5 Minutes With… Psych Update Spring 2023 Faculty
Introduction
Happy Spring, Innovations Readers! We are back with a special segment called “5 Minutes With” that questions some of our foremost thought leaders in psychiatry. These key opinion leaders also happen to serve as faculty for the upcoming June Psychiatry Update Spring 2023 in Chicago. They opine on the evolution of industry’s role in psychiatry, challenges of the past year, and specific advances that greatly improve their treatment armamentarium. Read on for candid insights from Dr. Christoph Correll, Dr. Margaret Sibley, Dr. Ann Childress, Dr. Holly Swartz, and Dr. Donald Black. Next issue they will share what is the best device/tool in their clinical arsenal, advances in mental health therapies that are safe and easy to incorporate but may be underutilized, the most promising new treatment on the horizon, and their most memorable case of the past year.
Our last issue featured a discussion on topics such as the most promising new treatment, preference on meeting/conference—live or virtual, and best recent publication. If you missed it, you can find that interview here.
On behalf of Medscape and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists, you are invited to the Psychiatry Update Spring 2023. We are looking forward to seeing our colleagues in person in Chicago from June 8th to 10th. You don’t want to miss it! To register, click here.
Also, don’t miss: Psychiatry Update Journal Club Wednesday, April 26 at 10AM.
- During this live event, Dr. Leslie Citrome will talk with Dr. Carlos Grilo about the implications of his recent study examining a treatment for binge-eating disorder.
- Dr. Grilo is the lead author of a study that tested the effectiveness of naltrexone-bupropion and behavioral weight loss therapy, alone and combined, for binge-eating disorder comorbid with obesity.
- Dr. Citrome and Dr. Carlos will discuss results and next steps to determine best options for patients with this undertreated disorder. We hope you can join us. There will be targeted questions and valuable interaction!
- Click here to register!
This month’s Psych Resource section will keep you updated with articles from Clinical Psychiatry News, Current Psychiatry, MDedge Psychiatry, New England Journal of Medicine, and JAMA Psychiatry—check them out below.
Thank you to our participants for their perspectives this month. Please contact me at colleen@cmhadvisors.com with any comments and/or suggestions. Thanks for reading! —Colleen Hutchinson
5 Minutes with Psych Update Spring 2023 Faculty
- Christoph Correll, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Molecular Medicine, The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, New York; and Investigator, Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, New York.
- Margaret H. Sibley, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital and a researcher who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in adolescence and adulthood, having published over 100 scientific works on this topic, as well as a book on the psychosocial treatment of adolescent ADHD.
- Ann Childress, MD, is President of the Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Clinical Associate Professor, Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, University of Nevada Las Vegas and Adjunct Associate Professor, Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine.
- Holly A. Swartz, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh; Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Psychotherapy; and Treasurer of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, Pittsburgh, PA.
- Donald W. Black is Past-President of the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists (AACP) and Professor of Psychiatry at University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine in Iowa City, Iowa.
How would you characterize the evolution of industry’s role in the field of psychiatry and mental health?
Dr. Correll: There has been a shift away from bigger companies to smaller companies focusing on mental health and driving innovation. The focus is expanding from symptoms to people and their functioning/quality of life/well-being.
Dr. Swartz: Because of NIMH’s relative paucity of funding for clinical trials, the field is increasingly reliant on industry to provide information about new treatments and new applications of old treatments.
Dr. Black: I believe industry has decided on a two-pronged approach: explore new uses for older medications, and explore treatments in new areas, such as personality disorders and tardive dyskinesia.
Dr. Sibley: Industry drives innovation and can take ideas from research studies and turn them into products that are optimally usable and palatable to consumers. One way this evolution is happening is branching beyond pharmacology into digital technology and non-pharmacological, novel treatments.
What is one of the most powerful advances that greatly improves your treatment armamentarium?
Dr. Correll: Smartphones for patients' ability to self-monitor in the real world and yielding objective information.
Dr. Swartz: Repurposing of dextromethorphan, an NMDA receptor antagonist, to treat major depressive disorder is exciting because it likely exerts its effects by modulating glutamate, a novel mechanism of action for an oral antidepressant.
Dr. Black: Many of the most powerful new treatments have nothing to do with medication; our psychology peers have been developing more specific and effective therapies for a variety of indications, including anxiety disorders, PTSD, borderline personality disorder, etc.
Dr. Childress: I specialize in treating ADHD, so the approval of viloxazine extended-release for the treatment of ADHD in adults, had the biggest impact on my practice. Previously we had only one option when using a nonstimulant to treat adult ADHD.
Dr. Sibley: Telehealth has been great because i can see patients that are too far from the clinic, share screen when discussing resources with patients, and even get a clearer window into their home environment—which may be where difficulties are occurring.
A major challenge of 2022:
Dr. Childress: Dealing with the stimulant shortage that started in the third quarter of 2022 and is now continuing into 2023.
Dr. Black: Many of my patients have dementia, and finding an appropriate memory-care facility for placement is very difficult. We need more, and better facilities for these patients.
Dr. Correll: Dealing with more and more severely ill patients in part due to the ongoing pandemic and in the context of reduced staff availability.
Dr. Sibley: Running clinical groups over telehealth continues to be a challenge. Although it means that many more families can receive care that were previously too far from the hospital, it is hard to create engaging experiences for youth over telehealth.
Dr. Swartz: I think about a depressed teenager for whom no inpatient beds could be located state-wide following a suicide attempt, anxious college students who are unable to find therapists, and family members paying out of pocket at great personal sacrifice for a partial hospitalization program for their suicidal adult child because their insurance did not cover extended care. We are in the midst of a huge mental health pandemic and our current services fall woefully short of public health need. We urgently need to build capacity to deliver more care to meet the mental health needs of our communities.
Psychiatry Resource Section
JAMA Psychiatry Viewpoint: Abortion Restriction and Mental Health
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2801421
MDEdge Clinical Psychiatry News Article: Integrating Addiction Medicine With Primary Care Cost Effective: Study
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/990786?src=
APA Learning Center April Free Members Course: Adapting Evaluation and Treatment of ADHD for High IQ Kids and Adults on the Autism Spectrum—CME:1.5, Participation:1.5
https://education.psychiatry.org/diweb/catalog/item/eid/C2300405
JAMA Psychiatry Original Investigation: Association Between the Fronto-Limbic Network and Cognitive and Emotional Functioning in Individuals With Bipolar Disorder-A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2802944
MDEdge Clinical Psychiatry News Article: Alzheimer’s drug may ease hair pulling, skin-picking disorders
New England Journal of Medicine Article: Antidepressant Augmentation versus Switch in Treatment-Resistant Geriatric Depression
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2204462
Current Psychiatry Commentary: ECT vs. ketamine for major depressive disorder: New data