Treatment of Alcohol Dependence Complicated by Depression and Anxiety Spectrum Disorders

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Session Summary

Psychiatric disorders frequently co-occur with alcohol dependence. The National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) confirms previous epidemiologic data that bipolar disorder has the highest co-occurrence with alcoholism, followed by major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and social anxiety. Although these disorders frequently co-occur, there are few studies evaluating the treatment of these comorbid conditions. The studies that are available typically focus on the treatment of the underlying psychiatric disorder.

Few studies evaluate the effect of the psychiatric disorder and its treatment on alcohol use outcomes. The purpose of this presentation is to review available information on the treatment of alcoholism complicated by psychiatric disorders. Dr. Sonne will review current data on the effect of agents typically used to treat psychiatric disorders (e.g. SSRIs and anticonvulsants) on alcoholism outcomes. She will also review the use naltrexone, disulfiram and acamprosate to treat alcohol dependent patients with psychiatric disorders.

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Faculty Information

Susan Sonne, PharmD, BCPP

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Susan Sonne, PharmD, BCPP
Associate Professor
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC

Dr. Susan Sonne is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacy at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is active in both teaching and research she has been an investigator on over 30 studies and has authored 44 papers in peer reviewed journals and five book chapters. Dr. Sonne was recently appointed as Chair of one of MUSC’s three Institutional Review Boards and also serves as the Operations Director for MUSC’s General Clinical Research Center.

Dr. Sonne received her BS in Pharmacy at the Medical College of Virginia and her doctorate in pharmacy from the Medical University of South Carolina, where she subsequently completed an ASHP accredited residency in psychiatric pharmacy practice, as well as a three-year research fellowship in substance abuse research. She is board certified in Psychiatric Pharmacy. Dr. Sonne has worked primarily in the area of dual diagnosis for the last sixteen years, specifically in the areas of bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression and substance abuse.

Grant/Research Support:

Forest Laboratories

Speakers Bureau/Educational Services:

Abbott, Forest

Learning Objectives

Summarize common psychiatric comorbidities encountered in patients with alcohol dependence.
Examine treatment options for mood and anxiety disorders in patients with comorbid alcohol dependence.
Describe the impact of mood and anxiety disorders on outcomes in alcohol dependence treatment.
Evaluate treatments being tested for alcohol dependence in patients with mood and anxiety disorders.

Continuing Education Credit

Activity Dates: 04/21/2009 - 04/21/2012
ACPE Contact Hours: 1.0
ACPE Number: 0284-0000-09-010-H01-P
Nursing Credit Reminder: Note that ACPE and ACCME credit is accepted for certification renewal.

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ACPE The College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. This self-study course provides 1.0 contact hours (0.1 CEUs) of knowledge-based continuing education credit from CPNP approved programming. The ACPE universal program number assigned to this course is 0284-0000-09-010-H01-P (1.0 contact hours).

ACPE approved contact hours are accepted for ANCC Certification Renewal (see pages 5 and 6): At least 50% (37.5 hours) of your 75 continuing education hours must be formally approved continuing education hours. Formally approved continuing education hours meet one or more of the criteria listed below:

Continuing nursing education (CNE) approved for nursing contact hours by an accredited provider or approver of nursing continuing education
Continuing medical education (CME) approved for CME hours
Sponsored by organizations, agencies, or educational institutions accredited or approved by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) or the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) or the Commission on Dietetic Registration

Course Requirements

This course is provided online at cpnp.org and consists of the speaker audio and slides. A PDF file of the slides is also provided and access is available to participants indefinitely although ACPE credit is available only through the course expiration date.

Participants in this course must complete an examination and achieve a score of 60% or greater. Successful completion of the course also requires the completion of a course evaluation. ACPE statements of credit can be retrieved by participants online at cpnp.org immediately upon successful completion of the course.

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Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+ or Safari 3+
1024x768 resolution or greater
Adobe Flash Player 8+
512MB RAM
Any Operating System capable of the above requirements

Recommended:

Internet Explorer 7+, Firefox 3+ or Safari 3+
1280x768 resolution or greater
Adobe Flash Player 10+
Windows XP/2000/Vista and Mac OS 10.4 or better
512MB of RAM for Windows XP or Mac OS
1GB of RAM for Windows Vista

Target Audience

If you are a pharmacist, nurse practitioner or other healthcare professional involved in the medication therapy management of psychiatric and/or neurological patients, we invite you to participate in this online course.

Grant Support

This programming was supported in part by grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Forest Laboratories, Inc., Lilly, Schering-Plough, Cyberonics, and Shire.