It is important to know the prevalence of the Early Maladaptives Schemas (EMS) in such population.

The study of Early Maladaptives Schemas among call center staff in the Rabat Sale Kenitra region and possible socio-economics factors that may influence them.

The study involved 121 call center’s employees in the Rabat Sale Kenitra region. They responded to an informative questionnaire and to the SPI 26, with 26 items, including 13 early maladaptives schemas.

121 subjects were interviewed, 48.78% (n=59) men and 51.24% (n=62) women, a minimum age of 22 years, a maximum age of 60 years and an average of 31.74 7.93. Through the examination of the EMS’s results in adulthood, we note a decreasing ranking of active shemas according to the rate of participants: the EMS Unrelenting standards is active in 80.02% of our sample, the EMS Mistrust in 61,2%, the EMS Insufficient self-control in 47.9%, the EMS Abandonment in 47.1%, the EMS Insufficient self-control in 41.3%, the EMS Emotional inhibition in 38.8%, the EMS Vulnerability to harm or illness in 33.1%, the EMS Dependence in 31.4%, the EMS Selfsacrifice in 27,3%, the EMS Social Isolation in 19%, the EMS Emotional deprivation in 10.7%, the EMS failure in 8.3% and the EMS Enmeshment in 7,4%.

By comparing the rates of EMS in childhood and adulthood, it emerges that only the EMS Abandonment, Dependence and Insufficient self-control showed a disinensification, increasing successively from adulthood to childhood as follow :from 69.4% to 47.1% , from 52,9% to 31.4% and from 59.5% to 47.9%.

No significant relationships.

No significant relationships.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a disorder in which recurring, intrusive, unwanted thoughts, ideas or sensations cause them to feel driven to do something repetitively. The repetitive behaviors can significantly interfere with a person’s daily activities and social interactions. Not performing the behaviors commonly causes great distress.

Clinical trials are required for proper assessment and management of this group of patients.

Mrs. X, a 28 year old female coming for psychiatric consultation with the complaints of self talking, irritability and aggression, insomnia.She fantasizes a man publicly, whom she loves but he has no existence in reality. She tries to solve all kinds of problems by talking to that fantasy man. If anyone interrupts her, she becomes irritable, shouts and breaks things. But for the last 3 months she realized that its a problem. Because, she can’t eat, sleep and concentrate on her household chores for this fantasy. Even she can’t take care of her child and feeling low sexual affection for her husband. On personal history, she said that she had poor attachment with her parents.

After thorough assessment, her consultant Psychiatrist told that she was sufering from unhealthy fantasy obsession or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

It is very important and urgent to assess and manage this group of patients, because this has a devastating impact on relationships, specially on the conjugal life. Psychoeducation about the ilness and Psychotherapy along with pharmacotherapy should be the mode of treatment.

No significant relationships.

Body image dissatisfaction entails an activity, which is nothing else but an attempt for deliberate regulation of their body. It has different kinds and manifestations. Most researchers focus on such body regulation practices as weight control, muscles build-up, or cosmetic surgery.

Our goal is to work out a psychological hierarchical model of body regulation practices aimed at abating a person’s dissatisfaction with their body image.

Using a method of agglomerative hierarchical clustering, we carried out a multivariate classification of 122 respondents’ answers to the Body Regulation Practices Survey (E. Nikolaev), which allows establishing the frequency of the respondents’ use of each of the 11 variants of body regulation practices offered in the survey.

Based on the results of 11 variables of a dendrogram, we established two data arrays, combining correspondingly 4 and 7 versions of body regulation practices. The first array comprises two pairs of clusters – physiological practices and weight control, as well as practices of personality and spiritual development. We identified it as “developmental body regulation practices”. The second array includes two paired clusters – aesthetic medicine and body modifications; image making and hetero-aggressive practices. Merging with the four practices mentioned above on a higher level of the hierarchy are auto-aggressive and inertial practices. We identified this array as “compensatory – non-adaptive body regulation practices”.

The devised model can become the basis for further advanced research in the area of body regulation in cases of dissatisfaction with body image.

No significant relationships.

Various studies have reported differences in early visual processing, gain control and integration for patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). However, Oppel – Kundt (OK) illusion is not studied well enough among subjects affected by SSD. We decided to study the illusion to get more insights in visual perception for individuals with SSD.

To investigate the OK illusion manifestation among people with SSD.

In the prospective study were included 15 patients, who were diagnosed with SSD and 15 matched comparison group (CG) without any mental, neurological diseases or visual impairment. OK figures used in the experiments consisted of three white spots presented horizontally against the black background. We used 3 different types of distractor stimuli – either straight one or two-sided line or circle. Using computerized equipment in OK figures the subjects were asked to adjust the unfilled part of the stimulus to be equal in length to the filled (referential) one. ANOVA, T-test and post hoc Bonferroni correction were used for statistical analysis.

People with SSD tended to make bigger mistakes when evaluating OK figures with the statistical difference which was the most eminent for the subgroup of individuals affected by paranoid schizophrenia. The manifestation of the illusion in the SSD group was contrariwise (respectively to zero point) to the CG group.

OK illusion tended to manifest stronger for patients with SSD, this tendency was mostly expressed for the patients diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The manifestation of OK illusion among persons with SSD was diametrically opposite to that seen for the healthy individuals.

No significant relationships.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is associated with emotional distress and mental disorders. In clinical samples NSSI is reported by 21% to 60% of all psychiatric patients. Developed NSSI instruments are not suitable for clinical settings because they are too time-consuming or lack validation across psychiatric diagnoses.

The Transdiagnostic Self-Injury Interview (TSI) is semi-structured interview that accesses onset, frequency, methods, and severity of NSSI. It is transdiagnostic and developed for clinical settings.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the feasibility of a TSI validation study. The study will also provide preliminary validation of the instrument.

The feasibility study will recruit participants at in- and outpatient units from a university hospital. Participants can be included in the study if they are 18 years old and admitted to a psychiatric in- or outpatient unit.

Instruments: The Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory will be used to test concurrent validity. Convergent validity will be tested with the Columbia Suicidality Severity Rating Scale, the Personal and Social Performance scale, the Affective Lability Scale-short, and the Brief Trauma Questionnaire. Interrater reliability will be evaluated in groups of medical doctors, psychologist, and other clinical professionals.

Feasibility are measured by inclusion of participants per week, the time each participant takes to complete the study instruments, and number of dropouts.

Recruitment of participants will start in the fall of 2021. We aim to recruit 50 participants.

When TSI has been validated, it can be used to assess prevalence and severity of NSSI and clarify the need for treatment and supervision.

No significant relationships.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic deteriorating illness which has a strong impact on functionality. In the past few years, orexins have gained importance as possible biomarkers of circadian rhythms, affected in BD. Up to this date, we have not found any bibliographical review evaluating the association of orexins and BD.

To review published literature in relation to the associaton of orexins and BD.

A bibliographical search was conducted in PubMed. Inclusion criteria were a) the study evaluated orexins in plasma or cerebrospinal fluid, and b) patients with BD were included within the subjects of study.

Reference lists of the articles that met inclusion criteria were also examined.

Ten articles were retrieved from the initial search. Only three met inclusion criteria and another one was selected from the reference list examination. One study observed significantly higher levels of orexin A in plasma of BD patients versus depression and controls. Other found higher concentration of orexin A of unipolar and bipolar depression versus controls, but this result was not statistically significant. Another one did not find differences in orexin A concentration between mania, depression and controls. The remaining study detected significantly lower concentration of orexin A in BD versus depression, schizophrenia and controls.

Despite being heterogenous, the results point out there are differences in orexin levels in BD when compared to other diagnostic groups or controls. This sets a starting point to focus research on this subject and continue analyzing the role of orexins as biomarkers in BD.

No significant relationships.

Poor academic performance has been linked to factors such as sleep, health, illicit drug use, physical fighting, social media use, cyber bullying, physical activity, homelessness, times spent in video games and television. It is difficult to get a sense of the interplay between and relative importance of different behaviours/factors on academic performance as only limited research has been aimed at quantifying these factors.

To evaluate association of school performance and variables in five categories of the YRBSS: physical fighting, diet/lifestyle, electronic device usage, concurrent substance use, and violence/self-harm.

The CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) data from 1991-2019 was used in study. Respondents were grouped by good and poor school performance and variables related to nutrition/lifestyle, electronic device use, concurrent substance use, mood/violence/self-harm were analyzed using chi-square test.

A total of 41,235 student respondents.Nutrition/Lifestyle, electronic device use, concurrent substance use, mood/violence/self-harm are found to be significantly correlated with school performance.

In national data, we found school performance is affected by nutrition, lifestyle, substance use, mood and exposure to surrounding violence, and self-harm. Further studies should be planned to evaluate benefits from the risk stratification to reduce this burden amongst US adolescents.

No significant relationships.

It’s well known the challenge of differential diagnosis between Obssesive compulsive disorder and autism since their symptoms (intrusive, recurrent thoughts and repetitive behaviours) often overlap.

We report a case of a 14 years old boy diagnosed of ASD who was hospitalized for the first time due to difficult management of repetitive behaviours that made him incapable of doing basic activities without help. To interrupt them led to anxiety, aggressive responses and to insistence on sameness behaviours. Only with this information and with the literature research we made, anyone could tell the problem was probably an ASD symptom. However, during his evolution it was difficult to know whether this behaviour was due to ASD or OCD: after adjusting the medication, and when he started trusting his therapists, he told us about a theory he believed so he could explain the uncomfortable ideas that crossed his mind more than often, so he used those behaviours as an anxiety-reduction technique. This new situation was the fuel to make the present review.

To report a case.

The results are included in the “conclusions” section.

Although there is an ongoing debate concerning the nature of the symptoms in ASD versus those observed in OCD, there are commonly used criteria to differentiate them according to the articles we reviewed:

No significant relationships.

A major pathophysiological hypothesis of schizophrenia states an increased activity of glutamatergic neurons leading to an imbalance of neural excitation and inhibition (E/I-imbalance). One potential molecular mechanism of E/I-imbalance is a dysfunction of voltage-gated sodium channels, which are crucial for the generation of action potentials, the fundamental event of neuronal excitation. Indeed, patients with schizophrenia exhibit an increased burden of rare exonic variants of sodium channel genes, but the literature describing their electrophysiological effect is scarce.

The aim of this project is to assess the functional impact of three mutations of the Sodium Voltage-Gated Channel Alpha Subunit 2 (SCN2A) gene / NaV1.2 channel which were identified in four patients with schizophrenia, using a heterologous expression system.

Three variants of the human SCN2A gene (R850P, V1282F and S1656P) were created using site-directed mutagenesis. HEK293T cells transfected with either the mutant or wild type constructs are being investigated by voltage-clamp technique, applying activation, steady-state fast inactivation, use dependency and ramp protocols.

All three mutated constructs were successfully created. Preliminary recordings from the V1282F mutant indicate a shift of both the activation and steady-state fast inactivation to the hyperpolarized direction.

In a subgroup of patients, E/I imbalance may be a consequence of Nav1.2 mutations leading to increased excitability of glutamatergic neurons. By integrating insights from different mutations we aim to identify traits of a potentially shared disease pathway which may provide a basis for the development of novel therapeutics.

No significant relationships.

Ekbom syndrome is a clinical term for delusional parasitosis, a condition characterized by the belief that one’s skin is infested by invisible parasites. Despite having no medical evidence, patients strive to prove their illness and interpret different sensations and symptoms as infestation with parasites.

Our objective was to present a case report of a patient with Ekbom syndrome with detailed clinical information and treatment complications.

We included patient’s history, psychiatric evaluation, complete diagnostic work-up, therapy and follow-up.

A 60-years old female patient was admitted to her first hospital treatment in our psychiatric clinic. Upon admittance, she was extremely tense, preoccupied with the idea that bed bugs have infested her body. She showed extensive medical documentation, including numerous dermatologic reports regarding her condition, interpreting them in accordance with her delusions. In attempt to help herself and “release” the bugs, she harmed herself causing multiple skin lesions across her body and face. The treatment was complicated with secondary skin infections, ulcers, cellulitis and oedemas. Initial treatment with olanzapine was switched to risperidone due to side-effects (sedation, increase of appetite, weight gain). Gradually, with pharmacological treatment, psychoeducation and support, remission was achieved, but poor insight to her previous condition and psychiatric symptoms remained.

Ekbom syndrome presents a serious disorder that can be complicated with secondary somatic complications, often requiring involvement of different medical specialists. Moreover, lack of insight into the need for psychiatric treatment can lead to therapy discontinuation and relapse of symptoms.

No significant relationships.

Psychological health problems, especially emotional disorders, have become an important topic of considerations for many scientists, because the epidemiology of these disorders is strongly influenced by stressful events, such as the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic.

The aim of this study was to evaluate selected parameters of psychosocial functioning as well as socio-demographic correlates of depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and perceived stress among the residents of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.

An online questionnaire was completed by 323 participants, in whom the parameters of psychosocial functioning were assessed: symptoms of depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), severity of sleep disorders (AIS) and perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale).

The majority of the respondents (75.2%) scored high on the Perceived Stress Scale, almost half of the respondents (47.1%) had sleep disorders and 26% of the participants had no depressive symptoms. Age statistically significantly correlated with the severity of depressive symptoms and sleep disorders. Parental status statistically significantly correlated with the severity of depressive symptoms. There was a strong correlation between the severity of depression and anxiety and a strong correlation between depression and sleep disorders.

Age and parental status contributed to the severity of depressive symptoms and the occurrence of sleep disorders among the residents of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Some of the residents of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship showed high levels of stress or insomnia. The severity of depressive symptoms significantly influenced the levels of anxiety and perceived stress, as well as the occurrence of sleep disorders.

No significant relationships.

The influence of personality on field of study choice is comparable to that of cognitive skills. Additionally, personality traits seem linked with academic motivation, and engagement. Choosing the most suitable career is also related to students’ personal well-being and work success.

To explore how personality traits are associated with the choice of university courses among Italian students.

A web-survey was spread on social networks between March and June 2020 through Google Forms. Eligibility criteria for inclusion were: 1) Being a university student between 18 and 35 years of age; 2) Attending a course in an Italian university; 3) Good comprehension of Italian language. On-line informed consent, socio-demographic, and career data were collected during the survey. Personality traits were assessed using the Big Five Inventory (BFI). We computed multinomial linear regressions to calculate potential associations between personality traits and university courses.

Lower Conscientiousness, higher Neuroticism, and higher Openness to experience are associated with the attendance of Humanities compared with students of Health faculties. Higher Neuroticism traits are associated with the attendance of a scientific course compared with Health faculties. High Conscientiousness is significantly associated with the attendance of Law-related courses compared with Health courses. Non significant differences were detected in the other domains according to the big five personality model.

Our results suggest interesting associations between personality traits and educational choices. Future research may investigate this relationship in high-school students to implement appropriate strategies for better addressing students’ educational needs and career outcomes.

No significant relationships.

Depression and anxiety are very frequent and associated with high societal costs, much suffering and functional impairment. Employment is essential and pivotal recovery after sick-leave. In many countries, health care interventions are delivered separately from vocational rehabilitation services. This fragmented placement of interventions often implies lack of coordination, creating despair among sick-listed persons.

The aim of this trial was to investigate an integrated mental health care and vocational rehabilitation intervention to improve and hasten the return-to-work process among people sick-listed with anxiety or depression.

In this RCT, participants were randomly allocated to A) integrated interventions (INT), B) improved mental health care (MHC) or B) service as usual (SAU). Primary outcome was time to return-to-work during 12-month. Secondary outcomes were time to return-to-work at 6-month follow-up; levels of anxiety, depression, stress symptoms and social and occupational functioning at 6-month follow-up; and return-to-work measured as proportion in work at 12-month follow-up.

631 individuals randomized. INT showed higher proportion in work compared with both SAU and MHC at the 12-month follow-up. We found no differences regarding return-to-work time at either the 6- or 12-month follow-up. No differences in symptoms between SAU, MCH or INT were detected, but MHC and INT showed lower scores on Cohen’s perceived stress scale compared with SAU at 12-month follow-up.

Although INT did not hasten return-to-work, it yielded higher proportion in work compared with MHC and SAU.

No significant relationships.

Conspiracy theories are popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conspiratorial thinking is characterised by the strong conviction that a certain situation that one sees as unjust is the result of a deliberate conspiracy of a group of people with bad intentions. Conspiratorial thinking appears to have many similarities with paranoid delusions.

To explore the nature, consequences, and social-psychological dimensions of conspiratorial thinking, and describe similarities and differences with paranoid delusions.

Critically assessing relevant literature about conspiratorial thinking and paranoid delusions.

Conspiratorial thinking meets epistemic, existential, and social needs. It provides clarity in uncertain times and connection with an in-group of like-minded people. Both conspiratorial thinking and paranoid delusions involve an unjust, persistent, and sometimes bizarre conviction. Unlike conspiracy theorists, people with a paranoid delusion are almost always the only target of the presumed conspiracy, and they usually stand alone in their conviction. Furthermore, conspiracy theories are not based as much on unusual experiences of their inner self, reality, or interpersonal contacts.

Conspirational thinking is common in uncertain circumstances. It gives grip, certainty, moral superiority and social support. Extreme conspirational thinking seems to fit current psychiatric definitions of paranoid delusions, but there are also important differences. To make a distinction with regard to conspiratorial thinking, deepening of conventional definitions of delusions is required. Instead of the strong focus on the erroneous content of delusions, more attention should be given to the underlying idiosyncratic, changed way of experiencing reality.

No significant relationships.

Schizophrenia is a chronic disease that requires lifelong medical care and supervision. There is a high rate of relapse, mostly caused by poor adherence to oral antipsychotics. Long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics have proved effective in schizophrenia and other severe psychotic disorders due to the stable blood levels, leading to a reduction of the risk of relapse. LAIs are associated with better functioning, quality of life, and patient satisfaction. In Treatment-resistant schizophrenia the combination of antipsychotics is a common practice. Nevertheless, the combination of two different long-acting injectable antipsychotics is not frequent.

A case of a 34-year-old man is presented, previously diagnosed of Schizophrenia, with highly disabling chronic positive symptoms. With no in-sight and no will in receiving treatment. Has been stable for a year while being in treatment with paliperidone 525mg LAI/ 10 weeks, and aripiprazole 400mg LAI/28 days.

The patient was closely observed and given oral paliperidone, after 5 days long-acting paliperidone was introduced. He was discharged with mild improvement of his psychiatric symptoms. While being in treatment with Paliperidone 525mg, he kept vivid delusions and hallucinations. The patient still refused to take any oral medications. Long-acting aripiprazole 300mg was added to the treatment.

He showed clinical improvement after a month. He has been stabilized for one year.

Treating resistant schizophrenia is among the most challenging clinical endeavors. A very helpful approach to improve adherence in schizophrenia is the use of long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics. A major effort on scientific research of combination of LAI is needed.

No significant relationships.

People presenting first-episode psychosis (FEP) benefit from early intervention programmes, although they are scarce in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In Brazil, there are just a few of them unequally distributed across the country.

We aimed to describe the workings of the Ribeirão Preto Early Intervention for Psychosis Programme (Ribeirão Preto-EIP) – an outpatient service for first-episode psychosis patients residents in the Ribeirão Preto catchment area in Southeastern Brazil.

A retrospective cohort of all patients attended throughout four years (2015-2018) was analysed. We excluded patients who attended only the first consultation and those with an initial diagnosis other than a psychotic disorder. Data was obtained through retrospective analysis of medical records.

Our service had 358 new referrals during the four-year period, and 237 patients were followed on average (median) by 14 months. Most of the patients were male (64.1%), single (84.8%), with a median age of 23.5 years (age ranged from 9 to 86 years). Schizophrenia was the main diagnosis (43.4%), followed by substance-induced (25.7%) and affective psychosis (18.6%). Taking follow-up diagnoses as gold-standard, initial diagnoses of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia spectrum disorders had the highest positive predictive values, 83% and 81% respectively. Most referrals to our programme were made by tertiary care (63.7%), followed by secondary (28.5%) and primary care (7.8%).

Here we presented a large sample of FEP patients in a representation as trustworthy to the reality of our programme as possible. Our analysis suggest that Early Intervention Programmes can be successfully implemented in LMICs.

No significant relationships.

COVID-19 pandemic has many psychological and physical effects. University students are among vulnerable population.

We aimed in this study to assess sleep effects of COVID-19 pandemic on university students in Saudi Arabia.

We conducted cross-sectional study to collect responses of 5,140 participations from Saudi universities, responders completed the demographic questions, psychological scales including insomnia severity scale (ISI) between 24th and 30th of April 2020.

About 41% of the sample suffered from moderate to severe insomnia. Mean ISI score was 12.9 (SD 6.62). Insomnia was associated with female gender, younger age, students from new universities, junior students, if a relative got COVID-19, having a chronic medical illness, and having a psychiatric disorder.

Covid-19 pandemic has clear effect on sleep among Saudi university students. Universities need to plan and implement protective and intervention strategies to deal with this important issue.

No significant relationships.

The spectrum of suicidal behavior is a core factor of the prognosis and care of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

Identify possible BPD specific personality traits that could act as protective factors of nonsuicidal self-injuries (NSSI).

We performed a cross-sectional, observational and retrospective study of a sample of 134 BPD patients aged from 18 to 56. We assessed the presence or absence of suicidal behavior and NSSI as well as different sociodemographic variables. Millon, Zuckerman-Kuhlman and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM personality questionnaires were also applied. The analysis of the association between variables was carried out with a multivariate negative binomial logistic regression model.

A statistically significant association between NSSI and suicidal behavior was found. Elseways, statistically significant differences were also found in the association between NSSI and the SCID variables for Narcissistic Disorder, which appears as protective variables. These results provide an idea of the dynamic relationship between NSSI and suicidal behavior in a BPD population with particularly severe characteristics.

The role of narcissistic personality traits appears to be important in identifying protective factors for NSSI and suicidal behavior in BPD patients and could be the subject of further research projects.

No significant relationships.