Psych Meds

Evidence-based treatment of mental illness

Evidence-Based Treatment Guidelines for Anxiety Disorders

July 3, 2018 September 24, 2022 / , , , , , , , / 29 Comments

In this post, I’ll take a look at some of the available guidelines for evidence-based treatment of anxiety disorders. While psychotherapies are extremely important in the management of anxiety disorders, this post will focus only on anti-anxiety medications. The treatment guidelines I refer to come from the British Association for Psychopharmacology and the World Federation …

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Our Complicated Relationships with Psychiatric Medications

June 21, 2018 August 23, 2022 / , , , , , / 66 Comments

I can’t think of any other type of health condition that has such polarized relationships with medications as mental illness. In some ways, to medicate or not to medicate has become a moral issue, with various involved parties taking a stance based on principle. Often, this stance is very broad, making sweeping generalizations. Public misconceptions …

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Evidence-based treatment of mental illness

Bipolar Disorder Treatment Guidelines

May 23, 2018 October 9, 2022 / , , , , , , / 14 Comments

In 2013 the International Society for Bipolar Disorders and the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments combed through the scientific literature and put together these guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of bipolar disorder. Treatments are classified as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd line based on the strength of existing evidence to support their effectiveness. The …

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Evidence-based treatment of mental illness

Do Antidepressants Work Better Than Placebo?

February 24, 2018 October 9, 2022 / , , , , , , , / 2 Comments

Do antidepressants work? There’s a lot of stigma around psychiatric medications, and plenty of people would argue that no, antidepressants don’t work. There are also people, that argue that medication is life-saving. Those are personal experiences, but what does the research have to say? A recent paper published in the Lancet, and reported on in …

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Psych Meds 101 series: Anti-anxiety meds, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, and sleep meds

Psych Meds 101: Medications for Sleep

January 2, 2018 August 23, 2022 / , , , , / Leave a Comment

The Psych Meds 101 series on my perspective as a mental health nurse, former pharmacist, and person with depression. This final post in the series focuses on sleep meds. While some of these meds are primarily for sleep, many have other uses as well. The choice of medication for any given person will be based …

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Psych Meds 101 series: Anti-anxiety meds, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, and sleep meds

Psych Meds 101: Antidepressants

November 28, 2017 August 5, 2022 / , , , , , , / 3 Comments

It can be really useful to understand how medications work, as it can make both the therapeutic effects and side effects make more sense. As a mental health nurse, former pharmacist, and psych med-taker, this is a major area of interest for me. This is the first of a series of psych meds 101 posts …

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Do I Look Fat in this Seroquel? Psych Meds & Weight Gain

November 14, 2017 August 13, 2022 / , , , , , , , / 4 Comments

Society is obsessed with how we look, and in particular what size we are.  Even people who are generally quite polite feel entitled to comment on our weight and body shape, without having any idea what the backstory might be.  In the case of mental illness, there is often a great deal of backstory.