Topics: Laboratory Testing in Psychiatry | Practice Tools and Tips

It’s easy to order labs—it’s the interpretation that’s difficult. In this article, we’ll review some of the more common labs you are likely to order as psychiatrists and give you some tips on interpreting them, as well as discussing what (if anything) you should do when a lab is abnormal.

Having a heart attack is depressing. Systematic reviews have found that depression increases the risk of future development of heart disease by 64% (Wulsin et al., Psychsom Med 2003;65: 201-210). But what do these facts mean in the terms of treatment?

Dr. Yohanan, as an internist specializing in geriatric medicine, you see many patients with “metabolic syndrome.” But there is a great deal of confusion out there as to what metabolic syndrome actually is, and whether that term remains useful.

Topics: Psychotherapy

Over the past several months, we have reviewed several articles that have endorsed cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of depression. In some cases, CBT has appeared even more effective than antidepressants, at least for the long-term prevention of relapse. But now, along comes a paper that appears to show that CBT isn’t particularly effective after all.

Topics: Child Psychiatry

Do stimulants cause serious cardiac problems in children? It is a controversial topic—and not just among psychiatrists.