Field Of Mental Health Care Research Articles

SCZ-SCAN: An automated Schizophrenia detection system from electroencephalogram signals

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a severe neurological and physiological syndrome that perverts a patient’s perception of reality. SCZ exhibits several symptoms, including hallucinations, delusions, aberrant behavior, and thinking. It affects their professional, academic, personal, and social lives. Neurologists use a variety of verbal and visual tests to determine SCZ. However, these methods are laborious, time-consuming, superficial, and vulnerable to mistakes. Therefore, it is necessary to create an automated model for SCZ detection. Convolutional neural networks have swiftly established themselves in the field of mental health care due to the growth of deep learning in recent decades. Electroencephalogram (EEG) data records the variations in the neural dynamics of human memory. Using EEG data, this study proposes an automatic SCZ detection method using separable convolution attention network (SCZ-SCAN). The proposed network employs depth-wise separable convolution and attention networks on high-level and low-level to aggregate characteristics of 2-D scalogram images acquired from the continuous wavelet transform. The depth-wise separable convolutions help to create a lightweight framework, while attention techniques concentrate on significant features and reduce futile computations by removing the transmission of irrelevant features. The proposed approach has an average classification accuracy of 99% and 95% on the IBIB-PAN and EEG data from the basic sensory task in SZ dataset. Moreover, statistical hypothesis testing is performed using Wilcoxon’s Rank-Sum test to signify the model performance and it proves that SCZ-SCAN is statistically efficient to nine cutting-edge methods.Experimental results show that the PSFAN statistically defeats 11 contemporary methods, proving its effectiveness for medical industrial applications.

Mindcraft, a Mobile Mental Health Monitoring Platform for Children and Young People: Development and Acceptability Pilot Study.

Children and young people's mental health is a growing public health concern, which is further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mobile health apps, particularly those using passive smartphone sensor data, present an opportunity to address this issue and support mental well-being. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a mobile mental health platform for children and young people, Mindcraft, which integrates passive sensor data monitoring with active self-reported updates through an engaging user interface to monitor their well-being. A user-centered design approach was used to develop Mindcraft, incorporating feedback from potential users. User acceptance testing was conducted with a group of 8 young people aged 15-17 years, followed by a pilot test with 39 secondary school students aged 14-18 years, which was conducted for a 2-week period. Mindcraft showed encouraging user engagement and retention. Users reported that they found the app to be a friendly tool helping them to increase their emotional awareness and gain a better understanding of themselves. Over 90% of users (36/39, 92.5%) answered all active data questions on the days they used the app. Passive data collection facilitated the gathering of a broader range of well-being metrics over time, with minimal user intervention. The Mindcraft app has shown promising results in monitoring mental health symptoms and promoting user engagement among children and young people during its development and initial testing. The app's user-centered design, the focus on privacy and transparency, and a combination of active and passive data collection strategies have all contributed to its efficacy and receptiveness among the target demographic. By continuing to refine and expand the app, the Mindcraft platform has the potential to contribute meaningfully to the field of mental health care for young people.

Population psychoprophylaxis and informational psychohygiene: basic directions

The relevance of the development of a preventive direction in the field of mental health care is beyond doubt. Mental health is an integral part and the most important component of the quality of health and includes not only the absence of mental disorders and various forms of disability caused by them, but also the state of mental well-being, in which the individual realizes his individual abilities, can withstand stress loads and be productive in everyday and professional activities. In this respect, the preservation of mental health is at the core not only of the well-being of the individual and his microsociety, but also of the functioning of society as a whole. Mental health care not only concerns the early diagnosis and effective treatment of mental disorders, but also focuses on broad aspects of population psychoprophylaxis and informational psychohygiene, contributing to the promotion of mental health and reducing the prevalence of the most relevant mental disorders. There is evidence of the positive impact of public health interventions on the prevalence of mental disorders. The general principles of the system of psychoprophylaxis imply the organization of three components: psychohygienic, psychoprophylactic and public mental health monitoring. The main directions of implementation of population psychoprophylaxis are: educational, socio-economic, environmental, humanistic and informational. Informational hygiene is a basic element of strengthening the mental health of the population, because a number of effects of informational influence can be predictors of mental ill-being of the population. Approaches to the assessment of informational content for its monitoring for destructive and manipulative content are proposed.

Conversational Agent Interventions for Mental Health Problems: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Mental health problems are a crucial global public health concern. Owing to their cost-effectiveness and accessibility, conversational agent interventions (CAIs) are promising in the field of mental health care. This study aims to present a thorough summary of the traits of CAIs available for a range of mental health problems, find evidence of efficacy, and analyze the statistically significant moderators of efficacy via a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trial. Web-based databases (Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Cochrane) were systematically searched dated from the establishment of the database to October 30, 2021, and updated to May 1, 2022. Randomized controlled trials comparing CAIs with any other type of control condition in improving depressive symptoms, generalized anxiety symptoms, specific anxiety symptoms, quality of life or well-being, general distress, stress, mental disorder symptoms, psychosomatic disease symptoms, and positive and negative affect were considered eligible. This study followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. Data were extracted by 2 independent reviewers, checked by a third reviewer, and pooled using both random effect models and fixed effects models. Hedges g was chosen as the effect size. Of the 6900 identified records, a total of 32 studies were included, involving 6089 participants. CAIs showed statistically significant short-term effects compared with control conditions in improving depressive symptoms (g=0.29, 95% CI 0.20-0.38), generalized anxiety symptoms (g=0.29, 95% CI 0.21-0.36), specific anxiety symptoms (g=0.47, 95% CI 0.07-0.86), quality of life or well-being (g=0.27, 95% CI 0.16-0.39), general distress (g=0.33, 95% CI 0.20-0.45), stress (g=0.24, 95% CI 0.08-0.41), mental disorder symptoms (g=0.36, 95% CI 0.17-0.54), psychosomatic disease symptoms (g=0.62, 95% CI 0.14-1.11), and negative affect (g=0.28, 95% CI 0.05-0.51). However, the long-term effects of CAIs for the most mental health outcomes were not statistically significant (g=-0.04 to 0.39). Personalization and empathic response were 2 critical facilitators of efficacy. The longer duration of interaction with conversational agents was associated with the larger pooled effect sizes. The findings show that CAIs are research-proven interventions that ought to be implemented more widely in mental health care. CAIs are effective and easily acceptable for those with mental health problems. The clinical application of this novel digital technology will conserve human health resources and optimize the allocation of mental health services. PROSPERO CRD42022350130; https://tinyurl.com/mvhk6w9p.

Young Adult Mental Health Beyond the COVID-19 Era: Can Enlightened Policy Promote Long-Term Change?

The status of mental health for adolescents and young adults has aptly been termed a "crisis" across research, clinical, and policy quarters. Arguably, the status quo provision of mental health services for adolescents and young adults is neither acceptable nor salvageable in its current form. Instead, only a wholesale policy transformation of mental health sciences can address crises of this scope. Pandemic-related impacts on mental health, particularly among young adults, have clearly exposed the need for the mental healthcare field to develop a set of transformative priorities to achieve long overdue, systemic changes: (1) frequent mental health tracking, (2) increased access to mental health care, (3) working with and within communities, (4) collaboration across disciplines and stakeholders, (5) prevention-focused emphasis, (6) use of dimensional descriptions over categorical pronouncements, and (7) addressing systemic inequities. The pandemic required changes in mental healthcare that can and should be the beginning of long-needed reform, calling upon all mental health care disciplines to embrace innovation and relinquish outdated traditions.

From criticism of protocols to criticism of the diagnostic practice. The sociological contribution to psychiatric practice in an age of mental illness epidemics

This paper discusses the role that sociological reflection can play in learning and improving knowledge in the field of mental health care. Two different positions within sociology will be discussed. The first one, taken from a constructionist perspective, interprets the role of sociology as a critical instance and highlights how the adoption of rigid formal protocols in psychiatry has hindered and endangered the autonomy and necessary discretion of clinicians at the moment of diagnosis. The second position, which takes an ethnomethodological point of view, holds instead that it is pointless to focus on formal protocols because concrete diagnostic practice consists of other procedures, not at all comparable to the official ones described by the DSM. For ethnomethodology, the contribution of sociology is not to add sociological knowledge to psychiatric knowledge, but to make the real resources and competences of clinical work explicit.

From the Editors

With this its inaugural issue, Integratus passes from aspiration to reality. The journal will have—has—a distinct voice in the field of mental health care. As the journal of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association, it brings Catholic voices into the scholarly and praxis-oriented conversations about human suffering and healing, mental health and flourishing, forms of therapy, and reflections on the deeper meanings and significance of this domain of human living and dying. Readers of this journal will be able to find these and related topics, relevant to Catholic approaches to psychotherapy, addressed in every issue.

Collect, Share, Act: A transtheoretical clinical model for doing measurement-based care in mental health treatment.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported online in Psychological Services on Feb 27 2023 (see record 2023-49917-001). In the original article, changes were needed to correct the unintentional omission of noteworthy work in the area discussed and to improve clarity. In the fifth paragraph of the introductory section, the first two sentences have been edited. In addition, a full reference for Duncan and Reese (2015) was added to the reference list and text citations were added as needed throughout. All versions of this article have been corrected.] Regardless of discipline or setting, psychotherapists and other professionals working in the field of mental health care share one common goal: For the recipients of care to experience improvements that are meaningful to them. Measurement-based care (MBC) is a transtheoretical clinical process that uses patient-reported outcome measures to monitor treatment progress and to inform treatment planning and goal setting. Though ample evidence supports MBC as enhancing collaboration and improving outcomes, its practice is not the norm. One possible barrier to greater utilization of MBC in routine care is lack of consensus in the literature on what MBC is and how it should be practiced. In this article, we discuss this lack of consensus and detail the model for MBC developed by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) MBC in Mental Health Initiative. Though it is simple, the VHA Collect, Share, Act model is consistent with the best clinical evidence to date and can serve as a guide for clinicians, health care systems, researchers, and educators. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Uses of Artificial Intelligence in Psychology

Machine learning has a new landscape for humanity in the area of artificial intelligence (AI). Artificial intelligence (AI) approaches have recently been developed to support mental health professionals, primarily psychiatrists, psychologists, and clinicians, with decision-making based on patients' historical data (e.g., clinical history, behavioral data, social media use, etc.). This article reviews developments in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and their current and potential applications in clinical psychological practice. Issues associated with AI in the context of clinical practice, the potential risk for job loss among mental health professionals, and other ramifications associated with the advancement of AI technology are discussed. The advancement of AI technologies and their application in psychological practice have important implications that can be expected to transform the mental health care field. Psychologists and other mental health care professionals have an essential part to play in the development, evaluation, and ethical use of AI technologies.

Mental Health Monitoring and Detection Based on Machine Learning and IoT Data

Recently, the Internet of Things (IoT) has become a buzzword in various technology fields because of its many applications. Healthcare is one of the most important fields in daily life and holds significant interest for IoT and artificial intelligence researchers. In the area of healthcare, the mental healthcare field has attracted many researchers and funding organizations for various reasons. Among those reasons are the adverse impact of mental conditions on both individuals and society, the high costs of mental care, the nature of mental conditions and their hidden and unclear symptoms, and the stigma associated with them. In this work, an approach to building an IoT mental health monitoring and detection system has been proposed. The depression problem is used as a case study for the mental conditions. The proposed approach involves data collection, data pre-processing, feature extraction, feature selection, and model building. Machine learning (ML) and data mining techniques, along with different data types for training and testing the models, have been utilized to accomplish the tasks of the proposed approach. Four ML algorithms have been investigated to detect and predict the diagnosis of the mental state. These algorithms are random forest, decision tree, support vector machine (SVM) and [Formula: see text]-nearest neighbors (KNN). Our ML detection model has achieved a high detection accuracy of 95% using the random forest algorithm. Comparisons in different aspects with other works are presented. Our work has the advantages of using ML, adopting different data types, and therefore achieving better classification.

Conceptual and practical challenges associated with understanding patient safety within community-based mental health services.

Patient safety problems stemming from healthcare delivery constitute a global public health concern and represent a pervasive barrier to improving care quality and clinical outcomes. However, evidence generation into safety in mental health care, particularly regarding community-based mental health services, has long fallen behind that of physical health care, forming the focus of fewer research publicationsand developed largely in isolation from the wider improvement science discipline. We aimed to investigate the state of the field, along with key conceptual and empirical challenges to understanding patient safety in community-based mental health care. A narrative review surveyed the literature to appraise the conceptual obstacles to advancing the science of patient safety in community-based mental health services. Sources were identified through a combination of a systematic search strategy and targeted searches of theoretical and empirical evidence from the fields of mental health care, patient safetyand improvement science. Amongst available evidence, challenges in defining safety in the context of community mental health care, evaluating safety in long-term care journeysand establishing what constitutes a 'preventable' safety problem, were identified. A dominant risk management approach to safety in mental health care, positioning service users as the origin of risk, has seemingly prevented a focus on proactive safety promotion, considering iatrogenic harm and latent system hazards. We propose a wider conceptualization of safety and discuss the next steps for the integration and mobilization of disparate sources of 'safety intelligence', to advance how safety is conceived and addressed within community mental health care. This paper was part of a larger research project aimed at understanding and improving patient safety in community-based mental health care. Although service users, carers and healthcare professionals were not involved as part of this narrative review, the views of these stakeholder groups were central to shaping the wider research project. For a qualitative interview and focus group study conducted alongside this review, interview topic guides were informed by this narrative analysis, designed jointly and piloted with a consultation group of service users and carers with experience of community-based mental health services for working-age adults, who advised on key questioning priorities.

Lived experiences of mental health conditions in Singapore: A constructivist grounded theory study.

Since the 1990s, the mental healthcare field has begun shifting to conceptualisations of personal mental health recovery, emphasising the heterogeneous nature of how people develop and overcome the difficulties associated with mental ill health. Despite three decades of research on the topic, most recovery-oriented studies have been conducted in predominantly Western cultures, lacking the necessary nuances when applied in Asian settings. We sought to contribute to a growing body of research to fill this gap by exploring the experiences of people who experience mental ill-health in Singapore. We adopted a constructivist grounded theory approach and interviewed 21 people who had been diagnosed as experiencing a mental health condition. The core category emerging from interview participant perspectives was a 'roller coaster ride of confusion'. This overarching category was made up of the following four sub-categories - 'not understanding what was happening', 'losing control over self', 'unpacking the root of challenges' and 'trying to make sense of the situation'. Taken together, the journey of a person experiencing mental health recovery in Singapore is filled with obstacles and uncertainty due to various social and cultural influences such as family pressures, the competitiveness of society and the high-pressure nature of Singapore's educational system. Future research needs to better understand if these are generalisable experiences, and interventions to mitigate their impact need to be explored. Given the strong societal influences, change will take time. Still, this study gives a voice to the lived experiences of people who face mental health challenges in Singapore in the hope that their insights may assist future generations in developing a more mentally healthy society.

Psychiatric care or protection of the mental health of the nation: new approaches in reforming psychiatry

The current state of the psychiatric care system in Ukraine and its legal regulation have been analyzed. Emphasis is placed on positive changes in national legislation, in particular in the construction of the organizational structure of the mental health care system in Ukraine. The factors of reforming the system of providing psychiatric care in Ukraine have been singled out. The relationship between the concepts of “psychiatric care” and “mental health care” has been analyzed and the author’s definition of “mental health care” has been formulated. The organizational structure of the mental health care system of the secondary level of psychiatric care in Ukraine has been proposed, which should include: a) consultation centers, where psychiatric and psychological assistance and rehabilitation support should be provided; b) day hospital in polyclinics; c) psychiatric hospitals. The expediency of the development and adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On the mental health care system”, the approval of the Regulation on the procedure for providing psychiatric care based on the principle of a multidisciplinary team, the Procedure for the interaction of subjects which are service providers in the field of mental health care has been substantiated. It has been proposed to make changes to the Handbook of qualification characteristics of workers’ professions and the State Classifier of Ukraine in order to bring them into line with international standards. These are psychotherapists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, etc. At the same time, it should be focused on the profession, and not on the position or place of work in the field of mental health care. The expediency of developing and introducing programs for the prevention of mental health problems and ensuring the implementation of effective control over the observance of human rights in the field of mental health care has been substantiated.

Matters of the Autistic Mind: What Is the Role of Material Objects in Social Interaction?

Matters of the Autistic Mind: What Is the Role of Material Objects in Social Interaction? Derek Strijbos*, MD, PhD (bio) Is autism a condition internal to the person that causes problems in social interaction? Or should we conceive of autism primarily at the level of interaction, as a “two-way” phenomenon (Krueger & Maiese, 2018) that develops in the relation between the person with autism and her social-material environment? Over the last decade or so, this issue has increasingly gained interest, not only in academia, but also in the field of mental health care and in the wider public domain. Much is at stake here. Framing autism as an internal deficit or rather as an interaction phenomenon has far-reaching implications for scientific research and clinical practice. It steers the focus of autism research by determining the kind of research questions we deem scientifically and clinically relevant. In mental health care, it influences the way in which we conceive of the problems people with autism struggle with and seek help for. Are the social difficulties that people with autism experience to be framed in terms of their lack of “theory of mind” (e.g., Baron Cohen, 2000)? Or should we rather start our clinical inquiry with the acknowledgment of a “double empathy problem” (Milton, 2012) that shapes the social interaction between the autistic individual and non-autistic people, health care professionals included? More generally, are the problems experienced by people with autism to be explained with reference to internal mental dysfunction? Or should rather we take as our primary diagnostic unit of analysis the structural mismatch in needs, interests, experienced salience and perceived possibilities between the person with autism and the wider social world? These background assumptions regarding the nature of autism shape diagnostic case formulations, guide treatment interventions and determine the tone of the therapeutic relationship. Beyond scientific and clinical interests, the issue also has wider societal implications. Framing autism as a difference rather than a disorder, voices in the recovery and (neuro) diversity movement have suggested that the problems experienced by people with autism are first and foremost social—or rather societal—problems originating from a failure of society to make room for autistic forms of life (cf. Silberman, 2015). [End Page 213] I think it is important to keep these wider issues in mind when reading Boldsen’s paper. First, as Boldsen herself makes clear, her inquiry into the role of material objects in the immediate environment in shaping social interaction for people with autism is motivated by phenomenological, enactivist and externalist conceptions of mind and cognitive science. These philosophical views argue against the internalist understanding of mind and mental (dys)functioning still prevalent in mainstream autism research and treatment programs. These philosophical views explicitly endorse a relational view of mind, thereby making room for a relational view of autism (e.g., De Haan, 2020; De Jaegher, 2013; Fuchs, 2018; Gallagher & Varga, 2015). Second, Boldsen’s study is one of few empirical attempts to take seriously the idea that the material environment plays an important role in shaping social interaction for people with autism. Straddling the divide between the “social” and “non-social” characteristics of autism, this idea has significant potential for both research and clinical practice. Scientifically, it opens up a whole new range of empirical questions as to how (shared) engagement with material objects enables people with autism to regulate their sensory, affective and cognitive attunement within the social world. Clinically, it motivates both health-care professionals and service users to take even more seriously the possibility that the shaping of the physical environment and the handling of material objects in social situations might play an important role in facilitating attunement and synchronization and reducing social stress and overstimulation. And as Boldsen highlights at the end of her paper, these considerations also point toward broader societal questions regarding the shaping of material niches that afford autistic ways of social life. Interpreting the qualitative data of her field-work study, Boldsen suggests two ways in which material things can sustain and facilitate social interaction for people with autism: first, material things solicit sensory engagement for the persons with autism in virtue of their sensible qualities...

Mental health laws in India

Supportive legislation and policies are needed for human rights and mental health treatment for disadvantaged people. Internationally and regionally, both "hard" and "soft" legislation relating to mental health treatment have been drafted. In the field of mental health care in India, amendments to existing laws and the formation of new laws are frequently necessary and have been seen. So far, mental health care reform has primarily been reactive, but current legislation and policies provide the prospect of proactive change. One of the most serious issues in providing good mental health treatment in India is a shortage of qualified human resources. While postgraduate psychiatric standards prescribe a two-week forensic psychiatry course, this is insufficient to establish the essential competency. As a result, forensic psychiatry requires the development of a specialisation. In addition, forensic psychiatric services must be created, organised, and maintained. In India, one or more centres of expertise in forensic psychiatry are required

Recovery-Oriented Cross-Sectoral Network Meetings between Mental Health Hospital Professionals and Community Mental Health Professionals: A Critical Discourse Analysis.

Aims and objectives: In the medical field, we lack knowledge on how interprofessional collaboration across sectors is carried out. This paper explores how healthcare professionals and users perceive recovery-oriented cross-sectoral discharge network meetings between mental health hospital professionals and community mental health professionals and which discourses manifest themselves within the field of mental healthcare. Method: Ten professionals from a mental health hospital and eight community mental health professionals participated. In addition, five users with experience in mental health services in both sectors participated. Fairclough’s discourse analysis framework was used to explore their experiences. The study was designed following the ethical principles of the Helsinki Declaration and Danish law. Each study participant in the two intersectoral sectors gave their informed consent after verbal and written information was provided. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist was used as a guideline to secure accurate and complete reporting of the study). Results: The healthcare professionals in both sectors are governed by steering tools, legislation and a strong biomedical tradition to solve illness-related problems, such that users must be offered treatment and support to achieve self-care as soon as possible. This can be seen as a reflection of, and a driving force in, a change in the wider social practice that Fairclough terms the ‘marketisation of discourse’—a social development in late modernity, whereby market discourse colonises the discursive practices of public institutions. The user of psychiatric and social services experiences a structured system that does not offer the necessary time for deep conversations. Users do not consider recovery as something that is only seen in relation to the efforts of the professionals, as recovery largely takes place independently of professionals. Recovery depends on users’ internal resources and a strong network that can support them on the journey. Conclusion: Healthcare professionals perceive recovery-oriented cross-sectoral discharge network meetings to reflect paternalistic and biomedical discourses. Users want to be seen more as whole persons and did not experience sufficient involvement in the intersectoral care. Relevance to clinical practice: Healthcare professionals need to be supported to seek clarity in the understanding and operationalisation of a recovery-oriented approach, if the agenda is to be truly adopted and strengthened.

Outpatient Services for People with Mental Disorders in the Kyrgyz Republic: What Is Next?: Состояние внебольничной помощи в Кыргызстане: что дальше?

The outpatient care service for patients with mental disorders in the Kyrgyz Republic is currently experiencing various difficulties. These are largely due to a number of organizational and socio-economic problems at the state level. Treatment of patients with mental disorders is still provided in state mental health centres, while psychosocial services at the community level are only now beginning to be developed. This article describes the directions of mental health care, as well as ongoing efforts to provide outpatient care for people with mental disorders. The actions of a few prolific nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are proving insufficient to meet the needs of patients. There is currently a gradual and visible movement toward the development of the private sector in the field of mental healthcare. In order to overcome organizational difficulties, support from government structures and certain initiatives to create legislative grounds are needed.

Mental health, human rights, and legal capacity

In September, 2021, our edited volume Mental Health, Human Rights and Legal Capacity was published.1 The book takes an interdisciplinary approach to engage with evolving debates related to legal capacity in the field of mental health care, documenting perspectives from legal scholars, practitioners, policy makers, advocates, and people with lived experience of mental health conditions from diverse regions worldwide. The volume is intended to stimulate a conversation. Its objective is to document good practices while also recognising that there remain considerable barriers to the implementation of non-coercive models of mental health support, as required by the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Shortages of medicines in a psychiatric hospital in Cyprus

Abstract Background The incidence of drug shortages has surged in recent years and it poses a major threat to public health worldwide. It can also downgrade the quality of care provided to patients. Data concerning shortages pertinent to mental health care are scarce, while treatment continuity is vital to avert disease recurrence and deterioration of patients’ mental health. Objective The scope of this study is to elucidate the attitudes and perceptions of mental health professionals regarding drug shortages in Cyprus in a tertiary health institute, through a specially designed questionnaire. Results The most frequently reported effects of psychiatric drug shortages were the impaired efficacy of the alternative therapeutic regimen, re-admission of patients, delays in care provision and increased frequency of adverse events. Concerning the loss of working hours in managing drug shortages, the majority responded that they dedicate 1 to 5 working hours to this per week. Informing the patient about alternative medication and the ongoing shortages were the first strategies to minimise the effects of shortages, as attested by 74% and 72% of responders, respectively. The proposed solutions for drug shortages included thorough investigation of the root causes, the elaboration of an e-based database, drawing up a national annual report and assuming legal responsibility of pharmaceutical companies. Drug shortages constitute an important burden in the field of mental health care in Cyprus. Given the serious impact of the problem and the externalities of mental health disorders, appropriate measures must be swiftly taken to ensure timely and effective administration of the appropriate therapeutic regimen.

Relationships between COVID-19 disease and mental disorders: A view from practice in clinical psychology

In this study, the author focuses on three areas of problems that are observed in the direct ambulatory care of mental health in connection with COVID-19 disease. These are the issues of: 1) neuropsychological deficits; 2) anxiety and affective disorders; 3) psychotic disorders. The author tries to supplement the previous overview studies from the last year with observations from his own clinical practice and draw attention to the need for preparation and sufficient capacity of health services in the field of mental health care.