Stigma and discrimination experienced by persons suffering from mental illness, unlike other medical conditions, recognized as a barrier in countries rich and poor, and in countries with well-developed mental health services and those with limited services. It was hypothesized that depression may affect patients’ attitude towards mental illness “public stigma” as well as self-stigmatization and that there will be a difference between Egyptians and Germans.

This study sets out to identify and compare public–and self-stigma among depressed women in two different communities.

To test findings from transcultural comparative study of two patient groups of depressed women from two different communities. Participants were 50 adult females diagnosed with depression from Egypt and Germany.

Participants completed after clinical interviewing and diagnosis with depression two questionnaires: the inventory of attitude towards mental illness (Shokeer, 2002) and the explanatory model interview catalogue EMIC (Weis et al., 2001).

Analysis indicates that positive attitudes towards mental illness were more for the German respondents than for the Egyptians. There were significant differences between the two groups in the causal attributions of mental illness. Psychotherapy was widely accepted in the two groups as a helpful method for treatment of mental illness.

It was concluded that the traditional beliefs affect the understanding of illness causality and that the subjective experience of depression may affect attitude towards mental illness and mentally ill people. The effect of the social desirability is discussed.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The concept of psychogenic psychosis was introduced by Wimmer in 1916 and subsequently extended by Strömgren in the mid twentieth century. It typically describes a polymorphic psychotic episode of abrupt onset and which follows a trauma or stressful life situation. The duration of the episode is usually brief and remission occurs ad integrum. In recent decades, the notion has fallen into disuse in clinical psychiatry and international classifications. This could be due to a general improvement in living conditions, with less exposure to traumatic situations.

We intend to study the characteristics of psychogenic psychosis in immigrants. We believe that the condition could be observed better in this population, given their greater vulnerability to trauma. For this purpose, we chose a sample of Romanian patients, who nevertheless have considerable cultural affinity with the Spanish population.

We collected the clinical and biographical data of four cases of psychogenic psychosis admitted to our clinic between 2012 and 2015.

Four Romanian women aged 25 to 42 were diagnosed with psychogenic psychosis in this period. Mean length of hospitalization was 5, 0 days. All patients reported familiar or occupational stress prior to the onset of symptoms. Psychotic symptoms remitted quickly with low doses of medication, despite being initially intense.

Reported cases fit remarkably well with the original description of Wimmer. The concept of psychogenic psychosis, along with similar brief psychotic entities, could be useful in describing the psychopathology derived from new social models and crises.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Psychotic symptoms occur in a variety of psychiatric disorders and medical conditions. In addition, a significant proportion of the general population reports history of psychotic symptoms in the apparent absence of a psychiatric disorder. Reviewed literature suggests that Latino patients report certain forms of visual and auditory hallucinations without other indications of psychotic illness. In addition, it is common that some individuals with diverse religious or cultural backgrounds may present with psychotic transient experiences, which can be culturally normative.

To determine the prevalence of hallucinations and describe the nature of hallucinatory experiences in relation to cultural belief in Latino and non-Latino psychiatric outpatients.

We conducted a retrospective case control study of 146 patients who were admitted to the outpatient psychiatric clinic for a period of ten months. We assessed clinical characteristics of these patients and reviewed the extended mental status examination, which contained questions about various form of hallucinations and spiritual experiences. This poster will explore the prevalence of hallucinations in the Latino population and determine the percentage of patients with a diagnosis of psychotic illness. A discussion of the phenomenological hallucinatory experiences and its relationship to cultural beliefs in the Latino psychiatric patients will also be presented.

Psychotic symptoms present differently across cultures. The Latino population is most likely to have psychotic like symptoms related to their cultural beliefs. Clinicians must understand the diverse cultural experiences and beliefs of the patients they work with to prevent misdiagnosis of culturally normative experiences.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Unemployment is common in persons with severe mental illness (SMI) and more in Latino population. Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) of Connecticut offers a supported employment (SE) Program to help clients get competitive work in integrated settings with nondisabled workers in the community.

Capture perspectives of key informant groups to describe barriers for linking Latinos with SMI to employment and adapt SE Services for subpopulations.

Four focus groups were conducted (employment specialists, case managers and peer support counselors/employers/two with clients-one in Spanish and other in English). They were conducted during January-February 2015, 70–90 minutes each one. A question guide was developed for each group. Participants per focus group ranged from 3–10, voluntarily. Two new questionnaires to the baseline pack were developed: challenges to Employment Assessment–provider and client version.

Thirty individuals participated. Several barriers to employment were reported. Clients and staff reported criminal record, lack of employment history and lack of motivation. Staff described client hygiene, mental status, physical health, substance abuse and discrimination. Clients, staff and employers reported language barrier for Latinos who don’t speak English. Non-adherence to medication was reported by clients and employers. About Spanish-Speaking Latinos with mental illness, medication, discrimination, previous abuse by employers, inappropriate employment, difficulties of the job interview and computer skills appeared as challenges. English-Speaking Latinos with mental illness identified transport, stability, support, keeping apartment and financial needs.

Focus groups can help in knowledge about the diversity of Latino communities to improve SE Services and outcomes for Latinos.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

In the past 50 years, the continent of Africa has witnessed major conflicts ranging from civil wars and liberation wars to chaos from failed States. Increasingly in these political upheavals, kidnapping and abductions of women and young persons have become more prominent.

In this paper the consequences of political upheavals will be discussed. For the community there are economic, political and social disruptions. For the individuals there are family disruptions and improvements. For the abducted and kidnapped individuals there are physical, psychological and cognitive impairments, as well as consequences of sexual injuries.

There is controversy as to prevention, reduction, and management of young victims of war and conflicts. Some workers have suggested that:

–the imposition of peace agreements by foreign powers may not be strictly relevant to the parties engaged in the conflicts;

–culturally appropriate rituals have efficiency in the readjustment of boy soldiers and abducted girls. Nevertheless the guidelines suggested in international disagreements provide a basis for there adjustment of young war conflict victims.

–Traditional healing rituals have a place in the healing and reintegration in person's abduction in post conflict situations.

– Community approaches are superior to individual approaches.

The author has not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Due to constant flow of people in and out of Europe several drugs are now days appearing in European markets that were previously unknown. There is a need to gain awareness and knowledge about these new substances and to recognize their use and learn about their effects and management.

Ayahuascais commonly called yagé is a traditional spiritual medicine in ceremonies among the Indigenous peoples of Amazonian Peru. It is undetected in urine or blood and therefore it is important to understand and ask about its usage during clinical assessment.

Thirty-six years old woman immigrant from South America came to us with auditory hallucinations. About three years ago she was introduced who introduced her to a community of Euto poeple that performed daily rituals of spiritual awareness involving the use of Ayahuasca. She became a part of it and started consuming Ayahuasca daily. She started becoming socially isolated accompanied by delusional and mystical religious ideations. She later began having persecutory delusions and auditory hallucinations that Archangels speak to her about how to create music. Patient was involuntary admitted in a mental health unit and started on risperidone. Gradually her condition improved and she stopped having auditory hallucinations. After being discharged from the hospital, patient was followed on an outpatient basis with injectable risperidone.

Due to the blend of different cultures in Europe, it is necessary to have a better understanding about the cultures, rituals and the substances that are relatively new and are currently been used.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

The author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

Utilization of E.C.T. has diminished since the middle of 20th century but, inspite of widespread use of pharmacological agents for treatment of major psychiatric disorders, E.C.T. is still treatment of choice for patients with severe suicidal symptoms, catatonia and diseases resistant to various pharmacological agents. But inspite of its excellent effect in various psychiatric disorders, acceptance of E.C.T. is very poor in society.

Objective of this study was to know the attitude of attendants for E.C.T. and acceptance after detailed description of procedure and discussing merits and demerits of E.C.T.

As still it is the best treatment for certain psychiatric disorders, so to increase the awareness about its benefits and try to remove the negativity regarding E.C.T. in society.

In this study, 61 patients were randomly selected who had indication for E.C.T. without any discrimination of male and female. Their attendants were categorized by their socioeconomic status. All the attendants were asked open questions regarding their opinion for E.C.T. before taking consent.

Sixty patients were selected who had indication for E.C.T. and their attendants were asked to give their opinion for E.C.T. Amongst them 9.84% were from upper socioeconomic status, 68.86% were from middle socioeconomic status and 21.31% were from lower socioeconomic status. Only 11.48% had a positive attitude, 75.40% had a negative attitude and 16.39% had no comments.

After developing good rapport and confidence with attendants and detailed explanation of E.C.T. procedure, its merits and demerits 75.40% had given a positive attitude, 22.95% had given negative attitude and still 1.64% had no comments.

The author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Auditory hallucinations are perceptional experiments that occur in schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder with psychotic features. Characteristic of these hallucinations may have relation with cultural factors.

We have done this study to understand more about content and characteristic of auditory hallucinations in Schizophrenia, schizoaffective and bipolar disorder with psychotic features in Qazvin, a state in north-center of Iran.

We used the questionnaire that prof. Romme and Escher developed in 1987 for research purposes. Sixty patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective and bipolar disorder with psychotic features that admitted or attended at clinic of Qazvin medical science university hospital, psychiatry ward, were interviewed.

The 45 men and 15 women in three groups were interviewed. The most were men, single, and in fourth decade of their life. Most patients mentioned that they heard one voice. Mean age of appearing voices in patients were 19 to 29 years old. Most patients in the schizoaffective and bipolar group heard male voices and in schizophrenia were both sexes. Eighty-five percent of bipolar patients, 65% of patients with schizoaffective disorder heard friendly voices. It was 30% in patients with schizophrenia. Fifteen percent of bipolar patients, 75% of schizophrenia and 45% of schizoaffective stated that voice was hostile.

Our study has revealed that culture affected content and characteristic of auditory hallucinations. We suggested that some complementary studies will be done in future from different Iranian cultures not just people of Qazvin.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

It has been widely recognized that DM can result in psychological, social and physical problems. Parents of children with DM are likely to be highly distressed.

The study of the relationship between mood status of children with type I DM and some factors that might be implicated in its determination.

To evaluate the presence and degree of depression in a sample of children with type I diabetes and how much it might be affected by their metabolic control and the level of their parents’ stress.

Ninety-three children were diagnosed with DM type I. They were clinically interviewed and examined. They went through Childhood Depression Rating Scale (CDI), Family Attitudes Questionnaire and HbA1c% assessment. An age and sex matched control group was taken.

The age range of diabetic children was 7–18 and two thirds of them were females. Thirty-five patients (37.6%) were depressed according to CDI results. Diabetic children had significantly higher CDI total score and total parenting stress index (PSI) compared to the control group. CDI total score was positively and significantly correlated with indicators of poor diabetes control (frequency of DKA and HbA1C%) and with duration of diabetic illness. CDI total score was also positively and significantly correlated with PSI score.

Depression was highly present in this sample of diabetic children. The degree of their mood impairment was positively correlated with duration of diabetic illness, indicators of poor metabolic control of DM and to the level of their parents’ stress.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

A strong association is believed to exist between stressful life events and the development of depressive disorders. Childhood adverse experiences contribute to person's vulnerability to such disorders.

The study of the complex interplay between child abuse, stressful life events and the development of depression.

To study the effect of type and severity of child abuse and magnitude of pre-onset stress on the severity and duration of adulthood depression.

Seventy-five patients with depressive disorders not having a comorbid mental illness were studied using Social Readjustment Rating scale (SRRS) and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ).

The mean age of the patients was 34.96 ± 12.32 years, 69.3% of patients were females, duration of the illness ranged from 2–288 weeks with a mean of 30.94 ± 54.61 and 36% of the sample had severe depression. There was a statistically significant relationship between urban residence and magnitude of stress (P = 0.049), married patients suffered less severe depression than unmarried ones (P = 0.02) and a positive and significant correlation was found between magnitude of stress and severity of depression (P ≤ 0.001).

Duration of depressive illness was positively and significantly correlated to the raw score of SRRS and to the severity of emotional neglect as measured by CTQ (P = 0.02 and 0.04 respectively).

The development of depression in adulthood is significantly associated with past exposure to child abuse and stressful life events. Childhood history of emotional neglect and magnitude of pre-onset stress may be contributing factors to duration of depressive illness.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

to examine the longitudinal effect of depression on glycemic control in a sample of patients with type 2 diabetes.

the patients were recruited from diabetes clinic in Saudi airlines medical center, in Jeddah, the base line study community consisted from 172 patients with type 2 diabetes. They were assessed for depression using BDI II, and diagnostic interview, and for diabetic control using HbA1c. We created a person-period data set for each patient to cover 6 months intervals up to 3 years. We used generalized estimation equation (GEE) for analysis of longitudinal data. HbA1C was the response variable while depression and time were the main covariates. Variables were included in GEE models based on clinical importance and preliminary analysis. Other variables included as covariates were gender, education, duration of diabetes, co-morbidity and LDL. All statistical analysis used α = 0.05 level of significance and were performed using SPSS software version 21.

Unadjusted HbA1c means were significantly higher in depressed vs. non-depressed subjects at all time points. The adjusted HbA1c means in final GEE model were significantly higher in depressed vs. non-depressed subjects. In all adjusted models depression was a predictor of glycemic control weather it was BDI score (estimate = .049, P = .002), diagnoses of MDD (estimate = 2.038, P = .000), or other depressive diagnosis (estimate = 1.245, P = .000).

This study on clinical sample of type 2 diabetic patients demonstrates that there is a significant longitudinal relationship between depression and glycemic control and that depression is associated with persistently higher HbA1c over time.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

In major depressive disorder (MDD) neurocognitive functions are impaired. In addition to melatonergic properties of agomelatine, via 5-HT2C antagonism it increases extracellular noradrenaline and dopamine in frontal cortex and may improve the neurocognitive functions of patients with MDD.

To investigate the extent of neurocognitive improvement and efficacy of agomelatine and fluoxetine in patients with MDD.

Agomelatine 25 mg/day (n: 24) and fluoxetine 20 mg/day (n: 24) were administered to drug-naive unipolar, non-psychotic, non-suicidal MDD patients according to DSM-IV. Evaluations were performed just before the treatment and at the sixth week of treatment via administering Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT), Digit Span Test (DST), Trail Making Test (TMT-A/B), Stroop Test and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.

Both agomelatine and fluoxetine was found to be efficacious for the treatment of MDD (P < 0.05 for both). Further there was no difference between the antidepressant efficacy of two drugs. Both of the drugs improved measured neurocognitive functions (P < 0.05), except scores of DST (P > 0.05) and only fluoxetine improved significantly scores of COWAT (P < 0.05). Only in terms of TMT-B there was significant difference between groups and agomelatine was superior to fluoxetine (P < 0.05).

Agomelatine and fluoxetine were efficacious in treatment of MDD. Furthermore both of the drugs improved cognitive functions in patients with MDD. Superiority of agomelatine in improvement of executive functioning (TMT-B) is important and therefore it could be an appropriate choice for MDD patients who have pronounced executive disturbances.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

This study assessed the levels of immune factors, demographic and clinical characteristics, and pharmacological treatments of patients with depressive disorders and compared them between patients with mild-to-moderate and moderate/severe-to-severe anxiety.

This study included 177 patients diagnosed with a depressive disorder who were hospitalized between March 2012 and April 2015. The patients were categorized into mild-to-moderate anxious distress and moderate/severe-to-severe anxious distress groups, based on the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) based on the “with anxious distress” specifier. The current severity of symptoms was determined using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) scores on the Agitation and Anxiety-Psychic subscales. The charts of the patients were reviewed to evaluate immune factors, including C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell (WBC) levels, confounding factors, such as smoking, other general medical disorders, and body mass index (BMI), and demographic and clinical characteristics.

The moderate–severe to severe anxious distress group tended to have higher CRP and monocyte levels compared with the mild to moderate anxious distress group. However, after adjusting for the total HAM-D scores, there was a significant difference only in monocyte levels. After this adjustment, patients with moderate–severe to severe anxious distress had a significantly greater trend toward significance for suicidality and a higher rate of antipsychotic use.

High levels of anxiety symptoms may influence various underlying pathophysiological factors and modulate the inflammatory response and course of illness, affecting treatment planning.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The substantial non-response rate in depressive patients indicates a need to identify predictors of treatment outcome.

The aim of the open-label, 6-week study was:

– to compare efficacy of a priori defined predictors: ≥ 20% reduction in MADRS score at week 1, ≥ 20% reduction in MADRS score at week 2 (RM ≥ 20% W2), decrease of prefrontal theta cordance value (RC) and increase of serum/plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) at week 1;

– to assess whether the combination of these factors yield more robust predictive power than when used singly.

All patients (n = 38) were hospitalized and treated with various SSRIs. Areas under curve (AUC) as well as predictive values were calculated to compare predictive effect of single and combined predictor model.

Twenty-one patients (55%) achieved response. The RM ≥ 20% W2 (AUC-0.83) showed better predictive efficacy compared to all other predictors with exception of RC. Other significant differences were not detected. The identified (logistic regression) combined predictive model (RM ≥ 20% W2 + RC) predicted response with accuracy of 82% (AUC-0.92) and was significantly better than other predictors but not RM ≥ 20% W2 and RC.

Our findings indicate that the RM ≥ 20% W2 alone and in combination with RC may be useful in the prediction of response to SSRIs. Serum/plasma BDNF did not show strong predictive potential.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a recurrent mood disorder with 22%–42% of the patients experiencing symptoms even after 5–11 years after diagnosis, and 33%–44% developing non-seasonal symptoms. The purpose of this study was to assess how seasonality is associated with some of the most common non-communicable diseases in the general Finnish population.

The global seasonality score (GSS) and the experiences of problems due to the seasonal variations from FINNRISK 2012 dataset were used to measure the seasonality in 4689 Finns aged 25–74 years living in five geographical regions in Finland, and assess their association with common non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The regression models and odds ratios were adopted to analyze the associations adjusted for covariates.

The prevalence of SAD in the Finnish general population is 21%. Seventy percent of the participants had seasonal variations in sleep duration, social activity, mood and energy level, while 40% had seasonal variations is weight and appetite. Angina pectoris and depression were significantly associated with seasonality, including seasonal variations in sleep duration, mood, weight, appetite, social activity and energy level. Depression was significantly associated with the increased odds for experiencing a problem due to the seasonal variations (OR = 4.851, P < 0.0001) and SAD symptoms (OR = 4.075, P < 0.0001), and with the GSS (P < 0.0001).

Our data suggest that seasonality is associated with depression and angina pectoris. The co-occurrence of the seasonal variations in mood and behavior with common NCDs warrants the need for future research to have insights into the etiology and potentially shared pathways and mechanisms of action.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Chronic pain is a common experienced symptom among patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). The intensity of depression and chronic pain inter-correlated, having negative impact on the daily functioning of the patients.

Our aim was to explore the presence of chronic pain in patients diagnosed with MDD (single episode or recurrent), correlation between intensity of depression and chronic pain, its interference on daily functioning, as well as sex differences regarding the explored variables.

The study sample consisted of 51 (62.2%) female and 31 (37.8%) male patients diagnosed with MDD (n = 82), aged between 18 and 65 years old (mean age of 46.21). Assessment instruments included The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), The Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI) (consisting of BPI-I factor of pain intensity, and BPI-II-factor of pain interference with daily functioning), and semistructured questionnaire for sociodemographic characteristics.

The presence of chronic pain was found in the 51 (62, 2%) of patients with MDD. The mean score on the BDI-II for the whole sample was 22.5 (SD 12.8). There was a positive correlation between intensity of depression (BDI-II) and intensity of chronic pain (BPI-1), and its interference on the level of daily functioning (BPI-2) (P < 0.01). Women diagnosed with MDD experienced chronic pain of higher intensity and with greater interference on daily functioning.

Our research data show a high frequency of chronic pain among patients diagnosed with MDD and its positive inter-correlation which results in negative impact on daily functioning, especially in females.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.