Home Monitor on Psychology

February 2008 | Monitor on Psychology

Vol. 39 No. 2

On the Cover: The future of psychopharmacology

When do meds make the difference?
For most nonpsychotic conditions, empirically supported therapies and medications yield similarly good results, but therapy is better over the long haul, research finds.
Combined-treatment research gains sophistication
Results of combined-treatment studies can be varied and confusing, as a result of methodology, researcher bias and patient characteristics.
At least one in 10 Americans are prescribed psychotropics
The number of prescriptions dispensed in the United States for antidepressant, anti-anxiety, analeptic and antipsychotic medications grew significantly from 2002 to 2006.
Advising the FDA
APA helps psychologists gain a seat at the Food and Drug Administration's table.
Front-line psychopharmacology
Prescribing psychologists often focus on reducing medications as part of treatment.
Div. 55's drive for RxP
The American Society for the Advancement of Pharmacotherapy pushes for prescriptive authority through training and advocacy.
Prescriptive authority in the states
A look at which states allow RxP and which have considered it.

SCIENCE WATCH

The two faces of oxytocin

Why does the 'tend and befriend' hormone come into play at the best and worst of times?

IN BRIEF

ETHICS ROUNDS

Multiple relationships: A vignette

Finding oneself in a multiple relationship is not necessarily a sign that one has engaged in unethical behavior. It may rather be a sign that one is fully engaged in the life of a community.

Features

Dateline: Iraq

Army psychologist Capt. Jeffrey Bass—featured in the September Monitor—reflects on his first months of deployment.

'The Business Doctor'

A Chicago-area radio program moves I/O psychology from the boardroom to the airwaves.

The brain in the voting booth

For American voters, emotion, not reason, wins the race, says psychologist and author Drew Westen.

Minding the gap

Having a serious mental illness may cut life short by an average of 25 years. Psychologists and other mental health professionals are working to change that.

Finding the right words

After a lifetime serving people with mental illnesses, writing helps this psychologist and Alzheimer's patient make sense of his own mind.

Connection or misdirection?

When people with mental health problems seek support online, both benefits and pitfalls abound.

Making sense of dollars and cents

Neuroeconomics is tackling the fundamental questions of decision-making and rewriting economics textbooks along the way.

Moving up in academe

Psychologists grapple with the challenges of assuming new roles at their institutions.

Art imitating life

An innovative program at the University of Texas uses theater to fight relationship violence.

U.K. gives huge boost to psychologists

Great Britain poured money into its National Health Service to train new psychologists and other mental health workers in evidence-based practices such as cognitive behavioral therapy.