Buprenorphine (Suboxone and others) is an effective medication for treating patients with opioid addiction. Research has shown that it works better than standard psychosocial or “abstinence-based” treatments. But is the cost of the drug worth the extra therapeutic benefit?
New technology has brought with it a new addiction. Clinicians may now face the challenge of how to treat the growing problem of internet addiction, where patients experience online-related, compulsive behaviors that interfere with daily life, work, and relationships.
Concerns about the safety of psychiatric medications during pregnancy are common among psychiatrists and patients alike. In many cases, one must weigh the risks of a medication to mother or child against the risks inherent in untreated mental illness. Recent research, however, lends support to the growing data about the safety of antidepressant medications in pregnancy.
Several past studies have investigated a possible link between infections during pregnancy and psychiatric illness in the offspring. These studies may be biased, however, by poor recall or by a clinical, as opposed to serological, diagnosis of infection in the mother. A recent study attempted to overcome this bias by measuring influenza antibodies—a more precise manner of identifying influenza exposure—drawn from the mothers of bipolar offspring.