Multiple subtypes of OCD are identified primarily based on factor analysis. Typical obsessions may include fears of contamination, sexual/religious or other moral transgression, harming others, or unrecognized illness. Compulsions may…
Panic disorder is common, with a lifetime prevalence in the United States of up to 5%. The disorder occurs nearly twice as often in women and tends to manifest in…
DSM-IV criteria stipulate that this condition contributes to significant functional impairment (for example, in work or relationships) or distress. Of note, the individual recognizes that the fear is excessive or…
The prevalence of GAD in the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) was 1.6% for current GAD (defined as a 6-month period of anxiety that continued in the 30 days before the…
Depressive episodes consist of either depressed mood or anhedonia with five or more of the following concomitant symptoms: (1) significant decrease or increase in sleep, and/or (2) appetite, (3) low…
Subtypes of depression may be defined by the presence of psychotic features (delusions, hallucinations), catatonia (motor disturbances, such as immobility or agitation, stereotyped movements, mutism), melancholy (weight loss, insomnia, morning…
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (i.e., DSM-IV) does not list postpartum psychiatric disorders separately but instead uses a specifier, for example, “with postpartum onset” to describe any…
Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an adjunctive treatment for certain types of intractable epilepsy and treatment-resistant depression. VNS uses an implanted stimulator that sends electric impulses to the left vagus…
The amygdala is connected extensively to the hypothalamus and other limbic structures. It receives input from widespread sensory cortical regions and paralimbic structures (piriform cortex, entorhinal cortex, and parahippocampal cortex…
The cellular events that underlie the ability of NRT neurons to shift between an oscillatory and tonic firing mode are the low-threshold (T) Ca2+ spikes that are present in thalamocortical…
