ISRN Psychiatry

Aim. To confirm the efficacy and tolerability of ziprasidone as adjunctive therapy in bipolar patients partially responding to clozapine or with persisting negative symptoms, overweight, or with metabolic syndrome. Methods. Eight patients with psychotic bipolar disorder were tested with the BPRS, the HAM-D, and the CGI at T0 and retested after 2 weeks (T1). Plasma clozapine and norclozapine levels and BMI were tested at T0 and T1. Results. Ziprasidone was well tolerated by all the patients. BPRS and HAM-D scores were reduced in all patients...

The discipline of psychiatry has a plethora of guidelines, designed to serve the needs of the clinician. Yet, even a cursory glance is enough to discern the differences between the various guidelines. This paper reviews the current standard guidelines being followed across the world and proposes a unified guideline on the backbone of current evidence and practice being followed. The algorithm for pharmacological and psychosocial treatment for bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and schizophrenia is formulated after cross-comparison across four different guidelines and recent meta-analytical evidence...

Empathy is considered to be associated with better patient compliance, satisfaction, and clinical outcomes. The aim of the study is to measure and examine empathy among a sample of undergraduate medical students of Bangladesh. It was a cross-sectional study and all the medical students of first through fifth year enrolled at Chattagram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital Medical College during the study period of 2014 were surveyed. Participants anonymously completed the Jefferson Scale of Empathy Medical Student version translated into Bengali language, a valid and reliable 20-item self-administered questionnaire...

Background. The growing geriatric population in the United States (US) has prompted better understanding of treatment of the elderly in the hospital and emergency room (ER) settings. This study examines factors influencing the disposition of psychogeriatric patients after their initial presentation in the ER. Methods. Data was collected on patients 65 years of age or older arriving at the ER of a large urban hospital in the USA (January 2009-December 2010). Results. Of the total subjects (n = 95) included in the study, majority were females (66...

Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5 (mGluR5) negative allosteric modulators (NAMs) may play a role in some psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression. The pharmacokinetic profile and pharmacodynamics effects of mGluR5-NAMs have been previously reported. We performed a post hoc analysis of pharmacological and clinical data obtained from 18 young healthy female subjects who received a mGluR5-NAM in the context of a phase I drug-drug interaction study between a mGluR5 NAM and a monophasic oral contraceptive...

Objectives. Patients affected by bipolar disorder (BP) and major depressive disorder (UP) share the susceptibility to experience depression and differ in their susceptibility to mania, but clinical studies suggest that the biological substrates of the two disorders could influence the apparently similar depressive phases. The few brain imaging studies available described different brain metabolic and neural correlates of UP and BP. Methods. We studied the BOLD neural response to a moral valence decision task targeting the depressive biases in information processing in 36 subjects (14 BP, 11 UP, and 11 controls)...

Objectives. The objective of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between depression and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in older people in Taiwan. Methods. A case-control study was conducted to analyze the database from the Taiwan National Health Insurance program. We selected 1815 subjects aged 65 years or older with newly diagnosed HCC as the case group and 7260 subjects without HCC as the comparison group, from 2000 to 2010. Both groups were compared to measure the risk of HCC...

The majority of functional neuroimaging studies investigating neural correlates of emotion processing in schizophrenia report a significant deficit in limbic structures activation in patients relative to control participants. Recently it has been suggested that this apparent "deficit" could be due to an enhanced sensitivity of the neutral material in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, rather than due to their inefficiency in emotion processing. The purpose of the present study was to test this supposition and verify if the potential effect is present in both men and women diagnosed with schizophrenia...

Objectives. Doctors' empathy towards their patients is considered important for treatment outcome. However, during medical school there might be a decline in empathy called "hardening of the heart." This study evaluated the cognitive and emotional empathy in medical students and investigated the influence of a preference for a specialty and students attachment styles. Methods. 126 first-year medical students were included and completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test revised version (RME-R), the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES), and the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised Adult Attachment Questionnaire (ECR-R)...

The relative importance of genetics and the environment in causing schizophrenia is still being debated. Although the high proportion of monozygote cotwins of schizophrenia patients who are discordant suggests that there may be a significant environmental contribution to the development of schizophrenia, this discordance is predicted by an accumulative multimutation model of schizophrenia onset constructed here implying a genetic origin of schizophrenia. In this model, schizophrenics are viewed as having been born with the genetic susceptibility to develop schizophrenia...

The aim of the study was to examine the dimensions of hallucinations and delusions in affective (manic episode, bipolar affective disorder, and depressive episode) and nonaffective disorders (schizophrenia, acute and transient psychotic disorders, and unspecified psychosis). Sixty outpatients divided equally into two groups comprising affective and nonaffective disorders were taken up for evaluation after screening, as per inclusion and exclusion criteria. Scores of 3 or above on delusion and hallucinatory behavior subscales of positive and negative syndrome scale were sufficient to warrant rating on the psychotic symptom rating scales with which auditory hallucination and delusion were assessed on various dimensions...

Ninety-six overweight or obese adults were randomly allocated to a four-week EFT treatment or waitlist condition. Waitlist participants crossed over to the EFT group upon completion of wait period. Degree of food craving, perceived power of food, restraint capabilities, and psychological symptoms were assessed at pretreatment, posttreatment and at 12-month follow-up for combined EFT groups. Significant improvements in weight, body mass index, food cravings, subjective power of food, craving restraint and psychological coping for EFT participants from pretreatment to 12-month follow-up (P < 0...

The Social Attribution Task-Multiple Choice (SAT-MC) uses a 64-second video of geometric shapes set in motion to portray themes of social relatedness and intentions. Considered a test of "Theory of Mind," the SAT-MC assesses implicit social attribution formation while reducing verbal and basic cognitive demands required of other common measures. We present a comparability analysis of the SAT-MC and the new SAT-MC-II, an alternate form created for repeat testing, in a university sample (n = 92). Score distributions and patterns of association with external validation measures were nearly identical between the two forms, with convergent and discriminant validity supported by association with affect recognition ability and lack of association with basic visual reasoning...

Background. Dextromethorphan is a noncompetitive N-methyl D-aspartate receptor antagonist that is clinically feasible for relieving the opioid withdrawal symptoms. This study compares the efficacy of a combination therapy with dextromethorphan and clonidine to treatment with clonidine alone. Methods and Materials. In this double-blind randomized clinical trial, patients were selected from inpatients of detox and rehabilitation ward of Razi Hospital, Tabriz, Iran. They were randomly allocated to two groups receiving either clonidine (0...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of affective temperament profiles and emotional and behavioural characteristics with Internet addiction among high school students. The study sample included 303 high school students. A sociodemographic characteristics data form, internet addiction scale (IAS), the strengths and difficulties questionnaire, and the temperament evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego autoquestionnaire were used to collect data. Of the sample, 6.6% were found to be addicted to Internet...

Introduction. The objective of this work was to define the frequency and severity of steroid related behavioral side effects in children with steroid sensitive idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) during Treatment for relapse. Methods. 30 pediatric patients with steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome were studied; known as SSNS at complete remission or low dose of Prednisolone and have relapse on follow up. All children in this study were subjected to full history taking, thorough clinical examination, assessment socioeconomic standard, and assessment of pediatric quality of life, a battery of psychometric tests included pediatric anxiety, depression, and aggression scores...

Aims. Schizophrenia is a neuropsychiatric disorder associated with mental and motor disturbances. We aimed to investigate motor control, especially central silent period (CSP) in subjects with schizophrenia (n = 11) on long-term antipsychotic treatment compared to healthy controls (n = 9). Methods. Latency and duration of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and CSPs were measured with the help of single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and intramuscular electrodes. After stimulation of the dominant and nondominant motor cortex of abductor digiti minimi (ADM) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscle areas, respective responses were measured on the contralateral side...

Background. The coexistence of psychiatric disorders in people with intellectual disability (ID) is common. This study determined the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children with ID in Barwani, India. Method. A total of 262 children with ID were evaluated for psychiatric disorders using the diagnostic criteria outlined in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Results. Psychiatric disorders appeared in study participants at the following rates: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 6...

Acute resident psychiatric facilities in Norway usually get their patients after referral from a medical doctor. Acute psychiatric wards are the only places accepting persons in need of emergency hospitalisation when emergency units in somatic hospitals do not accept the patient. Resident patients at one random chosen day were scrutinized in an acute psychiatric facility with 36 beds serving a catchment area of 165 000. Twenty-five patients were resident in the facility at that particular day. Eight of 25 resident patients (32...

Depression, the most common type of mental illness, is the second leading cause of disability and is increasing among Americans. The effect of improved nutrition, particularly with dietary supplements, on depression may provide an alternative to standard medical treatment. Some studies have shown that certain nutrients (e.g., inositol and S-adenosyl methionine) are effective at improving depressed mood, although the results are not unequivocal. The current study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of a vitamin B complex nutritional supplement (Max Stress B) for improving depressive and anxiety symptoms according to the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories (BDI and BAI) in 60 adults diagnosed with major depression or other forms of depressive disorders...