A recent WSJ article, Drug Cocktails Hit Psychiatry, details how psychiatrists are currently mixing several different medicines to treat mental illnesses. The article suggests that this practice of polypharmacy grows out of the evolving thinking in psychiatry that mental illness is at least partly rooted in biology.

For example, in certain cases of depression some doctors prescribe both Prozac, which affects serotonin, and Wellbutrin , which works on dopamine and norepinephrine. The article also states that polypharmacy is already common in the treatment of bipolar disorder.

The polypharmacy trend will likely continue during the decade of translation for several reasons. First, current drugs are not specific enough to target the complex neurobiology underlying many mental illnesses. Second, neuropharmaceutical companies are focusing on specific aspects of complex mental illnesses such as cognition, emotions or sensory decline. For example, Saegis is developing cogniceuticals that will be used across a broad array of mental illnesses where memory degradation is present.

While polypharmacy is common practice for cardiovascular problems, many of the drug cocktails that are being prescribed have little historical data about potential negative interactions.