We examined leukocyte numbers, circulating endothelial progenitor cells (CD34+, CD133+), circulating mesenychmal stem cells (CD105+) and circulating endothelial cells (CD146+) at the beginning, after 4 weeks and at the end of an inpatient antidepressant treatment.

24 insufficiently pretreated inpatients with major depression were included. At admission, after four weeks and at demission blood samples were obtained, and cell numbers were counted by flow cytometric analysis (FACS). At each examination the severity of the depression was evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). We were especially interested in the changes of cell numbers during the antidepressant treatment. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 14.0.

The mean BDI score fell from 34 ± 7 at the beginning to 26.5 ± 6.6 after four weeks and 13.5 ± 5.7 at demission. The longer the overall duration of the depressive illness, the higher the number of leukocytes at admission (P < 0.0001). The lower the depression score at demission, the lower the final number of leukocytes (P < 0.001). During the antidepressant treatment the BDI depression score improved significantly (P < 0.0001). The number of CD146+ cells showed a significant decrease (P < 0.006). We did not find any significant changes of circulating CD34+, CD105+, or CD133+ cells during the antidepressant treatment.

The leukocyte results suggest an activation of the immune system in major depression and a deactivation due to antidepressant treatment.

Psychopathological disturbances are common in the aftermaths of a disaster. The consequences of these disorders can be long lasting. In August of 2007 an intense and destructive wildfire broke out in the Peloponnesus peninsula in Greece.

To investigate psychological and psychiatric morbidity in individuals who had experienced severe exposure to a wildfire disaster in a part of Greece and to indentify risk factors for the post disaster psychological problems.

To investigate a broader spectrum of mid-term psychological and psychiatric morbidity in victims, to evaluate the proportion of psychopathology that could be accredited to the disaster, to estimate the association of losses with different psychological symptoms, to indentify risk factors for psychopathology.

A Cross sectional case control study of adult population (18–65 years old). Data collected among others were demographic, Symptom Checklist 90-Revised for assessment of psychological difficulties, type and number of losses.

Those damnified from the disaster scored significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the symptoms of somatisation, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoia, and had significantly more symptoms (PST) and were more distressed by them (GSI) compared to controls. In addition risk factors for someone to be a psychiatric case were to be a victim from the fire, to have finished primary school, to be windowed and to have damages to his property.

Wildfires can cause considerable psychological symptoms in victims and there are reasons for public health policy makers to create services in order to help and improve the mental health of those affected.

Hypokalemia can induced Psychotic symptoms even before the physiological manifestations appears. An association is established between hypokalemia and acute psychosis in this case.

To Identify the clinical, physiological and metabolic risk factors for all the patients presenting with psychiatric disturbances.

To do medical and base line laboratory investigations to all the patients presenting with acute psychiatric disturbances.

A 74 years old gentleman assessed in emergency department following emergency refferal by a general practioner, for an acute psychotic decompensation and suicidal ideation. Patient had a histroy of psychotic episode 30 years ago with one week hospitalization and six month priscription of psychotropic medication. Patient had a relatively stable functioning without any further contact with the psychiatric services till the current episode. After psychiatric assessment patient was discharge home with a priscription of olanzapine 2.5 mg and citalopram 10 mg, for further assessment and investigations by psychiatry of old age.

One week later patient presented to Emergency Department with shortness of breath and chest dyscomfort. Detailed medical and laboratory investigations revealed Hypokalemia with potassium level at 2.0 mmol/L.The patient showed a prompt improvement in psychosis following intravenous potassium replacement.

This case highlights the importance of thorough medical and laboratory evaluation when assessing a psychotic patient. A narrow focuss on psychosis and ignoring organic and metabolic factors can be potentially dangerous to a patient.

In general, depressed mothers experience greater environmental and family risks, and lead riskier lifestyles. Whether the exposure of these risks add to child maladjustment, beyond exposure to maternal depression, is an important unanswered question, and is examined in the present study.

In a total of 9,000 mother-offspring pairs in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, we examined (i) if children of depressed mothers had higher risk exposures than children of non-depressed mothers (32 weeks gestation, child age 1.5 years); (ii) whether maternal depression increased risk for diagnoses of externalizing and internalizing disorders (child age 7.5 years); (iii) the decrease in these odds when we controlled for the risk exposures; and (iv) whether risk exposure increased the odds of a diagnosis, above the influence of maternal depression.

Children of depressed mothers were exposed to higher levels of risks and maternal depression increased the risk for diagnoses of both externalizing and internalizing disorders. The decrease in these odds was between 25–50% when controlling for child risk exposures. At the same time, risk exposures to the child significantly increased the odds of both externalizing and internalizing diagnoses, above the influence of maternal depression.

Maladjustment in offspring of depressed mothers is influenced by risk exposures closely associated with maternal mental health, suggesting that these children are “doubly” hit by risk. It is suggested that the present results may aide in interpreting why treating depressed mothers shows certain levels of beneficial effects for children, but not complete remission.

Emotional intelligence is a term coined by Salovey & Mayer and is defined by these authors as a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to perceive and identify emotions, to discriminate among them and to use the information to improve cognitive processes, and manage one's and others’emotions. There are also mixed models of emotional intelligence that imply a broader concept of intelligence, including mental abilities and personality characteristics.

To discuss the relevance of emotional intelligence in Psychiatry. To review recent studies of emotional intelligence in psychiatric disorders.

Review of the literature. MEDLINE and PubMed databases searches for peer-reviewed studies, published between 2000 and 2010, using combinations of the Medline Subject Heading terms emotional intelligence, trait emotional intelligence, ability emotional intelligence and psychiatry, mental disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, social phobia, eating disorders.

There are few studies in the literature addressing this topic. Emotional intelligence is a complex concept, with different theories defending distinct conceptualizations. The studies reviewed showed lower levels of emotional intelligence across different psychiatric disorders.

The field of affective neuroscience is of major importance in Psychiatry and has added important clues to the understanding of psychopathology. Although emotional intelligence is a recent and understudied topic in Psychiatry it can help to understand mental disorders and bring new insights to the comprehension of psychopathology.

Instruments for diagnosing Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in childhood are well validated and reliable, but psychometric assessment of ADHD in adults remains problematic. To date the Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS) are frequently used in the assessment of ADHD.

The CAARS were translated into German and a series of studies planned to establish psychometric properties of the CAARS-self and -observer rating scales.

To evaluate the German version of the CAARS.

We recruited 847 healthy German subjects and 466 adult ADHD patients to fill out the CAARS-self report and questions on socio-demographic variables. Additionally, 896 CAARS-observer reports were filled out by significant others and clinical experts. Factor analyses were conducted to obtain factor structure and to replicate the structure of the original American-model. Comparisons between patients and controls, and analyses on influences of gender, age, and education level were calculated. Additional analyses established psychometric properties.

Confirmative factor analysis based on the original American-model showed a high model-fit for both the German healthy control and the adult ADHD patient sample. Analyses of normative data showed significant influences of age, gender, and education level on the emerging subscales for the control sample only. Differences on all subscales were highly significant between patients and controls. Test-, test-retest-reliability was very high, and criterion validity could be established with DSM-IV based clinical interviews. Sensitivity and specificity ratings are overall very satisfying.

The German version of the CAARS is a cross-culturally valid instrument for the assessment of adult ADHD.

Interpersonal childhood traumas have been linked empirically with adults’ reports of a wide range of symptoms.

This study tested the association between childhood trauma and adult hostility.

The aim was to investigate the impact of childhood trauma on hostility and aggression among individuals who had been exposed to childhood traumatic life events.

595 community individuals participated to the present study (164 men - 431 women, mean age 34, SD = 12, ranged 18–75). Subjects were classified into two groups — trauma and no-trauma — based on their personal statements of experienced negative life events (300 and 295 individuals respectively). In all individuals, the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ) and the Aggression subscale of The Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) were administered.

Higher levels of hostile and aggressive attitude were observed among participants who had reported exposition to a traumatic event during childhood. In specific, the trauma group reported marginally higher levels of aggressive behavior (p = .041) as measured by aggression SCL-90-R. Significantly differences between groups were observed on paranoid hostility (p = .006), self criticism (p = .011), Guilt (p = .011), intropunitiveness (p = .007) and on total score of hostility (p = .040). Finally, logistic regression revealed that, participants who had experienced childhood trauma had a higher risk of overall hostility (OR = 0.92, 95% CI = .89–.99).

High levels of hostility may reflect difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Our findings illuminate the effect of early traumatic experiences in developing these hostile and aggressive attitudes in adulthood.

For the last years, there has been a wordlwide increase in the interest of oriental culture, specifically in the practice of meditation. This technic is known to produce cognitive and sensorial perception alterations, with changes in the hormonal and autonomic system. This practice has been associated with different mental disorders such as neurotic manifestations, dissociative and regressive, and even psychotic symptoms.

To analyze the influence of an intensive practice of different styles of meditation in the psychopathology found in our patients (Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid). To study the changes produced in the Central Nervous System measured by Electroencephalogram, PET, and functional MRI.

To define the clinical characteristics, prognois, risk factors and biological changes of an “atypical” psycopathologic case which seems to be more frequent everyday.

Extensive bibliographic review focused in psychopathology related to different types of meditation, either auto or hetero-induced (exorcism). We analyzed the patients attended in our hospital with psychotic semiology after having practiced intensive types of meditacion (transcendental meditation, buddhist meditation, tai-chi, qi-gong, tiao-shen, etc).

We found serious psychotic and affective symptomatology produced after using these technics. It is important to point out the risk factors and traumatic experiences characteristic of these processes.

There is clinical and epidemiological evidence that a group of psychosis, with different symptomatology and prognosis than schizophrenia and affective disorders, exists. We describe a syndrome of sudden manifestation, with flourished symptoms and serious behavior alterations, etc.

Symptom (from Greek symptoma “anything that has befallen one”) is an each new manifestation by which some disorder is expressed. For the physician, it is a guide to diagnosis itself, and for the patient it is a signal which warns of new conditions of the body and soul or of a disorder.

Mental disorders are most commonly presented by a group of symptoms, among which the patients often can’t point out the leading one. Anxiety as a symptom can occur in a number of psychiatric entities and it can stimulate differential diagnostic dilemma in daily practice. We will show a 26-year female in which the internal anxiety is the main symptom.

To underlined the importance of taking in to account a leading symptom of the disease in the way of establishing the correct diagnosis.

The psychiatric and psychotherapeutic interviews were performed together with a clinical assessment of mental status and structured clinical interviews (SCID I and SCID II), EEG and psychological testing.

Internal discomfort is a subjective feeling, respectively a symptom which the patient in this case continuously underlined, and which guided us (along with a comprehensive analysis) to a clear diagnosis. Following the choosing of an effective psycho-pharmacological combination, and with the goal of reducing a leading symptom, according to enlarged diagnostic process, we decided to diagnose the Schizoaffective disorders (F 25.2).

The northern area of Pakistan is hosting the terrorist actively involved in terrorism across the country and in neighboring country of Afghanistan. Government with support of international community initiated a war against terrorism which resulted in migration of huge number of population in the effected areas which was accommodated in refugee camps mainly established in Khyber Pukhtun Kha province.

To assess the extent of psychological impact on IDP's residing in the camps of Shahmansoor

The sample of the study was taken from the Shahmansoor camp, Swabi and was comprised of 200 individuals, including equal number of males and females. Random sampling was used in data collection. The age ranges from 18–80 years and literacy rate was estimated from illiterate people to master's level, Study tools included standardized psychological tests i.e. Pak anxiety and depression scale, and Bradford somatic inventory along with that clinical observation and interviews were also conducted. Findings of the study comprise of both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Majority of the IDP's were diagnosed as having the symptoms of Somatization, along with that depression, PTSD, ASD, anxiety and insomnia also predominates.

Leaving homes and migration to camps is actually a traumatic experience. Many people felt helpless in the current situation and they were hopeless about their future, lost their confidence in proper planning for their future and the flashback of the traumatic experience tortured them. Consequently, refugee residing in camps faced multiple problems which resulted in multiple psychological problems.

Fear of pain motivates defence and protection from events that are perceived as threatening. When defence and protection are not efficient, fear may lead to aggressive acts against the perceived source of threat.

This study tested the link between fear of pain and hostility in adults.

The aim was to investigate the relationship between fear of pain and hostility.

595 community individuals participated to the present study (164 men - 431 women, mean age 34, SD = 12, ranged 18–75). The measures used were: a) the Fear of Pain Questionnaire - III (FPQ-III), b) the Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale-20 (PASS-20) c) the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ) and d) the Aggression subscale of The Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R).

Women predicted significantly more aggression (t = −1.9, p = .05), while for hostility no differences with sex were observed (t = −.2, p = .80). Hostility was significantly correlated with the amount of fear of pain (r = .27, p = .001) and pain anxiety symptoms (r = .23, p = .001). Significantly correlations were also found with aggression and fear of pain (r = .27, p = .001) and pain anxiety symptoms (r = .31, p = .001). Hierarchical linear regression models revealed that, pain anxiety had a significant independent link with hostile attitude (β = .176, p = .001) and fear of pain make independent contributions to predicting aggressive behaviour (β = .090, p = .006).

The need for health professionals to assess hostility and aggression in fear of pain behaviors and apply relevant information to the therapeutic regimen was apparent.