Today’s study looked at psychological factors that predict relapse into depression. They people who were recovered from depression and taking antidepressants along with healthy controls, nearly 200 in total. All the underwent a decision making test that asked them to exert effort─a button pressing task─to get rewards. The antidepressants were then discontinued and...

This study is the largest longitudinal study of cognition in lithium to date. Katherine Burdick and colleagues started with 262 patients with bipolar I – 64% were taking lithium [Link]. They made two key measurements, with the main limitation that neither were controlled. Here's the findings.Published On: 8/12/2020Duration: 2 minutes,...

Silexan, an extract from Lavender with pharmaceutical properties, is one of only two treatments with a large effect size in generalized anxiety disorder. We rank all the treatments by strength and look to see if any of them can work when the SSRIs do not.Published On: 8/10/2020Duration: 26 minutes, 2 secondsTranscript:How...

We always say that single positive studies need replication, and here comes one. In 2012 a randomized trial found that the combination of topiramate and adderall xr worked better than placebo at helping people with frequent cocaine use stay sober. This new study [Link] sought to replicate that, although it...

Dialectical Behavior Therapy ─ DBT ─ has become the gold standard for borderline personality disorder, and other therapies are starting to go head-to-head with DBT in clinical trials. We reviewed one that fared well, Good Psychiatric Management, in our Summer issue and a new one just came out of Australia in a study by...

Are the SSRIs really that different? If a patient doesn't respond to one will they respond to another? We sift through three decades of research to find answers.Published On: 8/3/20Duration: 19 minutes, 13 secondsTranscript: Tony Soprano: “Here we go, here comes the Prozac”Welcome to the Carlat Psychiatry Podcast, keeping psychiatry honest...

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) depends on the seizure threshold, so you don’t want to throw that off before starting it. Anticonvulsants and benzodiazepines are concerning, as are antidepressants. Although bupropion has a notorious risk for seizures, a recent meta-analysis of all antidepressants found buproprion’s risk was about average with the newer...

The Substance Abuse and Mental health Services Administration (SAMSHA) has changed their laws around the release of substance use information, and the result applies to more mental health professionals than one might think. Read their press release. Published On: 7/29/20 Duration: 4 minutes, 11 seconds Got Feedback? Take the podcast survey.

We search through the rubble of 1990's marketing to find out what makes the SSRIs different, and encounter along the way our word of the day: Zimelidine.Published On: 7/27/20Duration: 10 minutes, 47 secondsTranscript:From the quest for the holy grail to the meaning of dreams, humankind has always had a thirst for unanswerable questions.

Race-based traumatic stress affects mental health in young people of color. A 2019 paper in American Psychologist puts that racial socialization into a framework some listeners may be familiar with. [Link]Published On: 7/25/20Duration: 5 minutes, 51 secondsTranscript: Dr. Feder: Today on 60 Second Psych: Preventing Trauma with Racial Socialization. Take it away...