New directions in clinical psychopharmacology

This paper reviews the current clinical use of psychotropic drugs and suggests new directions for future drug development. The author reviews the contemporary pharmacotherapy of depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder and summarizes current trends in the drug treatment of psychiatric aspects of HIV disease. The increasing use of combination pharmacotherapy is discussed, as well as the impact of pharmacokinetics in clinical psychopharmacology. The use of botanical products for psychiatric disorders and tobacco use in the psychiatric patient are also addressed. Current research is producing drugs that have greater specificity in their mechanism of action effecting faster clinical response with minimum adverse effects.