Pathological gambling (PG) is widely reported to have negative consequences on marriages, families, and children. Empirical evidence is only now accumulating but when put together with anecdotal information, the extent of these problems is clear. PG contributes to chaos and dysfunction within the family unit, disrupts marriages, leading to high rates of separation and divorce, and is associated with child abuse and neglect. Divorce rates are high, not surprising in light of reports that these marriages are often abusive. Research shows that the families of pathological gamblers are filled with members who gamble excessively, suffer from depressive or anxiety disorders, and misuse alcohol, drugs, or both. Families of persons with PG are also large, a variable independently related to family dysfunction. The authors review the evidence on the impact of PG on families, marriages, and offspring, and make recommendations for future research targeting these problems.

Secondary mania develops in as many as 9% of persons with traumatic brain injuries.The treatment of posttraumatic mania is not well defined, and agents traditionally used for the treatment of idiopathic manic episodes may not be well suited for use among individuals with traumatic brain injuries. Atypical antipsychotics are indicated for the treatment of idiopathic bipolar disorder, and have been used for other purposes among individuals with posttraumatic neuropsychiatric disturbances. This article offers the first description of the treatment of posttraumatic mania using the atypical antipsychotic quetiapine. Beneficial effects of this agent on posttraumatic mania, cognitive impairments, and functional disability in the subacute post-injury period are described. Possible mechanisms of action are discussed and the need for additional investigation of quetiapine for posttraumatic mania is highlighted.

Impulse-control disorders have received relatively little attention from the mental health community. An increasing awareness of the prevalence and impact of these disorders is emerging. Among impulse control disorders, problematic Internet use has been considered and examined. Prevalence estimate studies indicate that problematic Internet use is experienced across geographic locations by many individuals of diverse backgrounds. This review examines problematic Internet use from epidemiological and clinical perspectives. Clinicians should be familiar with the extent of problematic Internet use and the data regarding the efficacies and tolerabilities of available treatments.

The boundaries between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other neuropsychiatric disorders remain unresolved and may well differ from one disorder to another. Endophenotypes are heritable, quantitative traits hypothesized to more closely represent genetic risk for complex polygenic mental disorders than overt symptoms and behaviors. They may have a role in identifying how closely these disorders are associated with another and with other mental disorders with which they share major comorbidity. This review maps the nosological relationships of OCD to other neuropsychiatric disorders, using OCD as the prototype disorder and endophenotype markers, such as cognitive, imaging, and molecular data as well as results from demographic, comorbidity, family, and treatment studies. Despite high comorbidity rates, emerging evidence suggests substantial endophenotypic differences between OCD and anxiety disorders, depression, schizophrenia, and addictions, though comparative data is lacking and the picture is far from clear. On the other hand, strong relationships between OCD, Tourette syndrome, body dysmorphic disorder, hypochondriasis, grooming disorders, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcus are likely. Studies designed to delineate the cause, consequences, and common factors are a challenging but essential goal for future research in this area.

In a particular success for translational research agendas, characterization of the neuronal circuits underlying fear extinction, and basic research in animal extinction paradigms, has led to intervention studies examining the use of D-cycloserine (DCS) to enhance therapeutic learning from exposure-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). In this article, we review these intervention studies, and discuss DCS augmentation of CBT relative to more traditional combination-treatment strategies in the treatment of anxiety disorders. We offer an accounting, based on evidence for internal context effects, of current limitations in the combination of antidepressant or benzodiazepine medications with CBT and discuss the advantages of isolated-dosing strategies with DCS relative to these limitations. This strategy is contrasted with the chronic-dosing applications of DCS for schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, and future directions for isolated-dosing strategies are discussed.

The last decade has witnessed remarkable progress in the understanding of the mammalian cannabinoid system, from the cloning of the endogenous cannabinoid receptor to the discovery of new pharmacologic compounds acting on this receptor. Current and planned studies in humans include compounds with effects ranging from direct antagonists to inhibitors of reuptake and breakdown. This progress has been accompanied by a much greater understanding of the role of the cannabinoid system in modulating the neural circuitry that mediates anxiety and fear responses. This review focuses on the neural circuitry and pharmacology of the cannabinoid system as it relates to the acquisition, expression, and extinction of conditioned fear as a model of human anxiety. Preclinical studies suggest that these may provide important emerging targets for new treatments of anxiety disorders.

Anticonvulsants are being used clinically as monotherapy and adjuncts in mental illnesses other than affective disorders. This review focuses on the literature for anticonvulsants and lithium in substance use disorders, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia. Given the abuse potential and other difficulties with prescribing benzodiazepines for alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal, anticonvulsants have been considered as an alternative. Promising therapeutic effects have been demonstrated in many of the anxiety disorders, with the greatest number of trials and positive results in posttraumatic stress disorder. Although anticonvulsant and lithium augmentation for schizophrenia is common in practice and has been studied in double-blind, randomized, controlled trials, the sum of the evidence has been inconclusive.

This article reviews the rapidly growing literature on the functional anatomy and behavioral correlates of the precuneus, with special reference to imaging neuroscience studies using hamodynamic techniques. The precuneus, along with adjacent areas within the posteromedial parietal cortex, is among the most active cortical regions according to the “default mode” of brain function during the conscious resting state, whereas it selectively deactivates in a number of pathophysiological conditions (ie, sleep, vegetative state, drug-induced anesthesia), and neuropsychiatric disorders (ie, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and schizophrenia) characterized by impaired consciousness. These findings, along with the widespread connectivity pattern, suggest that the precuneus may play a central role in the neural network correlates of consciousness. Specifically, its activity seems to correlate with self-reflection processes, possibly involving mental imagery and episodic/autobiographical memory retrieval.

Introduction: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have several similarities and are included among the obsessive-compulsive spectrum of disorders. However, the content of preoccupations and level of insight of BDD patients differ from OCD patients.

Objective: To compare the level of insight regarding obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and other clinical features in OCD patients with and without comorbid BDD.

Methods: We evaluated 103 OCD patients (n=25, comorbid BDD), according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, the University of São Paulo Sensory Phenomena Scale, the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories, and the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale.

Results: The study groups differed significantly on several clinical features, including level of insight. A worse level of insight regarding OCS was independently associated with the presence of comorbid BDD. Lower educational level, more psychiatric comorbidities, presence of somatic and hoarding obsessions, and presence of intrusive images were associated with BDD comorbidity, even after adjusting for possible confounders.

Conclusion: The presence of BDD in OCD patients is associated with poorer insight into obsessional beliefs and higher morbidity, reflected by lower educational levels and higher number of psychiatric comorbid disorders in general.

Research advances have led to three methods for selectively activating one half of the autonomic nervous system in humans.The first method is an ancient yogic technique called unilateral forced nostril breathing (UFNB) that employs forced breathing through only one nostril while closing off the other. The second method works by stimulation of an autonomic reflex point on the fifth intercostal space near the axilla. The most recent method employs unilateral vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) via the mid-inferior cervical branch and requires surgical implantation of a wire and pacemaker. UFNB is non-invasive and seems to selectively activate the ipsilateral branch of the sympathetic nervous system with a possible compensation effect leading to contralateral VNS. UFNB and VNS have been employed to treat psychiatric disorders. While UFNB has been studied for its potential effects on the endogenous ultradian rhythms of the autonomic and central nervous system, and their tightly coupled correlates, VNS has yet to be studied in this regard. This article reviews these three methods and discusses their similarities, putative mechanisms, their studied effects on the endogenous autonomic nervous system and central nervous system rhythms, and their implications for the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Our objective is to report a coincident reduction in headache pain in patients treated with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for major depressive disorder (MDD). Two patients with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition diagnosis of MDD, non-responsive to prior antidepressant treatment who were enrolled in a sham-controlled, double-blind study of rTMS for MDD. After the study, it was revealed that both were in the active-treatment arm. Both patients suffered from near daily headaches and kept logs of headache frequency and severity before, during, and after the study. Headache pain was significantly reduced under double-blind conditions with rTMS treatment, but returned to baseline following cessation of rTMS treatment. Ultimately, when receiving rTMS post-study as a maintenance intervention for MDD (~2 rTMS sessions/week), the positive effects on headache amelioration were sustained. Headache pain is frequently comorbid with mood disorders and has been reported as the most common side effect with rTMS. In these subjects, rTMS was, in fact, associated with relief of depressive symptoms and preexisting headache pain. This indicates that rTMS may be beneficial for both disorders in some patients.

Depression is a common disorder among adolescents and is associated with a high risk of suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among adolescents in the United States. Currently, there are only two evidence-based psychotherapies for adolescence depression: cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy. Furthermore, psychosocial interventions that specifically target suicidal behavior in adolescents are even fewer in number than treatments for depression. This article will review the psychosocial interventions for depression and suicidality in adolescents and will describe a recently developed treatment that is under study for depressed suicidal adolescents.

This case report illustrates the relationship between stress and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) by describing an unusual case of OCD sequelae following a suicide attempt. The patient is a 29-year-old married woman who suffered a major depressive episode without OCD and tried to commit suicide by drinking household cleaner. Following the attempt, violent obsessive thoughts of harming herself and others emerged along with avoidance behavior. After exposure therapy, there was a decrease in her obsessive thoughts, less anxiety, and no avoidance behavior. This report highlights not only the existence of “posttraumatic obsession” but also the importance of accurate interpretation of suicidal preoccupation, leading to the diagnosis of OCD rather then suicidal ideation secondary to depression.

Introduction: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a chronic illness with psychic and somatic symptoms that do not respond uniformly in the first weeks of treatment.

Methods: A post-hoc analysis of pooled data from five placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized studies in non-depressed GAD patients treated with venlafaxine extended release (ER) or placebo was performed to determine the temporal response of psychic and somatic symptoms to treatment over 8 weeks. Two of the studies included extension phases of up to 6 months, the results of which were also analyzed here.

Results: The earliest symptoms to respond included both psychic symptoms (anxious mood, tension, behavior at interview) and somatic muscular, cardiovascular, and respiratory symptoms. The last symptoms to respond included the psychic symptoms of insomnia and fear and the somatic sensory, gastrointestinal and autonomic symptoms, perhaps in part because of drug-related side effects. Continuing treatment beyond 8 weeks in venlafaxine ER responders for up to 6 months of total treatment results not only in additional improvement in early-responding symptoms, but also in the improvement of late-responding symptoms, perhaps due in part to the development of tolerance to antidepressant side effects.

Conclusion: Serious consideration should be given to maintaining partial responders to venlafaxine ER treatment on the same treatment for ≥3–6 months.

We describe three recent patients in whom evaluation of subacute, progressive encephalopathy led to the initial diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus infection. The clinical neurological picture of a predominance of abnormalities of mental function with few elementary neurological deficits, in conjunction with a paucity of systemic symptoms and lack of evidence for prior opportunistic infections preceding the encephalopathy are notable. The cognitive, behavioral, and neuropsychiatric disturbances are described in detail to illustrate the range of manifestations of disordered mental states associated with encephalopathy in individuals with HIV infection. The importance of a comprehensive and broad-minded work-up by brain magnetic resonance imaging, cerebrospinal fluid examination, and specific microbiological tests in delineating the potential multifactorial pathogenesis of the cerebral syndromes in relation to the HIV infection is emphasized. The gratifying long-term clinical improvements in parallel with resolution of neuroimaging and other laboratory abnormalities in response, to antiretroviral drug treatment are reported.