Treatment Of Mental Disorders Research Articles

Psychiatric Disorders in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Clinical Significance and Treatment Strategies.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a debilitating lung disease characterized by chronic airflow limitation and persistent respiratory symptoms. It is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, significantly impacting healthcare systems with considerable socioeconomic consequences. The main risk factors include exposure to tobacco smoke, environmental pollutants, occupational dust, and genetic factors such as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. COPD is often associated with extrapulmonary comorbidities, particularly psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety, which worsen patients' quality of life and prognosis. The prevalence of these disorders in patients with COPD varies significantly but is always higher than in healthy controls. Psychiatric disorders can negatively influence COPD management and vice versa, creating a complex bidirectional interaction. Depression and anxiety are the most common psychiatric comorbidities in patients with COPD, influenced by factors such as social isolation, physical limitations, and fear of exacerbations. Diagnosis of these psychiatric disorders is complicated by the overlap of symptoms with those of COPD. However, some screening tools can facilitate early detection. The treatment of psychiatric disorders in patients with COPD in a rehabilitation setting requires a multidisciplinary approach involving pulmonologists, neurologists and psychologists. Pharmacological therapy with antidepressants shows mixed results in terms of efficacy and safety, with some studies reporting benefits on quality of life and others suggesting an increased risk of exacerbations and pneumonia. An integrated approach that includes the assessment and intervention of mental disorders is essential to improve the overall management of COPD and the quality of life of patients. This narrative review provides an overview of the main psychiatric comorbidities in COPD patients, aiming to fill gaps in the literature and suggest areas for future research.

The Use of Psychedelics as an Adjunct to Psychotherapy

After a hiatus in research into the application of psychedelics in the treatment of psychological disorders, there has been a form of renaissance since 1990s with treatment results proving safe and effective particularly when combined with psychotherapy.

Extended Reality for Mental Health Evaluation: Scoping Review.

Mental health disorders are the leading cause of health-related problems worldwide. It is projected that mental health disorders will be the leading cause of morbidity among adults as the incidence rates of anxiety and depression grow worldwide. Recently, "extended reality" (XR), a general term covering virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), is paving the way for the delivery of mental health care. We aimed to investigate the adoption and implementation of XR technology used in interventions for mental disorders and to provide statistical analyses of the design, usage, and effectiveness of XR technology for mental health interventions with a worldwide demographic focus. In this paper, we conducted a scoping review of the development and application of XR in the area of mental disorders. We performed a database search to identify relevant studies indexed in Google Scholar, PubMed, and the ACM Digital Library. A search period between August 2016 and December 2023 was defined to select papers related to the usage of VR, AR, and MR in a mental health context. The database search was performed with predefined queries, and a total of 831 papers were identified. Ten papers were identified through professional recommendation. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were designed and applied to ensure that only relevant studies were included in the literature review. We identified a total of 85 studies from 27 countries worldwide that used different types of VR, AR, and MR techniques for managing 14 types of mental disorders. By performing data analysis, we found that most of the studies focused on high-income countries, such as the United States (n=14, 16.47%) and Germany (n=12, 14.12%). None of the studies were for African countries. The majority of papers reported that XR techniques lead to a significant reduction in symptoms of anxiety or depression. The majority of studies were published in 2021 (n=26, 30.59%). This could indicate that mental disorder intervention received higher attention when COVID-19 emerged. Most studies (n=65, 76.47%) focused on a population in the age range of 18-65 years, while few studies (n=2, 3.35%) focused on teenagers (ie, subjects in the age range of 10-19 years). In addition, more studies were conducted experimentally (n=67, 78.82%) rather than by using analytical and modeling approaches (n=8, 9.41%). This shows that there is a rapid development of XR technology for mental health care. Furthermore, these studies showed that XR technology can effectively be used for evaluating mental disorders in a similar or better way that conventional approaches. In this scoping review, we studied the adoption and implementation of XR technology for mental disorder care. Our review shows that XR treatment yields high patient satisfaction, and follow-up assessments show significant improvement with large effect sizes. Moreover, the studies adopted unique designs that were set up to record and analyze the symptoms reported by their participants. This review may aid future research and development of various XR mechanisms for differentiated mental disorder procedures.

Metaverse ve Psikiyatri: Bir Gözden Geçirme

Today, with the development of technology, the concept of the virtual world is gaining more and more importance. "Metaverse", which has become popular in recent years, aims to provide an environment where people can interact, do business, have fun and even live in the digital world. Metaverse, which has become increasingly popular in recent years, offers many different uses in the field of mental health. However, we do not yet have enough information about the effects of this technology on mental health. The effect of Metaverse on mental health has been the subject of many researches that it can be used in areas such as the treatment of psychological disorders, stress reduction, self-confidence, and development of social interaction skills. The biggest advantage of using Metaverse for psychiatric treatment is that the virtual world is separated from the real world. Therefore, the stress, anxiety and other emotional reactions experienced during treatment have no real-life consequences. In addition, the therapist is easier to access in the virtual world and can help patients adapt to treatment more easily. However, the use of Metaverse for psychiatric treatment also has some disadvantages. For example, this method of treatment may be an unrealistic experience for some patients and not effective enough for others. Also, this treatment modality has limited accessibility as it requires high cost equipment and technology. In particular, there has not been enough research on the relationship between the use of Metaverse in the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric diseases. More research is needed on the effect of Metaverse on mental health. In particular, more studies are needed on its long-term effects and effects on different people. In this review, studies investigating the potential relationship between Metaverse technology and psychiatry and how this technology can be used in the psychiatric field are reviewed.

Association between Parenting Styles and Adolescents' Mental Disorders: Findings among Pre-University Students.

Existing research indicated a high prevalence of mental health issues among adolescents. Gender and parenting styles are two factors that may influence adolescents' mental health. Nonetheless, most published studies focused on either secondary school or university students. In contrast, there is a dearth of similar research involving pre-university students. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of mental disorders among pre-university students and their association with parenting styles. A cross-sectional study via online questionnaire survey was conducted among students from a pre-university college on the East Coast of Malaysia. Convenience sampling was used to recruit the participants. The questionnaire consisted of three parts: i) sociodemographic data, ii) the Parental Authority Questionnaire and Depression, and iii) the Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). An online invitation to answer the questionnaire was done via the Student Representative Council (SRC). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Pearson's chi-square test. A total of 431 participants responded to the online survey. The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress was 49.0% (n = 210), 68.0% (n = 293) and 37.6% (n = 162), respectively. In addition, father's educational level (χ2 = 10.332, P = 0.001) and the authoritarian parenting style (χ2 = 10.099, P = 0.006) were significantly associated with mental health disorders among adolescents. The prevalence of mental disorders among pre-university students is relatively high. Pre-university admission mental health screening is vital for early detection and intervention of mental disorders among this vulnerable group. Further research is imperative to establish a comprehensive plan of action that targets parental involvement in managing adolescent mental health disorders.

The Human Microbiome and Mental Health: the Latest Views

Mental health is the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of a person who feels protected, needed, realizes his abilities, and can overcome life’s stresses. Mental disorders (MD) are a serious health problem worldwide today, which lead to a significant medical burden and economic losses for both medical institutions and patients and their families. Today, MD are one of the priority directions in the daily practice of Ukrainian doctors. MD can include anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, eating disorders, etc. Recently, the attention of scientists and doctors has been paid to the interaction between the microbiome and mental health. The researches which are aimed at defining what is a healthy microbiome have revealed significant individual differences in its composition and diversity. It has been established that a certain composition of the gut microbiome (GM) is associated with the development of anxiety disorders. Research results show that patients and animal models (mice) with anxiety disorders have a dramatic decrease in microbial richness and diversity. Patients with anxiety disorder typically had reduced Firmicutes and increased Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria. In addition, GM changes were associated with the onset and development of depressive disorder. Differences in the composition of fecal microbiota in patients with major depressive disorder were revealed. The main methods of MD treatment today are pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, which have limited effectiveness. However, practitioners are looking for alternative ways to help such patients. The results of many studies indicate that prebiotics (e.g., dietary fiber and alpha lactalbumin) as well as postbiotics show a protective effect on mental health, especially when used in combination. At the same time, prebiotics may be a potential agent for alleviating the side effects of antipsychotics used in the treatment of MD. More experimental researches and high-quality clinical trials are needed to study the effects of dietary components on MD through the brain–gut–microbiome axis.

Quality of health care for patients with coronary heart disease and comorbid mental disorders: a prospective cohort study

BackgroundCoronary heart disease (CHD) is often associated with mental disorders (MDs). Comorbid MDs reduce the quality of life and increase cardiac morbidity and mortality. Nevertheless, there is little and inconsistent research on the management of MDs in CHD patients. To bridge this gap, this study aims to gain insight into the long-term course of MD-related health care for patients with CHD, in order to identify opportunities for care improvement.MethodsIn this prospective cohort study, we investigated whether CHD patients with or without expert-rated MD at baseline (N = 364) received different MD-related health care from either their general practitioner (GP) or cardiologist at follow-up, M = 2.7 [2.0–4.0] years later. In the follow-up assessment, N = 131 CHD patients participated and received questionnaires capturing sociodemographic, mental health, and MD-related health care characteristics. Descriptive statistics, t-tests and chi-squared tests were used for analyses.ResultsWe found significant differences in MD-related health care. CHD patients with MD were more likely to be examined psychologically/psychiatrically (MD 55.9%, non-MD 16.7%, p = < .001) and diagnosed with MD (MD 55.9%, non-MD 13.5%, p = .020) by their GP or cardiologist. Recommendations for and responses to requests for psychotherapy were more likely in MD patients compared to non-MD patients (MD 38.7%, non-MD 11.8%, p = .012 and MD 38.5%, non-MD 11.8%, p = .031, respectively). No significant differences were found concerning physicians’ active demand for patients’ mental health, referral to a specialist for additional diagnostics, provision of information about the diagnosed MD and further treatment options, response to the patients’ request for psychopharmacotherapy, help received in finding psychotherapy or psychopharmacotherapy, and actual receipt of these treatments.ConclusionsThe results indicate differences in MD-related health care of CHD patients with and without comorbid MD. However, they still highlight the need to further encourage primary care physicians treating CHD to adequately address MDs, provide further diagnostics, support, and information to affected patients. To address this, physicians may benefit from awareness training on the association between CHD and MDs and on appropriate communication with MD patients.Trial registrationGerman clinical trials register (Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien, DRKS) Registration Number: ID DRKS00022154, date of registration: 02.11.2021.

An Overview on Atopic Dermatitis, Oxidative Stress, and Psychological Stress: Possible Role of Nutraceuticals as an Additional Therapeutic Strategy.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition with a considerable impact on patients' quality of life. Its etiology is multifactorial and, among the predisposing factors, a role is played by oxidative stress. Pollution, recurrent infections, and psychological stress contribute to oxidative stress, amplifying the production of proinflammatory cytokines and worsening barrier damage. There are various oxidative stress mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of AD. Moreover, AD often appears to be associated with psychological disorders such as alexithymia, depression, and anxiety due to severe itching and related insomnia, as well as social distress and isolation. The increasing incidence of AD requires the evaluation of additional therapeutic approaches in order to reduce the psychological burden of this condition. Our review aims to evaluate the role of some nutraceuticals in AD treatment and its related psychological comorbidities. The combination of some natural compounds (flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenes, isothiocyanates) with traditional AD treatments might be useful in improving the effectiveness of therapy, by reducing chronic inflammation and preventing flare-ups, and in promoting corticosteroid sparing. In addition, some of these nutraceuticals also appear to have a role in the treatment of psychological disorders, although the underlying oxidative stress mechanisms are different from those already known for AD.

P‐4.35: Application of Virtual Reality Technology in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Psychological Disorders: An Electroencephalography (EEG)‐Based Approach

In the wake of the incessant evolution of virtual reality (VR) technology, its pervasive integration into an expanding array of sectors, notably the medical field, has become increasingly conspicuous. Amid these developments, post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a prevalent and debilitating mental health condition, has garnered heightened attention from the medical community. The contemporary therapeutic landscape predominantly revolves around psychological interventions, exemplified by exposure therapy and positive thinking therapy. However, a groundbreaking advancement, namely virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET), has emerged as a prominent achievement, effectively intertwining VR technology with medical applications, particularly in the nuanced treatment of PTSD. As the realms of human‐computer interaction and brain‐computer interface undergo continuous and dynamic expansion, electroencephalography (EEG) has surfaced as a pivotal convergence point across diverse disciplines. The confluence of VRET technology with EEG signals holds the promise of enhancing the precision and objectivity of patient diagnoses. Furthermore, leveraging EEG signals enables a more nuanced and individualized approach to treatment within the framework of VRET technology. Despite extant studies that offer comprehensive summaries of VRET technology, the integration with EEG signals has thus far been a relatively unexplored terrain. This research endeavors to direct attention toward recent advancements in VRET technology within the sphere of mental health treatment. A meticulous synthesis and exposition of existing techniques and applications are presented, providing a comprehensive overview of the current landscape. The exploration extends to the developmental trajectory and prospective implications arising from the amalgamation of VRET technology and EEG technology. Furthermore, a rigorous analysis of the tangible contributions and practical significance of EEG signals in the domain of mental health treatment is undertaken, underscoring the potential avenues for their future applications and the transformative impact on the trajectory of therapeutic interventions.

A MENTAL ILLNESS EARLY WARNING ANALYSIS MODEL USING AN IMPROVED SVM ALGORITHM AND EEG SIGNALS

The fast-paced lifestyle, intense competition, and constantly changing environment of modern society are important factors contributing to the emergence of psychological disorders. Factors such as work pressure, family conflicts, and interpersonal relationship difficulties pose challenges to individual mental health. Prolonged use of electronic devices and the widespread use of social media further exacerbate mental health issues, as the constant influx of information makes it difficult for people to relax and focus. The harm of psychological disorders to individuals and society cannot be ignored. It not only diminishes the quality of life for patients but also affects work efficiency and social participation. In extreme cases, psychological disorders can lead to serious consequences like suicide, causing immense pain to families and society. Therefore, prioritizing mental health, raising awareness of mental well-being, and timely intervention and treatment of psychological disorders are crucial for individual happiness and social stability. Based on this, this study employs an improved Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals for the diagnosis of psychological disorders, aiming for more effective treatment of mental health conditions. Specifically, the EEG signals of the experimental subjects are first collected as training data for the model. The dataset undergoes preprocessing operations such as cleaning and normalization. Due to the limited availability of published information about individuals with psychological disorders, an ensemble SVM algorithm is used as a warning model to improve the accuracy of psychological disorder diagnosis. This algorithm utilizes a differential measurement method to adjust the selection of SVM parameters. The training sample size remains constant, with several iterations of training performed. By combining the differential measurement method, a specific parameter combination is obtained, maximizing the differentiation between base classifiers. This ultimately addresses issues such as small sample size and insufficient sample information in the dataset. Experimental results demonstrate that the model used in this study exhibits good performance in diagnosing psychological disorders.

Clinical experience with medical hypnosis as an adjunctive therapy in heart surgery.

Heart surgery patients are at high risk for psychological trauma and comorbid psychological disorders. Depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorders in this patient group are predictors of outcomes after cardiac surgery. Medical hypnosis is effective for non-pharmacologic prevention and treatment of psychological disorders and has been associated with improved health-related quality of life and better cardiovascular outcomes. This contribution makes note of evidence of the effectiveness of medical hypnosis in a discussion of the clinical experience with specific hypnotherapeutic tools and interventions from the perspective of the mental health team in one large cardiac center in Germany. Based on our experience, we encourage heart centers to educate their heart surgery care teams about the core concepts of medical hypnosis and to make hypnotherapeutic techniques available as an adjunctive therapy.

Обзор современных исследований влияния видеоигр на когнитивные процессы

&lt;p style="text-align: justify;"&gt;This review is aimed at systematizing the results of empirical and meta-analytical work on the problem of the influence of video games on cognitive processes. Psychology has accumulated a lot of facts indicating that computer games have positive effects, but sometimes it is impossible to fix them. Analysis of the literature has shown that video games have a positive effect on cognitive processes, but the size of this effect depends on the genre of the game. There is a largest effect of puzzle-games and the &amp;ldquo;arcade&amp;rdquo; genre on spatial thinking. &amp;ldquo;Action&amp;rdquo;, &amp;ldquo;shooter&amp;rdquo;, and &amp;ldquo;arcade&amp;rdquo; games have small but significant effects on some aspects of perceptual processing, as well as &amp;ldquo;action&amp;rdquo; games have a strong positive effect on problem solving speed. The effects on executive functions were small. A review of modern trends in gamification has shown that video games can be effective in teaching specific professional skills, for example, in the field of medicine, and in the treatment of psychological disorders, in particular dementia. The effectiveness of videogames as a part of cognitive learning products has not been confirmed, this area needs to be studied in more details. At the same time, only moderate video gaming is safe for development. Studies show that excessive video game passion causes gaming addiction and negatively affects attention, academic performance and emotional state. An analysis of the literature has shown that video games potentially have a positive effect on cognitive processes, but the size of this effect depends on the genre of the game. There is a largest effects of puzzle-games and the &amp;laquo;arcade&amp;raquo; genre on spatial thinking. &amp;laquo;Action&amp;raquo;, &amp;laquo;shooter&amp;raquo;, and &amp;laquo;arcade&amp;raquo; games have small but significant effects on some aspects of perceptual processing, as well as &amp;laquo;action&amp;raquo; games have a strong positive effect on problem solving speed. The effects on executive functions were small. A review of modern trends in gamification has shown that video games can be effective in teaching specific professional skills, for example, in the field of medicine, and in the treatment of certain psychological disorders, in particular dementia. The effectiveness of videogames as part of cognitive learning products has not been confirmed, this area need more detailed research. At the same time, despite the some positive effects of computer games, only moderate gaming is safe for development, studies show that excessive video game passion causes the gambling addiction and negatively affects attention, academic performance and emotional state.&lt;/p&gt;

Nanoelectronics, Nanoparticles and Nanotechnology in Treatment of Psychological Disorders

Nanoelectronics, Nanoparticles and Nanotechnology in Treatment of Psychological Disorders

An Integrative Perspective on Understanding Human Functioning: Positive Clinical Psychology

The number of studies conducted with a holistic perspective as an alternative to the traditional clinical psychology approach has increased. It is noteworthy that studies examine the effects of positive concepts on human health in addition to discomfort. In this study, it was aimed to examine four concepts that are frequently researched in positive psychology, namely well-being, psychological resilience, hope and coping in an integrative context. Also, it was aimed to give information about the positive clinical psychology approach and the studies which investigate these four positive concepts. Studies were searched through PsycARTICLE, EBSCO and Pubmed electronic databases. Totally 208 studies were reached and 26 articles were included in this review article. As a result, the effective results in treatment of psychological disorders and increase of well-being of an individual with positive psychology interventions suggest that it is important to expand the positive perspective in clinical psychology. It is thought that it may be clinically important that the presence/increase of positive concepts as well as the absence/decrease of psychopathologies should be one of the treatment targets of mental health specialists. It is hoped that adopting an integrative perspective in future studies will enrich empirical research in the field of psychotherapy.

Vishnukranta (Evolvulus alsinoides Linn.) : A Clinical Drug Review

Vishnukranta (Evolvulus alsinoides Linn. Convolvulaceae), has been documented in Ayurvedic pharmacopoeias which includes Samhita (treatise), Nighantus (lexicons), Chikitsagrantha (compendia of Ayurveda). This paper provides a collective information regarding Vishnukranta, its properties and actions like Budhi-Medha-Smruti Prada (i.e., enhances grasping, retention and recall activity), Cheto Vikarjita (Drug used for maintenance and treatment of psychological disorders). As a single drug, Vishnukranta is indicated in Jvara (fever), Krumi (worm manifestation), Vrana (Ulcer) etc. This review may enrich to documentary research and may provide collective and detailed information about Vishnukranta as is presented in Ayurveda classical texts.

Mindfulness-based therapy improves brain functional network reconfiguration efficiency

Mindfulness-based interventions are showing increasing promise as a treatment for psychological disorders, with improvements in cognition and emotion regulation after intervention. Understanding the changes in functional brain activity and neural plasticity that underlie these benefits from mindfulness interventions is thus of interest in current neuroimaging research. Previous studies have found functional brain changes during resting and task states to be associated with mindfulness both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, particularly in the executive control, default mode and salience networks. However, limited research has combined information from rest and task to study mindfulness-related functional changes in the brain, particularly in the context of intervention studies with active controls. Recent work has found that the reconfiguration efficiency of brain activity patterns between rest and task states is behaviorally relevant in healthy young adults. Thus, we applied this measure to investigate how mindfulness intervention changed functional reconfiguration between rest and a breath-counting task in elderly participants with self-reported sleep difficulties. Improving on previous longitudinal designs, we compared the intervention effects of a mindfulness-based therapy to an active control (sleep hygiene) intervention. We found that mindfulness intervention improved self-reported mindfulness measures and brain functional reconfiguration efficiency in the executive control, default mode and salience networks, though the brain and behavioral changes were not associated with each other. Our findings suggest that neuroplasticity may be induced through regular mindfulness practice, thus bringing the intrinsic functional configuration in participants’ brains closer to a state required for mindful awareness.

Flexible Electrodes for Brain-Computer Interface System.

Brain-computer interface (BCI) has been the subject of extensive research recently. Governments and companies have substantially invested in relevant research and applications. The restoration of communication and motor function, the treatment of psychological disorders, gaming, and other daily and therapeutic applications all benefit from BCI. The electrodes hold the key to the essential, fundamental BCI precondition of electrical brain activity detection and delivery. However, the traditional rigid electrodes are limited due to their mismatch in Young's modulus, potential damages to the human body, and a decline in signal quality with time. These factors make the development of flexible electrodes vital and urgent. Flexible electrodes made of soft materials have grown in popularity in recent years as an alternative to conventional rigid electrodes because they offer greater conformance, the potential for higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)signals, and a wider range of applications. Therefore, the latest classifications and future developmental directions of fabricating these flexible electrodes are explored in this paper to further encourage the speedy advent of flexible electrodes for BCI. In summary, the perspectives and future outlook for this developing discipline are provided.

Effectiveness of Schema Therapy on Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, Quality of Life, and Sleep in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Anxiety disorders are common among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Schema therapy may prove successful in the treatment of psychological disorders in MS patients. Objectives: This study evaluated the effectiveness of schema therapy on anxiety, depression, sleep quality, and fatigue in patients with MS. Methods: This research was a randomized controlled trial examining the effect of schema therapy on anxiety in MS. It was conducted on 106 patients with MS visiting the MS clinics of Isfahan, Iran, in 2020. The participants were divided into two groups by using block randomization. The evaluations were performed during one year at three times: Pretest (Time 1), posttest (Time 2), and follow-up (Time 3). The assessments were conducted using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), 29-item Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29), Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). SPSS v. 26 was used to analyze the data. Results: There was a significant decrease in anxiety and depression in the group receiving schema therapy compared to the control group (P &lt; 0.001). The group × time interaction effect was also significant for anxiety and depression (P &lt; 0.001), but no significant effect on fatigue, quality of life, and sleep was observed. Conclusions: The findings indicated the effectiveness of schema therapy in decreasing anxiety and depression in patients with MS.

Towards to an Integrative and Integrated Hospital Psychology: The Department of Health and Clinical Psychology of Hospital CUF Tejo

Psychology is recognized as an autonomous technical-scientific area, evidence-based, particularly involved in the promotion of global health, prevention and treatment of psychological disorders, aiming to increase health gains. Its integration into the different levels of care has been progressive, meeting standards of quality, effectiveness, equity, guaranteeing the safety of citizens and respect for human rights. Hospitals constitute one of the most important health care environments where clinical and health psychology has expanded as a specific career. This article reviews the historical path of Psychology integration in hospital care, its identity construction, and the specificity of its actions in several clinical domains, supporting a close articulation with medical and non-medical specialties and various fields of scientific knowledge. Some of the main future challenges in this area of knowledge are discussed, with a view of maximizing mental health protective factors and mitigating vulnerabilities in specific groups.

A novel treatment program for adolescents with post traumatic stress disorder with virtual reality technology

Recent advancements in the study of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have led to the discovery of innovative improvements to therapies that have already received empirical validation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the theoretical feasibility and expected effects of a new treatment approach for the adolescent PTSD patient population that combines VR virtual reality technology with traditional treatment modalities by referring to relevant studies, literature, and survey feedback from the relevant groups. The main focus is on the use of virtual reality technology to address the reluctance of the adolescent patient population to accept treatment and to explore other possibilities for the development of a relevant target population. The limitations and drawbacks of current VR systems in the treatment of psychological disorders are also discussed, but theoretical solutions are also given. The specific role of the senses in the theoretical model and the role and usefulness for patients, physicians, and others, respectively, are also given.