Journal of affective disorders
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Comparative Study
Perceived stigma among individuals with common mental disorders.
Severe mental disorders are associated with social distance from the general population, but there is lack of data on the stigma reported by individuals with common mental disorders. ⋯ Individuals with mental disorders are more likely to report stigma if they have lower education, are married, or are unemployed. Perceived stigma is associated with considerably decrease in quality of life and role functioning. Health professionals and society at large must be aware of these findings, which suggest that fighting stigma should be a public health priority.
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Previous studies investigating the impact of alcohol ingestion on the emergence of posttraumatic psychological symptoms have generated contradictory findings. ⋯ Given the potential impact of alcohol use on traumatic injury and post-injury recovery, we advocate active screening and early intervention strategies that focus on moderate alcohol usage.
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In the present paper we describe a case-control study on the utilization of health care services prior to suicide (across different time periods) among children and adolescents aged 11 to 18 years in the Province of Quebec, Canada and matched healthy controls. ⋯ Our findings indicate the need for an overall increase in the rates of healthcare services delivered to young subjects at risk for suicide, as well as better training of health professionals in detecting and treating youth psychopathology.
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Research into the role of migraine in somatic symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) has long been neglected; hence, the aim of this study was to compare the impact of migraine and anxiety comorbidities on the somatic symptoms of patients with MDD. ⋯ Comorbidity with migraine was found to be associated with more somatic symptoms in patients with MDD, and migraine was a strong and independent predictor for the somatic symptoms of MDD. Future studies on the somatic symptoms of MDD should therefore take migraine into consideration.
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Bilateral electroconvulsive therapy (BLECT) is useful in affective disorders and schizophrenia. Studies on electrical dose during BLECT are sparse. The Royal College of Psychiatrists recommends the use of electrical dose at 50-100% above seizure threshold. We studied the impact of change of BLECT practice from using threshold-level to 1.5 times threshold-level electrical dose in patients with depression, mania and schizophrenia. ⋯ Patients with schizophrenia and depression treated with BLECT at 1.5 times threshold-level electrical stimulus require similar number of ECT sessions as with threshold-level. However, patients with mania show clinical improvement with significantly fewer ECT sessions if treated at suprathreshold stimulus.