Harvard Mental Health Letter articles from May 2006

Harvard Mental Health Letter archives from May 2006

Drug treatment of bipolar disorder.
May 1, 2006... One of the most troublesome psychiatric disorders has begun to succumb, in part, to medications. Bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder is a challenge for physicians and psychiatrists because of its varied, severe, and constantly changing...

Epilepsy and psychiatric disorders.
May 1, 2006... It may seem strange, but there was a time when epilepsy was not clearly distinguished from psychiatric disorders. Psychiatry and neurology were not distinct professions, and the nature of epileptic symptoms was not well understood. Eventually...

In Brief; Treating depressed children: Limits of psychotherapy.
May 1, 2006... The largest pooled analysis of controlled studies so far has found that psychotherapy for childhood depression is only moderately and often temporarily successful, and that cognitive therapy is not more effective than other approaches. The...

In Brief; As a man (or woman) grows older...
May 1, 2006... A meta-analysis of 92 studies on adult personality development finds a pattern common to both sexes: Changes occur mostly in the 20s and 30s. The reviewers used the popular classification of personality traits based on the Five Factor...

Commentary; Caregiver stress: When helpers need help.
May 1, 2006... A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (February 16, 2006; Vol. 354, pp. 719-30) has called attention to the stress that results from caring for family members with medical and psychiatric illnesses. The evidence comes from an...