The pharmacological treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) for adults is pretty well worked out. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the gold-standard treatment. We have multiple randomized, placebo-controlled trials to back this up. However, we know less about medication treatment of OCD for children.

Atypical antipsychotics are commonly used to reduce irritability and agitation in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although effective, these medications lead to weight gain and other metabolic problems. Strategies like tailored diet plans and exercise can help, but they are often not enough. If not interrupted early, for many, continued weight gain will lead to diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease later in life.

After reading these articles, you should be able to…

CME post-tests are available to subscribers only. If you are not a subscriber or your subscription has expired, renew here to take the post-test and earn CME credit. This CME/CE activity is intended for psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, psychologists and other health care professionals with an interest in the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Burke has been helping patients of all ages, as well as the general public, address this in practical and socially acceptable ways since 1999. In this article she explains how screen media are not biologically neutral. They are, by design, addictive for susceptible individuals; further, they are deleterious for babies and must be used wisely with young children.

We are all aware that media and technology have fundamentally changed our day-to-day lives, but there is a lot of confusion and misinformation about what an “always connected” lifestyle actually means. Dr. Robb describes the addictive effects of technology on children and adolescents in this interview.

Few disorders frustrate clinicians as much as anorexia nervosa (AN). In the June 2015 issue of TCPR, we interviewed James Lock, who guided us through one of the few effective AN treatments, family-based therapy (FBT). In FBT, a family therapist works with the entire family to come up with a weight restoration plan for the patient.

After reading these articles, you should be able to…

Chronically irritable children are not at increased risk to develop manic episodes as they age; instead, they are at increased risk for anxiety and unipolar depression later in life. Moreover, unlike children with bipolar disorder (BD), chronically irritable children do not tend to have unusually strong family histories of BD. Rather, there are both genetic and familial links between chronic irritability and unipolar depression.