Informed Consent in Opioid Addiction Treatment: An Ethical Obligation

Topics: Addiction | Free Articles | Psychopharmacology Tips

Informed consent—whether it be for psychotherapy, prescribing a medication, or performing a surgical procedure—is an ethical principle firmly established in law and medicine. While there has been no formal research on this subject, my experience suggests that many addiction treatment programs fail to obtain valid informed consent. The starkest ex

Does the Transtheoretical Model of Change Work for Addiction?

Topics: Addiction | Free Articles | Substance Abuse

The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavior change has become almost universally accepted in addiction treatment. Like all dogmas, it is rarely critically examined, leading to blind belief and unskilled use. In a nutshell, the TTM assesses an individual’s readiness to both change problem behaviors and act on new, more positive behaviors. The model h

Treatment Interventions for Cocaine Addiction

Topics: Addiction | Free Articles

Relapse: Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It

Topics: Addiction | Free Articles

Relapse usually does not occur suddenly, nor do people plan their return to addictive substance use. From the client’s point of view, it just seems to happen. But there are always indictors that trouble is brewing. Early students of addiction—the members of Alcoholics Anonymous—noticed a paradox: people with substance use disorders often act in

Ketamine for Depression

Topics: Depressive Disorder | Free Articles

TCPR: Were any other medications given during the infusion in your study? Dr. Mathew: Participants in our study were washed off of any other psychotropic drug, including antidepressants, for at least a  seven-day period prior to infusion. And the reason for that was that we want to look at other biological measures such as neurotrophic factors and

Antipsychotics and Anticonvulsants for Anxiety Disorders

Topics: Anxiety Disorder | Free Articles

We know how frequently our patients complain of anxiety. Anxiety disorders are common, chronic conditions. They also increase the risk for mood and substance disorders, and complaints of anxiety are found in a wide range of other psychiatric and medical conditions, as well. Pharmacologically, the two pillars of anxiety treatment for several decades h

Diagnostic Comorbidity in DSM-5: More of the Same

Topics: Child Psychiatry | DSM | Free Articles

The epidemic of psychiatric comorbidity has been a problem since DSM-III appeared way back in 1980. Not much has been done to improve this area in the subsequent editions of the manual. Nonetheless, in this article we’ll explore psychiatric comorbidity in DSM-5: its origins, current status, and potential solutions for the next go-around. Comorbidity

DSM-5: Clinical and Financial Implications

Topics: DSM | Free Articles | Substance Abuse

The new DSM-5 will change the way clinicians diagnose substance use disorders (SUD) and could have far-reaching consequences for patients seeking treatment and clinicians and organizations offering that treatment. Various proposals for addiction were batted around during the DSM-5 revision process. The final version changed the diagnostic criteria for S

Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa [Free Article]

Topics: Eating Disorders | Free Articles

Video Game Addiction

Topics: Child Psychiatry | Cultural Competence | Free Articles

Video games have come a long way since Pac Man and Tetris. Games today simulate reality in massive user-generated worlds. Players chat by voice or text with people around the globe. Virtual characters work for gold, get married, become sick, and even host religious gatherings. Psychologically, games allow players to avoid real life while engaging and ev

Fighting in the Trenches: A Practical Guide to Violence Risk Assessment and Management

Topics: Free Articles | Practice Tools and Tips

Dealing with potentially violent patients is daunting, but we can play an effective role in assessing and reducing violence risk. In this article I’ll discuss some practical techniques to help you accomplish this in everyday practice. Documentation of Risk Assessment For starters, a systematic risk assessment should serve as a separately labeled

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Treatment Resistant Depression

Topics: Free Articles | Practice Tools and Tips

Subject: Depression Short Description: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Treatment Resistant Depression Background: We have an abundance of medications to treat depression, but “treatment resistance” remains all too common. Accordingly, there has been a rise in the number of “augmentation” or “adjunctive” medications to address this

Pharmacologic Treatment of Youth with Bipolar Disorder: Where to Next?

Topics: Bipolar Disorder | Child Psychiatry | Free Articles

Bipolar disorder presents unique pharmacologic challenges. Depending on the phase of illness a patient is in, the focus may be on acute manic or mixed episodes, acute depressive episodes, maintenance treatment (ie, prevention of recurrent episodes), and/or treatment of comorbidities, such as anxiety, ADHD, and substance abuse. Those treating children or

How You Can Use Positive Psychology in Your Practice [Free Article]

Topics: Free Articles | Psychotherapy

Eating Disorders as Addictions

Topics: Eating Disorders | Free Articles

FDA-Approved Medications to Treat Addiction

Topics: Free Articles | Substance Abuse

For decades, the principal treatment for substance use disorders has been psychological therapies. Twelve-step facilitation therapy, modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous, and motivational enhancement therapy are currently the two most widely used. Although disulfiram (Antabuse) hit the U.S. market in 1951, addiction pharmacotherapy was underwhelming fo

Alcoholics Anonymous: A Helpful Adjunct for Some Clients

Topics: Free Articles | Substance Abuse

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the biggest self-help group for alcoholics not only in the United States but in the world, was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson. Wilson—known as Bill W in keeping with the AA tradition of Anonymity—was a successful stockbroker who was also an alcoholic. He sought treatment in a New York City hospital twice. The secon

Video Game Addiction

Topics: Child Psychiatry | Cultural Competence | Free Articles

Managing the Risk of Prescription Drug Abuse

Topics: Free Articles | Psychopharmacology Tips

How Effective Are the Newest Antipsychotics?

Topics: Child Psychiatry | Free Articles | Personality Disorders

Four new antipsychotics are beginning to gain some traction in the adult market. To be absolutely clear, among these only paliperidone (Invega) has been approved for use in children and adolescents (those age 12 and older). None of the other medications have been tested in this age group. But for those of us who see transitional age youth to whom we pre