Dr. Aiken discusses the history of bipolar disorder and goes through some key tips on diagnosing bipolar disorder, including the bipolarity index and specific questions to ask patients to help narrow down the diagnosis.

Since estrogen can affect neurotransmitter functioning, there has been some interest in using estrogen modulators to treat psychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia. Raloxifene is a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) with some preliminary evidence for effectiveness in women with schizophrenia.

The post-test for this issue is available for one year after the publication date to subscribers only. By successfully completing the test you will be awarded a certificate for 1 CME credit.

After reading these articles, you should be able to…

My goal in publishing TCPR is to help you think differently about your clinical practice, hopefully to enhance your effectiveness as a healer. After editing this month’s issue on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), I think I’ve achieved that goal in my own practice.

Every five years or so, we do an update on PTSD treatments; the most recent was our August 2011 issue of TCPR, in which we declared that psychotherapy was the gold standard for treatment.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was approved by the FDA in 2009 for the treatment of major depression, but TMS is costly and has so far produced only mixed results.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a formalized combination of mindfulness meditation, body awareness, and yoga. The technique has been shown to help with symptoms of depression and anxiety, and some preliminary small studies have hinted that it might improve both memory and anxiety/depressive symptoms in older patients.

The post-test for this issue is available for one year after the publication date to subscribers. By successfully completing the test you will be awarded a certificate for 1 CME credit.