Converging public health crises: substance use during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic
Purpose of review
The international, public health crisis caused by the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in unforeseen medical and psychiatric consequences. We reviewed publications from January 2020 to January 2021, given that earlier documents were not relevant, to review findings on changes in substance use and overdoses during the pandemic. Additionally, this review of the literature also documents advocacy efforts, health service modification and challenges, as well as COVID-related health complications associated with substance use.
Recent findings
Recent work focused on identifying changes in the d...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - June 3, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: ADDICTIVE DISORDERS: Edited by John B. Saunders and Linda B. Cottler Source Type: research
Editorial introductions
No abstract available (Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry)
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - June 3, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: EDITORIAL INTRODUCTIONS Source Type: research
Childhood disadvantage, neurocognitive development and neuropsychiatric disorders: Evidence of mechanisms
Purpose of review
Children living in socioeconomically disadvantaged households have excess risks of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric problems. The purpose of this review is to synthesize evidence for mechanisms that may contribute to these excess risks.
Recent findings
The majority of the 60 studies included in our review focused on children's neurocognitive development and behavioural problems. About half conducted mediation analyses of factors in the family and neighbourhood environments, including access to resources (e.g. cognitive inputs within the home environment) and exposure to stressors (e.g. n...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: THE IMPACT OF URBANISATION ON MENTAL HEALTH: Edited by Jair Mari and Sandro Galea Source Type: research
Suicide prevention efforts in the United States and their effectiveness
This article reviews recent work about these contributors to suicide and how they may inform prevention efforts.
Recent findings
Current research has shown that suicide is more than a mental health problem with a psychiatric or medical solution. Universal screening and referral by gatekeepers target a large group with a low baseline risk, and there are few treatments proven to reduce death by suicide, as well as a severe shortage of mental health providers in the United States to provide them. Instead, suicide prevention polices can target various other factors that contribute to elevated suicide risk at the populat...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: THE IMPACT OF URBANISATION ON MENTAL HEALTH: Edited by Jair Mari and Sandro Galea Source Type: research
Urbanization and mental health as a research problem in Latin America (with a focus on Brazil)
Purpose of review
The basic hypothesis of this paper is that, in Latin America, the nature of the set of variables or determinants regarding the relationships of urbanization (and correlated processes of social change, modernization, acculturation, and economic inclusion) and mental health varies with the political context or historical phase considered. To assess the validity of the hypothesis, I propose a periodization of the economic, political, and social changes that occurred in Latin America in the past decades.
Recent findings
A brief review of recent studies on social determinants of mental health (with ...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: THE IMPACT OF URBANISATION ON MENTAL HEALTH: Edited by Jair Mari and Sandro Galea Source Type: research
Urbanization and eating disorders: a scoping review of studies from 2019 to 2020
Purpose of review
This review scoped recent (2019–2020) literature investigating the association between urbanization and eating disorders, and the putative role of urbanization as a direct or indirect risk factor.
Recent findings
There are few epidemiological studies which investigated adequately direct or indirect association between urban domicile and eating disorders. Findings suggest that urbanization is a complex phenomenon and its effects on eating behaviour are indirect, for example, because of other important social and environmental features, such as the amount of ‘green’ space, ‘Western’ thi...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: THE IMPACT OF URBANISATION ON MENTAL HEALTH: Edited by Jair Mari and Sandro Galea Source Type: research
Future perspectives of robot psychiatry: can communication robots assist psychiatric evaluation in the COVID-19 pandemic era?
Purpose of review
Direct face-to-face interview between a psychiatrist and a patient is crucial in psychiatric evaluation, however, such traditional interviews are becoming difficult to conduct because of the infection risk in the COVID-19 era. As telepsychiatry, video interviews using internet are suggested to be useful to evaluate and assist individuals with mental disorders. However, some patients especially with social phobia, depression, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) hesitate to use even such face-to-face-like tools. Communication robots have been proposed as future assistant tools for such patients. Herein, ...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: THE IMPACT OF URBANISATION ON MENTAL HEALTH: Edited by Jair Mari and Sandro Galea Source Type: research
Editorial: Cities and population mental health: present and future
No abstract available (Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry)
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: THE IMPACT OF URBANISATION ON MENTAL HEALTH: Edited by Jair Mari and Sandro Galea Source Type: research
Ageing with schizophrenia: an update
Purpose of review
The aim of this review was to summarize the recent literature on the clinical symptoms, functioning, outcomes and treatments for older adults with chronic schizophrenia.
Recent findings
The number and proportion of older adults with schizophrenia is rapidly increasing. Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous disorder and older adults with schizophrenia display significant variability in symptom severity, quality of life and overall outcomes. Many achieve stable disease remission, some display persistent nonremission and others experience fluctuating symptoms. Depression is commonly reported, and altho...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: SCHIZOPHRENIA AND RELATED DISORDERS: Edited by Lynn E. DeLisi and Iris E.C. Sommer Source Type: research
Cancer and schizophrenia
Purpose of review
On the basis of articles published in 2018, 2019 and 2020, the first aim of this review is to present estimates of incidence rates and excess mortality of overall cancer and organ-specific cancers for patients with schizophrenia compared with the general population.
The second aim is to explore if underdiagnosis and undertreatment can explain – at least partly – the increased mortality of cancer in patients with schizophrenia compared with the general population.
Recent findings
Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia have an approximately 50% increased risk of death by cancer compared to ...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: SCHIZOPHRENIA AND RELATED DISORDERS: Edited by Lynn E. DeLisi and Iris E.C. Sommer Source Type: research
Noninvasive direct current stimulation for schizophrenia: a review
Purpose of review
To provide an update of recent studies describing the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on patients with schizophrenia, with particular focus on auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH), cognitive deficits, and negative symptoms.
Recent findings
As a low-cost, easy-to-use neuromodulation technique, tDCS may have clinical implications for those suffering from treatment-persistent AVH, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia. Over the past decade, tDCS has shown no effects for negative symptoms, except when used at a high frequency of sessions, and inconclus...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: SCHIZOPHRENIA AND RELATED DISORDERS: Edited by Lynn E. DeLisi and Iris E.C. Sommer Source Type: research
Recent findings on neurofeedback training for auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia
Purpose of review
To provide recent evidence on real-time neurofeedback (NFB) training for auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) in schizophrenia patients.
Recent findings
NFB is a promising technique that allows patients to gain control over their AVH by modulating their own speech-related/language-related networks including superior temporal gyrus (STG) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) using fMRI, fNIRS and EEG/MEG. A recent limited number of studies showed that while an EEG-based NFB study failed to regulate auditory-evoked potentials and reduce AVH, downregulation of STG hyperactivity and upregulation of A...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: SCHIZOPHRENIA AND RELATED DISORDERS: Edited by Lynn E. DeLisi and Iris E.C. Sommer Source Type: research
Schizophrenia during pregnancy
Purpose of review
A diagnosis of schizophrenia has significant implications for women of childbearing age, pregnant or considering a pregnancy, ranging from sexual health, psychopharmacological treatment, to the occurrence of negative pregnancy and foetal outcomes. We provide a short narrative review of recent papers focusing on these issues.
Recent findings
Although pregnancy rates have been increasing in women with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, they also tend to have altogether fewer pregnancies and fewer live births than women without this diagnosis, and also higher rates of induced abortions.
Use of antip...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: SCHIZOPHRENIA AND RELATED DISORDERS: Edited by Lynn E. DeLisi and Iris E.C. Sommer Source Type: research
Estrogens in schizophrenia: progress, current challenges and opportunities
This article reviews the current state of estrogen research in schizophrenia.
Recent findings
Estrogens regulate important pathophysiological pathways in schizophrenia, including dopamine activity, mitochondrial function, and the stress system. Estrogen deficiency is common in both sexes and is associated with increases in psychotic symptoms. Hyperprolactinemia causes secondary estrogen deficiency and can be a reaction to stress, or secondary to prolactin-raising antipsychotics. Therefore, prolactin-sparing antipsychotics should be preferred especially in premenopausal women, who are more prone to hyperprolactinemia...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: SCHIZOPHRENIA AND RELATED DISORDERS: Edited by Lynn E. DeLisi and Iris E.C. Sommer Source Type: research
Abnormal synaptic pruning during adolescence underlying the development of psychotic disorders
This article reviews recent developments highlighting factors implicated in aberrant synaptic pruning and its contribution to disease onset and emergence of cognitive symptoms in SCZ. Unraveling these factors provides new insights for potential prevention and treatment strategies for psychotic disorders.
Recent findings
Increased pruning in SCZ was recently confirmed by a positron emission tomography-study employing the novel tracer [11C]UCB-J, demonstrating the consequential loss of synaptic density. Recent evidence supports the contributing role of astrocytes and increased complement-mediated microglial pruning in...
Source: Current Opinion in Psychiatry - April 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: SCHIZOPHRENIA AND RELATED DISORDERS: Edited by Lynn E. DeLisi and Iris E.C. Sommer Source Type: research
