Psychiatry 2008 - September 2008 - (Page 17)

[psych Rx] once-daily extended-release Namenda also experienced significant improvements in verbal fluency and behavioral symptoms as compared to placebo. The results build on preliminary findings announced by Forest in February, 2008. For more information, visit www.FRX.com. PSYCHIATRISTS SHIFT AWAY FROM PROVIDING PSYCHOTHERAPY Chicago, Illinois—A declining number of office-based psychiatrists appear to be providing psychotherapy to their patients, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. Psychotherapy has been part of the practice of psychiatry for generations, the authors write as background information in the article. Various forms of psychotherapy, either alone or in combination with medications, are recommended for the treatment of major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and other psychiatric illnesses. “Yet, despite the traditional prominence of psychotherapy in psychiatric practice and training, there are indications of a recent decline in the provision of psychotherapy by US psychiatrists—a trend attributed to reimbursement policies favoring brief medication management visits rather than psychotherapy and the introduction of newer psychotropic medications with fewer adverse effects,” the authors write. Ramin Mojtabai, MD, PhD, MPH, then of Beth Israel Medical Center and now of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, and Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, of the Columbia University Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, analyzed trends in psychotherapy provision using data from national surveys of office-based psychiatrist visits from 1996 through 2005. Over the 10-year period, psychotherapy was provided in 5,597 (34 percent) of 14,108 visits lasting longer than 30 minutes. The percentage of visits involving psychotherapy declined from 44.4 percent in 1996–1997 to 28.9 percent in 2004–2005. “This decline coincided with changes in reimbursement, increases in managed care, and growth in the prescription of medications,” the authors write. The number of psychiatrists who provided psychotherapy to all of their patients also declined over the same time period, from 19.1 percent to 10.8 percent. “Psychiatrists who provided psychotherapy to all of their patients relied more extensively on self-pay patients, had fewer managed-care visits, and prescribed medications in fewer of their visits compared with psychiatrists who provided psychotherapy less often,” the authors write. “These trends highlight a gradual but important change in the content of outpatient psychiatric care in the United States and a continued shift toward medicalization of psychiatric practice,” they conclude. “A key challenge facing the future generation of psychiatrists will likely involve maintaining their professional role as integrators of the biological and psychosocial perspectives while working within the constraints of the strong market forces of third-party payers and managed care to implement advances in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.” Arch Gen Psychiatry 2008;65[8]:962–970. delayed release capsules) in 125mg, 250mg, and 500mg strengths. Stavzor is approved for the treatment of manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder, as monotherapy and adjunctive therapy in the treatment of patients with complex partial seizures that occur either in isolation or in association with other types of seizures, and for prophylaxis of migraine headaches. The product will be marketed and sold by Noven Therapeutics, LLC, Noven specialty pharmaceutical subsidiary. Stavzor soft gel capsules are small (up to 40% smaller than Depakote® and Depakote ER® tablets at the 500mg dosage strength) and easy to swallow, with an advanced enteric technology designed to reduce reflux and gastric irritability. For more information, please visit www.stavzor.com. VIAGRA MAY AID WOMEN TAKING ANTIDEPRESSANTS Chicago, Illinois (AP)—Viagra’s effect in women has been disappointing, but a new small study finds those on antidepressants may benefit from taking the little blue pills. The research involving 98 premenopausal women found Viagra helped with orgasm. But the benefits did not extend to other aspects of sex such as desire, researchers reported recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “For women on antidepressants with orgasm problems, this may provide some wonderful relief,” said psychologist Stanley Althof, director of the Center for Marital and Sexual Health of South Florida in West Palm Beach, who was not involved in the study. “But it will not improve their desire or arousal.” Antidepressants can interfere with sex drive and performance even as the drugs help lift crippling depression. Switching drugs or reducing the dose can help. But many people, men and [SEPTEMBER] NOVEN ANNOUNCES FINAL FDA APPROVAL OF STAVZOR FOR THE TREATMENT OF BIPOLAR DISORDER, SEIZURES, AND MIGRAINE HEADACHES Miami, Florida—Noven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVN) recently announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Stavzor®(valproic acid Psychiatry 2008 17 http://www.FRX.com http://www.stavzor.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Psychiatry 2008 - September 2008

Psychiatry 2008 - September 2008 Editor’s Message Editorial Advisory Board Contents Psych Rx Letters to the Editor Use of Benzodiazepines in the Treatment of Anxiety Functional Neurosurgery in the Treatment of Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Major Depression: Overview of Disease Circuits and Therapeutic Targeting for the Clinician Treatment of Comorbid Adolescent Cannabis Use and Major Depressive Disorder Risperidone Long-acting Injections: Successful Alternative Deltoid Muscle Injections for Refractory Schizophrenia Alcohol/Substance Misuse and Treatment Nonadherence: Fatal Attraction Transforming the Psychiatric Inpatient Unit from Short-term Pseudo-asylum Care to State-of-the-art Treatment Setting Journal Watch Classified Advertising Information for Authors

Psychiatry 2008 - September 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.