Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients often present with concurrent major depression (MD). To investigate the reasons for this comorbidity, e.g. MD being a risk factor for AD, or both diagnoses having a common neurobiology, the temporal relationship between the first onset of AD and of MD during lifetime was investigated—57 out of 146 AD patients had a lifetime diagnosis of MD. The correlation between the ages at onset of MD and dementia was calculated. The incidence of MD in AD patients in several 5-year-intervals before and after the onset of AD was compared with the average incidence of MD in the present AD sample and with the expected incidence of MD in the general population. No significant correlation between the onset of AD and of MD could be found after controlling for age, gender and the Mini-Mental-State. However, the incidence of MD 5 years before and after the onset of AD significantly exceeded the expected incidences—MD is only partially related to AD. However, the increased incidence of MD within 5 years before and after the onset of dementia may indicate that a common neurobiological process causes cognitive decline and depression in a subsample of AD patients.

We examined the differences in the suicide characteristics between areas directly and indirectly affected by war activities and in war and post-war periods according to the following variables: suicide rate, sex, age and method of suicide. Analysis was done on 5349 suicides committed in the period 1993–1998 (war and post-war years). The suicide rates in the Republic of Croatia oscillated in the pre-war, war and post-war periods (1985–2000) but without significant differences. In the areas directly affected by war, the suicide rate was significantly lower than in other areas during the study period 1993–1998 (chi-square = 10.3245; P = 0.0017). The number of suicides in both sexes declined in the areas directly affected by war—more in men than in women; the difference between sexes was statistically significant (chi-square = 3.6697; P = 0.055). Middle- and old-aged people were the population with high suicide risk in both areas (t = 1.76; P = 0.078). There were significant differences in the methods of suicides between war and non-war areas (chi-square = 108.8473; P = 0.001). Firearms or explosive devices were the methods used more significantly for suicides in the areas directly affected by war than in other areas, whereas hanging was more frequently used in the areas indirectly affected by war.

Self-esteem (SE) and social adjustment (SA) are often impaired during the course of affective disorders; this impairment is associated with suicidal behaviour. The aim of the present study was to investigate SE and SA in unipolar or bipolar patients in relation to demographic and clinical characteristics, especially the presence of suicidality (ideation and/or attempt). Forty-four patients, 28 bipolar and 16 unipolar, in remission for at least 3 months, and 50 healthy individuals were examined through a structured clinical interview. SE and SA were assessed by the Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the social adjustment scale, respectively. The results have shown that bipolar patients did not differ from controls in terms of SE, while unipolar patients had lower SE than bipolars and controls. No significant differences in the mean SA scores were found between the three groups. Suicidality during depression was associated only in bipolar patients with lower SE at remission; similar but not as pronounced was the association of suicidality with SA. It is concluded that low SE lasting into remission seems to be related to the expression of suicidality during depressive episodes of bipolar patients, while no similar pattern is evident in unipolar patients.

Sinistrality, characterized by an excess of non-right-handedness, has been reported in schizophrenic patients, but the findings are controversial.

The objective of this study was to develop new standardized alcohol-associated cues and assess their effects on brain activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Pictures of alcoholic and neutral beverages and affectively neutral pictures were presented to 44 abstinent alcoholics and 37 age-matched healthy control subjects. We assessed the skin conductance response, and the elicited arousal and valence. Alcoholics and control subjects did not differ in arousal, valence or skin conductance response evoked by alcohol-associated and affectively neutral stimuli, while nonalcoholic beverages were rated as more unpleasant and arousing by alcoholics compared with control subjects. In the fMRI pilot study, alcohol and abstract pictures were presented to six abstinent alcoholics and induced a significant activation of brain areas associated with visual emotional processes such as the fusiform gyrus, parts of the brain reward system (basal ganglia and orbitofrontal gyrus) and further brain regions in the frontal and parietal cortices associated with the attention network. These observations suggest that standardized pictures of alcoholic beverages can be used to assess brain circuits involved in the processing and evaluation of alcohol cues.

The European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) is the umbrella organisation for national European psychiatric trainees’ organisations. It primarily aims at advancing and harmonising the quality of psychiatric education and practise. As a permanent observer member of the European Board of Psychiatry and the European Board of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the EFPT actively participates both in the development of educational guidelines and in the evaluation of psychiatric training institutions in Europe. Through its annually held European Forum for all Psychiatric Trainees the EFPT provides a unique opportunity for the exchange of training-related experiences and opinions on current developments in psychiatry. This is the first comprehensive overview of the history, goals, and political work of the EFPT, depicting its evolution from an informal meeting of psychiatric trainees to a recognised organisation representing over 10 000 young psychiatrists throughout Europe.