COMMENTS FROM THE EDITOR ON THE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 ISSUE 
​Welcome to the January/February 2026 issue of theJournal of Clinical Psychopharmacology(JCP). There are many interesting articles in this issue which I hope will increase your knowledge, interest, and understanding of psychopharmacology. I would like to highlight a few of them.

Psychiatric practitioners will work with pregnant patients throughout their careers. In this month's Guest Editorial, titled“Use of SSRIs During Pregnancy: Clinical Responsibilities and Evidence-Based Management" (pages 1-4), Drs. Katiya Moon, Julia Vileisis, and Kristina Deligiannidis review evidence-based guidance regarding pregnancy-related treatment decisions and the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy. While randomized controlled trials of SSRIs during pregnancy have not been conducted due to ethical concerns, three decades of observational research encompassing thousands of studies and millions of cases provide substantial evidence that SSRIs present minimal risk for pregnant patients with moderate to severe unipolar depression or anxiety, are not associated with consistent congenital malformation patterns, and are not classified as major teratogens.

In the United States, clozapine is the only antipsychotic approved for preventing suicide in schizophrenia. On pages 5-15, Dr. Jose de Leon and colleagues, in an article titled,“Clozapine and Suicide in VigiBase: Most Important Fatal Outcome in Young Males and Differences Between Attempted and Completed Suicide," used the worldwide pharmacovigilance database (VigiBase) and discuss two studies which explored fatal outcomes during suicide and other adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in adults treated with clozapine. Based on these and other studies in the literature that focused on suicide, Dr. de Leon and colleagues propose that if the prescriber is willing to prescribe clozapine early and extensively, on average in the long term, of every 100 of his/her patients with schizophrenia, 1 will commit suicide, 4 will be saved by clozapine, and 95 will not complete suicide because they are not at risk of suicide. If the prescriber is never willing to prescribe clozapine, it means that, on average, of every 100 of his/her patients, 5 will die of suicide and ​95 will not complete suicide.

Atomoxetine is a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor prescribed for the management of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). On pages 16-22, in an article titled,“Atomoxetine as a Viable ADHD Treatment in Breastfeeding Mothers: Evidence From Human Milk Pharmacokinetic Analysis," Emily Yamada and colleagues present data showing that there is minimal transfer of atomoxetine in breast milk suggesting that maternal atomoxetine use poses a very low risk to breastfed infants, making it a suitable choice for medication management of ADHD in lactating women. The article is accompanied by a podcast, which is available at this link.
 
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a considerable clinical challenge. Esketamine, in conjunction with an oral antidepressant, is a potential treatment for TRD. In an article on pages 55-59 titled,“Esketamine and Quality of Life Improvement in Treatment-Resistant Depression Patients: A Real-World Clinical Study," Dr. Matteo Lupi and colleagues describe a prospective study which aimed to explore the long-term effects of esketamine therapy on subjective quality of life in adults with TRD. The article is accompanied by a podcast, which is availableat this link.

In youth, binge eating is often marked by loss of control eating (LOC-E), defined as difficulty stopping eating and persistent, compulsive food-seeking behaviors that occur even in the absence of physical hunger. In a study titled,“Reduction of Loss of Control Eating in Youth With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Following Initiation of Stimulant Medication: A Prospective Study"​ on pages 67-71, Colby Price and colleagues describe a prospective observational study aimed to examine changes in LOC-E over a 3-month period in youth with comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and LOC-E who initiated stimulant medication. The article is accompanied by a podcast, which is availableat this link.
 
On page 126 is our“Ask the Experts" column with a question this month titled, “Should I be Advising My Patients to Drink More Lithium-Containing Bottled Water to Possibly Prevent Alzheimer Disease? Founding Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, Dr. Richard Shader, provides the Expert Answer.  Please submit your Ask the Expert questions for our Editorial Board experts to[email protected].

And as you will see, there are many interesting Original Contributions, Brief Reports, Review Articles, and Letters to the Editor in the January/February 2026 issue! And don't forget to check outthe podcasts!

​Anthony J. Rothschild, MD
Editor-in-Chief