To assess if use of psychotropic drugs is associated with an increased risk of admission for heat-related pathologies during a heat wave period.

We conducted a matched case–control study. Cases were defined as subjects admitted to an emergency department for heat-related pathology (hyperthermia or heat stroke) over the August 2003 heat wave. Controls were defined as subjects living in the same area but not hospitalised over the same period and who had at least one prescription form submitted for refunding by the social security insurance in July 2003. Multivariate analyses were used to identify psychotropic drugs independently associated with hospital referral during the heat wave period.

Out of the 1405 patients admitted to the emergency department, 56 (4%) presented with heat-related pathology. The mean age of cases was 83 years. Multivariate analyses showed that cases were more likely than controls to be treated with anticholinergic drugs (OR 6.0, 95% CI 1.8–19.6), antipsychotics (OR 4.6, 95% CI 1.9–11.2) or anxiolytics (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.3–4.4).

In special risk situations such as heat waves, the risk/benefit ratio of psychotropic drugs which could interfere with body temperature regulation has to be carefully assessed, particularly in the elderly.

To extend evidence on the short-term variability of passive and active suicidal ideation (SI) and the association with suggested proximal risk factors such as interpersonal variables (perceived burdensomeness [PB], thwarted belongingness [TB], hopelessness, and depression) in real-time.

This is an observational study using a prospective design applying ecological momentary assessments (EMA). Eligible for study inclusion were inpatients with unipolar depression, current or lifetime suicidal ideation, and fluent German. Over six days, 74 participants rated their momentary level of passive and active SI, PB, TB, depressiveness, and hopelessness up to 10 times per day on smartphones. Data was collected from August 2015 to July 2017. Compliance was excellent (89.7%).

Mean squared successive differences supported temporal instability for all variables. According intra-class correlations, between 25% and 47% of variance was accounted for by within-person variability. Multilevel analysis demonstrated significant positive associations between hopelessness, depressiveness, PB, and TB with passive SI. Prospectively, hopelessness and PB remained predictors of passive SI. For active SI, hopelessness, depression, PB, and TB were significantly associated cross-sectionally. Prospectively, hopelessness, PB, and the interaction PBxTB predicted active SI. All models were controlled for previous level of SI.

This study provides further evidence on the short-term variability of SI in very short time frames implying the need of assessing SI repeatedly in clinical and research settings. The associations between interpersonal variables and passive and active SI were only partial in line with assumptions of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. Overall, the effects were small warranting further investigation.

Over the last decade, the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), which comprises visuo-spatial tasks, has been utilized in cognitive studies of schizophrenia. A clear approach concerning the usage of CANTAB for the appraisal of neurocognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia is currently lacking.

In this paper, we have first reviewed the overall applications of CANTAB and then evaluated methodological strengths and weaknesses of CANTAB as a neurocognitive battery for schizophrenia. We carried out a systematic search and assessment of studies where CANTAB was utilized to measure cognitive function in schizophrenia. We have also attempted to quantify the available data and perform a meta-analysis, but this approach turned out to be still premature.

CANTAB has enabled researchers to highlight significant deficits affecting broad cognitive domains in schizophrenia, such as working memory, decision-making, attention, executive functions and visual memory. So far, the most consistent deficit observed with CANTAB testing has been attentional set-shifting, suggestive of fronto-striatal dysfunctions. In addition, preliminary evidence points towards the potential use of CANTAB to identify cognitive predictors of psychosocial functioning, to describe the relationships between symptoms and cognition, and to measure the impact of pharmacological agents on cognitive functioning.

CANTAB has been used successfully to highlight the range of visuo-spatial cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, producing similar results to those obtained with some traditional neuropsychological tests. Further studies validating the use of CANTAB following the standard set by Measurement And Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) are warranted.

Reviews of the relative efficacy of psychotherapy and combined therapy (psychotherapy with pharmacotherapy) for depression have yielded contradicting conclusions. This may be explained by the clinical heterogeneity of the studies reviewed.

To conduct a meta-analysis with an acceptable level of homogeneity in order to investigate the relative efficacy of psychotherapy and combined therapy in the acute treatment of depression.

A systematic search was performed for RCTs published between 1980 and 2005 comparing psychotherapy and combined therapy in adult psychiatric outpatients with non-psychotic unipolar major depressive disorder. The studies were classified according to the chronicity and severity of the depression. Data were pooled by means of meta-analysis and statistical tests were conducted to measure heterogeneity.

The meta-analysis included seven studies looking at a total of 903 patients. None of the heterogeneity tests established significance. This indicates a lack of evidence for the heterogeneity of the results. The dropout rates did not differ significantly between the two treatment modalities (25% in combined therapy and 24% in psychotherapy, p = 0.77). At treatment termination, the intention-to-treat remission rate for combined therapy (46%) was better than for psychotherapy (34%) (p = 0.0007); Relative Risk 1.32 (95% CI: 1.12–1.56), Odds Ratio 1.59 (95% CI: 1.22–2.09). In moderate depression, the difference between the remission rate for combined therapy and psychotherapy was statistically significant (47% compared to 34% respectively, p = 0.001). This was not the case in mild major depression (42% compared to 37% respectively, p = 0.29). The difference was also statistically significant in chronic major depression (48% compared to 32%, p < 0.001), but not in non-chronic major depression (43% compared to 37%, p = 0.22). On a more specific level, no differences were found in the remission rates for the treatment modalities in mild or moderate non-chronic depression. Combined therapy led to significantly better results than psychotherapy in moderate chronic depression only (48% compared to 32%, p < 0.001).

In the acute treatment of adult psychiatric outpatients with major depressive disorder, patient compliance with combined therapy matches compliance with psychotherapy alone. Combined therapy is more efficacious than psychotherapy alone. However, these results depend on severity and chronicity. Combined therapy outperformed psychotherapy in moderate chronic depression only. No differences were found in mild and moderate non-chronic depression. No data were found for mild chronic depression and for severe depression.

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, with its associated restrictions on daily life, is like a perfect storm for poor mental health and wellbeing. The purpose of this study was therefore to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health and wellbeing during the ongoing pandemic in Sweden.

Standardized measures of depression, anxiety, and insomnia as well as measures of risk and vulnerability factors known to be associated with poor mental health outcomes were administered through a national, online, cross-sectional survey (n = 1,212; mean age 36.1 years; 73% women).

Our findings show significant levels of depression, anxiety, and insomnia in Sweden, at rates of 30%, 24.2%, and 38%, respectively. The strongest predictors of these outcomes included poor self-rated overall health and a history of mental health problems. The presence of COVID-19 symptoms and specific health and financial worries related to the pandemic also appeared important.

The impacts of COVID-19 on mental health in Sweden are comparable to impacts shown in previous studies in Italy and China. Importantly, the pandemic seems to impose most on the mental health of those already burdened with the impacts of mental health problems. These results provide a basis for providing more support for vulnerable groups, and for developing psychological interventions suited to the ongoing pandemic and for similar events in the future.

Internet addiction disorder is excessive computer use that interferes with daily life. There is debate over whether or not to include it as a diagnosis in the next DSM edition.

We present a case of a 24-year-old woman who although not meeting criteria for addiction was referred to our clinic due to excessive use of social networks which severely interfered her daily life.

A woman presented to our clinic accompanied by her parents because she had been spending approximately 5 hours/day checking her facebook webpage. She had subscribed to facebook 8 months before her examination and already had over 400 webfriends. During the previous 7 months, she ceased several of her activities, remained home most of the day in order to check her facebook and lost her job as a waitress because she repeatedly left her post in order to go to the nearest internet café. Noteworthy, during her examination she took out her mobile phone and tried to establish an internet connection and check facebook. On clinical examination mild anxiety, sleep disturbances were present, but she refused any further psychotherapeutic or pharmacotherapeutic help.

According to the prevailing view regarding addiction, facebook addiction can be considered as an “urge-driven disorder” with a strong compulsive component. Although our patient had been using internet for the past 7 years she had never been previously addicted to internet use. We suggest that facebook addiction may be another subcategory of the internet spectrum addiction disorders.

Patients with chronic depression (CD) by definition respond less well to standard forms of psychotherapy and are more likely to be high utilizers of psychiatric resources. Therefore, the aim of this guidance paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of current psychotherapy for CD. The evidence of efficacy is critically reviewed and recommendations for clinical applications and research are given.

We performed a systematic literature search to identify studies on psychotherapy in CD, evaluated the retrieved documents and developed evidence tables and recommendations through a consensus process among experts and stakeholders.

We developed 5 recommendations which may help providers to select psychotherapeutic treatment options for this patient group. The EPA considers both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy to be effective in CD and recommends both approaches. The best effect is achieved by combined treatment with psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, which should therefore be the treatment of choice. The EPA recommends psychotherapy with an interpersonal focus (e.g. the Cognitive Behavioural Analysis System of Psychotherapy [CBASP]) for the treatment of CD and a personalized approach based on the patient's preferences.

The DSM-5 nomenclature of persistent depressive disorder (PDD), which includes CD subtypes, has been an important step towards a more differentiated treatment and understanding of these complex affective disorders. Apart from dysthymia, ICD-10 still does not provide a separate entity for a chronic course of depression. The differences between patients with acute episodic depression and those with CD need to be considered in the planning of treatment. Specific psychotherapeutic treatment options are recommended for patients with CD.

Patients with chronic forms of depression should be offered tailored psychotherapeutic treatments that address their specific needs and deficits. Combination treatment with psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy is the first-line treatment recommended for CD. More research is needed to develop more effective treatments for CD, especially in the longer term, and to identify which patients benefit from which treatment algorithm.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive, neuromodulatory technique with an emerging role for treating major depression.

To investigate the interactions between tDCS and drug therapy in unipolar and bipolar depressed patients who were refractory for at least one pharmacological treatment.

This was a naturalistic study using data from 54 female and 28 male patients (mean age of 54 years) that consecutively visited our psychiatric unit. They received active tDCS (five consecutive days, 2 mA, anodal stimulation over the left and cathodal over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, twice a day, 20 minutes). The outcome variable (mood) was evaluated using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). Predictor variables were age, gender, disorder and pharmacological treatment (seven dummy variables). We performed univariate and multivariate analyses as to identify predictors associated to the outcome.

After 5 days of treatment, BDI and HDRS scores decreased significantly (29% ± 36%, 18% ± 9%, respectively, P < 0.01 for both). Benzodiazepine use was independently associated with a worse outcome in both univariate (β = 4.92, P < 0.01) and multivariate (β = 5.8, P < 0.01) analyses; whereas use of dual-reuptake inhibitors positively changed tDCS effects in the multivariate model (β = –4.7, P = 0.02). A similar trend was observed for tricyclics (β = –4, P = 0.06) but not for antipsychotics, non-benzodiazepine anticonvulsants and other drugs.

tDCS over the DLPFC acutely improved depressive symptoms. Besides the inherent limitations of our naturalistic design, our results suggest that tDCS effects might vary according to prior pharmacological treatment, notably benzodiazepines and some antidepressant classes. This issue should be further explored in controlled studies.

During the last decades, a renewed interest for negative symptoms (NS) was brought about by the increased awareness that they interfere severely with real-life functioning, particularly when they are primary and persistent.

In this guidance paper, we provide a systematic review of the evidence and elaborate several recommendations for the conceptualization and assessment of NS in clinical trials and practice.

Expert consensus and systematic reviews have provided guidance for the optimal assessment of primary and persistent negative symptoms; second-generation rating scales, which provide a better assessment of the experiential domains, are available; however, NS are still poorly assessed both in research and clinical settings.

This European Psychiatric Association (EPA) guidance recommends the use of persistent negative symptoms (PNS) construct in the context of clinical trials and highlights the need for further efforts to make the definition of PNS consistent across studies in order to exclude as much as possible secondary negative symptoms. We also encourage clinicians to use second-generation scales, at least to complement first-generation ones.

The EPA guidance further recommends the evidence-based exclusion of several items included in first-generation scales from any NS summary or factor score to improve NS measurement in research and clinical settings. Self-rated instruments are suggested to further complement observer-rated scales in NS assessment.

Several recommendations are provided for the identification of secondary negative symptoms in clinical settings.

The dissemination of this guidance paper may promote the development of national guidelines on negative symptom assessment and ultimately improve the care of people with schizophrenia.