Identifying Harm from Psychotropic Drugs: An Urgent Call to Action
Adjustment Disorders
1. Adjustment Disorders
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth
Edition. 5th. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association; 2013:286-9.
Nguyen N, Fakra E, Pradel V, Jouve E, Alquier C, Le Guern ME, et al. Efficacy of etifoxine compared
to lorazepam monotherapy in the treatment of patients with adjustment disorders with anxiety: a
double-blind controlled study in general practice. Hum Psychopharmacol. Apr 2006;21(3):139-49.
[Medline].
Rao ML, Hawellek B, Papassotiropoulos A, Deister A, Frahnert C. Upregulation of the platelet
Serotonin2A receptor and low blood serotonin in suicidal psychiatric patients. Neuropsychobiology.
1998;38(2):84-9. [Medline].
Di Rosa AE, Gangemi S, Cristani M, Fenga C, Saitta S, Abenavoli E, et al. Serum levels of
carbonylated and nitrosylated proteins in mobbing victims with workplace adjustment disorders. Biol
Psychol. Dec 2009;82(3):308-11. [Medline].
Tomb DA. Child psychiatry emergencies. In: Lewis M. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: A
Comprehensive Textbook. 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins; 1996:929-934.
Strain JJ, Smith GC, Hammer JS, McKenzie DP, Blumenfield M, Muskin P, et al. Adjustment disorder:
a multisite study of its utilization and interventions in the consultation-liaison psychiatry setting. Gen
Hosp Psychiatry. May 1998;20(3):139-49. [Medline].
Ponizovsky AM, Levov K, Schultz Y, Radomislensky I. Attachment insecurity and psychological
resources associated with adjustment disorders. Am J Orthopsychiatry. Apr 2011;81(2):265-76.
[Medline].
Kienlen KK, Birmingham DL, Solberg KB, O'Regan JT, Meloy JR. A comparative study of psychotic
and nonpsychotic stalking. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 1997;25(3):317-34. [Medline].
Polyakova I, Knobler HY, Ambrumova A, Lerner V. Characteristics of suicidal attempts in major
depression versus adjustment reactions. J Affect Disord. Jan 1998;47(1-3):159-67. [Medline].
Pelkonen M, Marttunen M, Henriksson M, Lönnqvist J. Suicidality in adjustment disorder--clinical
characteristics of adolescent outpatients. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. May 2005;14(3):174-80.
[Medline].
Uwakwe R. Psychiatric morbidity in elderly patients admitted to non-psychiatric wards in a
general/teaching hospital in Nigeria. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. Apr 2000;15(4):346-54. [Medline].
Grassi L, Mangelli L, Fava GA, Grandi S, Ottolini F, Porcelli P, et al. Psychosomatic characterization
of adjustment disorders in the medical setting: some suggestions for DSM-V. J Affect Disord. Aug
2007;101(1-3):251-4. [Medline].
Despland JN, Monod L, Ferrero F. Clinical relevance of adjustment disorder in DSM-III-4 and DSM-
2. IV. Compr Psychiatry. Nov-Dec 1995;36(6):454-60. [Medline].
Wai BH, Hong C, Heok KE. Suicidal behavior among young people in Singapore. Gen Hosp
Psychiatry. Mar-Apr 1999;21(2):128-33. [Medline].
Summary of mental disorder hospitalizations, active and reserve components, U.S. Armed Forces,
2000-2012. MSMR. Jul 2013;20(7):4-11. [Medline].
Schnyder U, Valach L. Suicide attempters in a psychiatric emergency room population. Gen Hosp
Psychiatry. Mar 1997;19(2):119-29. [Medline].
Casey P, Bailey S. Adjustment disorders: the state of the art. World Psychiatry. Feb 2011;10(1):11-8.
[Medline]. [Full Text].
Jones R, Yates WR, Williams S, Zhou M, Hardman L. Outcome for adjustment disorder with
depressed mood: comparison with other mood disorders. J Affect Disord. Sep 1999;55(1):55-61.
[Medline].
Dobricki M, Komproe IH, de Jong JT, Maercker A. Adjustment disorders after severe life-events in
four postconflict settings. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. Jan 2010;45(1):39-46. [Medline].
Montgomery C, Lydon A, Lloyd K. Psychological distress among cancer patients and informed
consent. J Psychosom Res. Mar 1999;46(3):241-5. [Medline].
Mitchell AJ, Chan M, Bhatti H, Halton M, Grassi L, Johansen C, et al. Prevalence of depression,
anxiety, and adjustment disorder in oncological, haematological, and palliative-care settings: a
Adjustment Disorder meta-analysis of 94 interview-based studies. Lancet Oncol. Feb 2011;12(2):160-
74. [Medline].
Aghanwa HS, Erhabor GE. Demographic/socioeconomic factors in mental disorders associated with
tuberculosis in southwest Nigeria. J Psychosom Res. Oct 1998;45(4):353-60. [Medline].
Popkin MK, Callies AL, Colón EA, Stiebel V. Adjustment disorders in medically ill inpatients
referred for consultation in a university hospital. Psychosomatics. Fall 1990;31(4):410-4. [Medline].
Perez Jimenez JP, Gomez Bajo GJ, Lopez Castillo JJ, Salvador-Robert M, Garcia Torres V. Psychiatric
consultation and post-traumatic stress disorder in burned patients. Burns. Dec 1994;20(6):532-6.
[Medline].
Gradus JL, Qin P, Lincoln AK, Miller M, Lawler E, Lash TL. The association between adjustment
disorder diagnosed at psychiatric treatment facilities and completed suicide. Clin Epidemiol. Aug 9
2010;2:23-8. [Medline]. [Full Text].
Mitrev I. A study of deliberate self-poisoning in patients with adjustment disorders. Folia Med
(Plovdiv). 1996;38(3-4):11-6. [Medline].
Runeson BS, Beskow J, Waern M. The suicidal process in suicides among young people. Acta
Psychiatr Scand. Jan 1996;93(1):35-42. [Medline].
Portzky G, Audenaert K, van Heeringen K. Adjustment disorder and the course of the suicidal
process in adolescents. J Affect Disord. Aug 2005;87(2-3):265-70. [Medline].
3. Taggart C, O'Grady J, Stevenson M, Hand E, Mc Clelland R, Kelly C. Accuracy of diagnosis at routine
psychiatric assessment in patients presenting to an accident and emergency department. Gen Hosp
Psychiatry. Jul-Aug 2006;28(4):330-5. [Medline].
Casey P. Adjustment disorder: epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment. CNS Drugs. Nov
2009;23(11):927-38. [Medline].
Greenberg WM, Rosenfeld DN, Ortega EA. Adjustment disorder as an admission diagnosis. Am J
Psychiatry. Mar 1995;152(3):459-61. [Medline].
Presicci A, Lecce P, Ventura P, Margari F, Tafuri S, Margari L. Depressive and adjustment disorders
- some questions about the differential diagnosis: case studies. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. Sep 7
2010;6:473-81. [Medline]. [Full Text].
Chen PF, Chen CS, Chen CC, Lung FW. Alexithymia as a screening index for male conscripts with
adjustment disorder. Psychiatr Q. Jun 2011;82(2):139-50. [Medline].
Maercker A, Forstmeier S, Enzler A, Krüsi G, Hörler E, Maier C, et al. Adjustment disorders,
posttraumatic stress disorder, and depressive disorders in old age: findings from a community
survey. Compr Psychiatry. Mar-Apr 2008;49(2):113-20. [Medline].
Akizuki N, Yamawaki S, Akechi T, Nakano T, Uchitomi Y. Development of an Impact Thermometer
for use in combination with the Distress Thermometer as a brief screening tool for adjustment
disorders and/or major depression in cancer patients. J Pain Symptom Manage. Jan 2005;29(1):91-9.
[Medline].
Strain JJ, Diefenbacher A. The adjustment disorders: the conundrums of the diagnoses. Compr
Psychiatry. Mar-Apr 2008;49(2):121-30. [Medline].
Beck JC. Legal and ethical duties of the clinician treating a patient who is liable to be impulsively
violent. Behav Sci Law. Summer 1998;16(3):375-89. [Medline].
Uhlenhuth EH, Balter MB, Ban TA, Yang K. International study of expert judgment on therapeutic
use of benzodiazepines and other psychotherapeutic medications: III. Clinical features affecting
experts' therapeutic recommendations in anxiety disorders. Psychopharmacol Bull. 1995;31(2):289-
96. [Medline].
Schatzberg AF. Anxiety and adjustment disorder: a treatment approach. J Clin Psychiatry. Nov
1990;51 Suppl:20-4. [Medline].
Newcorn JH, Strain J. Adjustment disorder in children and adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc
Psychiatry. Mar 1992;31(2):318-26. [Medline].
Walcott DM, Cerundolo P, Beck JC. Current analysis of the Tarasoff duty: an evolution towards the
limitation of the duty to protect. Behav Sci Law. 2001;19(3):325-43. [Medline].
4. Andreasen NC, Hoenk PR. The predictive value of adjustment disorders: a follow-up study. Am J
Psychiatry. May 1982;139(5):584-90. [Medline].
Sifneos PE. Brief dynamic and crisis therapy. In: Kaplan HI, Sadcock BJ, eds. Comprehensive
Textbook of Psychiatry. Vol 2. 5th ed. Baltimore, Md: Williams & Wilkins; 1989:1562-7.
Kisely S, Preston N, Rooney M. Pathways and outcomes of psychiatric care: does it depend on who
you are, or what you've got?. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. Dec 2000;34(6):1009-14. [Medline].
González-Jaimes EI, Turnbull-Plaza B. Selection of psychotherapeutic treatment for adjustment
disorder with depressive mood due to acute myocardial infarction. Arch Med Res. Jul-Aug
2003;34(4):298-304. [Medline].
van der Klink JJ, Blonk RW, Schene AH, van Dijk FJ. Reducing long term sickness absence by an
activating intervention in adjustment disorders: a cluster randomised controlled design. Occup
Environ Med. Jun 2003;60(6):429-37. [Medline]. [Full Text].
Brown RL, Brown RL, Saunders LA, Castelaz CA, Papasouliotis O. Physicians' decisions to prescribe
benzodiazepines for nervousness and insomnia. J Gen Intern Med. Jan 1997;12(1):44-52. [Medline].
[Full Text].
Stewart JW, Quitkin FM, Klein DF. The pharmacotherapy of minor depression. Am J Psychother. Jan
1992;46(1):23-36. [Medline].
Shaner R. Benzodiazepines in psychiatric emergency settings. Psychiatr Ann. ;():. 2000;30: 4:268-75.
Razavi D, Kormoss N, Collard A, Farvacques C, Delvaux N. Comparative study of the efficacy and
safety of trazodone versus clorazepate in the treatment of adjustment disorders in cancer patients: a
pilot study. J Int Med Res. 1999;27(6):264-72. [Medline].
Bourin M, Bougerol T, Guitton B, Broutin E. A combination of plant extracts in the treatment of
outpatients with adjustment disorder with anxious mood: controlled study versus placebo. Fundam
Clin Pharmacol. 1997;11(2):127-32. [Medline].
Volz HP, Kieser M. Kava-kava extract WS 1490 versus placebo in anxiety disorders--a randomized
placebo-controlled 25-week outpatient trial. Pharmacopsychiatry. Jan 1997;30(1):1-5. [Medline].