Psychological medicine
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Psychological medicine · Oct 2017
ReviewVirtual reality in the assessment, understanding, and treatment of mental health disorders.
Mental health problems are inseparable from the environment. With virtual reality (VR), computer-generated interactive environments, individuals can repeatedly experience their problematic situations and be taught, via evidence-based psychological treatments, how to overcome difficulties. VR is moving out of specialist laboratories. ⋯ The treatment possibilities will only be realized if - with the user experience at the heart of design - the best immersive VR technology is combined with targeted translational interventions. The capability of VR to simulate reality could greatly increase access to psychological therapies, while treatment outcomes could be enhanced by the technology's ability to create new realities. VR may merit the level of attention given to neuroimaging.
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Psychological medicine · Oct 2017
Metacognitive beliefs mediate the effect of emotional abuse on depressive and psychotic symptoms in severe mental disorders.
Early trauma is linked to higher symptom levels in bipolar and psychotic disorders, but the translating mechanisms are not well understood. This study examines whether the relationship between early emotional abuse and depressive symptoms is mediated by metacognitive beliefs about thoughts being uncontrollable/dangerous, and whether this pathway extends to influence positive symptoms. ⋯ Our results indicate that early emotional abuse is relevant to depression/anxiety and positive symptoms in bipolar and psychotic disorders, and suggest that metacognitive beliefs could play a role in an affective pathway to psychosis. Metacognitive beliefs could be relevant treatment targets with regards to depression/anxiety and positive symptoms in bipolar and psychotic disorders.
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Psychological medicine · Oct 2017
Differences in neural and cognitive response to emotional faces in middle-aged dizygotic twins at familial risk of depression.
Negative bias and aberrant neural processing of emotional faces are trait-marks of depression but findings in healthy high-risk groups are conflicting. ⋯ Less susceptibility to fearful faces and negative cortico-limbic coupling during emotional face processing may reflect neurocognitive compensatory mechanisms in middle-aged dizygotic twins who remain healthy despite their familial risk of depression.