No, that’s not to say that CBT will put you to sleep! Rather, an article carried on the APA’s PsycPort highlights studies indicating that cognitive behavioural therapy can improve sleep about as well as drugs can. According to the article, not only can talk therapy such as CBT help with sleeping problems, but its effects continue for many months — unlike the effects of drugs, where effectiveness is not known to continue after discontinuing the medication.

Last week, an FDA advisory committee voted to recommend adding ‘black box’ safety warnings to ADHD drugs. This week, the director of the FDA’s division of psychiatry products says it would be unusual for the agency to issue a ‘black box’ warning based on such thin evidence. A second FDA committee, which focuses on pediatrics, will consider the drugs’ safety next month.

It’s official: an FDA science advisory committee has voted to recommend the most serious type of ‘black box’ warning labels for Ritalin and other stimulants used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Twenty-five people died suddenly and another 54 suffered serious cardiovascular problems after taking drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder between 1999 and 2003, according to a report from the US government’s Food and Drug Administration. The report says that children accounted for 19 of the deaths and 26 of the cases of nonfatal cardiovascular problems, including heart attack, stroke, hypertension, palpitations and arrhythmia.

The US Food and Drug Administration has indicated it will approve a patch for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, provided that the manufacturers agree to certain changes in how the ADHD patch will be labelled and agree to monitor the product once it is on the market.