Challenges in the Treatment of Psychotic Bipolar Depression

Psychotic bipolar depression (PBD) is a prevalent yet understudied psychiatric illness with no specific guidelines or Food and Drug Administration-approved medications for its treatment. Recent studies suggest that some antipsychotics and mood stabilizers may be effective in managing bipolar depression; however, their effectiveness for PBD remains unclear. With an urgent need for more focused research for managing PBD, several authors conducted a literature review to piece together existing literature on the topic.   In this podcast, Dr. Julia Ann Koretski, Digital Editor of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology (JCP), discusses the review with two of its authors, Dr. Maité Cintrón Pastrana and Dr. Anthony Rothschild, who is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Both authors are from the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. A third author, Jessica C. Irizarry Flores, is from the Ponce Health Science University Medical School in Puerto Rico.   The article appears in the July/August 2024 issue of the journal.