New drugs in psychiatry

Recent years have witnessed the rapid expansion of new psychotropic agents and psychotropic applications of primarily nonpsychiatric medications in ne arly all domains of psychopathology. Increasingly, patients in emergency de partments may be taking newer-generation antidepressants, antipsychotics, a nd mood-stabilizing drugs, and individuals with treatment-resistant psychia tric disorders are often prescribed complex, polypharmaceutical regimens. C urrent information on the use of psychiatric medications that have entered widespread use in the past 5 to 10 years is reviewed, with focus on indicat ions and dosing, comparisons with older medications, management of patients with overdoses and toxicity states, and the medical and psychiatric effect s of newer drugs on patients who may present to emergency departments.