Clinical trials of both antidepressants and the antipsychotic olanzapine (Zyprexa) have yielded disappointing results, with no clear benefit of medications over placebo for the core symptoms of anorexia.

While culturally we have become more aware of the prevalence and consequences of bullying, it remains a significant problem and a frequent reason for presentation for psychiatric care. National surveys indicate that bullying affects up to 50% of students.

As summer wanes and children return to school, it is a natural time to reconsider the relationship of child psychiatry and the schools. Children have no choice but to return to school when the summer ends.

Head injuries occur in 110 to 400 out of every 100,000 adults each year, but are much more common in children—around 692 per 100,000 children younger than 15. Mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs in 75% to 85% of these cases.

Sometimes thyroid disorders present with psychiatric symptoms. With Graves’ disease behavioral manifestations are very common, and can be the presenting symptoms. In children, these manifest as moodiness, irritability, and labile behavior.

If you want to watch a new drug wend its way to market, you might start watching the literature for ABT-809, a nicotinic receptor partial agonist and proposed novel approach to the treatment of ADHD.

A long term study comparing patients with early onset psychosis to those with later onset psychosis may have some good news for child psychiatry. While previous studies have shown worse or equivalent outcomes for younger onset patients, this study demonstrated a protective effect.

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is the mainstay of OCD treatment and has been shown to be more effective and more durable than medication, but it can be insufficient.

Tourette’s syndrome is a disorder of both motor and vocal tics. If you see or hear both of these, you can make the diagnosis with confidence.

Habit reversal training (HRT) is a form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that systematically targets tics.