Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a potentially life-threatening adverse effect of antipsychotic agents, which has been associated with Olanzapine (Zyprexa) usage.

Addiction vaccines and drugs are being developed to fight this escalating problem.

A Stanford University preliminary trial suggests that the controversial drug RU-486, the recently approved "abortion pill" and emergency contraceptive, may provide sudden dramatic relief for psychotic depression.

Volumetric MRI studies of mood disorders: do they distinguish unipolar and bipolar disorder?

Volumetric brain imaging findings in mood disorders.

Thioridazine Linked to Unexplained Deaths in Psychiatric in-Patients

Drug-induced Gastrointestinal Disorders

Public Citizen provides a detailed report on the risks associated with Geodon (Ziprasidone).

New Book: Bipolar Disorders: 100 Years After Manic-Depressive Insanity by Andreas Marneros, Jules Angst 

Bipolar spectrum disorders. New perspectives.

Cognitive impairment in remission in bipolar affective disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder: defining the phenotype.

Anxiety and depression symptoms and response to methylphenidate in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and tic disorder.

Rabbit Syndrome Secondary to Risperidone: this side effect is characterized by rhythmic movements of the mouth.

A new study shows that creative people tend to share more personality traits with the mentally ill than they do with the middle-of-the-road masses.

Effexor - Severe discontinuation symptoms can occur after missing a single dose.

Antipsychotic drugs, used to treat schizophrenia and manic-depressive disorder (bipolar disorder), change some aspects of brain structure.

Scientists have designed an implantable device capable of delivering anti-psychotic medication for a period of five months, and they may soon work for up to a full year.

Researchers test Olanzapine as a injectable treatment for schizophrenia.

March report in the journal Molecular Psychiatry indicates some antipsychotic medications linger in the brain longer than is indicated by blood samples - which can lead to over-medication.

Weight gain associated with antipsychotic medicines is the side effect most likely to cause patients to stop medication.

Study finds that homeless are often missed by mental health care system.

A layman's guide to the biochemistry of new treatments for depression and bipolar disorder.

A landmark UCLA study suggests that women respond to stress with a cascade of brain chemicals that cause them to make and maintain friendships with other women.

A new analysis has found that in trials conducted by drug companies in recent decades, sugar pills have done as well as -- or better than -- antidepressants.

The Texas Medication Algorithm Project and its application in treating bipolar.

A pattern of insurers wrongfully denying mental health care has emerged in a new study showing that those that appeal health care decisions usually win.

Novel Antipsychotics: Schizophrenia, Psychosis and Beyond What is next for the novel antipsychotics?  Read it Here  

Clinical Management of Bipolar Disorder Paul E. Keck, Jr, MD, reviews the many facets of treatment of bipolar disorder.  Read it Here

New research shows that antidepressants test groups would exclude many and do not indicated that treatment necessarily benefits all that are currently treated.

Evidence shows that low prenatal vitamin D levels may be a risk factor for Schizophrenia - International Society for Developmental Neuroscience Conference.

A recent study showed that four out of five patients suffering from panic disorder remained symptom-free six months after they stopped taking medication to treat the often-debilitating illness.

New book releases:  Madness: A Brief History by Roy Porter,  and Madness in America by Robert Whitaker.

SAMHSA study:Nine out of 10 kids who need drug treatment are not getting it, a comprehensive federal study of the nation's drug use has found.

Recent research suggests that people abused as children may be more prone to developing schizophrenia.

Imaging technology shows that even though both OCD and bipolar depression both respond to SSRIs, they affect different regions of the brain.

An understanding of the epigenetic regulation of reelin gene expression and of the possible pathogenetic role of reelin deficiency in schizophrenia, may become a major focus that will open new avenues for the treatment of this disease.

Spinal cord injury and mental illness is a difficult combination - a student writes of current research after her brother who suffers from mental illness became paralyzed.

Newly Published Research in Mental Illness

Anticipating incoming events: an impaired cognitive process in schizophrenia?

Community-Based Treatment of Schizophrenia and Other Severe Mental Disorders: Treatment Outcomes - recent advances in the community treatment of persons with schizophrenia, including review of assertive community treatment, family intervention, supported employment, skills training, illness self-management, cognitive interventions (cognitive therapy and cognitive rehabilitation). (Requires free Medscape registration to review, hit cancel at the username prompt.)

The Surgeon General released a supplement to his mental health report on August 26 titled Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity.    NAMI Executive Director Richard Birkel comments on Surgeon General's Mental Health Report.

New research indicates that there appears to be a developmental discontinuity between juvenile and adult OCD:  Developmental aspects of OCD: findings in children and adults.

Pharmaceutical lobbying blitz to stop Medicare drug benefit - Public Citizen (July 23, 2001)

Recent research shows that analysis of the use of certain words may uncover hidden signs of suicidal tendencies in writers of poetry.

Neurosurgery can dramatically benefit people suffering from some movement disorders.

Schizophrenia & Smell
(notice the use of non-people first language in the article)

The pharmaceutical industry spends about one-fifth of what it says it spends on the research and development (R&D) of new drugs, destroying the chief argument it uses against making prescription drugs affordable to middle and low-income seniors, a Public Citizen investigation has found.

Forced Treatment Debate was stoked anew Thursday, June 14, 2001, with the release of a California study. The study by the Rand Corp., a think tank in Santa Monica, found that mental patients might benefit from forced treatment — if it is supplemented significantly with support services. One of the report's main conclusions was that California's mental health system is underfunded.

Drug-induced movement disorders and tardive syndromes present a unique challenge for neuroscience practitioners. 

Testimony of Dr. Fred Frese, NAMI national board member, on June 20, 2001,  before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Health. Dr. Frese testified on behalf of NAMI and the NAMI Veterans Committee on the need to improve access to treatment and services for our nation's veterans with severe mental illnesses and their family members.

Testimony on Electro Convulsive Treatment by Leonard Roy Frank on May 18, 2001, before the Mental Health Committee of the New York State Assembly.

Sharp Rise Reported in Multiple Prescriptions Study Attributes Increase to Growing Number of Seniors, Aggressive Marketing by Drug Companies - The Washington Post (July 18, 2001)

Borna virus linked to Mental Illness - Professor Ian Lipkin at the University of California at Irvine is researching the virus and a possible connection between infection with it and mental illness.

A new report by the consumer health organization Families USA refutes the pharmaceutical industry's claim that high and increasing drug prices are needed to sustain research and development.

Dopamine agonist therapy might improve cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia, according to a presentation here at the 48th annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine in Toronto, Canada.

Multipolar Depression - Attendees at the Fourth International Conference on Bipolar held in June were just settling into their seats when the first speaker, Guy Goodwin MD, head of the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford, let drop: "There is a difference between unipolar and bipolar depression."  The conference also was well attended by the pharmaceutical companies, with information about treatment studies, including an update on Geodon.

A new report documents that individuals with severe disabilities face a worsened crisis accessing affordable housing.

In the upcoming issue of Administration and Policy Mental Health, researchers will publish significant findings that integrated treatment models, which include supported employment assistance, are effective in helping even those people with severe mental illnesses who initially have little or no interest in reentering the job market.

The April issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry published an article by researchers suggesting that although an initial target dosage of resperidone of 6 mg/day is common for treatment of schizophrenia, the real optimum may be lower.  Dr. Richard Williams of the Royal Jubilee Hospital, in Victoria, British Columbia, found that an initial target dose of 4mg/day is appropriate for most patients.

Antipsychotic drugs may cause heart damage, say researchers from New Zealand and Sweden. Although they emphasize more studies are needed to determine the role that these drugs play in heart disease, researchers believe the findings send up a red flag regarding the drugs' safety.

There's an extremely important type of discontinuation syndrome that needs to be exposed -- that the public, decision-makers, patients and their families desperately need to know about.  I'm referring to discontinuing "neuroleptics." Article by David Oaks (June 6, 2001)

Double blind study of 25 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia supports the potential value of quetiapine for improving cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia and emphasize the importance of further research with this promising atypical antipsychotic.

National Suicide Prevention Strategy Released - May 2nd, 2001, Surgeon General David Satcher unveiled a national blueprint of goals and objectives to help prevent suicide - the eighth leading case of death in the United States.  The strategy emphasizes screening, treatment and an end to stigma. (click here for more)

New Treatments for Depression - A number of companies are now marketing devices that can stimulate the brain and have been shown to be effective in the treatment of depression.  

Study on the quality of care for depression & anxiety in the U.S. revealed that 83% of adults with a probable depressive or anxiety disorder saw a health care provider and only 30% received some form of treatment.  Of those only 19% received appropriate care. (May, 2001)

Clozaprexin reduces side-effects of Clozaril (Clozapine) - Protarga, Inc. announced that researchers at Harvard Medical School reported preclinical data suggesting that Protarga’s novel antipsychotic agent, Clozaprexin may be a safer and more effective treatment.

Diagnosing Schizophrenia with a Blood Test - Israeli researchers may have found a way to diagnose schizophrenia by analyzing white blood cells.

Study indicates presence of retrovirus in schizophrenia patients.  (April 10, 2001)

Older fathers increase risk of child developing schizophrenia.  (April 12, 2001)

Mental Health Disorders - Fact sheet published by NIMH with statistics on incidence of mental illness in America. (April, 2001)

Click here for a list of political contributions by major pharmaceutical companies.

Study shows that providing housing for the homeless is cost-effective. (May, 2001)

New Schizophrenia Treatments - On March 25, 2000, the U. C. Davis School of Medicine presented a conference on “Emerging New Clinical Treatment Strategies for Schizophrenia.” (Dec., 2000)

RAND Study: Effectiveness of Involuntary Outpatient Treatment is Unclear - The California Senate commissioned a study to investigate whether involuntary outpatient treatment works.

HHS issues preliminary report on the Olmstead Disability Community Integration Plan.