Search

The problem of mental health in academia is increasingly discussed in literature, and to extract meaningful insights from the growing amount of scientific publications, text mining approaches are used. In this study, BERTopic, an advanced method of topic modeling, was applied to abstracts of 2,846 PubMed articles on depression, anxiety, and burnout in academia published in years 1975-2023. BERTopic is a modular technique comprising a text embedding method, a dimensionality reduction procedure, a clustering algorithm, and a weighing scheme for topic representation. A model was selected based on the proportion of outliers, the topic interpretability considerations, topic coherence and topic diversity metrics, and the inevitable subjectivity of the criteria was discussed. The selected model with 27 topics was explored and visualized. The topics evolved differently with time: research papers on students' pandemic-related anxiety and medical residents' burnout peaked in recent years, while publications on psychometric research or internet-related problems are yet to be presented more amply. The study demonstrates the use of BERTopic for analyzing literature on mental health in academia and sheds light on areas in the field to be addressed by further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The number of citations to a paper represents the weight of that work in a particular area of interest. Several highly cited papers are listed in the bibliometric analysis. This study aimed to identify and analyze the 100 most cited papers in insomnia research that might appeal to researchers and clinicians. Methods:We reviewed theWeb of Science (WOS) Core Collection database to identify articles from 1985 to 24 March 2022. The R bibliometric package was used to further analyze citation counts, authors, year of publication, source journal, geographical origin, subject, article type, and level of evidence. Word co-occurrence in 100 articles was visualized using VOS viewer software. Results: A total of 44,654 manuscripts were searched on the Web of Science. Between 2001 and 2021, the top 100 influential manuscripts were published, with a total citation frequency of 38,463. The top countries and institutions contributing to the field were the U.S. and Duke University. Morin C.M. was the most productive author, ranking first in citations. Sleep had the highest number of manuscripts published in the top 100 (n = 31), followed by Sleep Medicine Reviews (n = 9). The most cited manuscript (Bastien et al., Sleep Medicine, 2001; 3,384 citations) reported clinical validation of the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) as a brief screening indicator for insomnia and as an outcome indicator for treatment studies. Co-occurrence analyses suggest that psychiatric disorders combined with insomnia and cognitive behavioral therapy remain future research trends. Conclusion: This study provides a detailed list of the most cited articles on insomnia. The analysis provides researchers and clinicians with a detailed overview of the most cited papers on insomnia over the past two decades. Notably, COVID-19, anxiety, depression, CBT, and sleep microstructure are potential areas of focus for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent developments in the fields of natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) have shown significant improvements in automatic text processing. At the same time, the expression of human language plays a central role in the detection of mental health problems. Whereas spoken language is implicitly assessed during interviews with patients, written language can also provide interesting insights to clinical professionals. Existing work in the field often investigates mental health problems such as depression or anxiety. However, there is also work investigating how the diagnostics of eating disorders can benefit from these novel technologies. In this paper, we present a systematic overview of the latest research in this field. Our investigation encompasses four key areas: (a) an analysis of the metadata from published papers, (b) an examination of the sizes and specific topics of the datasets employed, (c) a review of the application of machine learning techniques in detecting eating disorders from text, and finally (d) an evaluation of the models used, focusing on their performance, limitations, and the potential risks associated with current methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an editorial from the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry that explores the cultural and social implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. It discusses how different countries, minorities, and special populations have experienced and adapted to the pandemic. The editorial highlights various research articles that examine the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare professionals, students, trainees, residents, and special populations. The document provides a summary of these papers, which cover a range of topics including help-seeking messages, art therapy, mental health policies, behavioral patterns, medication trends, suicide rates, burnout among healthcare workers, and the management of long-term consequences. The document concludes by acknowledging the global impact of the pandemic and expressing hope for better understanding and addressing its challenges. [Extracted from the article]

The rising prevalence of mental health disorders in adolescents, compounded by treatment resistance, underscores the need for innovative interventions. Ketamine, recognized for its rapid antidepressant and anti-suicidal effects in adults, has recently emerged as a potential treatment for adolescents with treatment-resistant depression and suicidality. This paper aims to highlight key elements of the informed consent process, including obtaining parental consent and adolescent assent, and discussing the nature of ketamine treatment, its benefits, and potential risks. Obtaining informed consent for ketamine treatment in this demographic poses unique challenges. During the informed consent process, clinicians should balance an adolescent’s growing autonomy with parental consent and address the distinct features of treatment, including ketamine’s potential to induce psychedelic-like effects. Additionally, clinicians should highlight the “off-label” use in this population and the uncertainty inherent to treatment at this time, including the lack of data on repeated ketamine exposure on the developing brain. This paper also addresses challenging scenarios related to informed consent for this treatment, such as instances when parents are willing to consent but the adolescent refuses. Alternative treatment strategies such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are also considered. In conclusion, while an emerging body of evidence suggests that ketamine shows potential for the acute treatment of adolescents with severe depression and suicidality, adherence to informed consent principles is paramount to ensure best clinical practices and uphold ethical standards amidst the current landscape of ongoing research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In December 2022, the death of Christopher Clunis was made public. He had actually died in February 2021. Christopher Clunis was convicted of the manslaughter of a stranger, Jonathan Zito. He attacked Mr Zito at a train station. This paper will argue that this terrible event became a totemic symbol of the wider failings of the policy of community care. The image of Clunis being driven away from Court was repeatedly used in newspaper and other media reports as a reference point. The image reflects a number of long-standing traits in the representation of the "mentally ill." These are combined with a racial stereotype of Black men. The paper examines historical representations of the mentally ill as a context for a discussion of the Clunis case. The paper uses the work of Stuart Hall as an analytical tool to examine the questions of race and representation, and the moral panic following failings of community care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of the unprecedented public health crisis caused by the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, front-line health workers are under enormous mental pressure. This paper aims to explore the mental health challenges faced by front-line health workers in the early stages of a public health emergency, such as stress, anxiety, and depression. At the same time, the factors that increase their mental stress are analyzed, and practical measures are put forward to prevent and manage mental health problems, aiming at improving the quality of medical treatment during public health emergencies. This paper has some reference value for people engaged in mental health prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate relationship distress is prevalent and is associated with poorer health, mental health, and mortality outcomes. Evidence-based couple therapies target cognitive, behavioral, and emotional processes that underlie relationship dysfunction. Increasing research and clinical evidence supports the efficacy of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) for addressing clinical mental health concerns, including depression, anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and more. The purported mechanisms of KAP are also likely to improve psychosocial and relational functioning for patients and may be useful for supporting change mechanisms in couple therapy. This paper reviews the current evidence for therapeutic ketamine and KAP and outlines how the mechanisms of ketamine therapy may also augment the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional interventions in the most commonly used evidence-based couple therapies. Key mechanisms include increased neuroplasticity, changes in functional connectivity, adaptive dissociation, decreased inhibition, and reduced avoidance. Given the reciprocal interaction between relationship dysfunction and mental health problems, ketamine may also help alleviate relationship distress by directly treating clinical mental health symptoms. We then outline a proposed framework for ketamine-assisted couple therapy, addressing the application of KAP preparation, dosing, and integration to a dyadic intervention framework in a way that can be applied to different couple therapy modalities. This clinical framework for couples’ KAP may be useful for clinicians and researchers working to improve the efficacy of couple therapy, particularly when one or both partners has accompanying mental health concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is a prevalent mental health problem across the globe, presenting significant social and economic challenges. Early detection and treatment are pivotal in reducing these impacts and improving patient outcomes. Traditional diagnostic methods largely rely on subjective assessments by psychiatrists, underscoring the importance of developing automated and objective diagnostic tools. This paper presents IntervoxNet, a novel computeraided detection system designed specifically for analyzing interview audio. IntervoxNet incorporates a dual-modal approach, utilizing both the Audio Mel-Spectrogram Transformer (AMST) for audio processing and a hybrid model combining Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers with a Convolutional Neural Network (BERT-CNN) for text analysis. Evaluated on the DAIC-WOZ database, IntervoxNet demonstrates excellent performance, achieving F1 score, recall, precision, and accuracy of 0.90, 0.92, 0.88, and 0.86 respectively, thereby surpassing existing state of the art methods. These results demonstrate IntervoxNet's potential as a highly effective and efficient tool for rapid depression screening in interview settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anxiety is the most common form of mental health disorder, affecting millions of people worldwide. Psychosocial interventions such as mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have been suggested as an effective treatment in the management of general anxiety and anxiety disorders, with emerging evidence also suggesting the effectiveness of hypnosis. Moreover, anxiety has shown to be linked to the onset and development of several cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which are the leading cause of global death. In this paper, we review the current literature to examine the role that anxiety has on the onset and development of CVD and summarize the current knowledge on the role that hypnosis and hypnotherapy have in reducing anxiety, also explaining how this can impact the cardiovascular system and the prevention of CVD. Review of the evidence suggests that hypnosis and hypnotherapy are effective in treating anxiety and may positively affect the heart and the cardiovascular system, reducing sympathetic activation and increasing parasympathetic tone, potentially preventing the onset of CVD related to increased sympathetic activation. However, further studies are required to further understand how hypnosis and hypnotherapy affect the cardiovascular system through investigation of the neurophysiological components of the hypnotic state and of the mind-body relationship. Healthcare systems should embed mental health screening in patients at risk of developing CVD as part of the clinical pathway and consider the role that hypnosis and hypnotherapy may play in the management of CVD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents and discusses a manuscript by one of the core founders of phenomenological psychopathology, Erwin W. Straus, concerning psychotic disorders of space and time (see attached Supplementary material). Written in June 1946, the manuscript is published for the first time as supplementary material to this paper. It is a clinical case-study of a patient with psychotic depression from Henry Phipps Clinic. It contains themes known from both Straus’ earlier and later work on lived time and mental illness, in particular a critique of physicalism in psychology, a vindication of primary sensing, a description of the spatiotemporal unity of lived experience, and the notion of temporal becoming. However, it is the only work by Straus that explores in such detail a patient’s case and shows how the lived experience is spatiotemporally structured and intrinsically related to affectivity, embodiment, and action. The manuscript is yet another piece of evidence of Straus’ significance in developing the field of phenomenological psychiatry in both Germany and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Physical activity has been extensively studied and numerous mental health benefits have been found. Pickleball is an emerging racquet sport, which is characterized by its accessibility to all audiences and has become especially popular in the United States among the elderly. It is a novel team game and its inclusive nature is innovative for health improvement. The purpose of this systematic review was to review and evaluate existing studies that have examined the effects of pickleball on the mental and psychological health of individuals. Methods: A systematic review was conducted on articles found in Scopus, PubMed, Elsevier, Web of Science (WoS), PsyINFO, Dialnet, and Elton B. Stephens Company (EBESCO) from 1975 to the present. The keywords used was a five combination between “Pickleball” joint with different terms by the connector AND, the second part of the combo could be “mental disorder” OR “anxiety” OR “depression” OR “psychological health” OR “mental health.” Eligibility criteria included: papers focused on pickleball, in English or Spanish, on mental health variables, without establishing an age range. We excluded duplicate works, without access or that did not address the objective of this study. Results: The search resulted in 63 papers, of which 13 were selected. A total of 90.74% of the population were people over 50 years of age. The results show significant improvements in the different psychological variables measured in pickleball practitioners: personal wellbeing, life satisfaction, depression, stress, happiness, etc., pickleball shows potential as a new tool to work and improve people’s mental health. Conclusions: The pickleball is displayed as an inclusive sport that does not need adaptations, resulting of great interest to be worked in different populations with mental problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In serving college students with mental disorders, on-campus mental health professionals have been lacking integrative theoretical frameworks to guide their missions of prevention, remedy, and development facilitation. In the current paper, we propose the positive clinical psychology as a theoretically and practically valuable framework for these missions by narratively reviewing the preventive, remedial, and developmental mechanisms derived from the theory and summarizing the most recent empirical evidence that supports each mechanism. We further discuss why and how these mechanisms and findings can be applied to on-campus mental health services to facilitate the resilience and optimal development of college students with mental disorders. Particularly, the use of resilience-focused and strength-based intervention strategies are promoted for services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: COVID-19 led to a horrific global pandemic, with strict lockdowns and prolonged indoor stays increasing the risk of mental health problems, affecting people of different ages, genders, regions, and types of work to varying degrees. This study provides a bibliometric summary of the knowledge map related to mental health during and post COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Publications related to mental health during and post COVID-19 pandemic were searched in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database through March 19, 2024. After screening the search results, the literature included in the final was first quantitatively analyzed using GraphPad Prism software and then visualized using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and R (the bibliometrix package). Results: The 7,047 publications from 110 countries were included, with the highest number of publications from China and the United States, and the number of publications related to mental health during and post the COVID-19 pandemic increased annually until 2023, after which it began to decline. The major institutions were University of Toronto, University of London, Harvard University, King's College London, University College London, University of California System, University of Melbourne, Institut National De La Sante Et De La Recherche Medicale (Inserm), Mcgill University, and University of Ottawa; Frontiers in Psychiatry had the highest number of publications, and the Journal of Affective Disorders had the highest number of co-citations; 36,486 authors included, with Xiang, Yu-Tao, Cheung, Teris, Chung, Seockhoon published the most papers, and World Health Organization, Kroenke K, and Wang CY were the most co-cited; epidemiologically relevant studies on mental health related to COVID-19, and the importance of mental health during normalized epidemic prevention and control are the main directions of this research area, especially focusing on children's mental health; "pandemic," "sars-cov-2," "epidemic," "depression," "coronavirus anxiety," "anxiety," "longitudinal," "child," "coronavirus anxiety," "longitudinal," "child," and "coronavirus" are the top keywords in recent years. Conclusion: This comprehensive bibliometric study summarizes research trends and advances in mental health during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic. It serves as a reference for mental health research scholars during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, clarifying recent research preoccupations and topical directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prolonged Grief Disorder occurs within 7-10% of the bereaved population and is a more complicated and persistent form of grief which has been associated with suicidality, mental health disorders, sleep disturbance, poor health behaviors, and work and social impairment. EMDR is a fitting treatment option for those with Prolonged Grief, focusing on processing past memories, blocks, current triggers, future fears, and preparing the person for living life beyond the loss in line with the Adaptive Information Processing Model and grief frameworks. This paper discusses the theory, research regarding the application of EMDR with prolonged grief, and gives insight and guidance to clinicians working in this area including a case example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Our objective was to check if the ICD-10 operational criteria application changes non-operational, prototype-based diagnoses obtained in a real-life scenario. Methods: Psychiatry residents applied the diagnostic criteria of the ICD-10 as a “diagnostic test” to five outpatient patients they were already following who had a prototype-based diagnosis. Tests were used to ascertain whether changes in opinion were significant and if any of the diagnostic groups were more prone to change than others. The present paper is part of the study with UTN U1111-1260-1212. Results: Seventeen residents reviewed their last five case files, retrieving 85 diagnostic pairs of non-operational-based vs. operational-based diagnoses. The Stuart–Maxwell test did not indicate a significant opinion change (χ² = 5.25, p = 0.39; power = 0.94) besides 30% of diagnostic changes. Despite not being statistically significant, 20.2% of all evaluations resulted in a change that would affect treatment choices. Using ICD-10 operational criteria slightly increased the number of observed diagnoses, but probably without clinical relevance. None of the non-operational diagnoses have a higher tendency to change with operational criteria application (χ² = 11.6, p = 0.07). The female gender was associated with a higher diagnostic change tendency. Conclusion: Applying ICD-10 operational criteria as a diagnostic test does not induce a statistically significant diagnostic opinion change in residents and no diagnostic group seems more sensible to diagnostic change. Gender-related differences in diagnostic opinion changes might be evidence of sunk cost bias. Although not statistically significant, using operational criteria after diagnostic elaboration might help to deal with subjects without adequate treatment response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing prevalence of mental disorders among youth worldwide is one of society's most pressing issues. The proposed methodology introduces an artificial intelligence-based approach for comprehending and analyzing the prevalence of neurological disorders. This work draws upon the analysis of the Cities Health Initiative dataset. It employs advanced machine learning and deep learning techniques, integrated with data science, statistics, optimization, and mathematical modeling, to correlate various lifestyle and environmental factors with the incidence of these mental disorders. In this work, a variety of machine learning and deep learning models with hyper-parameter tuning are utilized to forecast trends in the occurrence of mental disorders about lifestyle choices such as smoking and alcohol consumption, as well as environmental factors like air and noise pollution. Among these models, the convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture, termed as DNN1 in this paper, accurately predicts mental health occurrences relative to the population mean with a maximum accuracy of 99.79%. Among the machine learning models, the XGBoost technique yields an accuracy of 95.30%, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.9985, indicating robust training. The research also involves extracting feature importance scores for the XGBoost classifier, with Stroop test performance results attaining the highest importance score of 0.135. Attributes related to addiction, namely smoking and alcohol consumption, hold importance scores of 0.0273 and 0.0212, respectively. Statistical tests on the training models reveal that XGBoost performs best on the mean squared error and R-squared tests, achieving scores of 0.013356 and 0.946481, respectively. These statistical evaluations bolster the models' credibility and affirm the best-fit models' accuracy. The proposed research in the domains of mental health, addiction, and pollution stands to aid healthcare professionals in diagnosing and treating neurological disorders in both youth and adults promptly through the use of predictive models. Furthermore, it aims to provide valuable insights for policymakers in formulating new regulations on pollution and addiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurofeedback training (NFT) is a non-invasive method and has been shown to be effective for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and various psychiatric disorders. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of NFT for patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) or Vascular Diseases (VD), so that we searched research articles from four databases, using the keywords neurofeedback, elderly, MCI, AD, VD, and dementia. As a result, 13 articles were identified regarding the effectiveness of NFT in patients with MCI and AD. Although each study differed in study design, training protocol, electroencephalogram (EEG) electrode placement, and reward and inhibition frequency bands, all were shown to enhance memory, attention, and other cognitive abilities. Additional well-designed, randomized studies with sufficient power are needed to further confirm the effectiveness of NFT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Females are the fastest growing justice involved population in the United States, yet there is relatively little empirical research on the collateral consequences of juvenile justice involvement specifically for females. A growing body of empirical research underscores linkages between juvenile justice involvement and negative health and psychosocial outcomes, both in the short and long term. Method: The current study describes the long-term collateral consequences of juvenile justice involvement for females previously involved in the juvenile justice system, drawing from a longitudinal dataset of 166 women who were initially recruited in adolescence due to chronic and severe justice system involvement. Participants were 15 years-old on average at study enrollment and 35 years-old on average at the current assessment. This paper describes the adolescent and adult experiences of the sample, therefore depicting the developmental trajectories of risk and protective factors for females involved with juvenile justice. Results: As adults, 73% of the sample experienced arrest and 36% experienced incarceration. High rates of mental and physical health problems were reported, including that 50% of the sample met diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder. Over 400 children were born to the sample, with high rates of documented intergenerational child welfare involvement. Discussion: Study findings are discussed in the context of best practices for supporting adolescent girls involved with the juvenile justice system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health disorders are prevalent among biomedical students, and scientific research is one of their main activities, yet less is known about the relationship between research activities and mental health among these students. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the associations between research activities and mental health and to identify the potential risk factors for anxiety and depression among biomedical students in China. This study enrolled 1,079 participants between November 2020 and December 2020 from 29 Chinese provinces and collected participants' basic characteristics, work situations, scientific achievements, and potential stress sources via an online questionnaire. Anxiety and depression were evaluated by two widely used scales, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), respectively. The study also assessed the associations between scientific research duration and mental health. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the predictors of anxiety and depression. Among the participants, 39.02% scored as having moderate to severe anxiety, and 37.54% scored as having moderate to severe depression. When the Youden index reached its maximum, the optimal cutoff was 7.17 h for the GAD-7 and 6.83 h for the PHQ-9. After adjustment for confounders, a longer research work duration was significantly associated with a higher anxiety [odds ratio (OR) = 1.32, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21–1.44, p < 0.01] and depression (OR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.17–1.39, p < 0.01). Of all the participants working for 7 h a day, 37.04% had already published at least one paper and 25.93% had at least one Science Citation Index paper. Anxiety and depression are common among biomedical students. The research work duration of 7 h a day is the best cutoff for mental health, and it is associated with acceptable scientific research achievements. Not more than 7 h a day on research is recommended for biomedical students to maintain a balance between mental health and scientific research achievements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the change of brain connectivity in schizophrenics (SCZ), the resting-state EEG source functional connections of SCZ and healthy control (HC) were investigated in this paper. Different band single-layer networks, multilayer networks, and improved multilayer networks were constructed and their topological attributes were extracted. The topological attributes of SCZ and HC were automatically distinguished using ensemble learning methods called Ensemble Learning based on Trees and Soft voting method, and the effectiveness of different network construction methods was compared based on the classification accuracy. The results showed that the classification accuracy was 89.38% for α band network, 82.5% for multilayer network, and 86.88% for improved multilayer network. Comparing patients with SCZ to those with Alzheimer's disease (AD), the classification accuracy of improved multilayer network was the highest, which was 88.12%. The power spectrum in the α band of SCZ was significantly lower than HC, whereas there was no significant difference between SCZ and AD. This indicated that the improved multilayer network can effectively distinguish SCZ and other groups not only when their power spectrum was significantly different. The results also suggested that the improved multilayer topological attributes were regarded as biological markers in the clinical diagnosis of patients with schizophrenia and even other mental disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Dual harm is the co-occurrence of self-harm and aggression during an individual's lifetime. It is unclear whether sufficient evidence exists for dual harm as a unique clinical entity. This systematic review aimed to examine whether there are psychological factors that are uniquely associated with dual harm when compared to those who have engaged in sole harm (self-harm alone, aggression alone) and no harmful behaviours. Our secondary aim was to conduct a critical appraisal of the literature. Methods: The review searched PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, and EThOS on September 27, 2022, resulting in 31 eligible papers that represented 15,094 individuals. An adapted version of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was used to assess risk of bias and a narrative synthesis was conducted. Results: The included studies assessed differences in mental health problems, personality, and emotion related factors between the different behavioural groups. We found weak evidence that dual harm is an independent construct with unique psychological characteristics. Rather, our review suggests that dual harm results from the interaction of psychological risk factors that are associated with self-harm and aggression. Discussion: The critical appraisal identified numerous limitations within the dual harm literature. Clinical implications and recommendations for future research are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I present various strategies adopted by creators of artistic interactive virtual reality (VR) experiences to represent mental health problems and their contexts. The strategies can foster dialogues about these problems, as they present their complexities by embedding them into various narrative and non-narrative elements. In discussing the representational complexity of these works, I emphasize design strategies that tackle stereotypes and their ethical representations and which create a specific type of suspense for the experiencer to bypass the representation of suffering that documentary VR works often use. These productions approach mental health issues as dynamic systems and represent them through linearity or non-linearity (see Stepney 2018). This approach offers limited agency to the interactor, in the sense that the user has a sense of embodiment (Kilteni et al., 2012) and is scripted as an interactor in specific cases (Murray 1997). In this paper, I argue that the VR medium’s characteristic of expressing non-linearity via multimodality (see Elleström 2019) and sense of embodiment makes it suitable for such productions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the process of modernization, along with economic development, intensified social competition, and increasing mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, the issue of subjective well-being has received widespread attention. The level of subjective well-being of college students also affects whether society can achieve sustainable development. In philosophy, political science, economics, sociology and other disciplines, labor is regarded as an important factor affecting subjective well-being. Labor education is an educational activity carried out by Chinese universities in recent years. This further inspires the author to think, for the college students, will the labor education received on campus have an impact on the subjective well-being? What characteristics will its impact mechanism present? What are the characteristics of the influence on subjective well-being?. Methods: This research adopts a cross-sectional design, specifically employing a random sampling approach. In this study, the questionnaire was distributed to the college’s students of 14 universities in China through the Internet. A total of 2100 questionnaires were collected. Results: This paper mainly used questionnaires to collect data, and on this basis, examined the relationship between labor education participation, self-efficacy, healthy lifestyle and subjective well-being of college students. The results showed that: (1) Labor education participation positively affected college students’ subjective wellbeing. (2) Self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between labor education participation and college students’ subjective well-being. (3) Healthy lifestyle partially mediated the relationship between labor education participation and college students’ subjective well-being. (4) Self-efficacy and healthy lifestyle played a chain mediating role between labor education participation and college students’ subjective well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Various mental health hospital models have been tested in Chile since its foundation. The institutional model with the Asylum and the Madhouse prevailed during the nineteenth century and much of the twentieth. But is deinstitutionalizing all psychiatric patients the solution? Evidence acquisition: A PubMed, Epistemonikos, Lilacs, and Google Scholar Scoping Review was carried out in the last 5 years using the PRISMA-P method and the Scoping review search strategy. The MeSH terms (“Psychiatry/history” AND “Chile”) OR (“Mental disorders” AND “therapy”) were used during the search. Finally, papers focused on clinical trial therapy evaluation were excluded, and we emphasized the eects of historical evidence. Evidence synthesis: We identified 35 primary studies, and we counted the number of articles included in the review that potentially met our inclusion criteria and noted how many studies had been missed by our search. We analyzed 10 primary studies and 10 primary historical resources that were included in this study. Conclusion: The state must become a guarantor and be responsible for its psychiatric patients and provide professional and humanitarian support to its patients, be it through community psychiatry, day hospitals, devices such as mental health clinics, or psychiatric institutes dedicated to teaching and research. Patients should not be left to the free will of their direct relatives, but rather the state should strengthen the primary care system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: ecological psychiatry; ecological disaster psychiatry; earthquakes; flood; nuclear accidents EN ecological psychiatry ecological disaster psychiatry earthquakes flood nuclear accidents 1 3 3 10/01/21 20210928 NES 210928 Ecological psychiatry/neuropsychiatry, or ecopsychiatry/econeuropsychiatry, is the application of ecological thought to the study and practice of neuropsychiatry. Last, but not least, we recommend that specialists in psychiatry should be well-educated in ecological psychiatry, given the increasing and unprecedented occurrence of dramatic disasters worldwide. Ecological psychiatry, ecological disaster psychiatry, earthquakes, flood, nuclear accidents. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Parental psychosis (bipolar disorder and schizophrenia) are major risk factors for mental health problems in offspring. Although interventions that focus on parenting and the family environment have shown effectiveness in mitigating this risk, no systematic review has examined the impact of simply treating adult bipolar disorder or schizophrenia on their dependent children’s outcomes. Aims: To systematically review the effects (in randomized controlled trials) of adult-based interventions for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, on offspring mental health and wellbeing. Method: Eligibility criteria included randomized controlled trials that examined the treatment of adults with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia that also included child mental health and wellbeing outcomes. PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Psych Articles databases were searched. Results: 168,317 studies were reviewed; however, zero studies that met the inclusion criteria could be found. Conclusions: The existing research aimed at treating adult bipolar disorder and schizophrenia has so far overlooked the potential advantages that these treatments could provide for their offspring. This is a missed opportunity to understand the mechanisms of intergenerational transmission. Researchers examining treatments for adults with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia should, where appropriate, consider including both adult and child mental health outcomes in their trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The presence of two or more chronic diseases results in worse clinical outcomes than expected by a simple combination of diseases. This synergistic effect is expected to be higher when combined with some conditions, depending on the number and severity of diseases. Multimorbidity is a relatively new term, with the first fundamental definitions appearing in 2015. Studies usually define it as the presence of at least two chronic medical illnesses. However, little is known regarding the relationship between mental disorders and other non-psychiatric chronic diseases. This review aims at investigating the association between some mental disorders and non-psychiatric diseases, and their pattern of association. Methods: We performed a systematic approach to selecting papers that studied relationships between chronic conditions that included one mental disorder from2015 to 2021. These were processed using Covidence, including quality assessment. Results: This resulted in the inclusion of 26 papers in this study. It was found that there are strong associations between depression, psychosis, and multimorbidity, but recent studies that evaluated patterns of association of diseases (usually using clustering methods) had heterogeneous results. Quality assessment of the papers generally revealed low quality among the included studies. Conclusions: There is evidence of an association between depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, and psychosis with multimorbidity. Studies that tried to examine the patterns of association between diseases did not find stable results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurological and psychiatric disorders are a category of chronic diseases that are widespread and pose serious mental and physical health problems for patients. The substrates, products, and enzymes of Tryptophan metabolism all contribute to the development of neurological and psychiatric disorders. This paper deals with three metabolic pathways of tryptophan that produce a series of metabolites called tryptophan Catabolics (TRYCATs). These metabolites are involved in pathological processes such as excitotoxicity, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial damage and are closely associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and depression. Here, we review the elements that affect how tryptophan metabolism is regulated, including inflammation and stress, exercise, vitamins, minerals, diet and gut microbes, glucocorticoids, and aging, as well as the downstream regulatory effects of tryptophan metabolism, including the regulation of glutamate (Glu), immunity, G-protein coupled receptor 35 (Gpr35), nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), and dopamine (DA). In order to advance the general understanding of tryptophan metabolism in neurological and psychiatric disorders, this paper also summarizes the current situation and effective drugs of tryptophan metabolism in the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders and considers its future research prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the initial phases of the design and development of the Everyday Life Rehabilitation (ELR) intervention, and it presents preliminary findings on usefulness and implementation aspects derived from an ongoing larger trial exploring the effect, cost-effectiveness, and usefulness of ELR. ELR is amodel designed tomeet the absence of meaningful activities and challenges with integrated, activity- and recovery-oriented rehabilitation in sheltered and supported housing facilities for persons with extensive psychiatric disabilities. The aim of the present study was to examine early experiences of implementing the ELRmodel fromthe perspectives ofmanagers, housing staff, and occupational therapists. The paper will sum up preliminary findings based on process data included in an internal pilot prior to a full-scale pragmatic clustered RCT. Four Swedish municipalities with 19 housing facility units were involved and provided process data for the study. Thematic analysis were applied. The informants perceived the methodology to be well suited to the target group and context and to contribute to positive changes in participants' lives. The web-based training was also experienced as relevant and easily accessible to staff, as well as elements of collegial learning and feedback. However, they reported that their municipalities lacked basic conditions for making the whole concept work in such a short time. The ELR is overall perceived as useful, but experiences also make complex difficulties visible regarding integrated, coordinated rehabilitation and organizational readiness. Based on findings, a recommendation on basic prerequisites will be added to the ELR guidance for leadership and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decreased tolerance in response to specific every-day sounds (misophonia) is a serious, debilitating disorder that is gaining rapid recognition within the mental health community. Emerging research findings suggest that misophonia may have a unique neural signature. Specifically, when examining responses to misophonic trigger sounds, differences emerge at a physiological and neural level from potentially overlapping psychopathologies. While these findings are preliminary and in need of replication, they support the hypothesis that misophonia is a unique disorder. In this theoretical paper, we begin by reviewing the candidate networks that may be at play in this complex disorder (e.g., regulatory, sensory, and auditory). We then summarize current neuroimaging findings in misophonia and present areas of overlap and divergence from other mental health disorders that are hypothesized to co-occur with misophonia (e.g., obsessive compulsive disorder). Future studies needed to further our understanding of the neuroscience of misophonia will also be discussed. Next, we introduce the potential of neurostimulation as a tool to treat neural dysfunction in misophonia. We describe how neurostimulation research has led to novel interventions in psychiatric disorders, targeting regions that may also be relevant to misophonia. The paper is concluded by presenting several options for how neurostimulation interventions for misophonia could be crafted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major depressive disorder (MDD) and other mental health issues pose a substantial burden on the workforce. Approximately half a million Canadians will not be at work in any week because of a mental health disorder, and more than twice that number will work at a reduced level of productivity (presenteeism). Although it is important to determine whether work plays a role in a mental health condition, at initial presentation, patients should be diagnosed and treated per appropriate clinical guidelines. However, it is also important for patient care to determine the various causes or triggers including work-related factors. Clearly identifying the stressors associated with the mental health disorder can help clinicians to assess functional limitations, develop an appropriate care plan, and interact more effectively with worker's compensation and disability programs, as well as employers. There is currently no widely accepted tool to definitively identify MDD as work-related, but the presence of certain patient and work characteristics may help. This paper seeks to review the evidence specific to depression in the workplace, and provide practical tips to help clinicians to identify and treat work-related MDD, as well as navigate disability issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is focusing on a rather neglected issue that concerns both aspects of philosophy and neurobiology in relation to the concept of intentionality. Intentionality is concerned with the 'directedness' or 'aboutness' of mental phenomena towards an object. Despite the fact that in philosophy both concepts of aboutness and directedness are conceptually identical with intentionality, a careful neuroscientific approach can demonstrate that these two phenomena represent two distinct conceptual and neurobiological aspects of intentionality with complementary functions. We described the interaction between a series of intentionality and pathogenetic psychobiological factors, the corresponding brain topography, and the resulting clinical manifestation and psychopathology. A permanent failure of intentionality dominates in psychosis, which includes an inappropriateness of the intentional object or connection, from the outset, or even from the prodromal phase of the disorder. Affective disorders may result from imprecise interoceptive prediction error signals, due to a confused identification of the intentional object. In suicidal patients there is an emotional intentionality failure, characterized by an absence of intentional object or a loss of conscious access to normal intentional objects. We may model an 'intentional system' as a higher order system, with a monitoring and regulatory role attributed to the brain and behavior. Also, we may consider mental disorders as the result of a radical disruption of intentionality, due to an inappropriateness or lack of the intentional object or due to an inappropriate connection in some points of the suggested brain pathways of intentionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The socio-cultural response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the level of adherence to evidence-based guidelines played a crucial role in determining the morbidity and mortality outcomes during the pandemic. This review aims to evaluate the impact of stigma and psycho-socio-cultural challenges on efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify ways to mitigate such challenges in future pandemics. Methods: Using keywords including COVID-19, coronavirus, stigma, psychosocial challenges, and others, the authors searched seven major databases with a time limitation of July 2021, which yielded 2,038 results. Out of these, 15 papers were included in this review. Results: The findings of the review indicated that several psychosocial, socio-economic, and ethno-cultural factors are linked to the transmission and control of COVID-19. The research revealed that stigma and related psychosocial challenges and others, such as anxiety, fear, and stigma-driven social isolation, have resulted in significant mental health problems. Discussion: The review underscores the negative impact of stigma on COVID-19 patients, survivors, and the general population. Addressing stigma and psychosocial challenges is crucial to effectively manage the current pandemic and to prevent similar challenges during future public health crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to quantify the factors that disrupt the mental health of kindergarten (KG) teachers. For this, the researchers conducted an electronic survey of preschool teachers (n = 587) on a popular educational platform with the Symptom Checklist-90-R and content analysis of interviews in practicing KG teachers (n = 105) with an open discussion of the main stressors during professional activities. Self-reports indicated that depression, interpersonal sensitivity, and anxiety were the main mental health symptoms. ANOVA has revealed that total teaching experience is a statistically significant factor for the mental health of KG teachers: F(2.60) = 5.99. According to respondents, the main stressors included concern for the children’s health, fear of injuries, and difficulties in communicating with parents. The synthesis of results allowed for proposing six specific steps for mental health care in KG teachers. The findings are important for administrators and officials of preschool education. The proposed approach can become a theoretical basis for finding ways of mental health care for practicing teachers in further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Flood as the most common kind of the natural disasters has unpleased short, medium, and long-term consequences on the victims' welfare, relationships, and physical and mental health. One of the most common mental health disorders in these victims is Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of PTSD on the flood victims. Methods: Data resources including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, Embase, Google Scholar, conference and congress papers, key journals, the reference list of selected articles as well as systematic reviews were searched to identify studies that reported the prevalence of PTSD in flood victims. Random Effect Model was used to perform meta-analysis of the studies. Cochran test and I2 indicator were used to explore heterogeneity between the studies. Publication bias of the study was evaluated using Begg'test. Data were analyzed by STATA (version 14) software. Results: After a comprehensive search, 515 papers were extracted. After eliminating duplicates and final screening, 23 studies were selected and entered the meta-analysis phase after qualitative evaluation. The results showed that the prevalence of PTSD in flood victims is 29.48% (95% CI: 18.64-40.31, I2 = 99.3%, p-value < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that the prevalence of PTSD is relatively high in the flood victims. So, it is necessary to take preventive, supportive, therapeutic and effective actions for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporarily, depression has become a common psychiatric disorder that influences people's life quality and mental state. This study presents a systematic review analysis of depression based on a hierarchical structure approach. This research provides a rich theoretical foundation for understanding the hot spots, evolutionary trends, and future related research directions and offers further guidance for practice. This investigation contributes to knowledge by combining robust methodological software for analysis, including Citespace, Ucinet, and Pajek. This paper employed the bibliometric methodology to analyze 5,000 research articles concerning depression. This current research also employed the BibExcel software to bibliometrically measure the keywords of the selected articles and further conducted a co-word matrix analysis. Additionally, Pajek software was used to conduct a co-word network analysis to obtain a co-word network diagram of depression. Further, Ucinet software was utilized to calculate K-core values, degree centrality, and mediated centrality to better present the research hotspots, sort out the current status and reveal the research characteristics in the field of depression with valuable information and support for subsequent research. This research indicates that major depressive disorder, anxiety, and mental health had a high occurrence among adolescents and the aged. This present study provides policy recommendations for the government, non-governmental organizations and other philanthropic agencies to help furnish resources for treating and controlling depression orders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an integrative perspective on evolutionary, cultural and computational approaches to psychiatry. These three approaches attempt to frame mental disorders as multiscale entities and offer modes of explanations and modeling strategies that can inform clinical practice. Although each of these perspectives involves systemic thinking, each is limited in its ability to address the complex developmental trajectories and larger social systemic interactions that lead to mental disorders. Inspired by computational modeling in theoretical biology, this paper aims to integrate the modes of explanation offered by evolutionary, cultural and computational psychiatry in a multilevel systemic perspective. We apply the resulting Evolutionary, Cultural and Computational (ECC) model to Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) to illustrate how this integrative approach can guide research and practice in psychiatry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper used meta-regression to analyze the heterogenous factors contributing to the prevalence rate of mental health symptoms of the general and frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) in China under the COVID-19 crisis. Method: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Medrxiv and pooled data using random-effects meta-analyses to estimate the prevalence rates, and ran meta-regression to tease out the key sources of the heterogeneity. Results: The meta-regression results uncovered several predictors of the heterogeneity in prevalence rates among published studies, including severity (e.g., above severe vs. above moderate, p < 0.01; above moderate vs. above mild, p < 0.01), type of mental symptoms (PTSD vs. anxiety, p = 0.04), population (frontline vs. general HCWs, p < 0.01), sampling location (Wuhan vs. Non-Wuhan, p = 0.04), and study quality (p = 0.04). Conclusion: The meta-regression findings provide evidence on the factors contributing to the prevalence rate of mental health symptoms of the general and frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) to guide future research and evidence-based medicine in several specific directions. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display%5frecord.php?RecordID=220592, identifier: CRD42020220592. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is among the most common mental health disorders worldwide and treatment resistant depression (TRD) represents a major challenge for both patients and clinicians. In recent years ketamine has received attention as an antidepressant agent, demonstrating promising results in TRD in adults. To date, few attempts have been made in treating adolescent TRD with ketamine and none have used intranasal application. This paper discusses a case of a 17-year-old female adolescent suffering from TRD who underwent treatment with intranasal esketamine application (Spravato 28 mg). As symptoms showed clinically insignificant improvement despite modest gains in objective assessments (GAF, CGI, MADRS), treatment was prematurely discontinued. However, the treatment was tolerable and side effects were scarce and mild. Although this case report does not demonstrate clinical effectiveness, ketamine may nonetheless be a promising substance in treating TRD in other adolescents. Questions regarding the safety of ketamine use in the rapidly developing brains of adolescents still remain unanswered. To further explore the potential benefits of this treatment method a short term RCTs for adolescents with TRD is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of work in a pandemic context on workers’ mental health. Psychosocial risks have always been a challenging aspect of workplace health and safety practices. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected workplaces in all sectors causing unexpected changes in work organization and working conditions, leading to the emergence of new psychosocial risks for health and wellbeing of workers. This mini-review aims to identify the main work stressors during pandemic period and related mental health problems to suggest recommendations and adjust health and safety practices regarding workplace mental health. A literature search has been performed using MEDLINE/PubMed, ResearchGate and Google Scholar databases, selecting articles focusing on workrelated stressors and workers’ mental health problems related to the pandemic. Specific psychosocial risks have been identified, including fear of contagion, telework-related risks, isolation and stigmatization, rapid digitalization demands, job insecurity, elevated risk of violence at work or home, and work-life imbalance, among others. All those risks can lead to elevated levels of stress among workers and affect their mental health and wellbeing, especially in terms of psychological distress, anxiety, and depression. As one of the social determinants of health, the workplace has an important and moderating role in workers’ health. Therefore, in the pandemic context more than ever health protection practices at the workplace should be devoted to mental health problems. Recommendations provided in this study are expected to contribute to workplace practices to preserve and promote workers’ mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present paper was to study the various common mental disorders in a sample of Kathak dancers and non-dancers of North India. 206 female Kathak dancers and 235 healthy controls, aged 18-45 years completed questionnaires assessing perceived stress (PSS-10), depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), and generalized anxiety (GAD-7). Pearson correlations assessed the association between perceived stress, depression, generalized anxiety, age, and years of dancing, and binary logistic regression identified the risk of developing depression and generalized anxiety disorder in Kathak dancers and non-dancers. The prevalence of perceived stress was similar among Kathak dancers and nondancers. Kathak dancers reported significantly lower depressive symptoms compared to controls. Non-dancers with elevated perceived stress levels were 4 times more likely to report depressive symptoms and 7 times more likely to report anxiety symptoms, relative to dancers. The adjusted odds of reporting depressive symptoms along with generalized anxiety were higher among nondancers compared to dancers. Kathak can be developed into a very effective psychotherapeutic tool for mitigating the risk of developing depression and generalized anxiety disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While contemporary psychiatry seeks the mechanisms of mental disorders in neurobiology, mental health problems clearly depend on developmental processes of learning and adaptation through ongoing interactions with the social environment. Symptoms or disorders emerge in specific social contexts and involve predicaments that cannot be fully characterized in terms of brain function but require a larger social-ecological view. Causal processes that result in mental health problems can begin anywhere within the extended system of body-person-environment. In particular, individuals' narrative self-construal, culturally mediated interpretations of symptoms and coping strategies as well as the responses of others in the social world contribute to the mechanisms of mental disorders, illness experience, and recovery. In this paper, we outline the conceptual basis and practical implications of a hierarchical ecosocial systems view for an integrative approach to psychiatric theory and practice. The culturalecosocial systems view we propose understands mind, brain and person as situated in the social world and as constituted by cultural and self-reflexive processes. This view can be incorporated into a pragmatic approach to clinical assessment and case formulation that characterizes mechanisms of pathology and identifies targets for intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical High-Risk State for Psychosis and Familial Vulnerability: the Manifold Intersection... Nine papers in this Research Topic broadly addressed a clinical high-risk state (CHR) of psychosis in children and adolescents mainly by ultra-high risk (UHR) but also by basic symptom criteria ([12], [13]). Keywords: prevention; family; high risk; prognosis; severe mental disorder; suicide; developmental; psychopathology EN prevention family high risk prognosis severe mental disorder suicide developmental psychopathology 1 4 4 01/11/22 20211221 NES 211221 Serious Mental Illnesses (SMI), such as depressive, bipolar, and psychotic disorders, often start in childhood and adolescence, are the leading cause of disability in young people and tend to cause life-long disability ([1]-[4]). Prevention, family, high risk, prognosis, suicide, developmental, psychopathology, severe mental disorder However, within the framework of the early detection of psychosis, a positive family history of psychosis even in combination with a recent drop in functioning was an insufficient predictor of a conversion to first-episode psychosis by itself when compared to symptom-based risk criteria ([12]-[14]). [Extracted from the article]

In recent years, some neurologists reconsidered their approach to Medically Unexplained Symptoms and proposed Functional Neurologic Disorders (FND) as a new entity, claiming that neurology could offer alternative treatment options to the psychotherapies provided in psychiatry settings. FNDs, for this purpose, should include only the disorders listed as Conversion from the Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders (SSRD) group. The present review analyzes the rationale of this position and challenges the arguments provided for its support. The review also discusses the systematization of these disorders as provided by public health systems. It outlines risks stemming from economic support and public funding uncertainty, given their negligible epidemiological dimensions resulting from the parcellation of SSRD. The review underlines the unresolved issue of Factitious Disorders, which are in the same SSRD category of the international classification but are, nonetheless, overlooked by the theoretical proponents of the FND entity. Comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders is also analyzed. We propose a model that supports the continuum between different SSRD conditions, including Factitious Disorders. The model is based on the emergence of feigned death reflex and deception from frontal lobe dysfunction. Finally, the paper summarizes the wealth of historical psychiatric and psychodynamic approaches and critical reviews. The study also puts in context the categorization and interpretation efforts provided by the most eminent researchers of the past century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: World Health Organization studies have shown that one in every five people who have experienced war or other conflicts suffers from a mental health disorder, the most vulnerable groups being children and women. According to international guidelines, mental health care should be made available immediately in the event of disaster. With the first influx of Ukrainian refugees to Hungary at the outbreak of the war, the Research Group of Childhood Mental Health at Eötvös Loránd University and Semmelweis University in Budapest immediately decided to help by transforming itself into a support group for refugee families. The members of the support group are all women. The aim of the present study is to explore the motivation behind the transformation of the research group and the help it provided. A further aim was to compare the group’s experiences with descriptions in the literature of impacts on helpers who work with refugees. Methods: The current paper reflects on the transformation from researchers to helpers and the effects of that transformation at group and individual level using the focus group method and consensual text analysis. The transformation of the support group necessitated the involvement of students, whose experiences are also examined. Results: We identified five main categories: context; the help recipients’ perspective; the personal level; the professional level; and the level between the personal and professional. Discussion: The analysis revealed the way in which the voluntary helping developed, the resulting difficulties, and coping options. Volunteering among Ukrainian refugees has both positive and negative psychological consequences. While stress and trauma threaten the psychological well-being of the helpers, positive aspects, such as flexibility and professional development, are also reported. Due to the strong motivation among group members and their experience in practical work, the all female research group was quickly able to transform itself into a support group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As a common clinical symptom, insomnia has a high incidence of combined mental illness and it is also a risk factor for the development of depression, anxiety and suicide. As a new concept in the field of health in recent years, mindfulness therapy can improve insomnia, anxiety and depression, which is a new way to solve such diseases. Objective: This study aims to systematically evaluate the effects of mindfulness compared with conventional treatment on scores of the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) in people with insomnia and anxietydepressive symptoms. Methods: Articles published before October 2022 were searched from seven databases and included in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate mindfulness therapy. The assessment tool of Cochrane bias risk was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the literature. The main outcome indicators were HAMD and HAMA scores, and the secondary outcome indicators were SDS and SAS scores. Results: Ten randomized controlled trials including 1,058 subjects were systematically evaluated and meta-analyzed in this study. In the main outcome indicators, there was a significant difference between mindfulness therapy and conventional treatment in reducing HAMD score (MD: −3.67, 95% CI: −5.22–2.11, p < 0.01) and HAMA score (MD: −3.23, 95% CI: −3.90–2.57, p < 0.01). In the secondary outcome indicators, mindfulness therapy also showed a significant difference in reducing SDS scores (MD: −6.49, 95% CI: −6.86–6.11, p < 0.01) and SAS scores (MD: −7.97, 95% CI: −9.68–6.27, p < 0.01) compared with conventional treatment. Conclusion: For the people with insomnia, anxiety and depression, the use of conventional treatment with the addition of 4–12 weeks of mindfulness treatment can significantly improve anxiety and depression symptoms of patients. This is a new diagnosis and treatment idea recommended for insomniacs with or without anxiety and depression symptoms. Due to the methodological defects in the included study and the limited sample size of this paper, more well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed for verification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental disorders such as anxiety and depression induced by chronic pain are common in clinical practice, and there are significant sex differences in their epidemiology. However, the circuit mechanism of this difference has not been fully studied, as preclinical studies have traditionally excluded female rodents. Recently, this oversight has begun to be resolved and studies including male and female rodents are revealing sex differences in the neurobiological processes behind mental disorder features. This paper reviews the structural functions involved in the injury perception circuit and advanced emotional cortex circuit. In addition, we also summarize the latest breakthroughs and insights into sex differences in neuromodulation through endogenous dopamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, GABAergic inhibition, norepinephrine, and peptide pathways like oxytocin, as well as their receptors. By comparing sex differences, we hope to identify new therapeutic targets to offer safer and more effective treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]