Scopolamine is an anticholinergic most often used in patch form to prevent sea-sickness or post-surgical nausea. A recent double-blind, placebo-controlled trial looked at intravenous scopolamine’s effects as a treatment for unipolar depression.

We have often heard that bipolar disorder is frequently underdiagnosed, leading to inappropriate treatments. This idea has been confirmed in several studies, but the plot has thickened—research also suggests that bipolar disorder is being overdiagnosed in some settings.

In June 2009, TCPR devoted an entire issue to generic medications. We concluded that ...

After reading these articles, you should be able to…

Download and print this contract for your patients on Suboxone.

Opioid drugs represent one of the great triumphs of medicine, because they are extremely effective at relieving pain. Since the 1960s, multiple forms of synthetic opioids have been introduced, including such wellknown drugs as hydrocodone (Vicodin) and oxycodone (Percocet, Oxycontin).

If you are a typical psychiatrist practicing in a setting other than a substance abuse clinic, chances are good that you rarely order drug testing on most of your patients. But should you be doing this more?

Motivational interviewing is really a way of talking to people that calls forth their own motivations for change. Instead of telling them that they need to change, it’s a way of encouraging them to want to change.

In 2005 and 2006, two trials showed a substantial advantage for quetiapine (Seroquel) over placebo for bipolar depression. Based on these trials, which were known by the acronym BOLDER I and II, quetiapine received an FDA indication for the condition.

The early detection of schizophrenia is a hot topic in psychiatry. If we could detect schizophrenia during the “prodromal” phase, before overtly psychotic symptoms became problematic, perhaps early intervention could prevent or delay the onset of full-blown schizophrenia.