Please send "Letters to the Editor" to: Primary Psychiatry, 80 Broad St., 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004; or click "Submit Letter" in the bottom righthand corner.
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Side Effects of Atypical Antipsychotics in Children and Adolescents
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Atypical antipsychotics are increasingly being used in children and adolescents for a variety of psychiatric conditions, mainly off label.
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3/14/2006
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Stimulant-Induced Appetite Suppression and Treatment Options
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Stimulants are the most commonly prescribed psychotropic medications for children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
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3/24/2006
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Hands-On Digital Prescribing
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I read “Prescribing in the Google Era” by Norman Sussman, MD, with great interest. It is true that today physicians are serving a highly educated patient population, making it ever more important to stay abreast of new clinical updates. Most patients approach psychiatrists having researched their condition and possible treatments, expecting their psychiatrists to be aware of what they know.
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5/26/2006
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Lithium-Induced Sialorrhea
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There are frequent reports in the literature of hypersalivation or sialorrhea after the introduction of psychotropic agents, mostly antipsychotics, for the treatment of mental disorders. However, as per OVID and PUBMED journal searches, there has not been a definitive description of a case report describing the adverse effect of lithium of sialorrhea since Donaldson in 1982.
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8/29/2007
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Modafinil-Induced Mania in a Patient with Bipolar Affective Disorder
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Modafinil has been approved for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy, shift-work sleep disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome. The notable side effects of modafinil use are headache, nervousness, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, hypertension, and palpitations.
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10/30/2007
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Persistent Sexual Side Effects after Discontinuation of Psychotropic Medications
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A recent editorial addressing the side effects of psychotropic medications1 brings a welcomed focus on the deficiencies surrounding the present system of documenting and monitoring suspected postmarketing adverse events.
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2/25/2008
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Sleeping Pills
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Milton K. Erman, MD’s, critique of the popularity of trazodone and other non-benzodiazepine analogs for off-label use as soporifics1 fails to acknowledge some stark realities, namely, that trazodone is the most widely prescribed soporific because it works well and is very safe.
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4/30/2008
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The Initial Report of Aripiprazole Augmentation for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
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I read Dr. Ginsberg’s comments in the August 2007 Primary Psychiatry on aripiprazole’s off-label use for augmentation of established therapy for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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7/30/2008
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Horticultural Therapy
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We read with interest the article describing horticultural therapy by Fried and Wichrowski. Although they and others describe the therapeutic benefits of gardening activities with children, we have been conducting a “gardening group” each summer for the past several years at a state-operated psychiatric facility for adults.
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9/26/2008
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Catatonia Due to Anti-NMDA Antibodies
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2/5/2009
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The Voice of Clinical Psychiatric Medicine
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11/25/2009
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Treatment of Mood Disorders: A Surprising Omission, and the Role of Lamotrigine as a Prototypical Bipolar Antidepressant
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Anna Lembke, MD, provides a very helpful overview of optimal dosing and clinical treatment strategies for the mood stabilizers lithium, divalproex/valproate, and lamotrigine.
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6/23/2010
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Diagnosing and Treating Mood Disordered Patients
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With the recent press release regarding the changes we can expect to see in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, I think it is timely to comment on the rationale for making diagnoses in mood disordered patients.
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7/29/2010
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Letter to the Editor: Bipolar Disorder in Children and Adolescents – In Session with Kiki Chang, MD
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It is with dismay that I read Kiki Chang, MD’s response to the argument that the increase in diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents is because there are now drugs approved and promoted for that diagnosis.
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9/1/2010
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Letter to the Editor: Aripiprazole for Depression:
A Warning
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Antipsychotics all share the property of blocking dopamine receptors in the brain.
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9/22/2010
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