Essential Reads

Neuroactive steroids or neurosteroids are a new class of medications which appear to have anxiolytic and antidepressant effects and have received a great deal of attention over the past few years.  Most of neuroactive steroids currently under investigation as antidepressants are derivatives of allopregnanolone.  In the human body, the hormone progesterone is metabolized into a variety of active and inactive compounds, including allopregnanolone.  It is hypothesized that these allopregnanolone derivatives ameliorate anxiety and depressive symptoms by modulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal or HPA axis which mediates the body’s response to stress and is modulated by GABAergic signaling. The first neurosteroid to generate a great deal of excitement was brexanolone which was approved by the FDA for the treatment of postpartum depression.  Zuranolone, ...
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In an evidence-based review published in 2012, Laura Wakil, Samantha Meltzer-Brody, and Susan Girdler present a thorough review of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), reviewing its diagnosis and treatment options.  The information provided is clear and provides an excellent framework for understanding PMDD.  In addition, this article includes a section on the association between PMS/PMDD and a history of sexual or physical trauma, an important topic that other reviews have typically not included. Although published 9 years ago, there are not many reviews on PMDD out there, and this is a good one.  With regard to treatment and diagnosis, little has changed over the last decade.  PMDD is now classified as a mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of ...
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While many women experience physical symptoms prior to the onset of their period or premenstrual syndrome (PMS), a smaller subset of women suffer from Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), a more severe form of premenstrual syndrome.  PMDD is characterized by significant premenstrual mood disturbance, often with prominent mood reactivity, irritability, and depression. Symptoms of PMDD can emerge 1-2 weeks preceding menses and typically resolve with the onset of menses. This mood disturbance results in marked social or occupational impairment, with its most prominent effects noted in interpersonal functioning.  Serotonergic antidepressants have been established as the first-line treatment option for PMDD; however, some women either do not tolerate or fail to respond to this class of medications.  Some women may benefit from ...
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The following post was first published in Current Psychiatry, published September 2017, Vol. 16, No. 9, p. 20-28. Check out the article on Current Psychiatry or listen to Dr. Raffi discuss treatment of menstrual–related mood and anxiety disorders. By Edwin R. Raffi, MD, MPH, & Marlene P. Freeman, MD In an age when psychiatry strives to identify the biologic causes of disease, studying endocrine-related mood disorders is particularly intriguing. DSM-5 defines premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) as a depressive disorder, with a 12-month prevalence ranging from 1.8% to 5.8% among women who menstruate.1-3 Factors that differentiate PMDD from other affective disorders include etiology, duration, and temporal relationship with the menstrual cycle. PMDD is a disorder of consistent yet intermittent change in mental health ...
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About 10% to 15% of women experience clinically significant depressive symptoms during pregnancy. Furthermore, women with a history of major depression appear to be at high risk for recurrent illness during pregnancy particularly in the setting of antidepressant discontinuation.  We have long argued that it is important to identify and to offer treatment to women who suffer from depression during pregnancy, but we have yet to agree on what is the best instrument for this purpose. Using the EPDS to Identify Depression During Pregnancy? The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), although initially engineered to detect postpartum depression, has been used in pregnant populations; however, there has been considerable variability in the estimates of the sensitivity ...
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It is not easy to stay on top of the medical literature in any field.  The number of journals and publications has increased dramatically over the last decade.  When we first started this website, there were a handful of articles to read each week.  Now, it is easy to find 50 or so publications each week that are relevant to the practice of perinatal psychiatry.   On our website, we try to stay abreast of the latest news, and you are, of course, welcome to continue to use our website as your primary source of information.  But many people want to know  what I read and how I find out about current literature.  I am including ...
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In this Special Report published in Psychiatric News, Dr. Laura Miller reviews the data regarding the impact of stress experienced by the mother during pregnancy on pregnancy outcomes and fetal development. “I just feel like I am broken. I am the worst pregnant woman ever.” These are the words of a woman interviewed by Aleksandra Staneva, Ph.D., and colleagues as they conducted a study on how women experience and interpret psychological distress while they are pregnant. The study was reported in the June 2017 Health Care for Women International. What they learned is that for many women, experiencing distress during pregnancy runs smack into unrealistic cultural expectations and fuels excessive guilt. Women report feeling totally responsible ...
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It is estimated that up to 95% of women experience some type of sleep disturbance during pregnancy.  While for many women the insomnia is relatively benign and may respond to simple interventions, other women experience more severe insomnia which has a significant impact on their quality of life and ability to function.  Trazodone (Desyrel) is FDA-approved for the treatment of major depressive disorder; however, because it is highly sedating, it is more commonly used to promote sleep.  However, information regarding the reproductive safety of these medications has been relatively sparse. Insomnia, especially when severe, may be associated with worse pregnancy outcomes and may increase risk for depression during pregnancy and the postpartum period.  The treatment ...
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Thus far, most studies assessing outcomes in children prenatally exposed to antidepressants have focused on risk for congenital malformations. In this context, there is ample evidence to support the reproductive safety of commonly used antidepressants.  Over the last decade, we have seen an increasing number of studies examining long-term outcomes in children exposed to antidepressants, including neurodevelopmental outcomes.  These studies have focused on the prevalence of developmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and, less commonly,  performance on standardized tests of cognitive and motor development.   Determining the long-term neurobehavioral sequelae of fetal exposure to a particular medication presents many challenges. Prospective observational studies have yielded the richest data ...
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For many women with bipolar disorder, lamotrigine (Lamictal) is an effective mood stabilizer.  Given its favorable reproductive safety profile, lamotrigine (LTG) is a reasonable option for women who require treatment with a mood stabilizer during pregnancy.   When advising women regarding the use of medications during pregnancy, we typically recommend that women remain on the same dose of medication that has kept them well prior to pregnancy.  Reducing the dosage of medication may result in sub-therapeutic levels, which may in turn increase the risk of relapse during pregnancy despite maintenance of the medication.   Maintenance of adequate dosage during pregnancy is especially important; there are data to indicate that levels of many medications may decrease during pregnancy ...
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It used to be easier.  Becoming a perinatal psychiatrist meant understanding some rudimentary data on the reproductive risks of a few psychotropic medications -- medications like lithium and valproic acid that were known teratogens. There was some preliminary data on a few SSRI antidepressants, the tricyclic antidepressants, and the older antipsychotic medications.  Most of the time, consultations involved weighing the risks of untreated psychiatric illness in the mother against the as yet unknown risks to the child of the medications used to treat these disorders.  Now we have a lot of data to wade through, and it is a daunting task to familiarize oneself with this body of information.  Having a solid, well-researched review article ...
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