The Week in Review: March 25-29

This week, Psychiatric Times® discussed a wide variety of psychiatric issues and industry updates, from a promising new treatment for treatment-resistant depression to another look at the STAR*D controversy.

BPL-003: Rapid, Durable Treatment for TRD Sees Positive Phase 2 Results

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There are new positive initial results from Beckley Psytech’s phase 2a open label study of BPL-003—a novel, synthetic, intranasally administered benzoate salt formulation of mebufotenin—in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). A single 10 mg dose of BPL-003 resulted in rapid, durable depression symptom reduction in patients living with TRD.

The open-label phase 2a study investigated the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of the 10 mg dose of BPL-003 accompanied by psychological support in participants with moderate-to-severe TRD who were not taking antidepressants. During the study, 12 participants were dosed and 11 met analysis criteria. Investigators followed participants for 12 weeks after dosing and assessed them multiple times using the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Continue Reading

The Clubhouse Model for Depression and Serious Mental Illnesses

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Psychiatric Times® sat down with Jeanie Tse, MD, senior medical director at Fountain House, to discuss the Clubhouse model of psychosocial rehabilitation and its benefits for patients with depression and other serious mental illnesses (SMIs).

Psychiatric Times: What is the Clubhouse model? How does it work, and how does it benefit patients with SMI?

Jeanie Tse, MD: The ​​Clubhouse model of psychosocial rehabilitation uses community as a therapeutic modality to support recovery from SMI. The community is intentionally designed for and by its members—individuals living with SMI—who work side-by-side with staff in a non-hierarchical environment where everyone works to operate the Clubhouse together. Continue Reading

The Invisible Wounds of Palestinian Children

Photo courtesy of Mimi Farajallah

Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip experience complex continuous trauma (CCT), which refers to prolonged and repeated exposure to multiple traumatic events or experiences, often at the beginning of early childhood and continuing over an extended period of time. Unlike single traumatic incidents, CCT involves ongoing and cumulative stressors that can overwhelm an individual's ability to cope and adapt.

CCT can have profound and lasting effects on various aspects of a child’s psychological, emotional, and social functioning, often resulting in complex posttraumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) symptoms and difficulties in forming healthy relationships or maintaining a sense of safety and stability. Continue Reading

STAR*D: It’s Time to Atone and Retract

Modern medicine refers to practicing medicine based on evidence derived from sound scientific research. To be an excellent physician, one must perhaps master the art of medicine—but to be a good physician, one must know the science of medicine.

Since the 19th century, psychiatry as a medical specialty has, at times, struggled to meet the scientific rigor expected. This is in part due to the complicated nature of the system studied by the psychological sciences and the difficult task of understanding that system when disease sends it into disarray. Continue Reading

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