Monday, March 22, 2004

The Newer Antipsychotics: Underlying Mechanisms and the New Clinical Realities
Article in Current Opinion in Psychiatry at Medscape - "The present review focuses on recent preclinical and clinical developments among newer antipsychotics, with an eye to reviewing putative underlying mechanisms." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

More children diagnosed with clinical depression (Pennsylvania)
Lancaster Eagle-Gazette story - "Today's teens are experiencing more pressures and are placed in adult situations more often than their parents and grandparents. As a result, more youth are sidelined from normal activities due to feelings of sadness and depression. There are also many youths who have considered or attempted suicide. According to the National Mental Health Association, more than 1 million American children take prescription drugs for major depression, anxiety or attention-deficit disorders. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that in 2002, doctors wrote about 11 million antidepressant prescriptions for children. Close to 2.7 million of those prescriptions were for children age 11 and younger. Clinicians in Fairfield County said, while youth depression and suicide is an issue, they place a higher focus on prevention." See also, at the same source, Antidepressant use growing, even among young children.