• Suicidal risk was remarkably similar in types I and II bipolar disorder patients.
• Manic-depressive mixed-state recurrences were especially strongly associated with suicidal risk.
• Suicidal risk also was associated with melancholic depression and more trials of antidepressants.

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• Over 90% of adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have some form of cognitive dysfunction.
• α4β2 Neuronal nicotinic receptors are involved in cognitive processing, suggesting potential use of α4β2 agonists in cognitive disorders.
• Although well tolerated, the α4β2 neuronal nicotinic receptor partial agonist ABT-089 did not demonstrate statistical significance on efficacy measures in ADHD.

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• Approximately one-half of depressed patients scoring in the remission range on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) did not consider themselves to be in remission from their depression.
• Remission is a broader construct than symptom level, a construct that includes other indicators of clinical status such as functioning, quality of life, resiliency in coping with stress, and a general sense of well-being.
• That such a high proportion of HDRS remitters did not consider themselves to be in remission raises questions about the validity of the HDRS definition of remission.

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• Apathy is a debilitating neuropsychiatric symptom in Alzheimer’s disease for which no effective treatments have been identified.
• Modafinil did not appear to significantly impact apathetic symptomatology in patients with mild-to-moderate stage Alzheimer’s disease.

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• Both suicidal behavior and nonsuicidal self-injury share some common risk factors, namely, mood disorder, impulsivity, and impulsive aggression.
• Familial factors appear to play a more significant role in suicidal behavior than in nonsuicidal self-injury.
• Treatment of mood disorder is a critical intervention that may reduce subsequent occurrences of nonsuicidal self-injury.

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• Clinicians should assess for both suicidal behavior and nonsuicidal self-injury in patients with mood disorder and suicidal ideation.
• The presence of either behavior should alert the clinician about an increased risk for the complementary self-destructive behavior.
• Treatment of mood disorder and improvement in emotion-regulation skills are important for the relief of both behaviors, but in adolescents, the role of impulsive aggression and of family difficulties may be more salient for suicidal behavior than nonsuicidal self-injury.

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• Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) are at elevated risk for a manic episode and thus diagnostic conversion from MDD to bipolar I disorder.
• Lower educational attainment, a history of anxiety disorders, and both past-year and childhood psychosocial stressors predicted the development of mania in a population-based sample of individuals with MDD.
• The ability of all of these factors combined to predict diagnostic conversion to bipolar I disorder is modest.

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• This study shows that 40% of all the patients with agranulocytosis, and 80% of those with fatal agranulocytosis, had received, concomitantly with clozapine, other medication associated with agranulocytosis.
• Concomitant treatment with other potentially agranulocytosis-inducing drugs may be a risk factor during clozapine therapy. New treatment guidelines may be warranted to enhance patient safety.

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• Clinicians are concerned about the risk of homocysteine elevation and potential cardiac risk from administration of S-adenosyl methionine (SAMe).
• In depressed patients who received 1,600 mg/d of SAMe augmentation, we found no significant elevation of plasma levels of total homocysteine.
• SAMe at 1,600 mg/d appears to be safe to administer to patients with depression.

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• Certain hypertension medications may have protective effects on stress-related disorders, such as PTSD.
• Results from this preliminary study suggest that targeting the renin-angiotensin system through available medications may have protective effects on PTSD symptoms among patients exposed to traumatic events.
• Further research is needed to examine whether ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers can prevent PTSD or reduce symptom severity in at-risk populations.

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• The combination of major depressive disorder and substance use disorder (MDD-SUD) is common and associated with higher severity and rates of comorbidity than MDD alone.
• Substance-induced depressive disorder (SIDD) has low prevalence and may have similar risk factors and clinical presentation as MDD-SUD.
• Failure to treat depressive symptoms in SIDD may be associated with higher rates of substance use to relieve depressive symptoms.

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• Patients with bipolar disorder often have co-occurring general medical conditions.
• Research suggests that these patients may frequently be unaware of their conditions.
• Clinicians can better treat patients with bipolar disorder by carefully screening for other medical conditions even when a patient does not report any.

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• If genetic associations can be replicated, they might allow for clinically useful predictive testing to guide antidepressant response.
• Some patients may be nonresponsive to fluoxetine monotherapy, due to minimal effects on norepinephrine, but responsive to olanzapine augmentation.

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• Psychosocial interventions provide modest but definite effect in improving mood stability in bipolar disorder.
• Research comparing different interventions shows that brief, well-planned group psychoeducational interventions can be as effective as longer, individual cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for bipolar disorder.
• Brief group psychoeducation requires less staff training and is more cost-efficient than longer, individual CBT for bipolar disorder.

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• Of great concern in schizophrenia trials conducted in North America are
• A high and increasing placebo response and
• A diminishing treatment effect.

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