An important component of the russian-Ukrainian war is information war. russia conducts psychological diversions the purpose of which is harming and disorganization the population’s mental health by reducing the ability of criticality thinking and formation of various stress-associated, anxiety-depressive, phobic, etc. disorders.

To study the impact of information about the war on the mental health of Ukrainian population.

186 Ukrainian people voluntarily completed the questionnaire in Google format. It contains tools for assessing the level of stress PTCI, anxiety response GAD-7, depression PHQ-9, the intolerance to the uncertainty (IUS-12 in G.Gromova’ adaptation) and developed by us “Test for the detection of disorders related to the obsession with news about the russian-Ukrainian war” (M.Markova et al, 2022).

Most of the civilian population of Ukraine demonstrate excessive fascination with news associated with the war, with almost 50% have all the signs of clinically formed addiction.

Psychopathological anxiety and depressive manifestations of varying intensity are characterized by more than 30% of the population. Almost 80% suffer from the effects of psycho-traumatic factors, of which 45% are observed by post-stress maladaptation, 25% - by signs of PTSD (23%) or PTSD (2%).

The presence of anxiety-depressive response does not depend on the level of obsession of the news: among persons with signs and/or clinical psychopathological symptoms, there are persons both excessively passionate about information and with a safe level of use.

Any high level of interest of news (addiction/dangerous/risky) has a close direct correlation with the intensity of pathological stressful response and the level of tolerance to uncertainty.

All persons with anxiety-depressive and pathological stressful response symptoms, and 58% of people with excessive fascination with news are characterized by low tolerance to uncertainty. This can serve as a prognostic marker of development of maladaptation and testify to the leading role of a lack of tolerance to uncertainty in its development in wartime.

42 % of people who have an excessive interest in news, haven’t signs of maladaptive response. They use the interest of information as a stress management’s resource, which has a positive effect on the mental state and increases the ability to successfully function in uncertainty.

The development of information and psychological stability by increasing tolerance to uncertainty is a perspective area of research in the field of mental protection of the population of Ukraine.

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Precision medicine is a promising approach to improving the prevention, prediction and treatment of disease, based on individual characteristics and biomarkers/genetic variants shared by specific subgroups of patients.

This study aims to address the new paradigm of precision medicine in psychiatry and to discuss, through the literature, its emerging clinical framework.

We conducted an exhaustive review of the scientific literature using PubMed database and Google Scholar, with “Precision Medicine in Psychiatry” as keywords.

Our review revealed that while psychiatrists have long practiced a personalized therapeutic approach with, for example, treatment choices guided by individual criteria, the methods for achieving this objectively have until now been largely lacking. This dilemma has begun to be resolved with the implementation of data analysis methods such as machine learning and large-scale genomic analysis studies. The goals of precision psychiatry involved the delineation of genetic risk factors using GWAS, the redefinition of the functional domains involved in mental disorders and pharmacological repositioning. The highly polygenic nature of mental disorders and the failure of GWAS to confirm the role of candidate genes have suggested that a systems genetic approach that considers function at the network level would provide a better approach to the problem of linking heterogeneous genetic risk factors and brain mechanisms. In addition, the growing evidence that certain disorders such as psychotic disorders are syndromes rather than diseases in their own right suggests that many conditions currently recognized as such may have similar underlying patterns of cognitive dysfunction and neurobiological abnormalities that will need to be reclassified.

The application of precision medicine in psychiatry is still in its infancy. Numerous research programs creating large multimodal databases with multiple data on brain imaging, genetics, etc. will soon support the clinical deployment of precision medicine in psychiatry.

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The global burden associated with common mental disorders is high, especially for people living in low resource settings. Although psychosocial interventions delivered by locally available lay or community health workers are effective, mechanisms of intervention response are poorly understood. One of the greatest barriers is that psychosocial interventions are administered as complex, multi-component “packages of care”.

Our aim is to systematically review all the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that have tested the efficacy of psychosocial interventions delivered through the task shifting modality to treat people suffering from common mental disorders (depression, anxiety, and related somatic complaints) in low resource settings, dismantle the intervention protocols creating a taxonomy of active intervention components, and re-evaluate their efficacy.

We will use the component network meta-analysis (cNMA) methodology. The major benefit of cNMA is the possibility to disentangle intervention components and explore their effectiveness separately or in various combinations (even in disconnected networks). cNMA increases statistical power by combining direct and indirect comparisons while fully respecting the randomized structure of the evidence. According to the additive cNMA model which we will implement, adding a component “c” to a composite intervention “X” will lead to an increase (or decrease) of the effect size by an amount only dependent on “c”, and not on “X”. We will denote the corresponding component specific incremental standard mean difference (iSMD) so that iSMDc = SMD(X+c) v. (X). Combining these component-specific iSMDs will allow the estimation of SMD between any two composite interventions.

A network of comparisons and a hierarchy that includes all intervention components expressed as iSMD, indicating the added benefit of adding a component to an intervention, will be presented. By selecting the most effective components it will be possible to outline a novel task shifting psychosocial intervention to be tested in future RCTs.

These findings will set the basis for further investigations in the field of precision medicine. This project is funded by the European Union’s HORIZON EUROPE research programme under grant agreement No 101061648.

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Response to antipsychotic medications (AP) is subjected to a wide and unpredictable variability and efforts were directed to discover predictive biomarkers to personalize treatment. Electroencephalography abnormalities in subjects with schizophrenia were reported, as well as a pattern of EEG changes induced by APs

The aim of this review is to provide a synthesis of the EEG features that are related to APs efficacy, including both pre-treatment signatures and changes induced by APs during treatment.

A systematic review of English articles using PubMed, PsychINFO and the Cochrane database of systematic reviews was undertaken in april 2023. Additional studies were added by hand-search. Studies having as an endpoint the relationship between AP-related clinical improvement and electroencephalographic features were included. Heterogeneity prevented a quantitative synthesis.

Out of 1232 records screened, 22 studies were included in a final qualitative synthesis. Included studies evaluated resting-state and task-related power spectra, functional connectivity, microstates and epileptic abnormalities. At pre-treatment EEG, the most relevant predictors of a poor response were a change in theta power compared to healthy control, a high alpha power and connectivity, a diminished beta power in resting-state. Considering EEG during treatment, an increased theta power, a reduced beta-band activity, an increased alpha activity, a decreased coherence in theta, alpha and beta-band were related to a favorable outcome.

EEG is promising as a method to create a predictive biomarker for response to APs; further investigations are warranted to harmonize and generalize the contradictory results of reviewed studies.

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There has been a recent shift in the conceptualisation of personality disorders in diagnostic systems such as DSM-5 or ICD-11, from a categorical approach towards a dimensional approach reflecting severity in general or severity of dysfunction and related pathological traits. In addition, several psychotherapeutic approaches work with their own model of personality pathology, which similarly capture symptoms of personality disorders and their underlying processes in a more subtle way from multiple aspects, and along different constructs.

The aim of our study was to investigate similarities and differences between conceptualisations of personality disorder and instruments used for evaluation based on the BNO-11 Personality Disorders Severity Questionnaire (PDS-ICD-11), Module I. of the Structured Diagnostic Interview for the DSM-5 Alternative Personality Model (SCID-5-AMPD) measuring level of personality function, and the Young Schema Questionnaire assessing early maladaptive schemas.

Hospitalized borderline patients were assessed using the Young Schema Questionnaire, the PDS-ICD-11, and Module I. of the SCID-5-AMPD assessing personality function level. Data are analysed using correlation and linear regression models.

Only part of the results are shown. The PDS-ICD-11 Severity Index and Self-function Index showed significant (p<0.05) and strong correlations with the Abandonment (r=0.98, r=0.94), Vulnerability to harm and illness (r=0. 92, r=0.98), Insufficient Self-Control (r=0.91, r=0.88) and Negativism/Pessimism (r=0.95, r=0.90) schemas. The mean score and all domains of the SCID-5-AMPD Module I (level of personality function) showed significant strong correlations with the Vulnerability to harm and illness schema (AMPD-Average r=0.87; AMPD-Identity r=0.86, AMPD-Objectivity r=0.81, AMPD-Empathy r=0. 77, AMPD-Intimacy r=0.80, p<0.05); moreover, a strong significant correlation was found between the Abandonment schema and AMPD-Average (r=0.81, p<0.05), AMPD-Identity (r=0.98, p<0.05), and AMPD-Intimacy domains (r=0.77, p<0.05).

The main indicators of measures that operationalise a dimensional approach to personality disorders show distinct patterns of strong overlap with some of the maladaptive schemas but cover only a part of the schema domains. For a careful diagnosis and psychotherapeutic plan, the combined use of these measures can provide in-depth and multifaceted information.

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In recent years, there has been an increase in interest and research into the link between alcohol use disorders (AUD) and dementia. Alcohol use disorders, which are characterised by excessive and problematic alcohol consumption, have been associated to a variety of detrimental health effects, including liver disease, cardiovascular difficulties, and cognitive impairments.

To explore the link between alcohol use disorders and dementia onset and progression, explaining probable causes and emphasising preventive approaches.

The present study involved a thorough examination of relevant research papers, with a specific emphasis on longitudinal cohort studies, neuropathological observations, and biochemical interactions pertaining to the effects of alcohol on the brain. In addition to the aforementioned criteria, the review also took into account other complicating factors, including choices regarding lifestyle, genetic predisposition, and coexisting medical conditions.

The results indicate a strong association between prolonged and excessive alcohol consumption and a heightened susceptibility to the early onset of dementia. The mechanisms underlying alcohol-related neurological damage encompass direct neurotoxic effects of alcohol, thiamine shortage, and alcohol-related cerebrovascular illness. Moreover, it is worth noting that alcohol use disorder (AUD) has the potential to worsen the advancement of neurodegenerative processes in individuals already diagnosed with dementia.

The association between AUD (Alcohol Use Disorder) and dementia is complex and involves multiple factors, presenting considerable difficulties in terms of clinical intervention and treatment. The use of early intervention strategies and public health initiatives focused on addressing alcohol use disorder (AUD) could have a significant impact on preventing or reducing the development of dementia.

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The aim of this study was to identify low-risk traits of schizophrenia among healthy undergraduate student volunteers, and the investigation of these traits with regards to their specificity in contrast to individuals with a latent disposition towards bipolar disorder. Self-agency, as a phenomenon closely related to psychomotor functioning, provides a unique opportunity for the investigation of subjective self-perception.

The implicit self-agency performances that are considered illness- (or risk state-) specific were compared between groups to find early markers of a specific schizotypic developmental path.

In a sample of 710 healthy university students, with the help of screening questionnaires, we were able to successfully form two risk groups, in one of them the emphasis on cyclothymia (CTF: Cyclothymia factor group, N=25), and in the other (PSF: Positive schizotypy factor group, N=26) the tendency to unusual experiences and paranoid thinking emphasis was typical. We assigned a properly matched control group (N=29) displaying both features on average. We focused on the implicit aspect of self-agency, using the well-known paradigm of intentional binding, as well as the self-developed device that exclusively tests the pre-reflexive feeling of movement initiation, the sense of self-agency.

During the examination of intentional binding, although the specific predictive and retrospective component indicators did not show any significant difference for either group, the association of the sound alone could induce a binding effect in the control group. In the predictable frequency condition, there was a strong significant effect (W = 65.00, p = .007, rrb = -.60), and in the non-predictable condition a trend-level effect. Remarkably, this binding effect did not develop in either the CTF or PSF groups, indicating an implicit agency impairment in both risk groups. However, during the examination of sense of self-agency, we observed a disturbance specifically among healthy college students with positive schizotypal traits, in the form of falsely attributing their movement initiation to external influences. The percentage of this ‘miss’-type answering differed between groups, H(2) = 7.68, p = .021, ε2 = .10. The Dwass-SteelCritchlow-Fligner pairwise comparisons showed that this difference was due to the PSF Group showing a significant difference from the Control Group (W = -3.83, p = .019), but not from the CTF group, and the CTF Group also did not differ from the Control Group.

Thus, in premorbid conditions, in at-risk groups of non-help-seeking individuals, or in cases of early detection of prodromal abnormalities, objective confirmation of suspected susceptibility to schizophrenia may be aided by, among other things, instrumental assessment of self-agency.

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Chronotype represents genetically determined behavioral characteristics of a person’s twenty-four-hour activity. Research shows that a person’s chronotype is interrelated with their mental health. Are there similar connections with general health and health related quality of life?

To establish how various chronotypes are represented in university students and if there are any interrelations between chronotypes and health‐related quality of life

We used SF-12 Health Survey и Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) by Horne and Ostberg to survey 305 university students of both genders.

The results showed that the majority of the students (71.2%) have an intermediate chronotype. The second goes a moderate morning chronotype (17.7%), the third – a moderate evening chronotype (9.8%). Definite morning and definite evening chronotypes were revealed in less than 1% of the students. SF-12 Health Survey scale indicators that assess quality of life corresponded to standard scores for the given group of the respondents. We have revealed valid relations in correlational interconnections of the achieved parameters. Thus, the morning chronotype is most consistently associated (p<0.01) in undergraduate university students with higher indicators of health related quality of life including General Health (r=.23), Vitality (r=.21), Role Physical (r=.18), Role Emotional (r=.17), Physical Functioning (r=.16), Social Functioning (r=.13). Mental Health and Bodily Pain in university students are not connected with the chronotype (p>05).

Therefore, this research establishes that the majority of the students are related to the intermediate chronotype, and the morning chronotype corresponds to higher levels of most indicators of health related quality of life excluding the level of mental health.

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Traumatic life events (TLEs) have been associated with the entire spectrum of psychosis outcomes, including risk and severity of psychotic disorders and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). In a non-clinical setting, understanding the relationship could help improve prevention services.

The aim of this study is to establish the relationship between TLEs and PLEs.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a Tunisan business and engineering school from March 2022 to June 2022. Participants completed the Tunisian dialect version of the Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief (PQ-B), a validated self-report instrument designed to evaluate prodromal symptoms. TLEs such as physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, as well as neglect experiences, lived or witnessed have been assessed along with bullying experiences.

The final sample size consisted of 358 participants, with a median age of 22 ± 2.22 years, with a sex ratio (M/F) of 1.41. More than half of the participants (58.6%) reported having experienced TLEs (49% in the preceding 6 months) while 31% had experienced bullying or abuse in school (27.9% in the preceding 6 months). The mean total score of the PQ-B for the study population was 7.27 ± 4.387, 36.3% reached the threshold and were defined as PQ-B-positive subjects. Those with a lifetime history of major life events were more likely to screen positive on the total score PQ-B (p = 0.000), as were those with a lifetime history of bullying or abuse (p = 0.000).

Understanding the factors that interact in the significant association between PLEs and TLEs may provide useful information for prevention programs and the improvement of mental health.

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In large cities around the world, many sources of noise including traffic, domestic, construction, and industrial activities, contribute to urban noise pollution, which is now, a major concern in public health as declared by the WHO, for more than a decade (in 2011).

The aim of this study was to try to find potential recommendations and references in terms of urban planning, particularly with the emergence of smart cities, to combat the problem of noise pollution and related mental health hazards.

We conducted a comprehensive review of the scientific literature using the following keywords: cities, smart cities, noise, pollution and mental health.

Our research found that the continuous exposure to high noise levels could lead to psychological and physiological problems, such as hearing disorders, high blood pressure, heart disease, inconvenience and sleep disorders. While recent evidence indicates that road traffic noise has a negative impact on mental health and that aircraft noise significantly increases the risk of depression, there are not enough studies to date to properly assess the relationship between urban noise pollution and mental health hazards such as anxiety, mood disorders, sexual disturbance, cognitive impairment, learning disabilities, dementia, etc. In the field of urban planning, there is also a lack of reliable data on individual exposure to environmental noise in space and time, and on its effects on mental health.

Various noise mitigation strategies in urban renewal plans are proposed, such as the implementation of noise mapping to provide the detailed spatial distribution of noise levels in urban areas, their sources and time intervals, noise barriers along traffic arteries, vegetation and landscaping. New infrastructure projects involving new expressways and high-speed trains as well as the widening of major roads in their central areas are also suggested.

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Adopting a traditional healthy eating pattern is strongly associated with a more stable, adaptive, and serene mood. In contrast, adopting a modern and industrialized diet is linked to a higher incidence of anxiety and depressive disorders.

To prevent mood disorders, a varied diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables is recommended. Studies show that the consumption of vegetables, whole grains, and fruits can help prevent the risk of major depression and anxiety disorders by more than 35%. A well-rounded plate, rich in micronutrients (trace elements, vitamins, minerals), is essential for the proper functioning of our brain and its emotional areas.

Our brain requires significant amounts of iron, zinc, magnesium, and vitamins B, E, D, and K. Unfortunately, our modern diet often lacks sufficient intake of these essential micronutrients. A deficiency in iron or zinc is associated with a significantly higher risk of major depression, and a lack of magnesium is a potential source of anxiety disorders.

Choosing a diet rich in micronutrients (whole grains, cereals, fresh fruits, and vegetables) can address potential deficiencies and contribute to a more adaptive and balanced mood. Similarly, carefully selected dietary supplements can prove to be effective.

it shows the importance of alimentation and her role on Primary and secondary prevention in depressive disorders.

This poster is a prospective study done on 100 random people via a multi choice quizz, to see the impact of their food on their mental health .

in the making

Food should today be universally considered as a potential risk factor or protective factor in depressive disorders. Since the recent decades, nutritional psychiatry has developed a field of research promising The International Society For Nutritional Psychiatry Research (ISNPR) who is a collective of doctors and researchers with the common objective of advance research and communication of nutritional medicine in the field of psychiatry. Cross-sectional epidemiological studies finding an association between diet quality and mental health in longitudinal studies, a step has been taken. The observational data have been widely replicated and documented in several meta-analyses and are supported by prospective studies studying the effectiveness of improving nutritional quality in the treatment of depression. It now appears necessary that in the near future psychiatrists must receive training on the impact of diet in psychiatric disorders including depression, and get into the habit of taking an interest in the eating habits of their patients, as well as their microbiota .

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The potential involvement of the immune and inflammatory systems has been extensively studied in mood disorders (MDs). Despite these findings and despite the fact that the pathogenetic role of altered immunologic and metabolic profiles in MDs is being confirmed in many current studies, there is still a lack of consensus about it, due to controversial results.

The present study aimed to appraise peripheral metabolic parameters (blood glucose, lipoproteins, triglycerides, uric acid, blood urea nitroge [BUN], transaminases and others9 and plasma/serum levels of essential nutrients (vitamin D, B12, folate and homocysteine) in a group of inpatients affected by MDs, as compared with healthy controls.

Methods. Ten ml of venous blood was drawn from fasting subjects. The metabolic parameters and vitamins were measured according to common clinical-chemistry methods.Comparisons for continuous variables were performed by the Student’s t-test for variables that follow a normal distribution, and by the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test for variables not normally distributed. The correlations between biological markers were explored by calculating the Pearson’s correlation coefficient or Spearman rank correlation.

Most patients showed loer circulating vitamin D levels, in respect to both control subjects (P< .0001) and the normative cut-off values. This finding was paralleled by increased serum homocysteine concentrations i (P<.0001), indicating an imbalance in their methionine metabolism. Homocysteine levels were negatively correlated with vitamin D, vitamin B12 and folate in control subjects, but not in patients. In addition, patients displayed higher blood glucose and lower BUN than controls, indicating an impaired protein-to-carbohydrate metabolism and/or altered nutritional/dietary status.

We provide herein further support to the notion that MD patients are a population where vitamin deficits, dysmetabolism and/or dietary defects are common feature, and, s such, they might be more vulnerable to a variety of somatic illnesses than the general population. This cross-sectional investigation, albeit preliminary, might contribute to improve the characterization and the monitoring of the clinical status of mood disorder patients, as well as to identify new molecular targets for more tailored treatments ad of more pointed health-care intervention,

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Children and adolescents with thalassemia suffer from chronicity of the disease and its treatment, including transfusion dependence and complications of iron overload.

To investigate the quality of life of children and adolescents with Beta Thalassaemia.

This study is a cross-sectional study conducted at the Greek public Children’s Hospital. PedsQL ™ 4.0 Generic Core Scale (Greek version) was used to evaluate HRQOL in 41 thalassemia patients aged between 5 and 18 years and in 41 healthy controls of the same age range. For the analysis, the Statistic Package (SPSS ver.24) was used. Using Spearman’s correlation coefficient, t-test and MannWhitney tests were used, while for variables with three or more levels the Anova and Kruskall-Wallis. In order to investigate the relationship between two quantitative variables, Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used, while the relationship between two qualitative variables was used to control x2. As a statistical significance level, α = 5% was defined.

Of the 41 children with beta Thalassemia who participated in the study, 48.8% (n = 20) were boys and 51.2% (n = 21) girls. The mean age of children was 10.02 ± 4.10 years. For healthy children who participated in the study 51.2% (n = 21) were boys while 48.8% (n = 20) were girls. The mean age of the children was 9.63 ± 3.77 years. Children with Beta Thalassaemia have a lower quality of life in Physical Health and Activity(<0,001), Emotional Health(0,031), School Activities(0,008), Psychosocial Health(0,014), and the overall PedsQL 4.0 (<0,001)questionnaire compared to healthy children. Children between the ages of 5 and 7 have higher levels of quality of life in physical health and activity than older children(<0,001). In addition, children aged 5 to 7 have higher quality of life and overall PedsQL 4.0 score than older children(0,033) Children receiving combination therapy show better quality of life than children receiving subcutaneous therapy (total PedsQL 4.0 <0,001).

Children and adolescents in all five categories had a better quality of life, after improved iron chelating methods and other psychosocial interventions.

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The admission of children to PICU is a painful experience for parents. Regularly, they are asked to make important decisions about treatment options in collaboration with the care team, which causes them stress, uncertainty and trauma.

To investigate the needs of parents during the child’s hospitalization in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

A systematic review of the literature and a search of articles in the international databases PubMed, Cinahl, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library and Greek scientific journals was performed with a peer review process during the period between April and July 2022. A time limit was set regarding the date of publication of the articles (articles published in the last 15 years).

Nine studies were found that met the criteria for inclusion in the review. The thematic analysis of the results deduced the following sections A: Need for information from health professionals regarding the child’s health status and the possible treatment options available, B: Need for psychological support from health professionals (psychologists, nurses, doctors) in order to be able to manage the difficult situation they are experiencing due to the hospitalization of their child, but also to be able to manage their grief and sorrow in case of loss of the child. C: Need for safe hospitalisation of the child.

Parents have needs during their child’s hospitalization in the PICU, which if put in boundaries-frames and guided by health professionals (who possess knowledge and composure in difficult moments) can bring about a smooth course of the child’s health during hospitalization.

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The admission and hospitalization of a child in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) creates stress and anxiety in the family. The family is called upon to make important decisions about the child’s treatment, while roles within the family environment are disrupted.

The investigation of the psychosocial needs of the relatives of hospitalized children in the NICU.

We conducted a systematic review of studies published until the end of 2022 in the Greek and English languages in the databases “Pubmed”, “Scopus” and “Iatrotec” with the following keywords: “Pediatric Intensive Care Unit”, “Socio-psychological Needs’ and ‘Parents’.

Of the 26 studies found, 5 studies met the inclusion-exclusion criteria and were included in the review. The most frequently mentioned psychosocial needs of the parents were: (1) the need for complete, immediate and honest information regarding the health status of their hospitalized child and the changes in their condition, (2) the need to provide comfort to the parents during duration of their child’s hospitalization, (3) the parents’ need for psychological support and guidance regarding the care of their hospitalized child, (4) the feeling of security regarding the care provided, and (5) the need for frequent contact with the hospitalized child. Also, it was observed that the medical and nursing staff underestimated some needs of the parents, such as the need for closeness, while there were others that we underestimated, such as the religious needs.

Parents present increased psychosocial needs during their child’s hospitalization in the PICU. Nursing staff play an important role in supporting relatives by providing family-centered care.

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Treatment-resistant depression can pose a major challenge to mental health professionals, both in identifying cases and in devising consequent therapeutic strategies (1). However, it is not uncommon that the lack of response to antidepressant treatment is actually due to non-adherence to it in many cases (2).

In this context, it would be interesting to know the rate of abandonment of antidepressant treatment in patients with anxious-depressive symptomatology, since the patient’s evolution may depend entirely on this.

To this end, the psychiatry service of the Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid has collected data on adult patients who come for a first consultation in the mental health team, referred for presenting symptoms of anxiety and depression.

These data have been recorded over the last 2 years, including different socio-demographic and clinical variables. Subsequently, a descriptive analysis was carried out, the preliminary results of which are presented below.

We started from a sample of 222 patients at the present time: 69 men and 153 women, which is in accordance with previous data on the prevalence of anxiety disorders and depression by gender (3).

Antidepressant treatment was prescribed (from psychiatry or primary care) in 80% of them. A review 6 months later showed that up to 1/3 of these patients (34%) had abandoned treatment on their own before completing this period, as can be seen in the first graph (image 1), which is contemplated in several guidelines and recommendations in the scientific literature (4). No major differences were observed between genders for treatment indication or treatment abandonment.

On the other hand, 61% of the patients in the sample had been treated with benzodiazepines. Among them, up to 74% were still taking these drugs 6 months later (image 2). This result is striking, since in reality, the duration of treatment with benzodiazepines should be much shorter, according to the latest reviews (5).

Finally, cross-checking these data, it was observed that for 116 patients (52% of the total) the initial treatment included antidepressants and benzodiazepines. At 6 months, 18 of these patients (16%) had voluntarily discontinued the antidepressant, but continued with benzodiazepines.

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Image 2:

It is very important to review adherence to treatment in all patients, especially in those cases in which the persistence of symptoms makes us think of a possible resistant depression. For this reason, it would be advisable to try to establish an adequate doctor-patient relationship that allows trust in the therapist and communication between both and leads to a favorable evolution.

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Resilience is defined as the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, and adjustment to external and internal demands, including challenges in family or relationship dynamics, serious health concerns, financial pressure or work-related stress. Employees’ creative self-sufficiency, work environment, as well as the interpersonal relationships developing in the workplace which constitute basic parameters of professional satisfaction can potentially affect both psychosomatic resilience of the employees as well as their performance at work. Exploring the available bibliography, it was revealed that the mental health professionals’ community has not been sufficiently examined in terms of emotional resilience.

To examine the dimensions of psychological resilience among mental health professionals.

In the context of a postdoctoral research which is conducted on a sample of the Greek population- personnel working in mental health hospital and community-based settings -a review of 35 articles from 1985 to 2023 on PubMed and Google Scholar was proceeded regarding psychological resilience among mental health professionals.

Creative self-sufficiency and professional satisfaction were found to be positively correlated with resilience among mental health professionals. Additional factors have been found to influence mental resilience among mental health professionals, such as individual personality traits, coping style, perceived social support, a sense of security, and organizational support.

This review contributes to the evolving understanding of resilience, particularly regarding mental health prοviders. The positive correlation between creative self-sufficiency and professional satisfaction highlights the importance of fostering these dimensions to enhance mental resilience through implementing emotional capacity-building practices, social skills counseling, as well as mindfulness-based interventions.

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Stigma towards mental health disorders is an issue standing in the way of healing and integrating the patient into the social life. Stigmatising does not only come from the general population but also from health care providers. Studies found out that lack of knowledge and skills among health care professionals is associated with stigmatization, which affects the attitudes and the patient’s treatment process.

The main aims of this study were to evaluate the attitudes and knowledge about mental health among nurses and psychiatry residents working in psychiatric departments, to explore the relationship between knowledge and attitude toward mental health and to find out the possible link with sociodemographic and work characteristics

A cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted in two departments of psychiatry at RAZI hospital focusing on nurses and psychiatrist trainees. The sociodemographic informations, duration and choice of working in psychiatric field, personal experience with mental illness were collected .

The Mental Health Knowledge Questionnaire (MHKQ) and the mental illness clinicians attitude scale (MICA-4 )were used to evaluate the participants mental health knowledge and attitude towards psychiatry and people with mental disorders .

A total of 30 health care providers finished the questionnaire. Their median (± interquartile range) age was 29 (±9)  years within a range of 25 to 60 years old. Our participants were predominantly female (N = 26; 86.7%). The overall median of MHKQ scale was 10 (±6) with a higher score in psychiatrist trainees than nurses but no significant difference was found (p= 0.066) However there was a significant difference between the two groups regarding the MICA scale (p=0.02) with a negative attitude found in the group of nurses . Participants with no personal experience with mental illness along with those who were obliged to work in psychiatric facilities tend to have higher score on the MICA scale with significant statistically relationships, respectively, p =0.18 and p=0.09 We didn’t find any statistically significant relationship between the total scores of the MICA and MHKQ scales ( rho = -0.206, p = 0.275)

In our study negative attitude toward mental disorders were found in the group of nurses. Education about mental health disorders as well as addressing the importance of mental health outcomes must be included in the first year training of every healthcare provider. New strategies Focusing on improving the knowledge and skills among healthcare professionals are important to make due to their positive effect on the recovery.

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Medical students have been under immense pressure throughout their studies, impacting their mental health and academic performance. Stress reduction is a fundamental skill that all students require to manage their studies and lives efficiently. Biofeedback devices providing information about physiological states have been shown to aid stress reduction. Methods to reduce stress should be taught to medical students to help them tackle the challenges of medical school.

Our goal was to teach stress reduction methods such as extracurricular activities and paced breathing aided by biofeedback training and its application in simulated healthcare situations to medical students.

15 medical students who completed medical physiology were recruited for an elective course of 7 sessions on practical techniques in stress management. One credit was offered to those who completed the course requirements consisting of participation in sessions and individual biofeedback training.

Sessions (classes) consisted of presentations on good sleeping and eating patterns, group simulations of stressful hospital environments, visiting a science centre with interactive displays, an orchestra performance, and nature walks. Before biofeedback training, heart and respiration rates were taken individually by a biofeedback device during the first week of the course. Data was processed using a code created in statistical software. Heartbeats per minute and heart rate variability (HRV) for every 10 seconds were calculated and plotted on a graph. Two measurements were taken with each student: a baseline measurement for 10 minutes and another measurement during controlled breathing paced at 6 breaths per minute for 15 minutes, of which the first 10 minutes were used for calculation and plotting. Students provided narrative feedback in an essay submitted after the course was completed.

5 males and 10 females from years 2-5 registered for the elective, and 12 participated in individually scheduled sessions. Heart beats per minute decreased, whereas HRV increased during paced breathing sessions in 83% of them. Most students reported feeling calm and drowsy during the sessions, and 2 students fell asleep by the end.

Feedback from 11 students showed that the music session and the science centre visit were the highlights throughout the elective. Improvements recommended were to have a consistent time slot for all sessions and fewer simulations.

In concert with the literature, biofeedback training seems to be a feasible and effective method for relaxation in medical students. This method could be offered as part of mental health services for students. Data could be used to follow students’ progress and identify those requiring extra support. Providing them with avenues to de-stress while emphasizing activities outside medicine could boost their confidence and improve their coping skills.

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Measuring carbon monoxide (CO) in exhaled breath with a visual representation can aid in smoking cessation by increasing smokers’ awareness of how smoking negatively affects their health and how many harmful substances they introduce into their bodies. Individuals attempting to quit smoking can regularly measure CO levels to monitor their progress in reducing this gas in their system.

The national „Smoke Out Day” is a day aimed at encouraging smokers to quit smoking in the Republic of Croatia. It is celebrated on the first day of Lent, as it is a period when most people contemplate giving up something they enjoy throughout the year.

The Institute of Public Health of Virovitičko-podravska County sets up a booth in one of the cities in County on that day. There we offer pamphlets to passersby with information about the harmful effects of smoking and provide them with the opportunity to measure carbon monoxide in their exhaled breath.

The aim of this study was to explore relationship between smoking status, smoke exposure and the levels of exhaled carbon monoxide.

For measuring CO we used piCO simple Smokerlyzer. From April 2015 till May 2023, 462 individuals have participated in this measurement. The data were processed using the Python programming language version 3.9 and the statistical library Pingouin version 0.5.3. Data visualization was performed using the Seaborn library version 0.12.2. The statistical analyses employed in this study are partial correlations. The Spearman method was used for partial correlations because it can identify nonlinear relationships and is more accurate and robust when the assumptions for Pearson correlation are not met.

Partial correlation analysis indicates that there is a statistically significant relationship between the level of carbon monoxide and the following parameters:

• - Non-smoking status in years (rho = -0.526, p <0.001, two-tailed test).

• - Number of cigarettes smoked per day (rho = 0.369, p <0.001, two-tailed test).

• - Testing time after 3 PM (rho = 0.234, p <0.001, two-tailed test).

• - Number of years as a smoker (rho = 0.230, p <0.001, two-tailed test).

• - Age in years (rho = -0.179, p <0.001, two-tailed test).

• - Time spent in a smoky area (rho = 0.114, p <0.016, two-tailed test).

In summary, these results provide valuable insights into the factors associated with carbon monoxide levels in humans, with smoking-related variables, age, and testing time showing notable partial correlations. It is important to consider these relationships when assessing and managing carbon monoxide exposure and its potential health implications.

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