Psychiat Danub
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the mental Health Assessment Unit (MHAU) is a unit set up in 2009 as a gateway between community services and in-patient services. The aim of the MHAU is to provide an acute setting in which to assess patients within 72 hours, with the view to reducing in-patient hospital admissions. ⋯ we recommend further study into patients' experiences with care coordinators particularly at times of need. We also plan to re-audit for a longer time frame with the view to compare data to in-patient admissions and bed occupancy.
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Deinstitutionalization has made possible the development of modern community psychiatric services, however radical decrease in the number of hospital beds may result in a reduction in the overall standard of psychiatric care and disruptions in service delivery. The authors present an example of deinstitutionalisation in Hungary, which led to serious difficulties in the provision of healthcare in the field of psychiatry, contrasted with a case from Germany serving as an example of an alternative solution.
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Research data from studies of functional neuroanatomy and neurochemistry indicate various dysfunctions in certain areas of the brain in individuals who suffer from chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. These abnormalities are involved in the evolution of symptoms of PTSD, deterioration of cognitive functions and decreased quality of life of the survivors. The intensity of these symptoms is in direct correlation with the degree of dysfunction in the central nervous system. The aim of our study, was to evaluate the subjective perception of the Quality of life in subjects suffering from chronic PTSD and to compare prior to treatment results to results three and six months after receiving therapy, as well as to analyze whether perception of the Quality of life change related to treatment. The study was conducted at the Psychiatric Clinic of the Sarajevo University Clinical Center. ⋯ The results of our study indicate that subjects who are suffering from chronic PTSD have a lower subjective perception of their quality of life. Combined psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment over a period of six months lead to improvement in the perception of quality of life. This may indicate the need for longer treatment of individuals suffering from chronic PTSD. A significant increase has been noted in the number of contacts with close friends between the first, second and third test, reflecting positive treatment effects on everyday life functioning and coping skills.
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Our aim was to investigate is there association between level of religious moral beliefs and severity of PTSD symptoms, depressiion symptoms, anxiety and severity of alcohol abuse we tested 152 war veterans on presence of PTSD, depression symptoms, anxiety, alcohol misuse and level of religious moral beliefs. ⋯ A higher index of religious moral beliefs in war veterans enables better control distress, providing better mental health stability. It enables post traumatic conflicts typical for combatants' survivors to be more easily overcome. It also causes healthier reactions to external stimuli. A higher index of religious moral beliefs of war veterans provides a healthier and more efficient mechanism of tobacco and alcohol misuse control. In this way, it helps overcoming postwar psychosocial problems and socialization of the personality, leading to the improvement in mental health.
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The stress -vulnerability model (Zubin et al. 1977) is an extremely useful model for identifying and treating relapses of mental illness. We accept that human persons carry genetic and other predisposition to mental illness. However, the question arises as to how stress impacts on a person in order to cause mental illness to develop. Furthermore there arises the issue as to what other effects such stress has on the human body beyond the human brain. Our aim was to research and integrate the current literature in order to establish how stress impacts on the brain at the cellular level, and to establish whether there are other consequences for the human body brought about by the impact of stress on the human brain. ⋯ We have identified communalities in how the interplay between stress and vulnerability occurs in different disease processes.