80% of women in the U.S. will experience at least one pregnancy and 84% of babies will be breastfed. In addition, more than half of women use medications during lactation. There are many reasons for using medications during breastfeeding, but the post-partum period is a time of high vulnerability to mood and anxiety episodes, and the effects of a mood …
Neuroscience Based Nomenclature
Neuroscience Based Nomenclature is an initiative by a number of prestigious organizations supporting research in neuroscience and psychiatry to change the way that we talk about psychotropic / psychiatric medications. Why this might be useful is illustrated by conversations that are likely familiar to all psychiatrists… A severely depressed patient with bipolar 1 is discussing her need for a change …
Antipsychotic Medications in Pregnancy
After decades during which the accepted medical dogma was that pregnant women should avoid all medications, the last 10 years have shown a significant increase in the quality of information available to help guide pregnant women in making decisions about which medications to continue taking during pregnancy. A recent editorial in the JAMA Psychiatry gives a sense of the context and …
Antipsychotics
I just wanted to note the addition of a page on atypical antipsychotics which I added to the existing page on antidepressants and hope to compliment with a page on mood stabilizers. This page, and its companions, are all intended to be adjuncts to treatment, a place for patients with an interest in knowing more about medications and medication changes …