Current Psychiatry Reviews - Volume 4, Issue 1, 2008

This issue of Current Psychiatry Reviews, the first of volume 4, marks our transition from a more conventional “hard copy” format to that of electronic publication. Some of us who came of age in the era prior to the internet have embraced this 21st Century way of doing things with enthusiasm; for others, the prospects of a journal that only exists in the ether so to speak is an unsettling endeavor. There is no doubt, h Read More

Pessimistic views about the course and outcome of schizophrenia have been replaced by a more optimistic approach that places emphasis on providing services in the community that foster functional recovery. The concept of recovery implies emphasis on the importance of providing access to treatments and community services that assist individuals to lead maximally productive and personally meaningful lives. Rese Read More

Research on personality disorders (PD) has made progress in several areas. 1) Classification: Most PDs are exaggerations of normal traits and can be described dimensionally, but highly symptomatic PDs may not be well described in this way. Attempts to redefine PDs as variants of Axis I categories, such as depression and bipolar disorder, have been unconvincing. 2) Epidemiology: Recent community surveys suggest that Read More

Objective: There is little guidance for optimal pharmacotherapy for comorbid major depression and substance use disorder, the most frequently encountered comorbidity in clinical settings. We reviewed current evidence for effective treatments as reported by pharmacological trials specifically conducted to address this comorbidity. Data Sources: Studies were identified through computerized literature searches and f Read More

Pharmacotherapy has been reasonably effective in treating positive symptoms associated with schizophrenia and less effective in treating negative symptoms. Humanistic outcomes - quality of life and functionality - are more difficult to assess than changes in symptom severity and are equally important in assessing the overall effectiveness of treatment. The correlation between negative symptoms and poorer outcomes in pati Read More

The diagnosis of personality disorders is highly dependent on how a society views certain behavior. Self concept, adaptation and social context are important aspects of the cultural dimensions of personality disorders. However, the relevance and implications of the influence of sociocultural factors are seen differently. Accordingly, there are very distinct conceptional, nosological and diagnostic approaches for classifying pers Read More

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with substantial psychosocial impairment, morbidity, mortality and high health resource utilization. These data make a compelling case for developing prevention and early intervention strategies for BPD. This review examines the BPD diagnosis in young people, along with prospective risk factors for and precursors to the development of BPD. It then considers the prosp Read More

The number of individuals with Alzheimer's disease is expected to increase steadily over the next 50 years, and this is especially concerning to African-Americans as they currently carry a disproportionate burden of the disease as compared to Caucasians. In conjunction with the APOE allele, there exists a group of potentially treatable cardiovascular risk factors that appear to be implicated in this disparity. In this paper, we rev Read More