1. Omega-3 Supplementation for Psychotic Mania and Comorbid Anxiety in Children
- Author
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Andrea S. Young, L. Eugene Arnold, Mary A. Fristad, Anthony T. Vesco, Barbara L. Gracious, and Jennifer M. Lehmann
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Psychosis ,Generalized anxiety disorder ,Bipolar Disorder ,Adolescent ,media_common.quotation_subject ,MEDLINE ,Fatty Acids, Omega-3 ,medicine ,Humans ,Pharmacology (medical) ,Girl ,Bipolar disorder ,Psychiatry ,Child ,media_common ,Mood Disorders ,Original Articles ,medicine.disease ,Anxiety Disorders ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Mood disorders ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Dietary Supplements ,Anxiety ,Female ,medicine.symptom ,Psychology ,Mania ,Clinical psychology - Abstract
Therapeutic benefits of omega-3 fatty acids (Ω3) for mood disorders, psychosis, and anxiety have been reported in the literature. The purpose of the present article is to provide a literature review of Ω3 supplementation for affective disorders and to illustrate the benefits of Ω3 with a case presentation of a young girl with a history of bipolar disorder-type 1 with psychotic features and generalized anxiety disorder.Reviewed literature includes treatment studies of the impact of Ω3 on child mood disorders supplemented by review of meta-analyses within the adult mood disorders literature. The subject of this case report participated in 11 in-depth diagnostic and functional assessments over 5 years as part of an unrelated study. Three years were presupplementation and 2 years were with supplementation with no other medication changes, thus making a naturalistic multiple-baseline single-subject experiment.Augmentation over a 2 year period was notable for clinically significant and sustained improvement in depressive, manic, and psychotic symptoms.Ω3 supplementation may be a safe, adjunct intervention for treating bipolar disorder in children and adolescents, even in the presence of psychotic and anxious features. The 2 year follow-up in this case offers hope of an accumulating and enduring benefit. Further research into mechanisms of Ω3 action and of combination treatment with other well-known interventions for mood disorders would be beneficial.
- Published
- 2015