When It’s Complicated: A Case-Based Approach to Accurately Diagnosing and Effectively Treating Complex Mood Disorders

Joseph F. Goldberg, MD

Overview: In this session, Dr. Joseph Goldberg will help psychiatrists accurately diagnose and treat complex mood disorders shaped by mixed features, anxious distress, agitation, and attentional complaints. The program begins by examining DSM-5 specifiers and the prevalence, clinical correlates, and prognostic significance of mixed and anxious presentations in major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. Next, the presentation will distinguish psychomotor agitation from mania and akathisia, clarify why attentional complaints do not necessarily indicate ADHD, and review diagnostic features that differentiate bipolar disorder from other psychiatric conditions. The activity will also evaluate evidence supporting antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and serotonin-dopamine antagonists/partial agonists across mixed and anxious depressive presentations.

Through clinically focused evidence and case-based guidance, participants will learn to identify treatment targets, recognize treatment-emergent activation and discontinuation symptoms, select mechanistically coherent therapies, and deprescribe ineffective or destabilizing medications. The session will emphasize measurement-based care and individualized treatment decisions aligned with illness polarity, clinical course, prior response, tolerability, and patient priorities.

Industry Session^†: Managing Depression in MDD (Adjunctive) & Bipolar I Patients

Break

The Lifespan of Bipolar Disorder: Personalizing Treatment Based on Age and Disease State

Roger S. McIntyre, MD, FRCPC

Overview: In this session, Dr. Roger McIntyre will help psychiatrists recognize and manage bipolar spectrum disorders across childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood. The program begins by examining how bipolar symptoms and treatment priorities change across developmental stages and disease phases. Next, the presentation will review strategies for distinguishing episodic mania from ADHD, chronic irritability, anxiety, unipolar depression, and normative mood variability. The activity will also address depressive mixed features, antidepressant-associated risks, common psychiatric comorbidities, and clinical tools that support accurate diagnosis.

Through clinically focused evidence and case-based guidance, participants will learn how to select acute and maintenance treatments according to episode polarity, illness severity, developmental stage, prior response, adverse-effect risk, and patient and family preferences. The session will emphasize mood stabilization before treating persistent comorbid symptoms, along with longitudinal monitoring of sleep, activation, suicidality, functioning, metabolic effects, and medication-specific safety measures.

Industry Session^†: More information to come

Live Panel Q&A