Varenicline (Chantix) is a nicotine partial agonist that is approved by the FDA for smoking cessation. Since July 1, 2009, the FDA has also required a “black box warning” based on postmarketing reports of adverse neuropsychiatric effects.

Sleep complaints are common in children with ADHD, whether they are caused by the disorder itself, the treatments for it, or both. Despite this fact, there are limited studies on treatments for insomnia and other sleep problems in children and adolescents with ADHD.

Current diagnostic criteria for ADHD involves documentation of impairment in more than one setting. Since most kids receive an ADHD diagnosis during their school years, we greatly depend on teachers to provide us with information on behavior and symptoms.

Alcohol dependence and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often co-occur and prove resistant to treatment. Treatment is complicated by concerns that prolonged exposure (PE) therapy—considered one of the most effective therapies to treat PTSD—may exacerbate alcohol use.

By now most of us know how PTSD looks in DSM-5. Among a number of changes is the removal of criterion A2, which required a response to an event to include “intense fear, helplessness, or horror.” Criterion A1—exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence—was slightly edited, but remains a diagnostic requirement for the disorder.

Obesity and metabolic impairments are widespread in both psychiatric and non-psychiatric populations. To make matters worse, weight gain, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes are common side effects of the pharmaceuticals we use to treat psychiatric illness.

Many college students are mixing alcohol and energy drinks, as well as engaging in hazardous drinking, which puts them at risk for alcohol-related harm. But do the negative consequences that result from consuming alcohol with these energy drinks go beyond just alcohol alone?

The possibility that food can be addicting has been getting some serious attention in recent years (see for example Gearhardt AN et al, J Addict Med 2009;3(1):1–7). The idea isn’t half-baked: food and other natural rewards, like sex, activate the same brain regions that are hijacked by drugs of abuse.

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