Topics: Genetics and Psychiatry

In psychiatry, personalization is largely based on “pharmacogenetics,” the selection of medications based on genetic factors associated with drug response and tolerability. Could your patient’s genetic code predict which medications you prescribe?

Topics: Sleep Disorders

In the wake (pun intended) of last year’s FDA warnings of next-morning impairment and the lower dosing recommendations for “Z drugs,” wouldn’t now be the perfect time for a new hypnotic to enter the marketplace?

Topics: Genetics and Psychiatry

Get insight into the uses of pharmacogenetic testing in psychiatry, in an interview with psychiatrist Steven Hamilton, MD, PhD.

Topics: Antidepressants | Research Updates

Brief depression screening questionnaires are popular, especially with primary care providers (PCPs). However, a new study suggests that PCPs who use these questionnaires might be prescribing antidepressants to patients who don’t need them.

Topics: Research Updates | Seasonal Affective Disorder

Sunshine and other forms of bright light are considered to be helpful for depressed patients. Patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) feel better as the days lengthen, and bright light therapy is effective for the depression in patients with and without SAD. However, seasonal studies of suicide have found that the prevalence is highest in the spring, which is counterintuitive if we consider light to be an antidepressant.

Topics: News of Note

If you thought schizophrenia was a single disorder, new research suggests that you may need to rethink this point of view.