, distractibility, grandiosity or inflated self-esteem, hypersexual behavior, a decreased need for sleep, and behavioral activation coupled with poor judgment. While research in this area has accelerated during the past 15 years, there are still significant gaps in knowledge concerning the prevalence, etiology, phenomenology, assessment, and treatment for PBD.