Whether long-term psychodynamic therapy (LPP) and psychoanalysis (PA) differ from each other and require different therapist qualities has been debated extensively, but rarely investigated empirically.

In a quasi-experimental design, LPP was provided for 128 and PA for 41 outpatients, aged 20–46 years and suffering from mood or anxiety disorder, with a 5-year follow-up from start of treatment. Therapies were provided by 58 experienced therapists. Therapist characteristics, measured pre-treatment, were assessed with the Development of Psychotherapists Common Core Questionnaire (DPCCQ). General psychiatric symptoms were assessed as the main outcome measure at baseline and yearly after start of treatment with the Symptom Check List, Global Severity Index (SCL-90-GSI).

Professionally less affirming and personally more forceful and less aloof therapists predicted less symptoms in PA than in LPP at the end of the follow-up. A faster symptom reduction in LPP was predicted by a more moderate relational style and work experiences of both skillfulness and difficulties, indicating differences between PA and LPP in the therapy process.

Results challenge the benefit of a classically “neutral” psychoanalyst in PA. They also indicate closer examinations of therapy processes within and between the two treatments, which may benefit training and supervision of therapists.

Excessive alcohol use and persistent smoking have both been found independently to have a deleterious impact upon prospective memory (PM: memory for planning and executing future activities) and executive function (EF: the control of attention in memory) in the past.

The present study examined whether those who simultaneously drank alcohol and smoked were at greater risk of PM and EF deficits compared with an alcohol-only group and a zero-substance user group.

Anyone reporting using illegal substances (e.g. ecstasy/cannabis) were excluded. 23 poly-drug users (PD: those who drank and smoked), 27 single drug users (SD: who only drank alcohol) and 29 zero-users (ZU: who did not use any recreational drug) were compared on measures of anxiety, depression, PM and EF. PM was measured using a virtual reality PM task (VRPMT) in which the participant had to recall specific activities at particular locations when navigating though the computer-based virtual reality ‘office’ environment. EF was measured using the Reverse Digit Span (RDS) which required the participant to recall increasing numbers of digits in reverse order.

There were no significant between-group differences in terms of gender, age, alcohol use (PD and SD only), anxiety, or depression scores. The PD group performed the worst on the VRPMT and RDS tasks; followed by the SD group; with highest performance on these tasks being observed in the ZU group.

Combined drinking and smoking produces a kind of ‘double whammy effect’ on PM and EF, compared with single drug-use and zero-user groups.

To describe the frequency of drug combinations (substrate-substrate or substrate-inhibitor) with the potential to interfere with the CYP2D6 metabolic pathway in patients receiving antidepressant medication for major depressive disorder.

We carried out an observational study using outpatient medical records. We included adult subjects who initiated antidepressant medication during 2008–2010. Patients were assigned to three study groups: no combination, substrate-substrate, and substrate-inhibitor. Follow-up period was 12 months. Main measures: demographics, comorbidity and medication persistence. Statistical analysis included a logistic regression model, P < 0.05.

Five thousand six hundred and thirty patients were recruited (61.9 years, 76.9% female), 24.4% (CI: 23.8 – 26.0%) received some kind of drug combination (substrate-substrate: 15.4%, substrate-inhibitor: 9.0%). Variables significantly associated with drugs combinations that may act on the CYP2D6 metabolic pathway were: dementia (OR = 4.2), neuropathy (OR = 4.2) and stroke (OR = 1.9), P < 0.001. Medication persistence at 12 months was longer in patients with no combination (55.3%) than in patients receiving substrate-substrate (50.5%) or substrate-inhibitor (45.0%) combinations, P < 0.001.

Twenty-five percent of major depressive disorder patients received a combination of drugs with the potential to interfere with CYP2D6 metabolic pathway. These combinations increased with comorbidity and resulted in shorter medication persistence of antidepressant treatment.

Low levels of blood cholesterol have been found in some children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Psychotropic medications, commonly used by people with ASD and people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are frequently associated with altered metabolic profiles.

We aimed to compare metabolic features of adults with ASD or ID with those of a community-based population.

Data on blood fasting glucose (FBG), lipid profile, liver enzyme profile, TSH, BMI, medications and diagnoses of 80 adults with ASD, 77 adults with ID and 828 control adults were drawn from medical charts/database. Candidates that used glucose or lipid lowering medications were not included.

Total-cholesterol levels of people with ASD and ID were significantly lower than those of the controls (168.3 ± 32.78, 168.2 ± 32.91, 185.4 ± 40.49 mg/dL, respectively, P < 0.001) but after adjusting for gender, age and BMI and using Bonferroni correction, the significance was lost. Compared to controls, ASD and ID had significantly lower FBG (by –14.45 ± 1.81, –14.58 ± 1.54 mg/dl, respectively; P < 0.001 for both) and liver enzymes, despite using psychotropic medications.

In contrast to other psychiatric patients receiving similar medications, people with ASD and ID have unaltered lipid profiles and lower glucose and liver enzyme levels compared to a community-based population.

To assess the comorbidity rates of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) in bipolar disorder (BD) and to explore possible sources of heterogeneity.

Studies were identified through database searches. Meta-analytic techniques were employed to aggregate data on lifetime comorbidity and to explore possible sources of heterogeneity. Funnel plots were used to detect publication bias.

In clinical studies, AUDs affected more than one in three subjects with BD. Significant heterogeneity was found, which was largely explained by the geographical location of study populations and gender ratio of participants. AUDs affected more than one in five women and two in five men.

AUDs are highly prevalent in BD. Our study revealed a substantial heterogeneity across studies. Further research including control groups is needed. Patients with BD should be assessed for current and previous AUDs.

Investigating genetic modulation of emotion processing may contribute to the understanding of heritable mechanisms of emotional disorders. The aim of the present study was to test the effects of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) val158met and serotonin-transporter-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphisms on facial emotion processing in healthy individuals.

Two hundred and seventy five (167 female) participants were asked to complete a computerized facial affect recognition task, which involved four experimental conditions, each containing one type of emotional face (fearful, angry, sad or happy) intermixed with neutral faces. Participants were asked to indicate whether the face displayed an emotion or was neutral. The COMT-val158met and 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms were genotyped.

Met homozygotes (COMT) showed a stronger bias to perceive neutral faces as expressions of anger, compared with val homozygotes. However, the S-homozygotes (5-HTTLPR) showed a reduced bias to perceive neutral faces as expressions of happiness, compared to L-homozygotes. No interaction between 5-HTTLPR and COMT was found.

These results add to the knowledge of individual differences in social cognition that are modulated via serotonergic and dopaminergic systems. This potentially could contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms of susceptibility to emotional disorders.

The use of clozapine (CLZ) for treatment-resistant schizophrenia is well established in adults. However, it is seldom used in youth with early onset schizophrenia (EOS) largely because of lack of clarity about its risk benefit ratio. This review synthesises and evaluates available evidence regarding the efficacy and tolerability of CLZ in EOS with the aim to assist clinical decision-making.

We conducted a systematic review of the primary literature on the clinical efficacy and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) observed during CLZ treatment in EOS. We also identified relevant practice guidelines and summarised current guidance.

CLZ showed superior efficacy than other antipsychotics in treating refractory EOS patients; short-term clinical trials suggest an average improvement of 69% on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale that was sustained during long-term follow-up (up to 9 years). No fatalities linked to CLZ treatment were reported. Sedation and hypersalivation were the most common complaints, reported by over 90% of patients. Other common ADRs (reported in 10-60% of patients) were enuresis, constipation, weight gain, and non-specific EEG changes. Less common ADRs (reported in 10-30% of patients) were akathisia, tachycardia and changes in blood pressure. Neutropenia was reported in 6–15% of cases but was usually transient while agranulocytosis was rare (< 0.1%). Seizures were also uncommon (< 3%). Metabolic changes were relatively common (8–22%) but emergent diabetes was not frequently observed (< 6%). Overall the rate of discontinuation was low (3–6%). Current guidelines recommend the use of CLZ in EOS patients who have failed to respond to two adequate trials with different antipsychotics and provide detailed schedules of assessments to evaluate and assess potential ADRs both prior to initiation and throughout CLZ treatment.

Available data although limited in terms of number of studies are consistent in demonstrating that CLZ is effective and generally safe in the treatment of refractory EOS provided patients are regularly monitored

To advance mental health care use by developing recommendations to increase trust from the general public and patients, those who have been in contact with services, those who have never been in contact and those who care for their families in the mental health care system.

We performed a systematic literature search and the retrieved documents were evaluated by two independent reviewers. Evidence tables were generated and recommendations were developed in an expert and stakeholder consensus process.

We developed five recommendations which may increase trust in mental health care services and advance mental health care service utilization.

Trust is a mutual, complex, multidimensional and dynamic interrelationship of a multitude of factors. Its components may vary between individuals and over time. They may include, among others, age, place of residence, ethnicity, culture, experiences as a service user, and type of disorder. For mental health care services, issues of knowledge about mental health services, confidentiality, continuity of treatment, dignity, safety and avoidance of stigma and coercion are central elements to increase trust.

Evidence-based recommendations to increase mutual trust of service users and psychiatrists have been developed and may help to increase mental health care service utilization.

22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) and Williams syndrome (WS) are common neurogenetic microdeletion syndromes. The aim of the present study was to compare the neuropsychiatric and neurocognitive phenotypes of 22q11.2DS and WS.

Forty-five individuals with 22q11.2DS, 24 with WS, 22 with idiopathic developmental disability (DD) and 22 typically developing (TD) controls were compared for the rates of psychiatric disorders as well as cognitive executive and visuospatial functions.

We found that while anxiety, mood and disruptive disorders had an equally high prevalence among individuals with 22q11.2DS, WS and DDs, the 22q11.2DS group had the highest rates of psychotic disorders and the WS group had the highest rates of specific phobia. We also found that the WS group demonstrated more severe impairments in both executive and visuospatial functions than the other groups. WS and 22q11.2DS subjects had worse Performance-IQ than Verbal-IQ, a feature typical of non-verbal learning disorders.

These findings offer a wide perspective on unique versus common phenotypes in 22q11.2DS and WS.

How different ways of assessing suicidal ideation influence its prevalence, correlates and predictive validity among patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) remains unclear.

Within the Vantaa Primary Care Depression Study (PC-VDS, 91 patients) and the Vantaa Depression Study (VDS, 153 psychiatric out-and 41 inpatients), suicidal ideation was assessed with the Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D) item 3 and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) item 9, and by asking whether patients had seriously considered suicide during the episode. The positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV) for suicide attempts during a six-month follow-up were investigated.

Depending on the setting, 56–88% of patients had suicidal ideation in some of the assessments, but only 8–44% in all of them. Agreement ranged from negligible to moderate (kappa 0.06–0.64), being lowest among primary care patients. The correlates of suicidal ideation overlapped. No assessment had optimal sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV. Nevertheless, PPVs ranged up to 43%.

Which MDD patient is classified as having suicidal ideation depends strongly on the method of assessment, with the greatest variation likely in primary care. Differences in assessments may cause inconsistency in risk factors. Predicting suicide attempts is difficult, but not futile.

Independent studies have observed that persistent cigarette smoking is associated with impairments in executive function (EF: the manipulation of information in memory) and prospective memory (PM: remembering future plans and intentions). However, no research to date has considered whether deficits both sets of functions are exhibited in the same cohort of current smokers - which one would expect given that both EF and PM are intimately related.

The present study examined whether EF and PM deficits were evident in the same cohort of current smokers when compared with a neversmoked group.

A group of current smokers (CS; N=24) were compared with a control group who had never-smoked (NS; N=24). Scores on the Reserve Digit Span Task (RDST) and the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (CAMPROMPT) constituted the dependent factors. Age, mood, other drug use and IQ were also measured since these are known to impact upon memory independent of smoking status.

After omitting anyone using an illegal substance (e.g. ecstasy or cannabis) and after observing no between-group differences on age, gender, anxiety, depression, alcohol use and IQ, the CS group performed significantly worse on the RDST and recalled significantly fewer Time-Based and Event-Based tasks on CAMPROMPT, compared the NS group.

Both EF and PM functions are evident in the same cohort of chronic smokers when compared with a never-smoked group. These functions share common resources in the brain and it is feasible that persistent cigarette smoking damages those regions of the brain underpinning these shared resources.