This Month in Psychopharmacology

Risk of Akathisia Differs Among Antipsychotics and Dosage
September 16, 2023

Akathisia is a movement disorder that consists of increased motor activity and inner restlessness. Drug-induced akathisia is a common side of antipsychotics and varies by antipsychotic. A recent study investigated the relationship between akathisia and the doses of various antipsychotic medications...

Updates to DSM-5-TR Criteria and Text
September 13, 2023

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) released DSM-5-TR™ Update, a supplement to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR). The supplement reflects approved updates to diagnostic criteria and related text, as well as...

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Sleep Disturbance May Predict Increased Risk of Suicidal Thoughts
September 12, 2023

It is well established, as illustrated in the figure above, that abnormalities in the circadian sleep/wake cycle can lead to impairments across a broad spectrum of physiological and mental functions. New research suggests poor sleep may also act as an acute risk factor for suicidal thoughts the next day among young adults already vulnerable to suicide...

Written Exposure Therapy for PTSD
September 10, 2023

Posttraumatic stress disorder is relatively common among military veterans and typically requires lengthy interventions to treat. These interventions involve 8 to 15 sessions and last between 60 to 90 minutes and utilize between-session assignments. ....

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Integrating Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Into Primary Care Settings
September 7, 2023

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is undertreated even though there are effective medications for OUD (e.g., buprenorphine, naltrexone). A recent study evaluated the challenges and experiences faced by multidisciplinary primary care teams during the process of integrating MOUD into their practice...

Brain Volume Patterns Vary Across Psychiatric Disorders
September 5, 2023

Differential diagnosis of, and perhaps development of effective treatments for, psychiatric conditions would certainly be easier if we had reliable biomarkers such as neuroimaging. Unfortunately, such biomarkers do not currently exist; in the treasure hunt for a neuroimaging biomarker for a specific psychiatric illness, there is no..

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CDC Estimates Suicides in U.S. Reached All-Time High in 2022
September 1, 2023

Provisional data released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that in 2022 there were 49,449 deaths from suicide in the United States. These data are quite disheartening especially given that deaths by suicide had declined in 2019 and 2020, only to rise by 5% in 2021; the provisional 2022 data represent a further 2.6% increase. When demographic data are evaluated, it can be seen that suicide death rates increased in...

Phase 3 Study Finds Subcutaneous Ketamine Safe and Effective in TRD
August 30, 2023

Major depressive disorder is a significant global health concern, ranking as the second leading cause of disability. Despite multiple attempts with standard treatments, about one-third of individuals with major depression do not experience remission. This condition, known as treatment-resistant depression (TRD), emerges when two or more treatments fail to provide relief. Ketamine has emerged as a novel and effective intervention for TRD due to its rapid action and high efficacy...

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FDA Approves Multiple Generics of ADHD and BED Treatment
August 28, 2023

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved several first generics of Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate) capsules and chewable tablets for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in patients six years and older and moderate to severe binge-eating disorder (BED) in adults...

Duration of Adjunctive Antidepressant Maintenance in Bipolar I Depression
August 24, 2023

Antidepressants are commonly prescribed to treat acute depressive episodes in bipolar disorder, but their role as maintenance therapy has not been extensively studied. A recent paper published in the New England Journal sought to examine the efficacy of antidepressants as maintenance treatment after the remission of depression...

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