Bipolar - Articles - Page 3 | CARLAT PUBLISHING

Lithium Exposure In Utero—How Bad Is It Really?

July 1, 2022

Victoria Hendrick, MD. and Lara Tang, MD

Lara Tang, MD, and Victoria Hendrick, MD. Dr. Tang and Dr. Hendrick have disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

We know prenatal lithium exposure increases the risk of heart defects in newborns. By keeping lithium doses and blood levels under certain cut-off points, we can reduce this risk, according to this large meta-analysis.

12 New Findings on Quetiapine

June 6, 2022

Chris Aiken, MD and Kellie Newsome, PMHNP

12 clinically relevant findings from the past 3 years on quetiapine (Seroquel), including new side effects, dosing strategies, withdrawal phenomena, and new uses in bipolar with OCD.

EXPERT Q&A

Opioid Use Disorders and Serious Mental Illness

December 10, 2020

Sandra Gomez-Luna, MD

Sandra Gomez-Luna, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor at Yale University. Adult, adolescent, and child psychiatrist in Darien, CT. Dr. Gomez-Luna has disclosed that she has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Those with serious mental illness and unhealthy opioid use have special treatment considerations due to polypharmacy and overlapping stigma. Dr. Gomez-Luna walks us through these nuances and explains microdosing of buprenorphine—a helpful technique for starting treatment in patients who may have other opioids on board.

Pros and Cons of Using Oxcarbazepine Over Carbamazepine

August 28, 2020

Does the limited research support that oxcarbazepine is a safer and more effective treatment for bipolar disorder than its FDA-approved cousin, carbamazepine? Here is an overview of the pros and cons from a previous article in The Carlat Psychiatry Report.Pros:Similar effectiveness as other mood stabilizers. In mania and mixed states,...

CLINICAL Q&A

The Modafinils in Bipolar Depression

June 10, 2020

Chris Aiken, MD.

Chris Aiken, MD. Editor-in-Chief of TCPR. Practicing psychiatrist, Winston-Salem, NC. Dr. Aiken has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Provigil and Nuvigil, the modafinils, may not work for full depressive episodes, but they do something else in bipolar disorder that’s important to patients. This article explores their cognitive effects, as well as their potential to cause addiction and mania.

Antidepressants in Bipolar [60 Sec Psych]

May 28, 2020

Do they help? Do they harm? And can mood stabilizers protect patients who take them? A review of Bahji A, Ermacora D, Stephenson C, Hawken ER, Vazquez G. Comparative efficacy and tolerability of pharmacological treatments for the treatment of acute bipolar depression: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. J Affect...

Top Lifestyle Tips for Depression and Bipolar

March 16, 2020

How do you make the most of brief therapy during a medication visit? Chris Aiken, MD, pulls a few of his favorite interventions from his new book, The Depression and Bipolar Workbook.Date Published: 3/16/20Duration: 20 minutes 24 seconds...

The Choice: Oxcarbazepine or Carbamazepine in Bipolar

March 9, 2020

Is oxcarbazepine really a kinder, gentler mood stabilizer? We dig through the published and unpublished trials and talk with Dr. Tammas Kelly, a psychiatrist who’s found a niche for the anticonvulsant.Published on: 3/9/2020Duration: 15 minutes, 9 seconds...

EXPERT Q&A

Light and Darkness in Bipolar Disorder

February 1, 2019

Jim Phelps, MD

Jim Phelps, MD
Psychiatrist and author, Corvallis, OR. Creator, psycheducation.org Dr. Phelps has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Dr. Jim Phelps is the author of a textbook on bipolar spectrum disorders, A Spectrum Approach to Mood Disorders: Not Fully Bipolar But Not Unipolar—Practical Management (W. W. Norton & Company) as well as two self-help books on bipolar disorder. He conducted some of the early studies on dark therapy out of his private practice in Oregon, and we caught up with him to learn about this novel treatment for bipolar disorder.

CLINICAL UPDATE

Differentiating Borderline Personality Disorder from Bipolar Disorder

March 1, 2012

Bernadette Grosjean, MD

Bernadette Grosjean, MD Assistant professor of psychiatry, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA Dr. Grosjean has disclosed that she has no relevant relationships or financial interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and bipolar disorder frequently co-occur (numbers range from 8% to 18%), although they are distinct clinical entities (Paris J et al, Compr Psychiatry 2007;48(2):145–154). A proper diagnosis guides the most effective treatment, but you’ve probably faced the difficult challenge of diagnosing these conditions, which share several clinical features.