What Psychiatrists Should Know About Sleep Medicine

Topics: Benzodiazepines | Practice Tools and Tips | Psychopharmacology Tips | Sleep Disorders

Benzodiazepine Use and Alzheimer’s Risk

Topics: Benzodiazepines | Dementia

If you’re like most psychiatrists, you get your fair share of older folks who come into the office complaining of difficulties with sleep or with significant symptoms of anxiety. In many of these cases, after an adequate workup, it’s not unusual to use at least a short course of benzodiazepines such as Restoril or Ativan. We’ve known for some t

Alcohol and Benzodiazepine Detoxification

Topics: Addiction | Benzodiazepines | Substance Abuse

Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Mood Disorders

Topics: Benzodiazepines | Hypnotics

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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

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

Benzodiazepines: A Guide to Safe Prescribing

Topics: Anxiety Disorder | Benzodiazepines

Most of us who prescribe benzodiazepines (BZs) have a love-hate relationship with them. On the one hand, they work quickly and effectively for anxiety and agitation, but on the other hand, we worry about sedative side effects and the fact that they can be difficult to taper because of withdrawal symptoms. We also fret about BZ dependency, tolerance, and

Update on Medications for PTSD

Topics: Anxiety Disorder | Benzodiazepines | Free Articles | PTSD

While psychotherapy remains the gold standard for treatment of post traumatic stress disorder (see for example, Foa EB et al, Effective Treatments for PTSD: Practice Guidelines from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. New York: Guilford Press; 2008), medications are often used to alleviate the symptoms of the illness. Since we last v

Benzodiazepines are Bad. Or Are They?

Topics: Benzodiazepines

Nobody doubts that benzodiazepines (“benzos” or BZs) are effective in treating a wide range of anxiety disorders, but many believe that they are addictive, difficult and perhaps dangerous to stop taking, and that they cover up anxiety instead of truly treating it. Well, how valid are these concerns? After all, benzos offer some unique advantages: th