Major Depressive Disorder

Medication and psychotherapy or counseling can be safely and effectively combined in patients with substance use and other psychiatric disorders. Differentiating between substance-induced psychiatric disorders and pre-existing psychiatric disorders facilitates the successful treatment of dually diagnosed patients. Find out what the latest research offers in the prognosis of psychiatric disorders and substance use.

Treatment with psychopharmaceuticals may prove problematic for pregnant women. The decision to discontinue medications or to adjust dosages to minimize the risk to the fetus has to be addressed. The dynamic balance of treatment options, maternal concerns and practitioner responsibility depends upon staying abreast of the latest research in psychopharmacology and pregnancy.

The threat that a patient may commit an act of violence challenges psychiatrists to wrestle with the legal system as they attempt to successfully build a therapeutic alliance. Patient history, solid medical care, and the duties to warn and to protect must be successfully balanced to navigate the crossroads between psychiatry and the law.

Two new studies have raised questions about the placebo effect in clinical trials. Issues of methodology must be examined and the changing trends of placebo responses need to be evaluated.

Despite the widespread, long-standing notion that pregnancy is a time of happiness and emotional well-being, accumulating evidence suggests that pregnancy does not protect women from mental illness. Like their nonpregnant counterparts, pregnant women experience new onset and recurrent mood, anxiety and psychotic disorders.

There is no doubt that the number of applications for disability is rising. How should psychiatrists deal with patients who ask for disability without compromising the therapeutic alliance or the goals of therapy?

Patients with Alzheimer's disease and psychosis often have a more severe course of illness, with higher incidence of caregiver burden and hospitalization. Differentiating this disorder from Alzheimer's disease uncomplicated by psychosis is key to maximizing more positive outcomes.

While the deaths of several students have figured prominently in recent news, studies show that college students actually have a lower rate of suicide than their nonstudent peers. What can be done to lower suicide rates even further?

Deficient omega-3 fatty acids can result in myriad pathological changes including altering the central nervous system. Their balance or imbalance changes receptor function, prostaglandin and cytokine production. Understanding the roles of these essential fatty acids is vital to remedying the fatty acid abnormalities found in a number of psychiatric disorders.

Treatment successes can be hampered by treatment-refractory mood disorders. Nine key concepts are outlined to help guide the treatment of these patients.

Addiction-as-disease or addiction-as-choice may be better defined by delineating initial experimentation with addictive drugs from ongoing drug use. Repeated exposure to addictive substances changes the molecules and neurochemistry of the addict. Addiction-as-disease accepts the responsibility of the health care professional to treat the patient and precludes the stigmatization that addiction is a choice.

Many patients, particularly those living in colder climates, can suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD). What causes SAD and what are the treatment options for these patients?

College students are far less likely to kill themselves than are nonstudent peers, according to a 10-year research study examining suicide rates at 12 Midwestern campuses.

More women than men are diagnosed with depression. Yet, men who are troubled by depression are also more likely to die, even when suicide is removed from the factors of consideration. Vascular depression, hyperintensities within the brain, physiological changes and late-life onset provide both insight and more questions into the nature of depression and this enigmatic paradox.

Noting the frequent unresponsiveness of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to standard drug treatments, Stein and colleagues reported results of the first double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of an adjunct to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for the treatment of this disorder.

The slight difference between antidepressant and placebo has been referred to as a "dirty little secret" by researchers, a secret that was believed by FDA officials to be "of no practical value."

Many adolescents experience depressive symptoms and some have episodes that go beyond transient feelings. Risk factors and predictive strategies are thwarted by the power of individual differences. Communicating with patient families; using the available innovative pharmacological, diagnostic and behavioral tools; and individualizing treatment approaches can improve outcomes.

Catatonia is found in at least 10% of patients admitted to acute psychiatric services, so any young patient with stupor, unexplained excitement or persistent motor signs should be formally assessed for this syndrome. From among the 20 to 40 now-identified features of catatonia, its proper diagnosis must be differentiated from other mental illnesses.

Serotonin, the prefrontal cortex, and the amygdala interact with one another in the emergence of impulsive aggression. Which pharmacological and psychosocial treatments prove most effective?

Migraine is characterized by episodes of headache with qualities such as unilateral location, throbbing pain and aggravation by routine physical activity. Additional symptoms include nausea, photophobia and phonophobia. Some patients have aura symptoms, usually visual, before the headache phase (Davidoff, 1995). Prodromal and accompanying symptoms of migraine attacks often are psychiatric in nature, such as depression, elation, irritability, anxiety, overactivity, difficulty thinking, anorexia or increased appetite. In some patients, an organic mental syndrome can be part of a migraine attack (Davidoff, 1995). In other patients, an acute psychotic condition is the dominating clinical feature. This presentation, with paranoid delusions, hallucinations and anxiety, has been described in families with hemiplegic migraine (Spranger et al., 1999). Migraine is, therefore, an important differential diagnosis in relation to episodic phenomena with a mixture of somatic and psychiatric symptoms. In addition, psychosocial stress is the most common precipitating factor for a migraine attack (Davidoff, 1995).

After numerous hospitalizations, electroconvulsive therapy and a battery of drug trials, a college senior remained suicidal. Looking for advice on her patient, a psychiatrist brought the case to a team meeting, only to be told by a senior colleague, "You can't save them all."

Migraine is characterized by episodes of headache with qualities such as unilateral location, throbbing pain and aggravation by routine physical activity. Additional symptoms include nausea, photophobia and phonophobia. Some patients have aura symptoms, usually visual, before the headache phase (Davidoff, 1995). Prodromal and accompanying symptoms of migraine attacks often are psychiatric in nature, such as depression, elation, irritability, anxiety, overactivity, difficulty thinking, anorexia or increased appetite.

Psychiatrists, neurologists, primary care physicians, physician assistants, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, social workers and other mental health care professionals. Continuing education credit is available for most specialties. To determine if this article meets the requirements of your specialty, please contact your state licensing board.

There is no question that psychotherapy and psychopharmacology can be successfully integrated. Indeed, there are still many psychiatrists left in this country who talk to patients and families, provide both psychotherapy and psychopharmacology, and care for patients in a biopsychosocial context.

How has the emphasis on economics and mental health care affected the quality of care? Has it improved under managed care? Implementing prevention strategies and improved quality, although initially costly, may save money in the long term.

In the 1800s there was widespread concern over the increase in the number of individuals with severe mental illnesses. Evidence from the 20th and 21st centuries is building that shows a similar trend. Why, then, is this increase not being currently addressed?

A report released by former Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., outlines the disparity in mental health diagnoses and treatment between majority and minority ethnic groups. The report also discusses ways of closing the gap in mental health treatment.

Many options exist for the pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders. Are some more appropriate under certain conditions or for some patients? Mechanisms and efficacy of medicinal treatments, as well as some common herbal remedies, are reviewed.

Compared with Caucasians, African Americans receive an excess of schizophrenia-spectrum diagnoses. Potential explanations for the ethnic differences in clinical assignment of psychiatric diagnoses are reviewed.

Social anxiety disorder, the third most common mental disorder, is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. A leading expert on SAD provides an overview, including highlights of the barriers to diagnosis, a differential diagnostic approach and treatment options for social anxiety disorder.