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It remains unclear which individuals with subthreshold depression benefit most from psychological intervention, and what long-term effects this has on symptom deterioration, response and remission.
Aims
To synthesise psychological intervention benefits in adults with subthreshold depression up to 2 years, and explore participant-level effect-modifiers.
Method
Randomised trials comparing psychological intervention with inactive control were identified via systematic search. Authors were contacted to obtain individual participant data (IPD), analysed using Bayesian one-stage meta-analysis. Treatment–covariate interactions were added to examine moderators. Hierarchical-additive models were used to explore treatment benefits conditional on baseline Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) values.
Results
IPD of 10 671 individuals (50 studies) could be included. We found significant effects on depressive symptom severity up to 12 months (standardised mean-difference [s.m.d.] = −0.48 to −0.27). Effects could not be ascertained up to 24 months (s.m.d. = −0.18). Similar findings emerged for 50% symptom reduction (relative risk = 1.27–2.79), reliable improvement (relative risk = 1.38–3.17), deterioration (relative risk = 0.67–0.54) and close-to-symptom-free status (relative risk = 1.41–2.80). Among participant-level moderators, only initial depression and anxiety severity were highly credible (P > 0.99). Predicted treatment benefits decreased with lower symptom severity but remained minimally important even for very mild symptoms (s.m.d. = −0.33 for PHQ-9 = 5).
Conclusions
Psychological intervention reduces the symptom burden in individuals with subthreshold depression up to 1 year, and protects against symptom deterioration. Benefits up to 2 years are less certain. We find strong support for intervention in subthreshold depression, particularly with PHQ-9 scores ≥ 10. For very mild symptoms, scalable treatments could be an attractive option.
We investigated which objective language proficiency tests best predict the language dominance, balance, English and Spanish proficiency scores relative to Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) scores (averaged across 5–6 raters). Eighty Spanish–English bilinguals completed OPIs, picture naming, semantic and letter fluency, lexical decision tests and a language history questionnaire. Except for letter fluency, objective measures explained more variance than self-report variables, which seldom and negligibly improved proficiency prediction beyond objective measures in forward regression models. Picture naming (the Multilingual Naming Test (MINT) Sprint 2.0) was the strongest predictor for most purposes. Lexical decision and category fluency were next best predictors, but the latter was time-consuming to score, while the former was easiest to administer (and does not require bilingual examiners). Surprisingly, self-rated proficiency better predicted the OPI scores when averaged across modalities (i.e., including reading/writing instead of just spoken proficiency), and lexical-decision (a written test) was as powerful as picture naming for predicting spoken Spanish (but not language dominance).
Commercial targeted sprayer systems allow producers to reduce herbicide inputs but risks the possibility of not treating emerging weeds. Currently, targeted applications with the John Deere system have five spray sensitivity settings, and no published literature discusses the effects of these settings on detecting and spraying weeds of varying species, sizes, and positions in crops. Research was conducted in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, and North Carolina on plantings of corn, cotton, and soybean to determine how various factors might influence the ability of targeted applications to treat weeds. These data included 21 weed species aggregated to six classes with height, width, and densities ranging from 25 to 0.25 cm, 25 to 0.25 cm, and 14.3 to 0.04 plants m−2, respectively. Crop and weed density did not influence the likelihood of treating the weeds. As expected, the sensitivity setting alters the ability to treat weeds. Targeted applications (across sensitivity settings, median weed height and width, and density of 2.4 plants m−2) resulted in a treatment success of 99.6% to 84.4% for Convolvulaceae, 99.1% to 68.8% for decumbent broadleaf weeds, 98.9% to 62.9% for Malvaceae, 99.1% to 70.3% for Poaceae, 98.0% to 48.3% for Amaranthaceae, and 98.5% to 55.8% for yellow nutsedge. Reducing the sensitivity setting reduced the ability to treat weeds. The size of weeds aided targeted application success, with larger weeds being more readily treated through easier detection. Based on these findings, various conditions can affect the outcome of targeted multinozzle applications. Additionally, the analyses highlight some of the parameters to consider when using these technologies.
A 28 year old patient will be presented. This paramilitary man was brought to the Emergency Room due to an autolytic attempt with Benzodiazepines, along with a mouth suture, in the context of a soon to be resolved problematic ankle osteosynthesis procedure. The patient claimed to be suffering pain, furthermore struggling due to the fact he could not be working due to his ankle issue. Language barrier was a problem during the interview.
Objectives
The objetives of this case is to try to explain the issues that may arise in patients with personality disorders in the context of an autolytic attempt
Methods
This patient will be presented, along with systematic bibliography review of the topic.
Results
The following results were extracted upon the attention given to this patient which was admitted to the Psychiatric Unit.
First of all, the mouth stitches were removed, along with a petition for toxicological analysis. The results gave positive for cannabis and benzodiazepines. The patient was also brought previously this year with another autolytic attempt, this time on cocaine consumption too. Furthermore, a thorough review was made of the other autolytic attempts, including those which happened in his country of origin. The patient has hundreds of small cuts among his arms, from previews cuts made in the past. Furthermore, subcutaneous wounds were auto inflicted in the ER, with a small blade.
Among the whole interview, it was clear he had a personality disorder, with high impulsivity levels and lack of control once the situation overflows.
We also tried to understand the outcome of suturing his mouth. The patient referred his acts of impulsiveness due to his overwhelming situation of both having no job at this moment and the pain he was suffering due to his ankle procedure.
The patient was admitted to our Unit due to the high risk he could repeat this act. Upon arrival, the same day he was admitted, the patient asked if he had to stay at the unit. When explaining the following already told event, furthermore insisting in the possibility of been evaluated by the Traumatology team, he proceeded to try and hang himself with his medical-hospital clothing.
The patient was treated with antipsychotics. Along with Lormetazepam at night. At the end of the hospitalization, and after been evaluated by the Psychiatrist of this Unit, the patient was also treated with Lithium due to its effectiveness in the treatment of autolytic attempts.
Conclusions
Personality disorders are one of the psychiatric pathologies that prevail with greater frequency in autolytic attempts 1. Additionally, it should be taken into account the possible ongoing consumption of psychoactive drugs that could also derive in psychopathological decompensation. On top of the following, the use of antipsychotic treatment is indicated for the managing of conduction altercations 2, besides Lithium being a great option in managing suicidal temptations 3.
Schizotypal personality is a condition suffered by 4% of the population. It is defined by presenting interpersonal, behavioral and perceptual features similar to the clinical features of psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, in less intensity and dysfunctionality, but at risk of reaching psychosis.
Objectives
Presentation of a clinical case about a patient with premorbid schizotypal personality traits presenting with an acute psychotic episode.
Methods
Literature review on association between schizotypal personality and psychosis.
Results
A 57-year-old woman with a history of adaptive disorder due to work problems 13 years ago, currently without psychopharmacological treatment, goes to the emergency room brought by the emergency services due to behavioral alteration. She reports that “her husband and son wanted to sexually abuse her”, so she had to run away from home and has been running through the streets of the town without clothes and barefoot.
Her husband relates attitude alterations and extravagant behaviors of years of evolution, such as going on diets of eating only bread for 40 days or talking about exoteric and religious subjects, as believing that the devil got inside her husband through a dental implant. He reports that these behaviors have been accentuated during the last month. She has also created a tarot website, and has even had discussions with several users. She is increasingly suspicious of him, has stopped talking to him and stays in his room all day long, with unmotivated laughter and soliloquies.
It was decided to admit him to Psychiatry and risperidone 4 mg was started. At the beginning, she was suspicious and reticent in the interview. As the days went by, communication improved, she showed a relaxed gesture and distanced herself from the delirious ideation, criticizing the episode.
Conclusions
In recent years, there has been increasing interest in understanding the association between schizotypy and serious mental disorder. Several theories understand schizotypy as a natural continuum of personality that reveals genetic vulnerability and that can lead to psychotic disorder when added to precipitating factors. Other theories define schizotypy as a “latent schizophrenia” where symptoms are contained and expressed in less intensity.
Around 20% evolves to paranoid schizophrenia or other serious mental disorders. It is complex to distinguish between those individuals in whom schizotypy is a prodrome and those in whom it is a stable personality trait. To date, studies applying early psychotherapeutic or pharmacological interventions have had insufficient and contradictory results, and the follow-up and treatment of these individuals could be a stress factor and a stigma. Some studies are looking for reliable markers of evolution to schizophrenia in order to establish adequate protocols for detention, follow-up and treatment.
Conversive disorder is characterised by the presence of one or more involuntary neurological symptoms that are not due to a clear medical pathology. On the other hand, consciously simulated illnesses fall into two diagnostic categories: factitious disorders and malingering, which are differentiated by both the motivation for the behaviour and the awareness of that motivation. Factitious disorder behaviours are motivated by an unconscious need to assume the sick role, whereas malingering behaviours are consciously driven to achieve external secondary gains.
Objectives
Study of the differences between conversion disorder and factitious disorder and their repercussions from a case of difficult diagnosis.
Methods
Bibliographic review of scientific literature based on a relevant clinical case.
Results
We present the case of a 14-year-old male patient. Adoptive parents. Studying in high school. Social difficulties since childhood. He comes to the emergency department on several occasions referring stereotyped movements and motor tics in the four extremities with left cervical lateralization. Increase of these symptoms in the last month, so it was decided to admit him to the pediatric hospital. After observation and study of the patient’s movements with normal complementary tests he should return home. The following day he returned to the emergency department after an episode of dizziness, mutism and emotional block. It was decided to admit him to Psychiatry for behavioral observation and differential diagnosis.
Conclusions
In the assessment of patients it is essential to make an appropriate diagnosis taking into account the patient’s symptomatology and the patient’s background and life context. Conversion disorder is the unintentional production of neurological symptom, whereas malingering and factitious disorder represent the voluntary production of symptoms with internal or external incentives. They have a close history and this has been frequently confounded. Practitioners are often confronted to medically unexplained symptoms; they represent almost 30% of neurologist’s consultation. The first challenge is to detect them, and recent studies have confirmed the importance of “positive” clinical bedside signs based on incoherence and discordance. Multidisciplinary therapy is recommended with behavioral cognitive therapy, antidepressant to treat frequent comorbid anxiety or depression, and physiotherapy. Factitious disorder and malingering should be clearly delineated from conversion disorder. Factitious disorder should be considered as a mental illness and more research on its physiopathology and treatment is needed, when malingering is a non-medical condition encountered in medico-legal cases.
Clozapine is an atypical antipsychotic synthesised in 1958. It was withdrawn from the market in the 1970s due to the appearance of agranulocytosis, but was reintroduced due to strong evidence of its efficacy and superiority over other antipsychotics in treatment-resistant schizophrenia.
Objectives
To describe the adequate response to clozapine in treatment-refractory psychosis.
Methods
Review of the scientific literature based on a relevant clinical case.
Results
A 16-year-old woman was admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit for psychotic symptoms and behavioural disorders. She lives with her father and older sister; she has not been in contact with her mother, who lives in another country, for several years. She attends secondary school, with poor academic performance. Maternal diagnosis of schizophrenia. She started using cannabis two years ago, with a progressive increase up to 20 grams per week. He reports the onset of a feeling of strangeness a year ago, with progressive isolation in his room, referring to delirious ideation of harm towards classmates and people from his town, self-referentiality and delirious interpretations of religious mystical content (“God speaks to me through a dove”). He comments on the phenomenon of theft and thought-reading. Soliloquies and unmotivated laughter are observed.
Conclusions
Treatment was started with risperidone, progressively increasing the dose up to optimisation, without achieving a decrease in positive symptoms, but with the appearance of excessive sedation and sialorrhoea. It was combined with aripiprazole up to 20mg, maintained for a couple of weeks, without significant clinical improvement. Given the failure of two lines of therapy, it was decided to change to clozapine up to a dose of 75mg, with adequate tolerance and response, achieving a distancing of the delirious ideation. Regular haematological controls were performed, with no alterations in haemogram or troponins.
Lithium was the first mood stabilizer and today continues to be a first-line treatment in the treatment of bipolar disorder despite its adverse effects, which make it important to monitor blood levels and control kidney function.
Objectives
Presentation of a case of litium withdrawal and relapse in bipolar disorder. Literature review relating to the risk of relapse when lithium treatment is interrupted.
Methods
We present a clinical case of a patient who suffers a deterioration in renal function that requires the withdrawal of lithium and who consequently suffers a relapse. We conducted a bibliographic research of articles in Pubmed on this topic.
Results
A 49-year-old male, with a history of multiple admissions to UHB since the age of 18 with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and treatment with lithium. Decompensations towards the manic pole have always been related to interruptions in lithium treatment. On several occasions when the patient was feeling well emotionally, he believed himself to be “cured” and abandoned the treatment, triggering a manic episode, showing verbal aggression, increased self-esteem and delusional ideation of harm. Remission was usually achieved with the reintroduction of lithium and the addition of high-dose quetiapine. Between episodes, constant overvalued ideas of economic scarcity seemed to persist, which were accentuated in the form of delusional ideas of ruin in depressive decompensations. After 7 years of stability, control analysis showed blood litemia of 2.2 mEq/L with deterioration of kidney function and generalized tremor was observed, without improvement after serum therapy. He was admitted for dialysis and lithium was suspended. Treatment with valproate was started and a consultation scheduled in a week to adjust the dose. The patient did not attend that consultation and was admitted three days later to Psychiatry Hospitalization showing a challenging attitude, evident dysphoric mood, accelerated speech, with derailments and echolalia. Delusional ideation of harm with auditory hallucinations. Insomnia and hyporexia. Chronic renal failure persisted.
Conclusions
Lithium is a very effective drug but with a narrow therapeutic range that requires adequate monitoring due to the possible consequences of its use at different organs and systems of the body. when lithium is found in the blood at toxic levels with deterioration of kidney function and glomerular filtration fails to recover, lithium treatment should be suspended. Sudden withdrawal of lithium significantly increases the risk of relapse due to rebound effect. More than 50% of patients experience a recurrence within 10 weeks of withdrawal.
Delusional parasitosis, also known as delusional infestation or Ekbom’s syndrome, is a rare psychotic disorder characterized by the false belief that a parasitic skin infestation exists, despite the absence of any medical evidence to support this claim. These patients often see many physicians, so a multidisciplinary approach among clinicians is important. Many patients refuse any treatment due to their firm belief that they suffer from an infestation, not a psychiatric condition, so it is crucial to gain the trust of these patients.
Objectives
The comprehensive review of this clinical case aims to investigate Ekbom syndrome, from a historical, clinical and therapeutic perspective.
Methods
Literature review based on delusional parasitosis.
Results
A 65-year-old woman comes to the psychiatry consultation referred by her primary care physician concerned about being infested by insects that she perceives through scales on her skin for the last three months. She recognizes important impact on her functionality. She is also convinced that her family is being infected too. As psychiatric history she recognizes alcohol abuse in the past (no current consumption) and an episode of persecutory characteristics with a neighbor, more than ten years ago. On psychopathological examination, she shows delusional ideation of parasitosis, with high behavioral repercussions, cenesthetic and cotariform hallucinations, as well as feelings of helplessness and anger. Treatment with Pimozide was started and the patient was referred to dermatology for evaluation, a plan she accepted. Her primary care physician and dermatology specialist were informed about the case and the treatment plan. In the recent reviews, the patient is calmer, however, despite the corroboration of dermatology and in the absence of organic lesions in cranial CT, she is still unsatisfied with the results, remaining firm in her conviction of infestation. It was decided to start treatment with atypical neuroleptics (Aripiprazole), with progressive recovery of her previous functionality.
Conclusions
Despite the increase in the number of studies in recent years, there are still few studies on this type of delirium. The female:male ratio varies in the bibiliography (between 2:1 and 3:1). The onset is usually insidious, generally appearing as a patient who comes to his primary care physician convinced of having parasites in different skin locations. It is usual to observe scratching lesions or even wounds in search of the parasite. In the past, the most used and studied treatment was Pimozide. Currently the treatment of choice is atypical neuroleptics due to their lower side effects. The latest reviews on the prognosis of this disorder show data with percentages of complete recovery between 51% and 70%, and partial responses between 16.5% and 20%. Finally, for a good diagnosis and therapeutic management, it is important to achieve a multidisciplinary approach.
Individuals with schizotypal personality disorder are characterized by tendencies to magical thinking, unusual perceptions, discomfort in social situations, and restricted affect. It is frecuent that they have social anxiety and have difficulty in understanding the motivations and thoughts of others.
Objectives
Presentation of a case of a patient who was first diagnosed with adjustment disorder, but on a closer study, was discovered to have a schizotypal personality disorder.
Methods
We conducted a bibliographic review by searching for articles about schizotypal personality disorder and theory of mind in Pubmed.
Results
We present the case of a 39-year-old woman, diagnosed with adjustment disorder after a conflict at work with a colleague that caused her anxiety-depressive symptoms. In consultations, the patient shows verbiage without expansiveness or euphoria, with rambling speech. She expresses feelings of indignation and injustice, she is irritable, with contained anger. She refers that she prefers to be distrustful of others because she does not understand their intentions. Her thoughts are very rigid, which leads her to have avoidant and phobic attitudes, having no relationships of friendship throughout her life.
A neuropsychological evaluation is carried out, resulting in a surprising WAIS with a TIC of 128. However, the Mayer‐Salovey‐Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) shows difficulties in Perception, Comprehension and Emotional Management
Considering the patient’s symptomatology as a whole, it is noteworthy:
– Sustained social isolation throughout their life history
– Superficiality of interpersonal relationships
– Distrust and slight self-referentiality. Deficit in inferring the feelings and thoughts of others
– Peculiar speech with ideas of magical content, superstitions and rituals…
Which together supported a diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. From this point we started to work on her self-esteem, modification of irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions, interpersonal communication and metacognitive therapy, with good results.
Conclusions
The type of schizotypal patients who come to consultations most frequently are the actively isolated/timorous profile due to their intense social anxiety and difficulties in understanding and adapting to the social world around them. Initial therapy should be empathic support. The theory of mind is the ability to infer the other’s mental states and therefore predict their behavior, this ability being diminished in the schizotypal patient. Mentalization tasks, metacognitive therapy, cognitive flexibility training, social skills training, and promoting self-worth are useful. On some occasions it may be necessary to start psychopharmacological treatment to control anxiety and unusual perceptions when they cause discomfort.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the prevalence of illicit use of fentanyl and other opioids in the United States population. This has led to an increase in medical, psychopathological and abuse-associated comorbidity, an increase in deaths and a decrease in the age of consumption, and has become a serious emerging problem in young people.
We present the case of an 18-year-old woman from the United States who recently settled in Spain and started a follow-up in Mental Health due to opioid and other substance abuse problems.
Objectives
To address the growing problem surrounding the illicit use of fentanyl and opioids as drugs of abuse based on the presentation of the clinical case mentioned above.
Methods
Bibliographic search and description of a clinical case of a patient under follow-up by Mental Health at the “Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid”.
Results
An 18-year-old woman from the United States who has been living with her father in Spain since the summer of 2023, having moved to Spain due to problems related to substance abuse.
With no previous medical or surgical history and with a history of follow-up in Mental Health in her country of origin for depressive symptomatology, dysfunctional personality traits and abuse of different toxic substances since adolescence.
After a brief and erratic follow-up in Psychiatry for anxious-depressive symptoms reactive to a complex and conflictive relationship with his mother and marked academic difficulties during the first years of adolescence, at the age of 15 he started using cannabis and alcohol, thus beginning a period marked by relationships with marginalized sectors of the population, substance abuse and school failure.
As his cannabis consumption intensified, he began to consume fentanyl prescribed to his mother, as well as other opioids to which he had access illegally, for which reason he had to be admitted twice to detoxification centers without results, which is why his family finally decided to move him to Spain.
Conclusions
In recent years, fentanyl abuse has become a serious public health problem that is mainly centered in the young population.
High levels of impulsivity and lack of frustration tolerance predispose to the use of illicit substances for elusive purposes.
Substance abuse carries with it not only an important organic comorbidity, but also a marked socio-familial and economic repercussion.
It is widely described in the scientific literature that patients who suffer from some type of congenital syndrome such as Di George Syndrome are more likely to present some type of psychopathological alteration during their development that may require intervention and treatment by infant and juvenile mental health teams in coordination with neuropediatrics (1). On this occasion, we will present the clinical case of a patient who regularly attends psychiatry consultations for management of anxious symptoms with impulse control deficits associated with intellectual disability, diagnosed since childhood with tetralogy of Fallot and later with Di George syndrome. In this type of case, treatment is usually considered taking into account possible comorbidities at the organic level (since there may be cardiological involvement, which can be an added difficulty when taking into account the adverse effects of some psychotropic drugs) (2).
Objectives
This is followed by the presentation of the clinical case, which can serve to exemplify this type of case and clarify any doubts that may arise regarding treatment.
Methods
Presentation of the clinical case and review of updated scientific literature on the subject.
Results
Patient who first came to the infantile-junior consultations at the age of 8 years due to delay in the acquisition of verbal language and impulsivity. The patient had a history of pediatric follow-up since birth for different physical symptoms that finally led to the diagnosis of Di George syndrome.
Given the difficulties he presented both at home and at school, different psychometric tests were performed and it was determined that it could be beneficial to initiate treatment with extended-release methylphenidate. Prior to treatment, psychomotor restlessness (without aggressiveness) and difficulty in concentration prevailed, which improved significantly after upward adjustment of the dose to a guideline corresponding to his age and weight. It was not necessary in this case to administer other treatments (the possibility of starting Aripiprazole in case of episodes of agitation was considered, but it was not necessary). The patient has continued to be monitored by cardiology to assess the possible side effects of the treatment (since it can increase heart rate and blood pressure (3), but so far no complications have been detected).
Thanks to psychotherapeutic and educational intervention, language acquisition was achieved, although to date he still requires support due to the difficulties he still presents.
Conclusions
It is important to take into account the possible side effects of psychopharmacological treatment in patients with an associated congenital syndrome. Intensive and comprehensive follow-up by psychiatry and pediatrics (and later by their primary care physician) should be performed.
Pregnancy and puerperium are two critical stages for women’s mental health due to the biological stress of pregnancy itself, as well as the emotional stress that surrounds this vital moment. (1) Debut and aggravation of psychiatric symptoms may occur, as well as relapse in women previously diagnosed with Severe Mental Disorder (SMD).
Symptoms of the anxious spectrum are the most frequent within the perinatal mental pathology, being impulse phobias an entity that appears in about 25% of women previously diagnosed with OCD and up to 10-15% of women without previous psychopathology (2)
Objectives
Exposing the importance of Perinatal Mental Health from the presentation of a clinical case.
Methods
Review of the literature available in PubMed. Presentation of the pathobiography and evolution of the patient.
Results
Our case is about a 37-year-old woman, 30 weeks pregnant with her first child and history of having required admission to Psychiatry with subsequent follow-up in Mental Health for anxious-depressive symptoms with the presence of self-injurious ideas who, after two weeks with multiple life stressors, came to the Emergency Department for the presence of impulse phobias focused on pregnancy with significant internal anguish and ideas of death as a resolution to it, which is why it was decided to hospitalize her. During admission, and taking into account the patient’s gestational state, treatment was started with diluted Mirtazapine and Aripiprazole solution at minimal doses, which in this case were sufficient for symptom control.
The latest guidelines addressing psychopharmacology during pregnancy and lactation point to sertraline among the antidepressants and Lorazepam among the benzodiazepines as the safest drugs during pregnancy (3).
Conclusions
- The exacerbation of anxious symptomatology and the presence of gestation-focused impulse phobias are frequent during pregnancy and their intensity increases as the time of delivery approaches.
- Sertraline, Lorazepam, Mirtazapine and Aripiprazole are safe drugs during pregnancy.
- In these women, a close and multidisciplinary follow-up by Psychiatry and Gynecology is advisable.
Suicide is a health concern among individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. Telehealth technology has become an emerging intervention that may afford opportunities for reaching this at-risk group. Consideration of the implementation of telehealth systems in the treatment of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and suicidal behavior calls for a review of the evidence.
Objectives
The present aim was to explore the literature on the effectiveness of suicide prevention telephone delivered interventions among patients with schizophrenia and related disorders.
Methods
The bibliographic search was performed in the electronic databases PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Web of Science following PRISMA guidelines. Two reviewers independently conduct screenings, data extraction and methodological quality assessment. A total of 352 articles were retrieved, of which five studies met the eligibility criteria.
Results
Based on the limited data available, the use of modalities involving telephone contacts appears to be feasible in patients with schizophrenia and suicidal behaviors. In addition, preliminary evidence suggests this system appears to reduce suicidal ideation.
Conclusions
The current data presented here reflect an early stage of effectiveness of telephone-delivered interventions targeted at suicide prevention in patients with schizophrenia. Further research is needed to design evidence-based future interventions and to determine whether this approach can improve patient outcomes.
Fundings: This work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (grant number: PI19/01484 SURVIVE).
Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic deteriorating illness which has a strong impact on functionality. In the past few years, orexins have gained importance as possible biomarkers of circadian rhythms, affected in BD. Up to this date, we have not found any bibliographical review evaluating the association of orexins and BD.
Objectives
To review published literature in relation to the associaton of orexins and BD.
Methods
A bibliographical search was conducted in PubMed. Inclusion criteria were a) the study evaluated orexins in plasma or cerebrospinal fluid, and b) patients with BD were included within the subjects of study.
Reference lists of the articles that met inclusion criteria were also examined.
Results
Ten articles were retrieved from the initial search. Only three met inclusion criteria and another one was selected from the reference list examination. One study observed significantly higher levels of orexin A in plasma of BD patients versus depression and controls. Other found higher concentration of orexin A of unipolar and bipolar depression versus controls, but this result was not statistically significant. Another one did not find differences in orexin A concentration between mania, depression and controls. The remaining study detected significantly lower concentration of orexin A in BD versus depression, schizophrenia and controls.
Conclusions
Despite being heterogenous, the results point out there are differences in orexin levels in BD when compared to other diagnostic groups or controls. This sets a starting point to focus research on this subject and continue analyzing the role of orexins as biomarkers in BD.
Cognitive therapy and behavioural activation are both widely applied and effective psychotherapies for depression, but it is unclear which works best for whom. Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis allows for examining moderators at the participant level and can provide more precise effect estimates than conventional meta-analysis, which is based on study-level data.
Aims
This article describes the protocol for a systematic review and IPD meta-analysis that aims to compare the efficacy of cognitive therapy and behavioural activation for adults with depression, and to explore moderators of treatment effect. (PROSPERO: CRD42022341602)
Method
Systematic literature searches will be conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library, to identify randomised clinical trials comparing cognitive therapy and behavioural activation for adult acute-phase depression. Investigators of these trials will be invited to share their participant-level data. One-stage IPD meta-analyses will be conducted with mixed-effects models to assess treatment effects and to examine various available demographic, clinical and psychological participant characteristics as potential moderators. The primary outcome measure will be depressive symptom level at treatment completion. Secondary outcomes will include post-treatment anxiety, interpersonal functioning and quality of life, as well as follow-up outcomes.
Conclusions
To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first IPD meta-analysis concerning cognitive therapy versus behavioural activation for adult depression. This study has the potential to enhance our knowledge of depression treatment by using state-of-the-art statistical techniques to compare the efficacy of two widely used psychotherapies, and by shedding more light on which of these treatments might work best for whom.
We present the most sensitive and detailed view of the neutral hydrogen (${\rm H\small I}$) emission associated with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), through the combination of data from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and Parkes (Murriyang), as part of the Galactic Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (GASKAP) pilot survey. These GASKAP-HI pilot observations, for the first time, reveal ${\rm H\small I}$ in the SMC on similar physical scales as other important tracers of the interstellar medium, such as molecular gas and dust. The resultant image cube possesses an rms noise level of 1.1 K ($1.6\,\mathrm{mJy\ beam}^{-1}$) $\mathrm{per}\ 0.98\,\mathrm{km\ s}^{-1}$ spectral channel with an angular resolution of $30^{\prime\prime}$ (${\sim}10\,\mathrm{pc}$). We discuss the calibration scheme and the custom imaging pipeline that utilises a joint deconvolution approach, efficiently distributed across a computing cluster, to accurately recover the emission extending across the entire ${\sim}25\,\mathrm{deg}^2$ field-of-view. We provide an overview of the data products and characterise several aspects including the noise properties as a function of angular resolution and the represented spatial scales by deriving the global transfer function over the full spectral range. A preliminary spatial power spectrum analysis on individual spectral channels reveals that the power law nature of the density distribution extends down to scales of 10 pc. We highlight the scientific potential of these data by comparing the properties of an outflowing high-velocity cloud with previous ASKAP+Parkes ${\rm H\small I}$ test observations.
Schizoaffective disorder is a psychotic disorder of controversial nosological entity. Affective symptomatology and psychotic features of varying intensity coexist simultaneously in him throughout evolution. The lack of consensus on the existence of this entity determines its diagnostic delay and the absence of specific treatment guidelines.
Objectives
To review the diagnostic criteria for schizoaffective disorder and the published scientific evidence on the efficacy and safety of the different therapeutic options available. To analyze the efficacy of a multidisciplinary treatment plan implemented in an intensive follow-up program, presenting the evolution of a clinical case.
Methods
To review the psychiatric history and psychopathological evolution of a patient diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder from the beginning of an intensive follow-up program in a day center to the present. Review the existing scientific evidence on the usefulness of the treatments used in this nosological entity.
Results
This is a longitudinal and retrospective study of a clinical case in which the areas for improvement are analyzed before implementing a multidisciplinary therapeutic program and the favorable results obtained today. Currently, the patient is euthymic and attenuated and chronic positive and negative symptoms persist that do not interfere with his functionality.
Conclusions
From the implementation of an individualized, personalized and multidisciplinary maintenance treatment plan, an overall improvement in psychopathological stability and functional recovery is observed. Among the psychopharmacological options in this patient, Paliperidone Long Acting Injection (PLAI) stands out for its long-term efficacy and safety.
People with borderline personality disorder are at higher risk of repeating suicidal behavior. At the same time, numerous publications have demonstrated the relationship between cocaine dependence and suicide attempts of repetition.
Objectives
Review the relationship between cocaine addiction, borderline personality disorder and repeated suicide attempts. Present through a clinical case the effectiveness of a comprehensive and multidisciplinary therapeutic plan with different mental health devices.
Methods
To review the psychopathological evolution of a patient with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder; dependence to the cocaine; Harmful alcohol consumption and suicidal behavior from the beginning of follow-up in mental health services to the present. Review the existing scientific evidence on the relationship between cocaine addiction and repeated suicide attempts. Analyze the eficacy of the different treatments available.
Results
This is a longitudinal and retrospective study of the psychiatric history and evolution of a clinical case since the implementation of an individualized therapeutic program and the favorable results obtained. Intensive outpatient follow-up was carried out for high suicide risk and hospitalization in a psychiatric hospitalization unit, day care centre and therapeutic community.
Conclusions
At present, the patient remains in abstinence with remission of suicidal ideation. The literature has shown the usefulness of intensive mental health follow-up programs to achieve remission of suicidal ideation and maintain abstinence from illegal substances.
We present the case of a man who, after receiving treatment for Covid-19 pneumonia, suffers a manic episode induced by medication.
Objectives
This case is chosen to present as an example of a psychiatric illness derived from Covid-19, in this case secondary to its treatment.
Methods
We present a manic episode induced by covid medication.
Results
Complementary examinations are carried out in which organic pathology is ruled out, being diagnosed of a manifest episode in probable relation to the treatments used and hospital admission is decided due to the impossibility of home management. Neuroleptic and anxiolytic treatment was started at low doses with a good response, and he was discharged with complete recovery and critiqued of the episode.
Conclusions
It is estimated that between 20-40% of patients with COVID infection have presented neuropsychiatric symptoms. Mania secondary to treatment was reported in 13 (0 · 7%) of 1744 patients with coranavirus included in a study (1). The Spanish Pharmacivigilance System of Medicines for Human Use (SEFV-H) closely monitors the suspected adverse reactions reported with drugs considered potential therapeutic strategies for SARS-CoV-2 infection. 327 cases of adverse reactions have been reported, of which 18 cases include 28 thermal cases of suspected psychiatric adverse reactions. The interest of this case lies in the fact that it illustrates a psychiatric disorder derived from Covid-19, in this case secondary to the treatment used, which causes a manifest episode with a typical evolution in this type of case with rapid improvement at low doses of antipsychotics.