This is one of the hardest questions to answer especially if your working on a inpatient unit with depressed patients. They are mostly severely ill for a long time and demoralised when they get admitted. To get a clear picture of what is wrong we usually get rid of all psychopharmacological drugs for diagnostic purposes. That's why i find this article of major importance, clearly written by experienced clinicians. The table offers clinical features that may help differentiate chronic depression from personality disorder. Guidelines:1. avoid unsupported conclusions based on nonresponse2. bear in mind that depression is likely to make personality .....read more »

This excellent book by Tara Calishain is worth every penny. She is the autor of ResearchBuzz, a website with news about search engines, databases and other information collections.When I walked in to this book I remembered her name from other excellent books so I had a look inside. Immediately I was seized by her examples of how you could use information trapping. In my case I just started a blog about depression and electroconvulsive therapy and related psychiatric subjects. I was wondering how to keep up with all the information on the web. For my job as a psychiatrist, teacher .....read more »

Give Your Mind A Workout on Finding OptimismThis is an article on one of my favorite blogs. It is a review of a website. This site offers selfhelp with depression based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This review descibes how this website works as well as the pros and cons.Article in British Medical Journal about psychotherapy on the internet.The reviewed website: http://www.moodgym.anu.edu.au/Related posts: Online Real Time Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression Effective What is cognitive therapy For Adolescents no additional benefit of cognitive behavioural therapy with an antidepressant ..read more »

VNS for Depression “New”? No, But Don’t Tell Wired - World of PsychologyNuanced comment in this blog about Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). As it states the FDA has approved this treatment 2 years ago. It is mostly used with pharamcotherapy- and ECT resistant depressed patients.Since recently the treatment is not covered as a treatment for Medicare recipients since may this year. The effectiveness of this treatment is not clear, we need some good research but the trouble is how can you design a trial with a control or even a placebo condition?Related posts: Magnetic brain stimulator touted as treatment for depression .....read more »

This is a small book fits in your pocket nicely. It is written for medical students, junior doctors and general practitioners. It starts with a clear and concise introduction in psycho pharmacology. It explains pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles. Next drugs are discussed in the main categories of psychopharmacological drugs: antipsychotics, mood-stabilisers, tricyclic antidepressants, mono amine oxydase inhibitors, selective serotonin re uptake inhibitors, other antidepressants and a chapter for other drugs used in psychiatry such as benzodiazepines, drugs for Alzheimer disease, drugs used in substance dependence. Every category starts with an introduction and a summary of the drugs. Next every drug .....read more »

This is a wonderfull book about blogging. It is mainly an introduction. The book starts with some general information about blogging. Next it explains the different kind of blogs, were to host your blog or use a server side blog. It also guides you how to write a blog, how to earn money with your blog. The last part of the book consits of a list per category of the most important blogs. It is not a book to read from cover to cover. I used it for inspiration and examples as well as instruction book. What I did was .....read more »

Magnetic brain stimulator touted as treatment for depression - EngadgetAs it said in the article this device is introduced during the American Psychiatric Association meeting in San Diego this year. It employs transcranial magnetic stimulation.The mistake in this article is the notion that previously you had to have anesthesia for it, they probably mean with ECT. There is no hard evidence that transcranial magnetic stimulation is actually working as a treatment for depression.See also:about depression.comRelated posts: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Gains approval of the FDA for Depression New Kind of Brain Stimulation for Treatment Resistant Depression New Trial On Deep Brain Stimulation for .....read more »

Biomedical philanthropy State of the donation-Wealthy philanthropists and private foundations are supporting biomedical research on a grand scale. Meredith Wadman asks what they get for their money.Related posts: How does music improve mood state? Biomedical Search on BioMedSearch On Leading a Research Group ..read more »

About To Have ECT? Fine, but Don't Watch It in the Movies: The Sorry Portrayal of ECT in FilmAn excellent overview of ECT in movies. This article is a summary of an article by G. Walter an Australian psychiatriust. This summary is made by Prof. Max Fink from the U.S.A.This summary discusses all movies since the beginning of the 20th century. Movies from Hollywood as well as European and Australian movies. It shortly describes the place of ECT in the movie. In this study by Walter et al. (2002) one third of medical students decreased their support for the .....read more »

ScienceDaily: Mice On Prozac Help Scientists Find Better Depression TreatmentsScientist discovered in mice a probable new mechanism for developing new antidepressants. They suggest that chemicals that selectively activate the serotonin receptor 5-HT6 might represent a new class of antidepressants.Related posts: Why Can’t We find a Gene for Depression? Pilots with Depression How to find documents on the FDA site ..read more »