About this Research Topic
As we are aware major depression and the depressive phase in bipolar disorder had contributed to significant functional impairments and low rates of quality of life amongst patients suffering from this illness.
Unfortunately, treatments as of now have not modified drastically response/remission rates and in a few cases led to significant side effects that contribute to poor treatment adherence. Thus, new ways of framing our paradigms in depression and approaching treatment care should be established.
Approximately one-third of patients do not respond and may be considered treatment resistant. Different international guidelines have suggested multiple strategies such as a combination of different antidepression or augmentation strategies with antipsychotics, mood stabilizers (lithium), or even different agents such as liothyronine and stimulants; however, the selection of these strategies has remained on clinicians’ perspective with a dearth of studies examining evidence base thoroughly.
Augmentation strategies with stimulants have been reported as early as the 1930s although concerns regarding substance abuse, the risk for mood destabilization, and overall efficacy have been raised. Nevertheless, stimulant medications have been recognized in the literature as second and fourth-line therapy for patients specifically with bipolar disorder.
In this Research Topic, we would like to welcome studies, case reports, and randomized controlled trials that target augmentation strategies for depression precisely focused on the use of stimulants as an augmentation strategy to create a collection that will provide synthesis and create novel ideas about the pathophysiological bases of these conditions and specifically how clinical correlations could be established in this augmentation strategy to mitigate risk, personalize treatment and improve outcomes.
Unfortunately, treatments as of now have not modified drastically response/remission rates and in a few cases led to significant side effects that contribute to poor treatment adherence. Thus, new ways of framing our paradigms in depression and approaching treatment care should be established.
Approximately one-third of patients do not respond and may be considered treatment resistant. Different international guidelines have suggested multiple strategies such as a combination of different antidepression or augmentation strategies with antipsychotics, mood stabilizers (lithium), or even different agents such as liothyronine and stimulants; however, the selection of these strategies has remained on clinicians’ perspective with a dearth of studies examining evidence base thoroughly.
Augmentation strategies with stimulants have been reported as early as the 1930s although concerns regarding substance abuse, the risk for mood destabilization, and overall efficacy have been raised. Nevertheless, stimulant medications have been recognized in the literature as second and fourth-line therapy for patients specifically with bipolar disorder.
In this Research Topic, we would like to welcome studies, case reports, and randomized controlled trials that target augmentation strategies for depression precisely focused on the use of stimulants as an augmentation strategy to create a collection that will provide synthesis and create novel ideas about the pathophysiological bases of these conditions and specifically how clinical correlations could be established in this augmentation strategy to mitigate risk, personalize treatment and improve outcomes.
Keywords: depression, bipolar disorder, augmentation treatments
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