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Psychopathological conditions related to the umbrella-term "depression" are various and often associated with significant impairments of the individual's quality of life. These also cause important costs from the individual, social and economic points of view. Fortunately, professionals operating in the field of mental health have been early involved in the development of interventions, psychological and not, that aim to treat these conditions. Moreover, the efficacy of these interventions has been a target of empirical investigations conducted by the scientific community. These efforts produced an important number of information that the clinician, that want to treat individual suffering from depression, should know and consider in order to provide an optimal intervention. In the attempt to divulgate the principal conclusions that can be drawn from a deepen examination of such material, different institutions developed guidelines with the aim to increase the capacity of clinicians to take informed clinical decisions. In our contribution, we present a summary, not exhaustive, of some relevant aspects of international guidelines related to the the clinical psychologist's practices. In addition, some scientific contributions are illustrated, that reported some empirical evidence recently produced that appear particularly relevant in order to formulate useful indications for clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the Italian government declared a total lockdown imposing a forced home confinement which in turn caused significant changes in daily living, including economic, physical and mental health impacts. The goal of this study was to investigate the impact of restrictions on psychological well-being and changes in lifestyle and health habits. Participants were 419, with a mean age of 41,12 years. The 76,6% reported moderate or high levels of perceived stress. People with highest stress reported significantly lower mental health levels, such as the presence of depression, somatization, anxiety, insomnia and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Significant impact on mental health was given by the discomfort felt for living with other people or living alone. Participants living alone exhibited elevated depressive symptoms. Maladaptive unhealthy behaviour with negative changes in smoking and alcohol intake, eating pattern and physical activity were associated with higher depression, anxiety and posttraumatic symptoms in the course of the pandemic. As limitations: the sample included a large number of women and people with a high education level and the use of an online survey could have limited the participation of people unfamiliar with technological devices. People, during the lockdown, were strongly aff ected by stress and exhibit a presence of maladaptive unhealthy behavior associated with psychological problems which could be potential risk factors for possible long-term mental health eff ects. Results provide evidence that suggests the implementation of future health-promotion strategies in order to manage mental health outcomes due to lockdown measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way an adult responds to social and environmental stimulations is determined by genetic factors and life experiences occurring during development. The nervous system development, from conception to adulthood, is extremely complex: many biochemical processes must be coordinated precisely to ensure a normal mental and physical development of an individual, and the environment can significantly affect the proper operation of such processes at these stages. Exposure to traumatic events at an early age, can cause pathological changes of neural development and behavior, such as the onset of depressive disorder in adulthood. In this context, the use of preclinical models represents a useful tool by which it is possible to identify behavioral changes induced by the exposure to early-life stress, as well as investigating the neurobiological correlates involved in the alterated behavioral response. Finally the opportunity to investigate molecular changes associated with various psychopathologies in the blood, both in humans and in rodents, makes the results obtained by this model highly translational. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rumination is one of the most investigated emotion regulation strategies. The aim of this work is to briefly review literature on this topic. According to the Response Style Theory by Nolen-Hoeksema, rumination is a traitlike response style characterized by "behaviors and thoughts that focus one's attention on one's depressive symptoms and on the implications of those symptoms" (Nolen-Hoeksema 1991, p. 569). Evidence from several longitudinal, correlational, and experimental studies conducted in clinical and nonclinical populations have shown that the tendency to ruminate in response to depressed mood may not only predict the onset of depressive symptoms, but may also be predictive of longer duration and more severe depressive symptoms (e.g., Lyubomirsky & Nolen-Hoeksema 1993; Nolen-Hoeksema 1991, 1997; Nolen-Hoeksema et al. 1994). Furthermore, rumination has been found to be associated with a number of negative consequences on the cognitive (e.g. impaired concentration), affective (e.g. negative emotions) and social (e.g. low social support) domain. However, in the last ten years a considerable body of evidences (e.g. Treynor et al. 2003) addressing the multidimensional nature of rumination has accumulated, suggesting that the content and processing modes of ruminative thought must be further specified in order to fully understand the relationship between depressive rumination and maladaptive outcomes. A brief review of treatment of depressive rumination is presented as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shame is a complex, socially driven, negative emotion, being characterized by specific thoughts and behaviors, and characterized by a precise emotional halo. This emotion regulates the sharing of social norms and its main goal is to protect individual's good-image and self-esteem. Shame has an adaptive function, as it guarantees affiliation to the group, maintaining its' hierarchical organization, and thus allowing survival. Intense and frequent feelings of shame play a significant role in the onset and maintenance of psychological manifestations, such as eating disorders, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and, last but not least, social phobia. Although the role this emotion in regulating social relations is widely recognized, little is known about its specific role in different emotional disorders. The aim of this manuscript was to review previous findings investigating the role of shame in the onset and maintenance of specific psychological disorders, highlighting the role of early maladaptive experience and negative beliefs in the development of pathological shame feelings. In the last section of this article we reviewed the most recent clinical models that have focused on specific shame related psychotherapeutic interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the description of six clinical cases the theme of therapeutic relationship with depressed patients will be discussed. Too often depressed patient are labeled as such, regardless to their complex personal and existential condition. This paper will tentatively describe obstacles and possible relational implications in the treatment of "depressed patients", that will be categorized into 4 groups: unipolar and bipolar depression; depression due to other Axis I disorder; depression in comorbidity with personality disorders; depression that occurs along with particular life events or condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years interest in dissociative phenomena has been growing steadily, both in the are of pathology related to trauma as well as in the study of the mental processes involved in various psychopathological conditions. This study aims to explore the relatioship between dissociative symptoms and other symptom areas. Our hypothesis is that a greater extent of dissociative phenomena is associated with having a larger variety of serious symptoms. To this end, we used the DES scale to measure and assess dissociative phenomena and scales SCL-90 R and BDI to measure the general psychpathology and in particular depressive features. The sample consisted of 263 patients admitted to a psychiatric ward of a nursing home because of problems related to depression and partly due to difficulties in managing their acting out impulse. The data analysis shows that patients with high scores on the scale of dissociation display significantly different symptom profiles, more serious and varied, compared to patients with low scores on the dossociative scale. In addition, we not that these same patients are hospitalized more often for problems related to impulsive acts and for presenting a diagnostic profile within the parameters of personality disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]