All Articles

Hamilton Fairfax*

Department of Clinical Psychology, Church Lane, Exeter, Devon, EX2 5DY, UK

This article reviews the current research regarding the use of Mindfulness as treatment in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder which been an area of increasing interest for more than decade. Research investigation the application of specific models Mindfulness and integrative treatments incorporating Mindfulness is reviewed together with a consideration of how descriptive components of Mindfulness may contribute to understanding its contribution to OCD treatment. This is briefly examined by considering the main mechanism of change proposed by the Mindfulness literature and followed by a discussion of the criticism of applying Mindfulness to OCD. The convulsion suggests that whilst there is good evidence to support Mindfulness in the treatment of OCD, particularly for those who have not benefited from traditional innervations, there is not enough evidence for it to be considered a stand alone treatment. The current literature suggests that Mindfulness may be best considered as adjunctive treatment within an existing treatment framework but further research is required to further investigate it is effect and clarify its contribution to change.

Jitender Aneja*

Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India

Background: The response to risperidone in patients with schizophrenia is influenced by many factors including the genetic ones. The innovations in biotechnology have provided essential tools for conduction of pharmaco-genetic research and subsequently a number of pharmaco-dynamic and pharmaco-kinetic studies delineating the response of anti-psychotics in schizophrenia have been conducted till date. So, we may prevision that pharmaco-genetic knowledge can provide us with the tools to personalize treatment in routine psychiatric clinical practice.

Purview of this article: This article is a narrative review of existing pharmaco-genetic research that has elicited relationship of various gene polymorphisms and response to risperidone monotherapy in patients with schizophrenia. The association of response to risperidone treatment and the genetic markers across the dopaminergic, serotonergic, and the metabolizing enzymes have been reported here. However, the pharmaco-kinetic aspects of the metabolizing enzymes and other genes are not reviewed in this paper.

Conclusions: Some of the genes coding for dopaminergic and serotonergic receptors and their mutations have been shown to predict risperidone response. Certain promising observations have been made for the association of DRD2 receptor genes (Ser311Cys, -141C Ins/Del), DRD3 (Ser9Gly), 5-HTR2A genes (102T>C), and COMT genes. Although, some positive association with some other genes have also been found, but the evidence is minimal. Despite the availability of such evidence, it is limited for clinical utilization in its present form. However, efforts shall be made at further exploration of genetic underpinnings of schizophrenia, refinement of study methods, and discovery of newer biomarkers to attain utilization of pharmaco-genetics in clinical practice.

Jacqueline Pei^1,2, Katherine Flannigans^1*, Sarah Keller², Michelle Stewart^1,2, Alexandra Johnson³

¹Canada Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Research Network, PO Box 11364 Wessex PO, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V5R 0A4

²Department of Educational Psychology, University of Alberta, 6-102 Education North, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6G 2G5

³Department of Justice Studies, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK, Canada, S4S 0A2

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a neurodevelopmental disability that occurs as a result of fetal exposure to alcohol. Such exposure can impact physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and behavioural development, which renders individuals with FASD vulnerable to a range of adverse life outcomes when adequate supports and services are not available. One of the common adverse outcomes associated with FASD is criminal justice system (CJS) involvement, and individuals with FASD are believed to be over-represented in forensic and correctional settings. The FASD population is an exceptionally heterogeneous and complex group, with varying life experiences, clinical profiles, and levels of functional ability. These factors likely impact how an individual with FASD might engage with the CJS, function within the system, and respond to justice-related supports and intervention initiatives. In this mini review, we provide a synopsis of the current state of the literature regarding the intersections between FASD and the CJS, including research on prevalence and screening, as well as profiles and perspectives of individuals with FASD who are justice-involved. Further, recommendations are put forward to guide our work with justice-involved individuals with FASD, keeping in mind that no two individuals will present in the same way.

Hassan Mahmood Jindal¹, Shamala Devi Sekaran^2*

¹Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia

²Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, MAHSA University, 42610 Jenjarom, Selangor, Malaysia

Despite the effort and decades of research, S. pneumoniae remains a primary cause of infectious morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although Antibiotics are lifesaving medications that offer tremendous benefits to patients with infectious diseases. Yet, several reports have revealed that the overuse and misuse of these agents had led to antibiotic resistance. Our study utilized whole genome sequencing (WGS) to reveal the pattern of antibiotic-resistance among ten pneumococcal isolates with various degree of susceptibility to antibacterial drugs. The main purpose of our study was to explore genetic variations related to drug-resistance in those ten strains. The results indicated that pneumococcal strains with resistant profile were associated with greater number of SNPs compared to susceptible ones. Out of all the SNPs identified, 31 were unique and had not been reported before. Our data propose that these SNPs could possess an important role in modifying the degree of sensitivity to different antibacterial drugs. In this article we comment on the methodology and results of our study which previously published in Journal of Biomedical Science.

Pablo Levín*

Faculty of Economics, University of Buenos Aires (FCE/UBA), Argentina

Both this mini-review and the reviewed article were composed by this author (an economist), to probe into the ample but as yet hardly explored interface between two disciplines (Psychiatry and Political Economy) that have mostly grown heretofore with their backs turned to each other. In facing such a very large and complex almost newfound interdisciplinary field –itself a decisive step towards the integration of an all-encompassing philosophy of culture; a full systematic discussion is neither to be announced nor expected. At some point however our statements may appear apodictic in form and emphatic in tone; but please bear in mind that these excesses are just meant to make our point. Our purpose is to call for further discussion, with a serious caveat as to the danger entailed in interdisciplinary conversation, of begetting still another syncretic contraption.

We hopefully feel instead, that this abridged version comes closer than the earlier article; to the desideratum of a synthetic concept; potentially impinging upon: i.e., constituting; the vast area where these two disciplines overlap; by developing the concept of a "triple culture aporia (TCA)" -as a theoretical archetype for Ideology.

The TCA concept has to saddle over upon the interdisciplinary boundaries we’re here concerned with; shedding new light on the absolute originality of today’s human condition. To make this clearer, we should bring forth the concept of historical heteronomy, to wit, contemporary human’s self-inflicted incapacity for becoming our own full- fledged contemporaries. In a nutshell: chronologic contemporariness is given to us as a matter of fact; but prevailing institutionalized education falls short from –or indeed systematically precludes; preparing us to raise ourselves up to present historical contemporaneity; to confront its exigencies, to reap its high rewards; the latter being the utmost specifically human aspiration!

It is our deep conviction, that a (the?) main source of our individual distresses and sufferings –included those that bring us as patients to the psychiatrist’s office; are to be sought among our failures in our quest for Bildung; not constrained into its xviii enlightenment still incipient notion; but open to its urgently needed updated concept…which is what this review is about.

Megan Chernosky*

University in Louisville, Kentucky, USA

This paper will discuss the correlation between participation in a mental health peer-support training and adolescents’ self-reported feelings of preparedness to deal with mental health crises. The paper will focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other non-heterosexual, non-cisgender youth (LGBTQIA+) between the ages of 13 and 21 years old. The study used a quantitative, written survey with eighteen questions before the intervention, and another with five questions after the intervention. The study originally involved eleven participants, but the number of participants decreased to seven dues to attrition. The intervention was administered to every participant. The data were analyzed to find the averages and standard deviations for each category. The results found that the average preparedness increased after the intervention. Due to lack of a control group, the researcher was not able to determine causation, but they were able to determine correlation. The researcher concluded that there was a short-term increase in feelings of preparedness to deal with crises in correlation with receiving the mental health training.

Per Bergsholm*

Department of Psychiatry, District General Hospital of Førde, Box 1000, 6807, Førde, Norway

The category diagnosis of functional psychoses builds on views of influential professionals. Until the second half of the 1800s, the conceptions of mania and melancholia from the Greek antiquity included largely all functional psychoses. Disturbed mood and energy were central symptoms, and the idea of unitary psychosis prevailed. From the 1900s this was followed by a dichotomy between schizophrenia and affective psychoses and broadening of the schizophrenia concept. Affective symptoms were strongly downgraded. Many psychoses with mixed features were described, and there have now long been four main categories of functional psychoses – affective, schizophrenic, schizoaffective/cycloid/reactive/polymorphic, and delusional/paranoid psychoses. The last three are included in “psychotic disorders”. The boundaries between categories have varied with time, place and professionals’ views. DSM-5 is updated with separate chapters for catatonia and psychotic symptoms, both unspecific, and removal of the subtypes of schizophrenia. However, time may be running out for categorical psychosis diagnoses, which may be replaced by continuum, spectrum, dimensional and research domain criteria. Affective symptoms are often difficult to acknowledge, diagnosis is often done on the basis of preconceptions, and patients’ affect characterized accordingly. Chronic mood disorders may appear as schizophrenic or paranoid psychosis, end-stages like heart failure in heart diseases. This underscores the importance of early and optimal treatment of mood disorders, which may be the most important cause of schizophrenia and other functional psychoses.

Wolfgang Wölwer^1*, Gerhard Buchkremer², Heinz Häfner³, Joachim Klosterkötter⁴, Wolfgang Maier⁵, Hans-Jürgen Möller⁶, Wolfgang Gaebel¹

¹Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, LVR Klinikum Düsseldorf, Germany

²Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Tübingen, Germany

³Research Group Schizophrenia Research, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Germany

⁴Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Cologne, Germany

⁵Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Bonn, Germany

⁶Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Munich, Germany

Background: The German Research Network on Schizophrenia (GRNS) was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) from 1999 to 2011. The aim was to obtain a better horizontal and vertical networking of German research and care facilities on schizophrenia, in order to investigate open research questions, to transfer the results into clinical practice and after all to improve care and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia.

Objectives / Methods: This paper describes the concept and functioning of the GRNS as well as its results on the basis of selected research projects.

Results: The GRNS comprised about 25 clinical trials of high practical relevance, which were closely interrelated regarding content, methodology and organization. The trials primarily served the development and evaluation of new and established diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, the assessment of the status quo of clinical care as well as its improvement, together with the investigation of basic scientific questions. Many substantial results to highly relevant issues could be obtained, which led or will lead to an improvement in mental health care.

Conclusions: Quantitative and qualitative evaluation parameters such as scientific publications and raising of additional grants, as well as promotion of young scientists, public relations activities, congress activities and foundation of the European Scientific Association on Schizophrenia and other Psychoses (ESAS) prove the successful work of the network. The successful grant raising will allow continuing cooperative schizophrenia research in Germany as initiated by the GRNS.

Laleh Jamshidi^1*, Lies Declercq¹, John M. Ferron², Mariola Moeyaert³, S. Natasha Beretvas⁴, and Wim Van den Noortgate¹

¹Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences & imec-Itec, KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Belgium

²University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA

³University at Albany – State University of New York, New York, USA

⁴University of Texas at Austin, Texas, USA

Single-case experimental design (SCED) studies are becoming more prevalent in a variety of different fields and are increasingly included in meta-analyses (MAs) and systematic reviews (SRs). As MA/SR’s conclusions are used as an evidence base for making decisions in practice and policy, the methodological quality and reporting standards of SRs/MAs are of uttermost importance. One way to improve the reliability and validity of SCED MAs and therefore to provide more confidence in MA/SR findings to practitioners and clinicians to decide on a particular intervention is the use of high-quality standards when conducting and reporting MAs/SRs. In the current study, some existing tools for assessing the quality of SRs/MAs that might also be helpful for SCED MAs will be reviewed briefly. These tools and guidelines can help meta-analysts, reviewers, and users to organize and evaluate the quality and reliability of the findings.

Verletta Saxon^1*, Dhrubodhi Mukherjee², Deborah Thomas³

¹Department of Children and Family Services, State of Illinois, Chicago, IL, United States

²Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United States

³Crisis Manager, Centerstone of Illinois, Carterville, IL, United States

Shifting resources and funding from institutionalized care for those with mental illness to community-based care has shown promise for behavioral health parity in health crisis circumstances and yet, it has been underfunded. One of the unfortunate trends of deinstitutionalization of behavioral health services in general has been a persistent gap in emergency crisis services. This gap in services leaves those in a behavioral health crisis to receive treatment in the Hospital Emergency Departments culminating in an astounding increase in overall healthcare expenditures. Providing behavioral health crisis assessment and treatment in busy emergency departments that produce long waits for care can be a challenging environment for those in need of immediate treatment for psychological needs. Crisis Stabilization Centers are effective at providing suicide prevention services, addressing behavioral health treatment, diverting individuals from entering a higher level of care and addressing the distress experienced by individuals in a behavioral health crisis. Studies also show that the cost of Crisis Stabilization Centers is significantly less than psychiatric inpatient units and satisfaction among clients is greater. Expanding the options for Behavioral Health Crisis Care from community-based behavioral health out-patient care and inpatient care to various community alternatives, benefits individuals in crisis as well as the community. This article provides an overview of community alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization, financial barriers to care and future research.

Rüdiger Hardeland*

University of Goettingen, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Goettingen, Germany

In the traditional view of mood disorders, the circadian system has been insufficiently considered. However, polymorphisms of circadian oscillator genes in bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, and subforms of major depressive disorder as well as demonstrable deviations in overt circadian rhythms indicate a role of the circadian system in these pathologies. Circadian malfunction affects sleep, and sleep deprivation can initiate proinflammatory responses. Being parts of the circadian system, melatonin and sirtuin 1 deserve particular attention. Either of them displays neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and circadian amplitude-enhancing properties, which are of relevance to neurodegeneration that is observed in a number of depressive patients. Notably, both circulating melatonin levels as well as sirtuin 1 expression decline by age. In the gerontological context, melatonin upregulates sirtuin 1, which mediates some of melatonin’s actions. Correction of a deviating circadian system seems to be of value regarding causes that contribute to depressive symptoms.

Gadi Lissak*

Meuhedet Health Services, Jerusalem, Israel

Moira J van Staaden^1,2*, F Scott Hall^1,3 and Robert Huber^1,2

¹Juvatech creative behavioral designs, Maumee, OH 43537, USA

²JP Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind & Behavior, Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA

³Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA

Addiction is now recognized as a phenomenon with exceedingly deep evolutionary roots. Addictive plant alkaloids, as secondary metabolites, evolved primarily to counter insect herbivory. Although some views regard addiction as a human/mammal specific, cognitive phenomenon, we suggest that its roots are found in much more fundamental biological mechanisms for learning and motivation, mechanisms which are shared by taxa since the early evolution of bilateral metazoans. According to this view, addiction is fundamentally an invertebrate phenomenon and humans can be viewed as collateral damage in this coevolutionary arms race. Results from a variety of invertebrate preparations demonstrate behavioral and neural consequences of drug exposure, ranging from psychostimulant properties and sensitization, to conditioned cue learning and operant self-administration. This mini review focuses attention on our recent work in crayfish, but there is certainly evidence for the presence of addictionlike phenomena in more ancient invertebrate taxa.

L. Hertzberg^1,2*, E. Domany¹

¹Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

²The Emotion-Cognition Research Center, Shalvata Mental Health Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

The number of Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) of schizophrenia, as well as that of subjects studied have increased dramatically over the last years. Nevertheless, biologically meaningful interpretation of GWAS results remains very difficult due to the complexity and heterogeneity of both clinical and genetic aspects of schizophrenia, and the small contribution of each single gene to the disease. Our study presented a methodology that integrated GWAS results with gene expression data, and applied it to schizophrenia. Integration of two types of information, of both DNA-level and of messenger RNA (mRNA) level, increases the validity and reliability of the results and improves our understanding of the biological meaning of the GWAS results. We comment here on the methodology used and the main result of our study.

Qianlan Yin^#, Zhuoer Sun^#, Weizhi Liu*

Faculty of Psychology and Mental Health, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China

“Shidu Parents” (SDP) means parents whose only child has passed away or is disabled to perform the basic social function and daily living activities due to an accident or other events. These parents cannot conceive or adopt another child. Bereavement is a great grief and threat to mental and physical states evidenced by many studies, but SDP are a new and increasing subgroup emerging in this field, especially in China. The goal of this paper is to review the research literature regarding mental and physical health consequences of SDP and the intertwined influence, thus to add to the corresponding assistance from the government.

Deborah R. Gordon^1*, Patricia Benner¹, Jodi Halpern², Catherine Long Popell³, and Patricia W. Kelley⁴

¹University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

²University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

³Services for Brain Injury, San Jose, CA, USA

⁴Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Hermeneutic phenomenology provides an alternative to objectifying approaches to understanding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is the one major psychiatric diagnosis where social causation is established, yet PTSD is predominantly viewed in terms of the usual neuro-physiological causal models, with traumatic social events viewed as pathogens with dose-related effects. However, framing PTSD as an objective disease state separates it from the narrative historical details of the trauma. Personal stories and cultural meanings of the traumatic events are seen as epiphenomenal, unrelated to the understanding of, and ultimately, the therapeutic treatment of PTSD. Sixty-seven US service members injured in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who were in the rehabilitation phase of their recovery, and 401 nurses who provided care for service members, were interviewed. Most wounded service members described classic symptoms of PTSD: flashbacks, insomnia, hyperarousal, etc. All experienced disturbance in their sense of place and time: distortions and ruptures between “here” and “there,” “then” and “now.” Effective nursing care required being attuned to where a patient is “at” phenomenologically. Rather than see the occurrence of these symptoms as decontextualized mechanistic reverberations of war, we consider how these symptoms meaningfully reflect actual war experiences and the sense of displacement experienced by service members.

Merlin G. Butler*

Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Pediatrics, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA

Judith Edwards*

*Tavistock Clinic NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom

Lucas Fortaleza de Aquino Ferreira

Hospital de Saúde Mental Professor Frota Pinto, Fortaleza, Brazil

Gareth Nortje ^1* , Absol Uteshit ²

^*1 University of South Dakota, Nelspruit, South Africa

² University of the Sciences, Phalaborwa, South Africa

Many statisticians would agree that, had it not been for hierarchical cognitive therapies in conversational dynamics, the emulation of cognitive reflection might never have occurred. After years of important research into virtual conversations, we verify the study of mood-state-dependent verbal influences, which embodies the theoretical principles of cognitive analytic psychotherapy. In order to answer this riddle, we confirm that even though randomized conversational smalltalk can be made perfect, embedded, and replicated, the effective on mood is no longer questionable¹.

Won-Gyo Shin¹, Tae Young Lee^2*, Jun Soo Kwon^1,2

¹ Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Seoul National University College of Natural Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea

^*2 Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Rogers Kasirye^1*, Rogers Mutaawe^2*

¹Executive Director, Uganda Youth Development Link, Kampala Uganda

²Senior Programme Manager, Uganda Youth Development Link, Kampala Uganda

The goal of this descriptive study was to examine the relationship between sexual risky behaviors and substance abuse among street and slum youth of Kampala. The study was conducted among youths seeking services for the first time from Drop In center facilities run by Uganda Youth Development Link, located in Kampala City. While several studies have examined risks for substance abuse and sexual risky behaviors among children and adolescents in Uganda, none have identified protective factors among this sub population including street children in Kampala. This study conducted baseline interviews of street children enrolling in a youth intervention program in Kampala City, Uganda. A total of 203 youth between the ages of 14 and 24 were interviewed about their consumption of alcohol, tobacco and other forms of drug use; and sexual risky behaviors. The study results Preliminary results reveal high prevalence of alcohol and other substance use coupled with early sexual risk involvement (e.g. sex without condoms).

M. Kathryn Jedrziewski^1,2,3*, Dara Meekins¹, Samuel A. Gorka¹, Mariegold E. Wollam⁵, Mihloti Williams^4,5, George A. Grove⁵, Charles Lwanga^4,5, Chelsea M. Stillman^4,6, and Kirk I. Erickson^4,5

¹The Institute on Aging, Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

²Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center, Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

³Department of Pathology, Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

⁴Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh

⁵Department of Psychology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh

⁶Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh

Vicente Mustieles¹, Carmen Messerlian², Iris Reina¹, Andrea Rodríguez-Carrillo¹, Nicolás Olea¹, and Mariana F. Fernández¹*

^*1University of Granada, Center for Biomedical Research (CIBM); Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada (ibs.GRANADA), Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBERESP), Spain.

²Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.

In 2015 we reviewed the state of knowledge regarding the potential impact of bisphenol A (BPA) exposure on child neurobehavior. At that time, we expressed concern about the effects of BPA on children’s behavior, especially when exposure takes place in utero. Since then, the number of human studies addressing the BPA-neurobehavior hypothesis has doubled, most of them reinforcing previous prenatal associations and frequently showing differences between boys and girls. An increasing number of studies have also shown an association between postnatal BPA exposure and diverse neurobehavioral impairments, including attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It may never be possible to establish a causal link between this specific endocrine disruptor and a particular neurobehavioral endpoint; however, research data on the relationship between human BPA exposure and children’s behavior has revealed a relatively consistent pattern that cannot be ignored. The mounting experimental and epidemiologic evidence on neurobehavioral effects support more than ever the need to apply the precautionary principle during development, especially in relation to pregnant women and children. It seems that the time to act has arrived.

Nuwan Dissanayaka¹*

^*1Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundations Trust, Leeds LS15 8ZB, UK.