Perspective Of Psychiatry Research Articles

Towards Revisiting the Discourse on Soviet (and Post-Soviet) Repressive Psychiatry

Abstract This review essay is prompted by Rustam Alexander’s monograph Gay Lives and ‘Aversion Therapy’ in Brezhnev’s Russia, 1964–1982, which explores the under-researched history of gay lives and conversion therapy practices in the USSR. The essay critically interrogates the discourse surrounding Soviet repressive psychiatry (karatel’naiia psikhiatriia), highlighting its exclusionary narrative toward LGBTIQ+ individuals. Drawing on Alexander’s exploration of the conversion therapy practice of the Soviet psychiatrist Yan Goland, who employed suggestive methods to attempt to alter sexual orientation, the article places Goland’s practice within broader Soviet medical history and post-Soviet political psychiatry. The essay further underscores the relevance of this history in contemporary Russia, where LGBTIQ+ individuals continue to face medicalization and repression, echoing past practices. It concludes by calling for the incorporation of queer and critical psychiatry perspectives into the discourse on psychiatric abuse in Russia.

'Impaired in life': Analyzing people's accounts of depression in Ethiopia - Implications for a cultural-eco social approach to global mental health.

Depression is a global crisis and a major concern in mental health interventions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where it significantly impacts disability, quality of life, and economic stability. These chronic stressors have been used to argue for scaling up the detection and treatment of depression as a public health and development priority. This study aimed to explore illness narratives of depression among patients' and to gain insights into multifaceted suffering, its impact on persons' lives, and help seeking. This study is part the broader study which examined global mental health, biopolitics, and depression in Ethiopia, conducted in hospice setting to explore the conception of depression in Bahirdar city, Northern Ethiopia, among patients and health care providers. In this study, we focus on patients' accounts of depression. We employed an ethnography method using in-depth interviews, fieldnotes, and observation to collect the data. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Drawing from cross-cultural and critical psychiatry perspectives, we situate depression within its cultural-eco social framework. The study revealed that patients' experiences and conception of depression are deeply intertwined with Ethiopia's sociocultural, economic, and spiritual context. Depression was often described as a state of being 'impaired in life', reflecting the complex interplay of individual struggles and societal pressures. Integrating quotes from patients, we demonstrated in this analysis the ways in which biographically specific challenges, societal pressures, and mental well-being are understood by study participants in accordance with Ethiopian cultural and religious norms. The study suggests moving beyond narrow interpretative frameworks in GMH praxis to understand and address the complex dimensions of depression in Ethiopia and similar contexts. The study advocates for a cultural-ecosocial approach to depression, emphasizing the need for mental health interventions that consider the broader social and cultural factors contributing to mental distress.

Evolution: the bridge between 'biological' and 'social' psychiatry.

'Biological' and 'social' perspectives in psychiatry have exchanged dominance at different times in the history of our field and are sometimes erroneously viewed as being contrasting and mutually exclusive paradigms. We argue that the arbitrary 'biological/social' divide in psychiatry is misleading, unhelpful, and ultimately a false one. We propose that the evolutionary perspective provides a necessary framework and metatheory that can bridge this apparent schism in psychiatric thinking, providing novel and useful insights into how we can better assess, diagnose, and treat our patients.

The S3 Guideline on the Treatment of Language Development Disorders: Summary of Recommendations

The S3 Guideline on the Treatment of Language Development Disorders: Summary of Recommendations Abstract: The German S3 Guidelines on the Treatment of Developmental Speech and Language Disorders (AWMF: No. 049-015) were published on the AWMF homepage at the end of 2022. The German Society for Phoniatrics and Paedaudiologie coordinated the work and developed the guideline text together with linguists and speech and language therapists. Many scientific medical societies consented to the respective recommendations. For the first time in the German-speaking area, the guideline group reviewed international research results on the treatment of various speech and language disorders and formulated evidence- or consensus-based recommendations for clinical care. The present article summarizes these recommendations and evaluates the guidelines from the perspective of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy.

Mental health on the frontlines: Disaster psychiatry perspectives from Odisha

Abstract Disasters can have a profound impact on mental health, leading to stress, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, grief, substance abuse, and suicidality. These issues can persist for years, affecting 30%–60% of survivors, and risk and resilience depend on factors such as socioeconomic status, cultural background, health, trauma exposure, age, sex, and community support. Early interventions and long-term interventions, such as skills building, communal practices, cooperative livelihood programs, clinical therapies, and addressing health-care disparities, can help in recovery. Trauma can lead to neurobiological changes, and culturally sensitive mental health care is essential. Climate change accelerates extreme events, and disaster response systems must integrate such care to enhance resilience and mitigate trauma to disrupted communities such as Odisha and broadly affected populations worldwide.

Case Conceptualization Through the Four Perspectives of Psychiatry

Case Conceptualization Through the Four Perspectives of Psychiatry

Current Trends, Challenges for Research, and Therapeutic Perspectives in Nutritional Psychiatry

"Nutritional interventions in the field of psychiatry have been explored more intensively in the last two decades, but definitive conclusions based on the retrieved data in the literature about the efficacy of this therapeutic approach are difficult to formulate. This observation has multiple explanations, e.g., these therapeutic interventions are very heterogenous, cohort studies usually enroll different psychiatric populations or healthy subjects with minor psychiatric symptoms, nutritional supplements or special diets are commonly recommended as add-ons to the pharmacological interventions (thus making it difficult to differentiate the impact of each therapy on the outcomes), placebo-controlled randomized studies are still very few, etc. Therefore, a narrative review focused on the main challenges reported during the research in the field of nutritional psychiatry (NP) may be useful for clinicians interested in strategies to augment the efficacy of pharmacological treatments or to find new solutions with low risk of adverse events in patients with organic comorbidities or multiple concomitant medications. Data about the efficacy and tolerability of nutritional interventions explored for psychiatric disorders were searched in four electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Clarivate/Web of Science, and EMBASE). Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids supplementation, healthy diet interventions, folate and vitamin B12, S-adenosyl-L-methionine, N-acetyl cysteine, vitamin B1 and B6, vitamin D, minerals, psychobiotics, inositol, and herbal products were the main interventions identified, and their demonstrated efficacy was quite heterogenous, while their tolerability and safety were good. Therefore, NP is a domain of research that may benefit from more good-quality and longer-duration trials, in order to verify the effectiveness of such augmentation strategies to the already validated treatments."

Different perspectives in psychiatry: how family-oriented are professionals in Germany?

ΒackgroundChildren of parents with a mental illness have up to 50% chance of developing a mental illness themselves. Numerous studies have shown that preventive family-oriented interventions can decrease the risk by 40% and that professionals are a decisive factor influencing family-oriented practice. There are also substantial differences between professions in terms of their family-oriented practices. This study examines the level of family-oriented practice for different professional groups in Germany.MethodsData were used from the baseline assessment of the two-group randomized controlled multicenter trial ci-chimps as a subproject of CHIMPS-NET, which took place from January 2020 to May 2021 in 18 clinical centers in Germany. Child and adolescent mental health systems as well as adult mental health systems took part and every professional involved in the treatment was invited to participate. Data was used from 475 mental health professionals including physicians, psychologists, psychotherapists for adults and for children and adolescents, occupational/ music/ physio/ art therapists/ (social) education workers and nursing/ education service. Family-oriented mental health practice was examined using the translated version of the Family-Focused Mental Health Practice Questionnaire (FFMHPQ) with means and standard deviations calculated for each of the 18 FFMHPQ-GV subscales. ANOVAs were computed to compare professions and significant differences were examined via post hoc analyses (Scheffé). Additionally, effect sizes were calculated (Omega squared).ResultsDifferences were seen between the professions in all aspects of family-oriented practice: Both regarding organizational policy and support aspects, issues concerning working with parent-clients, as well as professional skills and knowledge aspects. Psychotherapists for children and adolescents scored the highest family-oriented practices compared to all other professional groups on almost all subscales.ConclusionThis study examines the level of family-oriented practice for different professional groups in Germany. Apart from skills and knowledge about the impact of mental illness and parenting, psychotherapists for children and adolescents had the highest scores and engaged most in family-oriented practice. Psychotherapists for adults got the least workplace support for family-oriented practice but were competent providing resources and referral information to the concerned families and feel confidence working with them. Due to these results, a training need exists to improve skills and knowledge about the impact of mental illness and parenting. Additionally, there is still potential for institutional support in promoting family-oriented work.Trial registrationThe CHIMPS-NET-study was registered with the German Clinical Trials Register on 2019–12-19 (DRKS00020380) and with Clinical Trials on 2020–4-30 (NCT04369625), the ci-chimps-study was registered with the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00026217) on 2021–08-27 and with Clinical Trials on 2021–11-04 (NCT05106673).

Resistance to the biomedicalization of mental illness through peer support: The case of peer specialists and mental health

Certified peer specialists (CPS) are mental health professionals who draw their expertise from lived experience with mental illness and mental distress. They tale a nonmedical, nonclinical approach to providing support to community members with mental health difficulties and in doing so, emphasize the role of social environmental factors that contribute to mental distress. Their perspectives are contrary to the biomedical perspective of mainstream psychiatry. While there is a significant body of literature on CPS, there is a dearth of research on how CPS engage in and perceive the broader mental health system. They resist the biomedicalization of mental illness by moving past labels and the language of pathology to facilitate recovery from mental illness and to resist stigma. Drawing from in-depth interviews with peer specialists, participant observation of a peer-run organization, and a survey of peer specialists across the United States, I ask the following research questions: How and why are CPS challenging the medical model of mental illness? How do CPS consider social environmental factors in the etiology of distress and what are the potential implications for resistance to both biomedicalization and stigmatization? My data suggest that CPS, in their critiques of the medical model and the mental health system, are actively resisting the biomedicalization of mental illness and focus on social environmental factors that contribute to experiences of distress. This research has meaningful implications for research on CPS and hope for recovery from mental illness.

Addressing Substance Use: National Suicide Prevention Strategy of India from an Addiction Psychiatry Perspective.

Addressing Substance Use: National Suicide Prevention Strategy of India from an Addiction Psychiatry Perspective.

The Earthquake Disaster in Türkiye: A Review from Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Perspective

The earthquake has long-lasting various mental and behavioral effects on children and adolescents. The aim of this review was to discuss the nature and extent of psychiatric problems, management options, and the process of organizing psychological interventions for affected children. Individuals show a range of physically, emotionally, and cognitively healthy responses that can help them cope with the aftermath of a disaster. Psychiatric symptoms such as acute stress reactions, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety disorder, increased risk of suicide, sleep disorders, substance use disorders, and psychotic disorders may develop in some children. Comorbidities and sub-clinical syndromes are also common. There are many risk factors and protective factors in the development of mental disorders. Close follow-up of children at high risk and interventions for psychosocial support may prevent the development of mental disorders. It is very important to start the intervention at the earliest period. The psychological impacts of young disaster victims can be addressed by skilled local volunteers, medical professionals, and educators in primary health care programs. With the nation's overall social and economic recovery, children can recover more quickly from traumatic experiences.

Connect Corner: Pixar’s Soul: Discussing Life and Death with Children

The acclaimed Pixar movie Soul boldly addresses existential questions about life, death, personality, and purpose. Delivered through a childfriendly medium, the film explores mature concepts that, for young audiences, may be their first acknowledgement of mortality. It may be daunting for parents to address their children’s questions of spirituality and death directly after the film. For parents who may be unsure themselves about what awaits them after death, these issues may be particularly confusing to navigate. Drawing from child psychiatry perspectives, we hope to provide some initial age-appropriate guidance for these difficult questions.

“Psychiatry Perspectives in Neurocognitive Disorders” – Parallel Session from the 17th International Summer School of Neurology

“Psychiatry Perspectives in Neurocognitive Disorders” – Parallel Session from the 17^th International Summer School of Neurology

The Mystery of the Crime in Skotoprigonyevsk (Plot Analysis of The Brothers Karamazov from the Perspective of Literature Studies, Psychology and Psychiatry)

In this article, by focusing on the two main protagonists, Mitya Karamazov and Pavel Smerdyakov, we would like to analyze the murder of Fyodor Karamazov, which is the crucial event in the novel The Brothers Karamazov. Although the majority of previous reports have claimed that the actual murder was Smerdyakov, we also analyze the possibility that Mitya could be the murderer. In order to reach this goal, we have conducted analysis of these two characters from the perspective of literature studies, psychology and psychiatry. Although we agree with Freud’s opinion [1] that it is not important who killed the father, but who wanted to kill him, we hope that our findings will allow us to formulate conclusions that will be helpful in new interpretations of this masterpiece. In addition, our study is the first to use the interdisciplinary approach with variety of instruments coming from the fields of medicine and humanities.

Understanding and management of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis from a child psychiatry perspective: report of five cases

ABSTRACT Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is a rare autoimmune entity in psychiatry literature that occurs when antibodies attack NMDA-type glutamate receptors in the brain. Principle clinical features include a neurological domain such as seizure, orofacial dyskinesia, dystonia, and choreic-like movements of extremities. Also the psychiatric manifestations of this form of encephalitis may vary from psychotic-like symptoms to mood symptoms like depression or mania. Herein we report on five female child cases diagnosed with anti-NMDAR encephalitis, presented with both neurological and psychiatric clinical picture, and highlight the trajectory of disorder from a psychiatric perspective.

Beyond Description and Deficits: How Computational Psychiatry Can Enhance an Understanding of Decision-Making in Anorexia Nervosa.

Despite decades of research, knowledge of the mechanisms maintaining anorexia nervosa (AN) remains incomplete and clearly effective treatments elusive. Novel theoretical frameworks are needed to advance mechanistic and treatment research for this disorder. Here, we argue the utility of engaging a novel lens that differs from existing perspectives in psychiatry. Specifically, we argue the necessity of expanding beyond two historically common perspectives: (1) the descriptive perspective: the tendency to define mechanisms on the basis of surface characteristicsand (2) the deficit perspective: the tendency to search for mechanisms associated with under-functioning of decision-making abilities and related circuity, rather than problems of over-functioning, in psychiatric disorders. Computational psychiatry can provide a novel framework for understanding AN because this approach emphasizes the role of computational misalignments (rather than absolute deficits or excesses) between decision-making strategies and environmental demands as the key factors promoting psychiatric illnesses. Informed by this approach, we argue that AN can be understood as a disorder of excess goal pursuit, maintained by over-engagement, rather than disengagement, of executive functioning strategies and circuits. Emerging evidence suggests that this same computational imbalance may constitute an under-investigated phenotype presenting transdiagnostically across psychiatric disorders. A variety of computational models can be used to further elucidate excess goal pursuit in AN. Most traditional psychiatric treatments do not target excess goal pursuit or associated neurocognitive mechanisms. Thus, targeting at the level of computational dysfunction may provide a new avenue for enhancing treatment for AN and related disorders.

Symposium

IntroductionGender is an important factor of mental health and mental illness. The patterns of psychological distress and psychiatric disorder among women are quite different than those in men. Women and men are genetically similar except that different hormones at different time and speed effect different regions of the brain resulting some brain cells to sprout faster than the others at the time of critical brain development. Psychosocial factors like poverty, hunger, malnutrition, over work, domestic violence, sexual abuse and stigma also affect women’s mental health.Differences between genders have been reported in the age of onset of symptoms, clinical features, frequency of symptoms, course, social adjustment, and long-term outcome of mental disorders. Moreover, women have a higher mean level of internalizing disorders than men. While women are at a disadvantageous position when it comes to disorders like affective disorder and Alzheimers disease, but they have a better prognosis when it comes to schizophrenia.Mental health problems starting in female children and adolescents effect the processes of adaptation and functionality into adulthood.According to WHO, depressive disorder account for 41.9% of disability among women compared to males. (29.3%). Prevalence of anxiety disorder, sexual and domestic violence and substance use are also increasing among women across different countries and different settings.CONCLUSIONA gendered perspective of psychiatry holds great promise for more effectively preventing and treating psychiatric disorders in women and it may be useful to view women’s mental health across lifespan for better understanding and management of the disorders.

What are the clinical implications of Bahá’í perspectives of psychiatry and mental health?

ABSTRACT The relationship between psychiatry and spirituality, particularly in organised religion, has been a controversial one. However, in recent years, the association has slowly transformed into an increasingly positive bond. Yet, one of the world’s newest independent religions—the Bahá’í Faith—is mostly unknown to many clinicians. This is particularly important because the Bahá’í Faith embraces a modern view of mental health consistent with traditional and contemporary psychiatric practice. In this article, the importance of spiritualism to mental health is briefly discussed before transitioning to an introduction of the Bahá’í Faith and the relevance of particular Bahá’í tenets to issues in psychiatric care.

Особливості мотиваційної сфери хворих із психоендокринним синдромом на тлі гіпогонадизму

Актуальність. У структурі ендокринологічних захворювань відзначаються порушення психіки, увесь комплекс яких об’єднано під назвою психоендокринний синдром (ПС). До складу ПС входять психопатологічні феномени емоційної, вольової, інтелектуальної та інстинктивної сфер. Мета. Встановлення особливостей мотиваційно-вольової сфери в осіб із ПС на тлі гіпогонадизму (ГГ). Матеріали та методи. Для встановлення особливостей мотиваційно-вольової сфери в осіб із ПС на тлі первинного нормогонадотропного ГГ було обстежено 100 хворих, у яких використано тест Басса — Даркі та шкали імпульсивності Плутчика. Результати. За результатами дослідження визначено клініко-психопатологічну структуру імпульсивності хворих із ПС на тлі первинного нормогонадотропного ГГ. Серед хворих у стані компенсації гормонального статусу було визначено вірогідне переважання евазивно-вікарного та диспрозектичного корелятів імпульсивних форм поведінки. За нормогонадотропного ГГ відзначалось переважання тимолабільного та дизретенційного корелятів. Висновки. Визначено вірогідне переважання інтенсивності агресивних форм реагування серед хворих на ГГ (за феноменами опосередкованої агресії, дратівливості, негативізму, образи, вербальної агресії та почуття провини).

The Future of Training and Practice in Neuromodulation: An Interventional Psychiatry Perspective.

Psychiatrists have been proceduralists dating back almost 100 years, nearly to psychiatry's inception as a medical specialty. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was developed as a procedure in the 1930s and refined over time, with impressive efficacy and response rates (1). However, due to a lack of understanding of the pathophysiology of many psychiatric conditions, combined with disastrous outcomes from premature adoption of other procedural treatments such as transorbital lobotomy (2), procedural options for psychiatric treatment have been limited. In recent years this landscape is changing, again introducing the potential for procedural therapies in neuropsychiatric disease management. The subspecialty focused on procedure-based psychiatric care, specifically utilization of neurotechnologies to treat psychiatric disorders has become known as “interventional psychiatry.” Interventional psychiatry frequently employs treatments under the umbrella of “psychiatric neuromodulation,” which we define as the collection of nervous system stimulation therapies focused on modulating dysfunctional brain circuitry for therapeutic benefit, including use of electrical, magnetic, ultrasonic, and photic stimulation (see Table 1 for examples). As practically applied, interventional psychiatry also often incorporates procedure-based pharmacologic interventions such as ketamine infusion therapy and psychedelic therapies, which similarly involve a medical intervention applied to a treatment-refractory patient population and require familiarity with procedural consent and monitoring. Here we outline the state of the field, as well as implications for training and the role of the interventional psychiatrist in the treatment team. Table 1 Proposed competency areas for trans-disciplinary fellowship in interventional psychiatry or psychiatric neuromodulation.