Dr. Carpenter, you are a member of the DSM-5 work group that is considering risk syndrome for first psychosis, or what is now called “attenuated psychosis syndrome” as a new diagnosis in the manual.

A study has been published that appears to show that antipsychotic treatment actually shrinks the brain.

Clinical folklore (and occasional drug reps) have suggested that depot antipsychotics have adherence advantages over their oral counterparts.

Second generation antipsychotics have developed a reputation for being more effective for treating a number of the symptoms of schizophrenia than their first generation counterparts, even if research doesn’t always back up this claim.

They used to be called “depot” antipsychotics, but the powers that be have renamed them “long acting injectables” (LAIs), presumably to help remove some of the stigma associated with their use. But no matter what you call them, suddenly every drug company is racing to introduce its own LAI neuroleptic.

Antipsychotics are effective at many things, including inducing weight gain.

Given the teratogenicity of certain psychiatric drugs like mood stabilizers and antipsychotics, it is logical and responsible to offer contraception to patients for whom these drugs are prescribed. However, actually doing so can be complicated.

At a certain point [in my research career], with all the children and adolescents who were being prescribed psychiatric medications, I thought that the adverse effects of antipsychotics in this young patient population were worth examining.

Omega 3 fatty acids were once thought to be a possible treatment for mood disorders—but recent studies have been unimpressive.

You've probably heard about Fanapt (iloperidone) and Saphris (asenapine), two antipsychotics that have recently won FDA approval for the acute treatment of schizophrenia, and, in the case of Saphris, for the treatment of manic and mixed episodes of bipolar disorder. Are these more “me too”...