New Guide Focuses on Understanding Quality of Evidence When Prescribing Medications for Children With Mental Illness.

Mental health issues in children and adolescents are a growing problem across the globe. It is now the second largest cause of intentional death among adolescents according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Although therapy can work, many clinicians are facing more resistant forms of mental illness and need to address this issue with medication.

A new clinician’s guide, Pediatric Psychopharmacology Evidence edited by Boris Lorberg, M.D., provides a thorough resource by answering many questions on psychopharmacological treatment for children and adolescents with mental health issues.  The nearly 600-page guide, published in the fall 2024, provides detailed information on medications used to treat a wide variety of mental illnesses. 

Divided into 18 chapters, this comprehensive guide addresses various dimensions of medications, including their history and FDA status, quality of evidence supporting their safety and efficacy, as well as how to synthesize complex evidence into making prescribing decisions.

“Evidence's greatest strength may be in the carefully organized manner in which it presents the current state of evidence, with the disorder-focused chapters following a methodical examination of what is known at each turn, starting with topic-relevant general principles, and then looking at each medication that has been considered for the condition at hand, taking the reader through mechanism, pharmacokinetics, historical contexts, including FDA approval and marketing, and most importantly, concluding with quality of evidence of efficacy, safety and tolerability as well as practical tips for prescribing.” -- Donald Sherak, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry

Other helpful information includes guidance on how clinicians can discuss these medications with the patients and their caregivers and address media controversy around these medications.  Through the use of tables and figures, the guide simplifies detailed information and provides a quick reference.  Many resources are included to help round out a clinician’s scope of the medications at hand.   

Dr. Boris Lorberg is a board-certified child psychiatrist in Lawrence, Massachusetts and is affiliated with UMass Chan Medical School and Lawrence Community Behavioral Health Center. He received his training at Stony Brook, Yale, and Harvard University Schools of Medicine and specializes in treatment of complex adolescents. He has been practicing for over 20 years.

Pediatric Psychopharmacology Evidence is available in hardcopy and can be ordered through wherever you get your books .  It can be also be purchased as an  ebook by visiting: Pediatric Psychopharmacology Evidence: A Clinician's Guide