If your practice is like mine, things are chaotic for our kids returning to school this fall after two distressing years. Diagnosis is more complicated, so for this issue we picked subjects that can expand your diagnostic acumen.
Catatonia is marked by a change from the person’s baseline state with distinct motor, vocal, and behavioral symptoms. Clinicians usually think of a catatonic person as being like a statue—immobile, unresponsive, staring, and with waxy flexibility.
Catatonia is common in adult inpatient settings, where 6%–15% meet diagnostic criteria. In children and adolescents, prevalence estimates vary more widely, from 0.6% to 17%, perhaps because catatonia is often misdiagnosed or unrecognized. Like delirium, catatonia occurs as part of many conditions, including psychosis, mood disorders, substance use, autistic spectrum disorder, and medical conditions.
Clinicians use olanzapine, mirtazapine, and other appetite-inducing medications off label to treat ARFID, but with little research to support their use. This study unpacks the potential role of medications in treating comorbid symptoms associated with ARFID.
Clinicians use olanzapine, mirtazapine, and other appetite-inducing medications off label to treat ARFID, but with little research to support their use. This study unpacks the potential role of medications in treating comorbid symptoms associated with ARFID.
Dr. Joshua Feder studied mathematics and medicine at Boston University, Psychiatry at Naval Regional Medical Center San Diego, serving the first gulf war in child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, and eventually becoming Chief of Child Psychiatry at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. Dr. Feder now practices in Solana Beach, California and serves as Medical Director at Positive Development, providing relationship-based support for families, with research at UCSD, SDSU, Fielding Graduate University, An Najah National University, Quicksilver Software, Autism Is inclusion program, and Programmatic Lead for the International Networking Group on Peace Building with Young Children, with projects in the US, Northern Ireland, and the Middle East. Dr. Feder co-authored the first American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Practice Parameter on Autism and serves on the Disaster & Trauma Committee and the Resource Group on Youth at the Border. Dr Feder was founding policy chair for the California Association for Infant Mental Health, and advocates worldwide on access to care, climate policy, and peacebuilding. His recent books include Child Medication Fact Book for Psychiatric Practice (2018) and Prescribing Psychotropics (2021).
