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.

SSRIs are the mainstay of medication treatment for social anxiety disorder (SAD), while cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is at least as effective. Oddly, combined SSRI and CBT treatment has not clearly outperformed each treatment alone in controlled trials. But a new study implies that MAOIs combined with CBT may be particularly effective.

After reading these articles, you should be able to…

While drug companies have been working hard to come up with new options for the treatment of dementia, there have been no new FDA approvals since memantine (Namenda) hit the scene in 2003.

Let’s assume that you have already diagnosed a patient with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Your patient has received a full workup to rule out medical causes, has had a full battery of neuropsychological tests, and you have started a standard cocktail of whichever cholinesterase inhibitor you prefer.

As a neurologist, how do you approach the evaluation of dementia symptoms?