Clinical Psychiatry News articles from February 2009

Clinical Psychiatry News archives from February 2009

Incentives stem substance abuse.(NEWS)
February 1, 2009... BOCA RATON, FLA. -- Rewarding substance abuse patients with a prize, gift voucher, or other incentive to stay clean every time they abstain is a very effective way of weaning them from their addictions. Contingency management works:...

Treatment needed for soldiers who killed during war: study of 3,141 returnees is instructive.(NEWS)
February 1, 2009... CHICAGO -- Soldiers who killed as part of their deployment are at increased risk for mental health symptoms and related functional impairment, a study of 3,141 recent returnees from Operation Iraqi Freedom shows. Based on available data,...

Depot olanzapine moves toward approval in U.S.(NEWS)
February 1, 2009... CHICAGO -- Look for long-acting injectable olanzapine to soon join the growing ranks of atypical antipsychotic agents available in depot formulations. The Food and Drug Administration issued a complete response letter to Eli Lilly & Co....

Escitalopram, sertraline lead class for depression.(NEWS)
February 1, 2009... Escitalopram and sertraline were the most effective of a dozen second-generation antidepressants for treating major depression in adults, results of a review of randomized controlled trials that included more than 25,000 patients show. ...

Vital signs.
February 1, 2009... Psychiatry's Next Generation Is Predominantly Female Note: Age distribution is for 31,201 male and 17,739 female general psychiatrists and child psychiatrists in the United States in 2007. Source: American Medical Association

Americans' mental health needs unmet, report says.(NEWS)
February 1, 2009... Just 45% of the 24 million U.S. citizens who experienced serious psychological distress in the past year received any kind of mental health services for their symptoms, a new national report has found. Young adults bore much of the burden...

Making sense of the future.(EDITORIAL)
February 1, 2009... Since 1975, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has annually assessed the level of drug use among the nation's students--a bellwether population when it comes to drugs--through its "Monitoring the Future" survey. The 2008 results have been out...

Treatment costs really matter now.(Editorial)
February 1, 2009... It is no secret that the world currently faces a significant economic challenge. In my clinical practice, it is now common for my patients to comment on their personal economic concerns, and these concerns seem to be affecting their overall...

Correcting the record.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2009... I want to point out an important error that was published in CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY NEWS ("St. John's Wort for Depression," Evidence-Based Psychiatric Medicine, December 2008, p. 9). In the last paragraph, Dr. Jan Leard-Hansson and Dr....

Fink! still at large: people who suffer losses as a result of affinity fraud often struggle with the psychological ripple effects of such betrayal. What strategies can we use to help victims move forward?(OPINION)
February 1, 2009... Betrayal ranks high as one of the cruelest and most destructive of human behaviors. It can unleash intense feelings of anger, despair, and hatred in the victim, which could fester and intensify over time if it remains unresolved. Conversely, if...

Uptitrating escitalopram beats switch in MDD.(ADULT PSYCHIATRY)
February 1, 2009... CHICAGO -- Severely depressed patients who fail to respond to 2 weeks of escitalopram at 10 mg/day typically do better with uptitration to 20 mg/day for 8 weeks than with a switch to 8 weeks of duloxetine at 60 mg/day, according to a...

Antipsychotics: prescribe one at a time.(PRACTICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY)
February 1, 2009... Too many clinicians prescribe more than one antipsychotic at a time to patients with schizophrenia, a generally unhelpful and expensive practice. Only in rare, exceptional cases should simultaneous antipsychotics be tried when treating...

Atypicals often more costly in treating bipolar disorder.(ADULT PSYCHIATRY)
February 1, 2009... CHICAGO -- The use of atypical antipsychotic agents results in lower total costs than does traditional antipsychotics in patients with bipolar disorder only in the limited setting of a need to switch medications, a large, real-world...

Quetiapine XR appears effective, safe for GAD.(ADULT PSYCHIATRY)
February 1, 2009... CHICAGO -- Extended-release quetiapine monotherapy at 50 mg or 150 mg once daily is rapidly effective and well tolerated with minimal metabolic side effects in patients with generalized anxiety disorder, as demonstrated in a large phase III...

Early trauma is a strong predictor of CFS.(ADULT PSYCHIATRY)
February 1, 2009... Childhood traumas--especially sexual abuse and emotional maltreatment--are strong predictors of chronic fatigue syndrome in adulthood, researchers report. Moreover, childhood trauma also correlates with neuroendocrine dysfunction...

The psychiatrist's toolbox: my hopes for the DSM-V.(ADULT PSYCHIATRY)
February 1, 2009... You will be pleased to know that no matter how long you have been neurotic, you will no longer be neurotic by 1980." That's how I opened one of my syndicated daily radio programs one year before the DSM-III was introduced back in the late...

Evidence-Based Psychiatric Medicine: sexual abuse and self-injurious behavior.(ADULT PSYCHIATRY)
February 1, 2009... The Problem You have a patient who heats up the blade of a knife and then burns himself with the heated blade. He says he was sexually abused in childhood and asks whether there is a connection between the abuse and self-injurious...

Narrative exposure improves PTSD symptoms.(ADULT PSYCHIATRY)
February 1, 2009... CHICAGO -- Short-term narrative exposure therapy can be effective in treating posttraumatic stress disorder in child and adult survivors of war, even when carried out by lay counselors with limited training, new research shows. Narrative...

Burn victims at risk for PTSD, comorbidities.(CHILD PSYCHIATRY)
February 1, 2009... CHICAGO -- Young children experience traumatic stress reactions after a burn injury but also appear to be at risk of comorbid disorders, preliminary findings from a study in 135 children show. The study used two criteria to evaluate...

Rehabilitation promotes recovery in schizophrenia.(PREVENTION IN ACTION)
February 1, 2009... Psychiatric rehabilitation is an important but often overlooked component of managing--and sometimes preventing--prodromal schizophrenia symptoms. However, symptom control and relapse prevention should not be confused with recovery....

Many psychiatry residents face stress, career change.(PRACTICE TRENDS)
February 1, 2009... CHICAGO -- The majority of American and Canadian psychiatric residents feel stressed out--and one-quarter of those residents are contemplating a career change, a new survey suggests. Fully 56% of the 893 psychiatric residents who responded...

Privacy called top priority for personal health records.(PRACTICE TRENDS)
February 1, 2009... Privacy should be the top priority when developing certification criteria for personal health records, a task force created by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology has recommended. Adequate security and...

Lilly settles Zyprexa charges.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
February 1, 2009... As anticipated, Eli Lilly & Co. has agreed to settle various federal complaints about off-label promotion of its antipsychotic Zyprexa (olanzapine). Lilly pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for illegal...

Most favor family consent.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(Survey)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... University of Michigan health researchers say that a nationally representative survey of older adults shows that most believe it's okay for a family surrogate to give consent for a cognitively impaired person to be a research subject. The...

Mixed grades on Tobacco Control.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
February 1, 2009... In 23 states, smoking in workplaces and public spaces has been banned, but the pace of adoption of those life-saving prohibitions has slowed, according to the American Lung Association's annual State of Tobacco Control report. Only two states...

Jump in Singulair psych reports.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
February 1, 2009... Surging reports of aggressive and suicidal behavior associated with the asthma drug Singulair (montelukast) contributed to another high number of serious adverse events reported to the Food and Drug Administration in the second quarter of 2008,...

FDA posts guidance on handouts.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
February 1, 2009... The FDA has issued updated guidance for manufacturers that distribute journal articles or other scientific publications concerning off-label uses for their FDA-approved drugs, devices, or biologics. On its Web site, the agency suggests that...

FDA approvals increase.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
February 1, 2009... The FDA approved 21 new molecular entities and 4 new biologic drugs in 2008, compared with 17 NMEs and 2 biologics in 2007. Four of the 2008 approvals came in December. In 2006, the FDA approved 22 new drugs and biologics. Although the agency...

Darwin, Lincoln, and psychiatry.(THE ETHICAL WAY)
February 1, 2009... Is it a cosmic coincidence that we have just simultaneously celebrated the 200th birthdays of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln? Such connections make me wonder about our highest ethical ideals and potential as citizens, as politicians, as...

Milk and martyrdom.(REEL LIFE)
February 1, 2009... "Milk" is a biopic about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay American to be elected to a major public office, as a city supervisor in San Francisco, in 1977. Before that, Milk (Sean Penn) was nicknamed the "Mayor of Castro Street" (the main...

Drugs with potential Safety issues.(FYI)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... The Food and Drug Administration has posted on its Web site its first quarterly report that lists certain drugs that are being evaluated for potential safety issues. The drugs in the report, which is titled "Potential Signals of Serious...

Nominations for 'Voice Awards'.(FYI)
February 1, 2009... The Voice Awards are bestowed each year upon writers and producers who incorporate respectful, accurate portrayals of people with mental illness into film and TV. The awards also recognize mental health consumers who promote the recovery and...

Generic Wellbutrin approved.(FYI)
February 1, 2009... A generic equivalent of Wellbutrin XL has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The drug, bupropion hydrochloride extended-release tablets (XL), available in 150-mg and 300-mg doses, is made by Actavis Group. For more information,...

Cartoons for children with autism.(FYI)
February 1, 2009... The Transporters is a new series of cartoons that use animated cable cars to help children aged 2 to 8 with autism recognize emotions. After watching the DVD for 15 minutes daily for 4 weeks, most autistic children caught up with others in...

Book on Alzheimer's Disease.(FYI)
February 1, 2009... The National Institute on Aging has released "Alzheimer's Disease: Unraveling the Mystery," an illustrated 80-page book written for Alzheimer's patients, their families, health professionals, and students. The book is an update of the 2003...

TIP 24 Desk Reference in Spanish.(FYI)
February 1, 2009... The Spanish language version of the Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) 24 Desk Reference is now available to order. This guide--Guia de servicios para el abuso de sustancias para proveedores de atencion primaria de la salud--is a companion to...

Service integration and depression.(FYI)
February 1, 2009... People treated for depression in primary care clinics that provide a coordinated set of mental and physical health services do better and have fewer symptoms than do patients who are treated at sites that provide just health services, according...

Depression in veterans report.(FYI)
February 1, 2009... A new report from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health provides data on the prevalence of past-year depression among veterans aged 21-39. An estimated 25%-30% of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have reported symptoms of a...

Promoting innovation in financing.(FYI)
February 1, 2009... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has announced the creation of a new financing center of excellence. Through the center, SAMHSA will create a national network of expertise for generating new financing approaches and...

Medicare provider satisfaction.(FYI)
February 1, 2009... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has launched its fourth annual health care provider satisfaction survey of Medicare fee-for-service contractors. Medicare is sending the survey, designed to be completed in about 20 minutes, to...

Online SPD education.(FYI)
February 1, 2009... The Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation offers an online program about sensory processing disorder (SPD). The site allows users to learn strategies aimed at helping children manage SPD. For more information, visit the eLearning site at...