Schizotypy is associated with increased vulnerability to schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Therefore, investigation of its brain correlates seems prominent for better understanding of schizophrenia-spectrum continuum as well as for development of biological treatments for schizotypal personality disorder. Functional alterations of prefrontal cortex (PFC) and their associations with clinical symptoms are well-known to exist in schizophrenia. However, their relevance to schizotypy remains unclear.

The aim of the study was to check for associations between schizotypal traits in a non-clinical sample and whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) of lateral as well as medial PFC (lPFC and mPFC, respectively).

Eighty-two healthy individuals (52 females, mean age 24.8±5.48) filled out the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ-74) and underwent resting-state fMRI (3T). Seeds in lPFC and mPFC were taken from frontoparietal and default mode networks (atlas by Yeo et al., 2011). We analyzed correlations between four schizotypal factors (cognitive/perceptual, paranoid, negative, and disorganization; Stefanis et al., 2004) and whole-brain FC of the seeds (statistical threshold: p<.001 voxelwise; p[FDR]<.05 clusterwise).

Cognitive/perceptual factor (‘Odd beliefs/magical thinking’ and ‘Unusual perceptual experiences’ SPQ-74 subscales) is negatively correlated to FC of bilateral mPFC with a cluster in the right cerebellum (Crus 1, 2).

Prefrontal-cerebellar dysconnectivity may be one of the neurobiological factors underlying positive-symptoms-like schizotypal traits in non-clinical subjects. To some extent, it coincides with the data on associations between functional features of these brain structures and positive symptoms in schizophrenia (Pinheiro et al., 2021; Goghari et al., 2010).

The study was supported by RFBR Grant 20-013-00748.

Hyperprolactinemia is a common unwanted antipsychotic-induced adverse effect, particularly in female patients, and can induce poor adherence to treatment. Aripiprazole is an antipsychotic with partial agonist activity over the dopamine D2 receptors which can be effective in reducing hyperprolactinemia in patients treated with antipsychotics.

We investigate the efficacy of adjunctive treatment with aripiprazole for olanzapine-induced hyperprolactinemia and related hormonal side effects (amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea) in female patients with schizophrenia.

Eight female patients (22 to 40 years old) participated in this study with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and hyperprolactinemia-related hormonal side effects (amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea). Patients were treated with aripiprazole 10 mg/day added to a fixed olanzapine dose of 20 mg/day. Serum prolactin levels were measured at baseline and after 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks. Symptoms and side effects were assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Clinical Global Impressions Severity scale, Barnes Akathisia Scale.

Adjunctive treatment with aripiprazole resulted in significantly lower prolactin levels beginning at week 2. 87.5 % of patients at week 8 had prolactin levels normalize. Among 8 patients with menstrual disturbances, 75% of patients regained menstruation during the study. No significant changes were observed regarding psychopathology and adverse effect ratings.

Adjunctive aripiprazole treatment is effective for resolving olanzapine-induced hyperprolactinemia and reinstatement of menstruation in female patients, provides significant improvement and it appears to be safe with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome, without increased risk of adverse effects.

No significant relationships.

Anxiety and depressive disorders are among the most prevalent psychiatric disorders, yet there aren’t many studies adressing treatment modalities in daily hospitals.

The aim of our study is to present organisational structure and treatment modalities in Daily hospital for non-psychotic disorders in University Psychiatric Clinic “Sveti Ivan“, Zagreb, Croatia.

All patients in Daily Hospital attend 6 months programme. The treatment programme consists of psychodynamic group psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, occupational therapy, antistress and mindfulness workshops, psychoeducational workshops, cinema therapy and sociotherapy. Along with clinical follow-up, all the patients are given sociodemographic questionnaire designed for our programme, World Health Organisation Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQoL BREF) and The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21).

At discharge moderate to significant improvement was observed in different aspects of functioning among most of the participants, verified by clinical follow-up as well as by results obtained through questionnaires.

Our data show that patients with anxiety and depressive disorders can be efffectively treated by such comprehensive treatment approach.

No significant relationships.

In nightmare disorder, dysfunctional emotion regulation goes along with poor subjective sleep quality, which is characterised by pathophysiological features such as abnormal arousal processes and sympathetic influences. Dysfunctional parasympathetic regulation, especially before and during REM phases, is assumed to alter heart rate (HR) and its variability (HRV) of frequent nightmare recallers.

We hypothesised that cardiac variability is attenuated in participants experiencing frequent nightmares as opposed to healthy control subjects during less deep sleep stages and an emotion-evoking picture-rating task.

Based on the second-nights’ polysomnographic recordings of 24 nightmare disordered (NM) and 30 control (CTL) subjects, we examined HRV during pre-REM, REM, post-REM and slow wave sleep periods, separately. Additionally, ECG recordings of wakeful periods such as resting state before sleep onset and an emotional picture-rating task were also analysed.

According to our results, a significant difference was found in the HR of the NM and CTL groups in the nocturnal segments but not during resting wakefulness before sleep onset, suggesting autonomic dysregulation, specifically during sleep in nightmare disorder. However, despite the accelerated HR of NM subjects at night, they did not exhibit lower HRV. Regarding the emotional task, we also found a contrast between the NM and CTL subjects’ HR and HRV, which might indicate altered processes of emotion regulation in nightmare disorder, but the two groups’ subjective picture ratings did not differ.

In summary, our study suggests that there might be some trait-like autonomic changes during sleep, but also state-like autonomic responses to emotion-evoking pictures in nightmare disorder.

No significant relationships.

Infodemic is a new term which refers to rapidly spreading information from both reliable and unreliable sources in the form of news and publications regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, which requires proper management strategies on its own to prevent the spread of fake news. This is especially relevant in a global state of alert where the fear of contagion is a common denominator and is reflected upon people’s behaviors within a crisis context. Van Bavel et al (2020) affirm “Emerging research is using social science to understand and counter the spread of fake news”, and furtherly emphasize on the limitations of Fact Checking as the main approach to hinder such spread

Test the association between sociomoral cognition, religiousness and political identity, and belief in COVID-19 Fake News.

Online-based survey applied through opportunity sampling. Demographic variables political and religious orientation, RMET and B-IRI, and two dimensional utilitarian dilemmas were used and independent variables, and a selection of true and fake news in order to measure participants’ belief in the latter as a dependent variable.

Morality (R2 = 0.08, p < 0.001), social cognition (R2 = 0.05, p < 0.05), and political and religious orientation (R2 = 0.1, p < 0.000001) predicted belief in COVID-19 fake news. On the other hand, no variables were found to predict belief in fake news unrelated to the pandemic.

Higher impartial beneficence and more years of formal education point toward an evidence-based reasoning, while religiousness and affinity with right-wing ideals has been associated with intuition-based reasoning, thus affecting judgement accuracy.

No significant relationships.

The exponential increase of the older segment of the population (1) is coinciding with the growing challenges of a digital society in different socio-cultural contexts (2).

This exploratory study aims to analyze older adult perspectives of how smart technology influenced their meaning in life during the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency period, using qualitative research at a cross-national level.

Three hundred and fifty one community-dwelling older participants aged 65-87 years were included in the study. Participants were Italian, Mexican, Portuguese and Spanish. All the narratives went through a process of content analysis.

Findings of content analysis produced six themes: Meaningful relations, rewarding activities, spirituality, health and safety-related support, self-growth, and physical activity. Smart technology was important in promoting significant relations for Mexican older adults (71.3%), rewarding activities for Portuguese older adults (57.1%), spirituality for Spanish older participants (71.6%), and physical activity for Italian older adults (29.5%).

This study indicated that smart technology during the Health Emergency period was important for the meaning in life of older populations, mostly by facilitating meaningful relations, rewarding activities and spirituality. Future interventions with older adults during pandemic periods should consider the diversity of themes associated with increasing older adult well-being, from a cross-cultural perspective. 1. von Humboldt S & Leal I. The old and the oldest old: Do they have different perspectives on adjustment to aging?. Int J Gerontol; 9:156-160. 2. von Humboldt S et al. Does spirituality really matter? - A study on the potential of spirituality to older adult’s adjustment to aging. Jpn Psychol Res, 56;114-125.

No significant relationships.

Assessment and management of bipolar disorder, and particularly manic episodes in adolescents means a challenge. The presence of comorbid disorders, and divergent interpretations of manic symptoms in the context of the adolescent natural inmaturity, can make diagnosis and treatment hard goals to achieve. The existence of juvenile specific criteria for bipolar disorder is a debate topic. This concept emerged from an attempt to solve diagnosis issues and involves a wide range of definitions for mania.

Literature review concerning bipolar disorder in young population: Main comorbidities, psychosocial problems, prognosis. Clinical presentation: Shared and specific features compared to adult population. Available treatment options. Issues related to safety and tolerability.

We present a case of a 16 year old woman diagnosed with bipolar II disorder, hospitalised in an inpatient adolescent unit in 2021. Review of the literature available (clinical guidelines, PubMed).

Patient initially oriented as a Bipolar II disorder, after depressive episodes followed by hypomanic symptoms in the past years. The following clinical course was conditioned by personality traits. Emotional disregulation and a complex family environment made affective symptoms difficult to evaluate, leading to a diagnostic hypothesis of personality-related disorder. After a period of outpatient treatment in a day hospital, she debuted with a clinical picture of manic symptoms, mixed features and rapid mood cycling.

After an initial trial, stabilization was achieved with aripiprazole and asenapine. Combination therapy might be necessary in longer-term treatment, according to existing evidence. Diagnosis and treatment concerns are interfered by the limited number of trials.

No significant relationships.

Common side effects are agranulocytosis and myocardiopathy. There are reports of myocardite related to m-rna vaccine for covid-19 (Pfizer-Bionteck), while the interactions with clozapine has not been yet studied.

The object of the study is to explore the safety of COVID-19 vaccination at patients treated with clozapine.

We report a group of 27 patients from the psychiatric rehabilitation unit of the General Hospital of Corfu who were treated with clozapine and another group of 27 patients on different antipsychotic. Levels of clozapine were measured before the 1st vaccination and one month after the individuals were fully vaccinated, as well their COVID antibodies. For myocarditis detection we used CRP >1mg/dl and quadruplication of the troponin of reference.

No significant difference has been observed among the 2 groups in relation to antibody production, No difference has been detected between clozapine and nor-clozapine serum levels before and after vaccination. While there was no case of myocarditis or vein embolism noticed.

It seems that patients treated with clozapine develop immune response to COVID-19 as individuals in any other anti-psychotic. No major side effects were reported at the two groups leading as to the conclusion that treatment with clozapine sould not be an obstacle for COVID-19 vaccination. Thus to the small number of patients in this study further research is needed.

No significant relationships.

In some individuals, interest in healthy attitudes and behaviours towards food may show obsessive signs. Preoccupation with ‘healthful’ eating may contribute to orthorexia nervosa (ON) – a strong preoccupation with “healthy eating” manifested by the avoidance of all foods considered by the individual to be “unhealthy”.

The objective of the present study was to determine whether disordered eating behaviour, physical activity and self-esteem are predictors of ON in young adults.

Five hundred fifty-four Polish and Italian university students participated in the present study. Participants were asked to answer the Eating Habits Questionnaire, the Eating Attitudes Test, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.

Our findings found that higher levels of concern about dieting and moderate-intensity physical activity were related to ON. Particularly, higher levels of concern about dieting, bulimic behaviour and thoughts about food and moderate-intensity physical activity predicted problems associated with healthy eating. Higher levels of concern about dieting, self-esteem as well as self-control of eating and perceived pressure from others to gain weight were associated with knowledge of healthy eating. Whereas, higher levels of concern about dieting with country factor (Poland) predicted feeling positively about healthy eating.

In ON treatment, reduction in symptoms and concerns characteristic of eating disorders and adequate levels of physical activity should be taken into consideration.

No significant relationships.

The direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of the population have become a concern in the field of research in psychiatry. First psychotic episodes following infection with SARS cov2 have been reported.

Through a clinical case, we will illustrate the association of psychiatric symptoms with SARS cov2 infection.

We discussed , through a clinical case, the association of psychiatric symptoms with infection by the coronavirus 19.

L.R, Tunisian 52-year-old, diabetic (type 2) women, with no personal or family psychiatric history and no toxic habits. she did not receive receive covid 19 vaccination. Twenty days before her admission to the psychiatry departement, she had fever, cough, myalgia, and anosmia .The diagnosis of a SARS COv2 infection was retained by her general practitioner. Two weeks later she suddenly presented a persecutory delirium, distressing auditory hallucinations, and attempted rat poison suicide. On admission, The patient had a delirium of persecution towards her entourage and an auditory hallucinatory syndrome with distressing content. She was put on 1 mg of Risperidone with restitution ad integrum after 7 days. COVID-19 serology test detected IgM antibodies which allowed us to conclude that the symptomatology was related to the infection by this virus. For the etiological research, we performed a serology that confirmed the recent exposure to SARS COV2 and. The diagnosis retained is a brief psychotic disorder post-Sars Cov2.

The advanced hypothesis that infection with SARS CoV-2 could be the cause of the psychiatric manifestations remains unclear to this day.

No significant relationships.

No significant relationships.

The links between body image disturbances and distorted relationships with parents were supposed since the early conceptualizations of AN by Hilde Bruch. The empirical studies however were concerned with perceptual aspects of body image and much less is known about how the attitudinal aspects and the body-related behaviors are affected.

To study the attitudinal and behavioral aspects of body image in adolescents with AN in relation to perceived parental care and the attachments to close people.

The Body Investment Scale (BSI), Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) were used. 53 girls with Anorexia Nervosa were compared to 63 controls (adjusted by age).

Girls with AN scored significantly higher on BIS Body attitude (p<.001) and Protection scales (p<.01), while displayed equal results on Body Care scale. They displayed lower Confidence in relationships (p<.01), higher Need for approval, Discomfort and preoccupation in close relationships (p<.05). No differences were found on PBI, excerpt for AN group perceiving less paternal control (p<.05). The correlation analysis, while showing a number of similar correlations within groups, suggests that in AN group positive Body image was more closely linked to perceived early care, especially from father (r=.6), in contrast with controls. In current relationships negative Body image for AN is stronger related to Discomfort and Need for approval (r>0.6), while Discomfort with Touch is less linked to problems in relationships than in controls.

Results suggest the importance of studying the father’s mediating role in the formation of body attitudes in AN.

No significant relationships.

Loneliness and social isolation condition the health of those over 65 years of age, increasing morbidity and mortality. The pandemic caused by Covid-19 has been a health emergency in which the negative effects have been increased by loneliness. We can define several types of loneliness: physical loneliness, moral loneliness and social isolation.

The objective was to analyze the impact of Covid-19 on the feeling of loneliness in those over 65 years of age during the last year of the pandemic.

A bibliographic search was carried out in Pubmed with the terms “loneliness in elderly in the covid-19 pandemic” with the filters “abstract” and “in the last 1 year”, selecting the studies whose title included the terms “loneliness”, “elderly” or “older people” and “Covid-19 ” or “SARS-Cov-2”. The search gave rise to 13 results, of which the content of the abstracts was qualitatively analyzed.

All studies found an increase in loneliness in the elderly, and more than 50% reported a decrease in this feeling in the elderly trained in new technologies. Other aspects that stood out to influence were comorbidity, resilience, economic situation, social support and subjective feeling of vulnerability.

Older adults avoid direct social contact to protect themselves. This may result in loneliness, that can have serious consequences in terms of morbidity and mortality. To mitigate loneliness they can use online social media, but older adults need to be trained. Institutions and public powers have the obligation to ensure individual and collective security, and protect the integrity of people from dangers.

No significant relationships.

Aggressive behavior is frequently associated with acute psychiatric admission. Several studies highlight the increased risk of aggression in certain psychiatric disorders.

The aim of the study was to explore the extent of aggressive behavior, its various manifestations, and its association with gender, age, and diagnosis among patients admitted to an acute psychiatric ward.

Patients admitted to our acute psychiatric ward in a three months period were included and the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression - Inpatient Version (DASA-IV) questionnaire was administered in the first seven days after admission for all patients.

A total of 290 patients, 153 men and 137 women, with a mean age of 46.9 years (SD=17.5) participated in the study. Men were overrepresented among patients who showed aggressive behavior (p=.008). There was no correlation between age and DASA-IV score (p=.259). 40% of patients (N=116) did not show aggression, while 60% (N=174) experienced some form of aggression. Of those who exhibited some form of aggressive behavior, 94% had only low, 4% had high, and 2% had extremely high levels of aggression. Aggression was most common in patients with intellectual disabilities, dementia, and bipolar disorder.

According to our findings the majority of the acutely admitted psychiatric patients shows no or only low level of aggression. There were also differences in the forms and extent of aggressive behavior between the diagnostic groups. Risk assessment is important because it provides an opportunity for early detection and prevention, and the development of personalized treatment plans.

No significant relationships.

The Department of Psychiatry at Semmelweis University is the largest electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) centre in Hungary, where a total number of around 300 treatments are conducted every year. Certain changes were administered in 2018 and 2019 in our logistics and internal protocols that helped to increase the number of treated patients and improve quality of care. The COVID-19 pandemic caused serious disruptions in the Hungarian mental health care system , therefore there was a realistic fear that many patients who required ECT would not receive this form of tretament.

Our goal was to assess the effects of the pandemic on our ECT service, and to analyse whether patients were able to receive treatment, despite the logistical difficulties.

We retrospectively gathered data from our internal documentation to compare the number of ECT treatments with the previous years. We also had to take into account the fluctuation in our general caseload of psychiatric patients, since our Department acted as a COVID-19 treatment centre for several months.

Total number of ECT treatments decreased in 2020 after a peak in 2019, however the numbers were not much lower compared to the years before changes in 2018. Unfortunately, we see a more direct effect of the 3rd wave of the pandemic.

We can conlude that there is a decrease in the number of ECT treatments due to the pandemic, however, the fact that we still provided service in most parts of 2020 and 2021 for patients with the most severe conditions is a serious achivement.

No significant relationships.

Anhedonia is a symptom usually, and probably simplistically, defined as the inability to experience pleasure. It is considered one of the core symptoms of depression and a negative symptom of schizophrenia.

We intend to explore whether previous studies found common or dissimilar experiences of anhedonia in depression and schizophrenia.

We performed a review of the published literature on the subject using PubMed. We conducted a search using ‘anhedonia’, ‘schizophrenia’, and ‘depression’ as keywords.

There is different and diverging evidence on the matter. Historical reports associated schizophrenia with trait anhedonia, and depression with state anhedonia. More recently, some authors correlated appetitive anhedonia (lack of interest/desire) with schizophrenia, and consummatory anhedonia (lack of pleasure/enjoyment) with depression, but this was not corroborated by other studies. However, in line with it, there are findings of a normal physiological response to pleasurable stimuli among schizophrenics. Some authors propose that, in schizophrenia, this symptom might not represent an inability to feel pleasure but rather a deficient expression of its experience, as a part of blunted affect. Reward models highlight a deficit in reward learning in depression, but disorganization of reward processing and a focus on irrelevant clues in schizophrenia, which prevent patients from pursuing a pleasurable experience.

There are still limited studies comparing the experience of anhedonia in depression and schizophrenia. There seem to be significant differences between the two, but further studies are needed. In particular, this could be important in screening schizophrenic patients for depression.

No significant relationships.

Lithium is the oldest known treatment of bipolar disorders and remains the gold standard. Nevertheless, it remains difficult to handle, largely due to its narrow therapeutic index and its long-term side effects. Thus, it requires special initiation and monitoring measures.

This study aims to assess nurses’ knowledge and attitudes regarding lithium. A protocol on Lithium initiation and monitoring will be established.

This is a descriptive study including 20 nurses in a psychiatry department conducted from January to May 2021 based on an self-assessment questionnaire that was established to assess nurses’ knowledge about Lithium, its side effects, initiation and monitoring.

None of the recruited nurses had any training regarding the use of lithium. The vast majority of subject (85%) said that lithium’s dosage must be individualized and adaptable to each patient throughout a specific blood test. 90% recognized renal failure as the most common contraindication of lithium. Complete Blood Count (CBC), and renal check-up were the only tests recognized as necessary by all the sample subjects. 90% answered that lithium is toxic and 65% answered that it is fatal. In case of toxicity by lithium all subjects (100%) agreed to call the responsible doctor of the patient, 25% of them chose it as a unique measure and 75% thought it was necessary to stop the lithium immediately as well.

Lithium is considered as a double-edged sword largely due to its narrow therapeutic index. Nevertheless, nurses are undertrained when it comes to its use and manipulation.

No significant relationships.

Culture is used to refer to the aspects of thinking, feeling, and behaviour related to nation, heritage, place of birth and ethnicity. I look at how the cultural context of mental disorders and the cultural context of mental disorders and the challenges of addressing ethnic diversity in psychiatric services because there is an over-representation of black people detained under the MHA.

My aim is to understand what current data shows and use this to find a way forward which identify issues with culture and independently and challenge policies, services systems and address culture in clinical practice to provide culture complement care.

. research on rates of detention

The MHA acts tells us POC are 4 times more likely to be detained, arrested under 136 twice as much, and are 8 times as likely to be put on CTOS. 40% of black people will more likely asses care through the police system. (mind.org, Uk) This further shows us just how unrepresented POCs are when it comes to their diagnosis, treatment, and care, especially compared to their white counterparts.

In conclusion regulatory bodies and clinicians have to work towards understanding and identifying the reasons for these disparities and then implementing measures to address this. Such as putting people of color in higher positions in mental health positions in mental health positions to add diversities, also teaching the staff members and other people in high positions of power how much culture really impacts mental health, culturally appropriate advocacy, and improving research done.

No significant relationships.

The COVID19 pandemic came with unprecedented measures that impacted every aspect of the student’s life making them vulnerable to psychological distress.

The aim of this study was to assess anxiety and depressive symptoms in relation to the coping strategies during the COVID19 pandemic among medical students.

We conducted a web-based cross-sectional study among Tunisian medical students. We used an anonymous survey comprising sociodemographic characteristics, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale and the brief COPE.

A total of 216 students participated in the study; 78% were female and most respondents were enrolled in first and second year of medical studies (53%). The frequency of depressive and anxiety symptoms were respectively 28% and 40%; females experienced significantly higher depression and anxiety scores (p<10¯³ and p=0.02 respectively). Most used coping strategies were self-blame, planning, acceptance, distraction, positive reframing, active coping and religion (99%-96%). The least used coping strategies were substance use (13%) and denial (52%). We found that gender was associated with a significant difference in the coping styles where females scored higher on religious coping and denial whereas males used more humor coping. Depression and anxiety were significantly associated with denial coping. Humor, acceptance, positive reframing and active coping were significantly associated with lower depression rates. Humor coping and active coping were associated with lower anxiety rates.

Our study shows alarming rates of depression and anxiety among Tunisian medical students during the COVID19 pandemic. A targeted intervention to promote mental health using the coping styles might be useful in this population.

No significant relationships.

Looking at the vast majority of mental disorders in the last year, we noticed that most of them were closely related to this feeling of fear but also to the restrictive measures that appeared with the pandemic. Exposure for a period of more than a year to this mental stress has led to the appearance of a large number of psychiatric patients, especially those who have undergone SARS-CoV-2 infection or who have had close people infected, some of whom have even died.

In this paper I will highlight the post traumatic consequences in patients who have gone through the disease.

To complete this work I used medical articles, studies, and specialized information on the subject.

Patients who have gone through the disease developed sleeping problems, phobias, various anxiety and delusional disorders.

These conditions create the need for a multidisciplinary approach among this particular category of patients.

No significant relationships.