The Covid 19 pandemic has had an enormous psychological impact in which women were mentally more affected than men (Berthelot et al 2020 - Liu et al 2020). More over it exacerbated symptoms and suffering in individuals with psychiatric disorders. The question is how did it affect individuals with autism (ASD). And if so, did it affect women and girls more that men and boys or differently.

To evaluate the impact of the covid 19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown in patients with ASD

a combination of literature review and assessement of the population of individuals with autism spectrum disorders in a large specialized unit for individuals with ASD

No seperate reports on individuals with ASD were found in the recent literature. Obviously the pandemic and confinement had great impact on individuals with intellectual disabilities amongst whom many individuals with comorbid developmental disorders as ADHD and/or Autism (e.g.Palacio-Ortiz et al 2020 - Guessoum et al 2020) In our population some remarkable outcomes were noted in the sense that a substantial part of the population with autism had positive experiences: e.g. clear social rules / less contact. Males enjoyed more online contact and games / experienced less loneliness - In females we found significantly more depressive symptoms, anxiety and suicidal behaviour.

Covid 19 has had a great psychological impact with marked gender differences. Remarkably in ASD men enjoyed some of the benefits of the confinement. In women with ASD the emotional impact was significantly higher.

No significant relationships.

General Lockdown was first declared in Tunisia from March 20th to May 4th 2020 to contain the spread of COVID19 pandemic, the last sanitary lockdown period was declared from July 12th to august 1st in 2021. Psychiatric emergency access and consultation has been affected by the confinement. RAZI Hospital Emergency Department (RHED) is the only emergency department in Tunisia specialized in psychiatry. Thus making it the most representative psychiatric emergency health care service in Tunisia.

To assess changes in patients flow and admission rates in RHED in the context of the COVID-19 lockdown

We examined emergency room records and the hospital’s computer admission database during the first and the last COVID19 lockdowns and compared it to the same period of the previous year.

The number of consultations was significantly lower in 2020 lockdown (N = 577) compared the same period in 2019 (N = 1525) (p<10−3). We observed a drop in RHED emergency hospitalization rate from 45.57% to 29.81% during this study period. The number of consultations per day was significantly lower during the first lockdown (N= 12.44) compared to the last lockdown (N=26.61) (p<10−3), the hospitalization rate rose from 29.81% during the first lockdown to 44.36% during the last.

Fear of COVID19 contamination and lockdown limitation had a huge impact on RHED visits and admissions. Medical team had to adjust in order to prevent further delay in acute psychiatric care.

No significant relationships.

Complete adherence to public health guidelines is essential to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Studies on the factors associated with increased/decreased adherence to these measures have the potential to inform public policies directed at increasing adherence, and thus helping to control the spread of the current pandemic.

This study aimed at assessing the demographic and psychosocial predictors of the perceived risk of the COVID-19 and adherence to confinement guidelines during the first mandatory lockdown in Portugal.

A convenience sample of 430 adults living in Portugal between March 19th and May 2nd, 2020 completed an online survey asking participants about the perceived risk of the COVID-19 and adherence to confinement guidelines. Participants also completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and measures of psychological function. Multiple regression analysis was performed.

Teleworking and Risk and COVID-19 controllability were significant predictors of the perceived risk of COVID-19 as measured by the perceived risk of being infected with COVID-19. Teleworking participants and those perceiving COVID-19 as less controllable reported a higher perceived risk of being infected with COVID-19 than those who were not in telework and perceived COVID-19 as a controllable condition. Adherence to confinement guidelines was predicted by the mental health status and perceived risk of COVID-19. Participants who reported worse mental health status, who perceived COVID-19 as a dangerous condition, and who trusted the public health system reported greater adherence to confinement guidelines.

The results of this study will be discussed considering their implications to public health policymaking to promote adherence to public health policies.

No significant relationships.

Shared psychotic disorder or Folie a deux is an unusual mental disorder characterized by the transfer of delusions between two or more people who have a close relationship. An individual (inductor or primary) who suffers from a psychotic disorder, influences one or more individuals (induced or secondary). Delusional disorders or schizophrenia are the most commonly diagnosed disorders in the inductor individual.

The objective of this study is to describe the clinical characteristics of an unusual entity such as shared psychotic disorder.

Description of a clinical case of shared psychotic disorder of a family treated in the emergency room during confinement.

47-year-old woman, goes to the emergency room with her husband. No psychiatric history. Both the patient and her husband verbalize delusions of harm and surveillance from neighbors. They also report that two of their children hold this belief. The mother, unlike the rest of the cohabitants, presents disqualifying auditory hallucinations. Her husband decides to take her to the emergency room because he finds her distressed, “between two realities” and aggressive when she is confronted about hallucinations. We start treatment with oral paliperidone in the mother and a subsequent follow- up, and a total remission of symptoms in all cohabitants.

As in other mental disorders, the correct diagnosis and subsequent referral are essential. The separation of the inductor individual from the induced one is useful for the correct management of this disorder. With timely intervention and a regular follow-up, the Folie a deux has a good prognosis.

No significant relationships.

The confinement did begot a recrudescence in the rate of stress within populations. Meanwhile, research targeting the mental health of the psychiatric patients’ accompanyings are scarce.

Detect and evaluate anxiety levels of patients’ entourage during confinement.

It is a retrospective, descriptive and analytical study based on a random sample of People accompanying psychiatric patients from externals consultations service in the only Psychiatric Hospital in Tunisia. Data were been collected during the month of June 2020 via a 20 items questionnaire and a score HAD issued in Arabic.

One hundred thirty five accompanyings were surveyed. The age group was predominantly between 51 and 60 with a sex ratio of 0.31. Near half was the parents. eighty seven were unemployed, 38 stopped working due to confinement and 10 have been worked normally. A pathological anxiety HAD score (>7) was found in 36 accompanyings (26, 67 %). Amongst them, 19 had manifested symptoms. Anxiety levels are significantly much higher in accompanyings of patients with personality disorders (p=0.053). Otherwise, 52, 6% of accompanyings who stopped working felt more under pressure than before lockdown. In contrary to those who did not worked before at all (29.9 %) and those who continued working (10%).

It seems that the entourage of mentally ill patients experience a continuous psychological distress, which was uncovered and marked in confinement period. Thus, it is necessary to establish screening programs, psychological education and early care to ensure their well-being.

No significant relationships.

Zoanthropy is a mental disorder in which a patient believes to be an animal. These patients believe they have morphed into another species and began to act like such. Several types of zoanthropy have been described. Mental disorders can be triggered by stressful life events in patients with certain vulnerability. Hearing impairment as a risk factor for psychosis has been suggested in Psychiatry research. The potential mechanisms underlying this association included loneliness, diminished theory of mind, disturbances of source monitoring and top-down processing and deafferentiation.

This case presents a patient, with no history of psychiatric diseases, who developed the delirious of being a dog during Codiv-19 quarantine.

Previously healthy, sixty-year-old woman, with poor hearing, was taken to the Hospital for altered behavior after the confinement was stated. A low back pain started which derived on walking difficulties. The transformation begun and she started walking on four legs, barked and even pooped like a dog. Physical examination was normal. Mental exam revealed presence of delusion. Blood tests and brain imaging revealed no abnormalities. A treatment based on long-acting injectable aripiprazole was started.

Within 4 months of treatment, her mental state improved by attenuation of psychotic symptoms.

Sensory impairment and social isolation, have been associated with late-onset psychosis, but appear to exert a nonspecific influence on vulnerability. Early assessment and treatment of hearing impairment in patients with high risk of psychosis may be essential in psychosis treatment and prevention.

No significant relationships.