Journal of psychiatric research
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Several studies revealed that mental disorders' prevalence increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in young and female individuals. Such studies represent individuals' subjective perceptions and not the number of mental health cases treated in primary care. Thus, this study aimed to describe the changes in depression, anxiety, and stress disorder diagnoses in General Practitioner (GP) practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ Anxiety disorders but not depression and stress diagnoses were elevated, which is not in line with previously published studies. We speculate that the elderly population was affected most by the pandemic immediately after the first lockdown was announced. The younger population has probably become more and more affected the longer the pandemic lasts.
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Neuromodulation has gained attention as a potential non-pharmacological intervention for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, no studies have directly compared the effects of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on MCI patients. We aimed to identify the more promising and efficient therapeutic option between tACS and tDCS for cognitive enhancement in MCI patients. ⋯ Gamma-tACS also increased beta 2 source activity in the anterior cingulate, compared to sham. The cognitive benefits of tACS in MCI patients appeared superior to those of tDCS. tACS facilitated cognitive function by increasing beta activity, while tDCS delayed the progression of MCI symptoms by decreasing slow-frequency activity. Thus, tACS could be used as a new therapeutic option for MCI.
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Humor and sarcasm may be used as potential coping strategies during challenging times, and to improve wellbeing. We investigated changes in humor and sarcasm use during the COVID-19 pandemic in participants with varying anxiety and depression symptom severity, and in those with versus without psychiatric disorders. ⋯ Adults with depression symptoms used more humor and sarcasm as a potential coping strategy during COVID-19. While individuals with anxiety symptoms used more sarcasm, this was not true of humor, suggesting their decreased reliance on levity during a crisis. Humor use was greater in those with psychiatric disorders, perhaps due to self-preservation mechanisms during times of distress. Our findings have implications for using humor in therapy in individuals with mental health struggles and mood disorders.
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Social functioning in schizophrenia: Comparing laboratory-based assessment with real-world measures.
Researchers have measured social functioning in schizophrenia using many different strategies. Recent technological advances have made it possible to passively measure behaviors in real-world social situations-allowing for more objective, ecologically valid assessments. Yet, research testing the convergent validity among real-world and laboratory-based social functioning assessment is sparse. ⋯ Results suggest social functioning assessments are not highly convergent and likely target different aspects of social functioning. Laboratory-based measures offer global impressions of social functioning whereas real-world measures represent a more nuanced approach. Moreover, ambulatory ecological assessment may most accurately gauge frequency of daily social interactions for those with schizophrenia as it circumvents common pitfalls of self-report and offers a less-biased, in-depth evaluation of social behavior.
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Suicide accounts for approximately 800,000 deaths per year globally. Previous research has shown that intranasal esketamine and intravenous ketamine can rapidly decrease the severity of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. However, the majority of clinical trials excluded individuals with moderate to high baseline suicidality scores (e.g., suicidal ideation with plan/intent at the time of recruitment). ⋯ During the double-blind treatment phases, 2.4% of patients from the treatment groups and 1.5% of patients from control groups attempted suicide, with zero deaths by suicide in both the treatment and control groups during this phase. Based on the overall pooled samples, studies were assessed to be relatively safe, and the continual inclusion of this study population in future clinical trials is encouraged. Future research should aim to assess the longitudinal efficacy of ketamine in patients with baseline suicidality.