The Psychosis Prodrome

Topics: Antipsychotics

Nearly all psychiatrists have met with an adolescent or young adult patient who was depressed and anxious, with some odd ideas or experiences—no florid psychosis, but perhaps with a family history of psychosis—and wondered, “Is this patient headed for schizophrenia?” Similarly, most clinicians have seen patients with schizophrenia who went witho

Atypical Antipsychotics: Where is the Science, Where is the Evidence?

Topics: Antipsychotics

Any psychiatrist who has practiced during the last decade has probably written more than a few prescriptions for an atypical antipsychotic. But do these drugs provide any clear advantages over their predecessors? This is a question that is best answered by science, not by anecdote or by popular impression. Unfortunately, good science on this topic is ha

Old Versus New Antipsychotics

Topics: Antipsychotics

Some Popular Antipsychotics May Not be Effective in Patients over 40

Topics: Antipsychotics

Subject: Antipsychotics Short Description: Some Popular Antipsychotics May Not be Effective in Patients over 40 Background: Atypical antipsychotics are widely prescribed for a number of psychiatric diagnoses, but their real-world effectiveness has rarely been evaluated in anything other than short-term trials. A recently published study finds t

The Psychopharmacology of Anxiety Treatment in Children and Adolescents

Topics: Antipsychotics | Anxiety Disorder | Benzodiazepines | Child Psychiatry

Anxiety disorders are common in young people, affecting 4%–7% of children (Ipser JC et al, Cochrane Review 2010;Issue 6), and can cause a plethora of symptoms and impairments—from aggression and suicide to social withdrawal, school failure, and poor physical health. While OCD and PTSD have been addressed in previous issues (see CCPR, June 2011 and C

Effective Psychotherapies for Childhood Anxiety

Topics: Antipsychotics | Anxiety Disorder | Benzodiazepines | Child Psychiatry

Anxiety disorders are prevalent and heterogeneous. They include generalized anxiety—characterized by excessive worry; panic disorder—characterized by an exaggerated physical and emotional fear response; and the various phobias of social interaction (social phobia), of being separated from a caregiver (separation anxiety), of speaking (selective muti

Treating Anxiety in Children and Adolescents

Topics: Antipsychotics | Anxiety Disorder | Benzodiazepines | Child Psychiatry

Off-Label Use of Antipsychotics Effective for Some Indications

Topics: Antipsychotics | Dementia | OCD | PTSD | Substance Abuse

Sleeping Pills: Which Ones for Which Patients?

Topics: Antidepressants | Antipsychotics | Benzodiazepines | Hypnotics | Mood Stabilizers

Insomnia is one of the most common comorbidities you’ll see in your depressed and anxious patients (Becker PM and Sattar M, Curr Treat Options Neurol 2009;11(5):349–357). But it is often misunderstood. Over the last several years there has been a shift in how we conceptualize insomnia co-occurring with psychiatric disorders. While the common view is

The Carlat Guide to Medications Used for Insomnia

Topics: Antidepressants | Antipsychotics | Benzodiazepines | Hypnotics | Mood Stabilizers | Natural Medications

This handy table lists the medications most often used to treat insomnia. Click here to see table

Switching Antipsychotics Reduces Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Topics: Antipsychotics

Is One Antipsychotic Just as Effective as Two?

Topics: Antipsychotics | Research Updates

Latuda: “Procognitive” or Pro-Profit?

Topics: Antipsychotics | Free Articles

Lurasidone (Latuda) was approved by the FDA for schizophrenia in October 2010 and is the 10th atypical antipsychotic in our toolbox, believe it or not! Just to refresh your memory, the order of introduction of atypicals was: clozapine (Clozaril), risperidone (Risperdal), olanzapine (Zyprexa), quietiapine (Seroquel), ziprasidone (Geodon), aripiprazole (A

Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenia

Topics: Antipsychotics

Lately, you’ve probably seen a lot of articles in the journals (not to mention in the journal ads) about targeting cognition in schizophrenia. Latuda (lurasidone), the latest FDA approved antipsychotic, is being talked up to have “pro-cognitive” effects—whatever that means. (See accompanying article by Dr. Sewell for a review of lurasidone.) In

Attenuated Psychosis Syndrome

Topics: Antipsychotics

Antipsychotics May Shrink Brains of Schizophrenics

Topics: Antipsychotics

Are Depot Antipsychotics More Effective than Oral Meds? Maybe

Topics: Antipsychotics

Atypicals No Better Than Typicals in Depression with Schizophrenia

Topics: Antipsychotics

Long Acting Injectable Antipsychotics: A Primer

Topics: Antipsychotics

They used to be called “depot” antipsychotics, but the powers that be have renamed them “long acting injectables” (LAIs), presumably to help remove some of the stigma associated with their use. But no matter what you call them, suddenly every drug company is racing to introduce its own LAI neuroleptic. In 2009 Janssen introduced Invega Susten

Management of Antipsychotic Induced Weight Gain

Topics: Antipsychotics

Antipsychotics are effective at many things, including inducing weight gain. For example, a study of 90 adolescents started on atypical antipsychotics for a variety of diagnoses found significant weight gain in 70% of patients, on average about 12 pounds (Mareno C et al, Bipolar Disord 2010;12(2):172–184). In addition to the metabolic risks, obesity c