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Aims: The objective of the current study was to describe and analyse associations between childhood emotional abuse, severity of depressive symptoms, and analgesic expectations of drinking in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD)., Methods: A total of 240 individuals aged 43.85 ± 11.0 with severe AUD entering an inpatient, abstinence-based, and drug-free treatment program were assessed. The data on AUD severity, depressive symptoms, expectations towards the analgesic effects of alcohol and childhood emotional trauma was collected using questionnaire measures. The PROCESS SPSS macro for serial mediation with bootstrapping was used to test whether current severity of depressive symptoms and expectations towards analgesic effects of alcohol use serially mediated the association between childhood emotional abuse on AUD symptom severity., Results: There was evidence for two simple mediated effects, whereby the severity of depressive symptoms mediated the association between childhood emotional abuse on AUD symptom severity, and expectations towards analgesic effects of alcohol mediated the association between childhood emotional abuse on AUD symptom severity. There was also evidence to support serial mediation whereby both severity of depressive symptoms and expectations towards analgesic effects of alcohol mediated the association between childhood emotional abuse on AUD symptom severity., Conclusions: It might be clinically relevant to address experiences of childhood emotional trauma, as well as individual expectations of analgesic effects of alcohol, in AUD treatment programs., (© The Author(s) 2024. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Alongside obesity, insomnia and depression are common public health problems. Sleep problems are currently believed to be associated with excessive food intake and metabolic disturbances. Therefore, we aimed to explore a relationship between insomnia, depressive symptoms and eating habits as well as metabolic parameters in bariatric surgery candidates., Methods: A total of 361 unrelated obese subjects were included in this study. Severity of sleep problems was measured with Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) and the severity of depressive symptoms was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was assessed by the Apnea Hypopnoea Index (AHI). Information was obtained about demographics, eating habits and lifestyle. Blood samples were collected to measure concentration of lipids (cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol), and glucose., Results: The median (interquartile range) score for AIS in the study participants was 5 (3-8) with a range of 0-24 and 47% (171) participants scored ≥6 (met criteria for diagnosis of insomnia). Statistically significant correlations were found between the AIS scores and serum triglycerides and glucose concentrations, and BDI-II total scores. The highest scores on AIS and BDI-II were found in participants with high frequency of snack food consumption, in physically inactive individuals as well as in those who self-reported eating at night or who declared more than 3 intense emotions associated with a desire-to-eat. Adjusted multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that clinical insomnia was most strongly associated with daily consumption of snack foods, with the odds ratio of 3.26 (95% CI: 1.74-6.11), while depressive symptoms were strongly associated with both eating in response to ≥3 specific emotions with OR = 2.93 (95% CI: 1.26-6.78) as well as with daily consumption of snack foods with OR = 2.87 (95% CI: 1.16-5.14)., Conclusions: The results indicate that insomnia and depression in obese individuals are associated with eating habits, and suggest that in some patients these associations appears as major factors affecting obesity development.

The purpose of this review is to summarize current knowledge about the gut microbiota in neuropsychiatric disorders. It is estimated that the human gut is colonized by up to 1018 microorganisms, mostly anaerobic bacteria. The gut microbiome is responsible for multiple functions, e.g. tightness of the intestine barrier, digestion and absorption. The correlation between gut dysbiosis and development of psychiatric, autoimmune and allergic diseases as well as bidirectional communication between brain and gut microflora have been shown. Recent findings suggest that specific bacteria can be involved in the development of clinical conditions, such as Autism Spectrum Disorders, depression and schizophrenia, and microbiota may be a target for therapeutic intervention providing novel treatment strategies.

Objectives: Fatal and nonfatal suicide attempts are far more common in opioid-dependent individuals than in the general population. More research is needed to understand the specific risk factors for suicidal behaviors in this patient population, particularly outside of the United States and Western Europe. This study investigated the correlates of suicide attempts among Polish patients in methadone maintenance treatment and interpreted results in the context of findings from other countries., Methods: The study was based on a sample of 240 individuals recruited from a methadone maintenance clinic in Poland. Participants were interviewed using standardized measures., Results: Consistent with studies in other countries, sexual abuse, depression, alcohol dependence, and impulsivity were associated with suicide attempt. Additionally, those patients with somatic comorbidity had an increase in odds (odds ratio = 2.6) of suicide attempt., Conclusions: The results of our study suggest a potential benefit to treatment approaches that address somatic concerns of methadone-maintenance patients. More research is needed to identify, assess, and understand possible cultural and regional differences between opioid-dependent populations to better tailor prevention strategies.

Aim: To provide a description of patients receiving alcohol treatment in eight different European countries, including the level of comorbidities and functional limitations., Methods: Drinking behaviours, DSM-IV alcohol use disorder (AUD), mental and somatic comorbidities, disability and health services utilization of 1767 patients from various specialized treatment settings were assessed as representative for regions of eight European countries. Severity of alcohol dependence (AD) in terms of drinking level was compared with a large representative US sample., Results: Patients in specialized care for AUDs showed high levels of consumption [average level of daily ethanol intake: 141.1 g, standard deviation (SD): 116.0 g], comorbidity [e.g. liver problems: 19.6%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 17.5-21.6%; depression: 43.2%, 95% CI: 40.7-45.8%; anxiety: 50.3%, 95% CI: 47.8-52.9%], disability and health services utilization (average number of nights spent in hospital(s) during the last 6 months: 8.8, SD: 19.5 nights). Severity of AD was similar to the US sample, but European men consumed on average more alcohol daily., Conclusions: High levels of consumption, somatic and mental comorbidities, disability and functional losses were found in this representative treatment sample, indicating that treatment was initiated only at severe stages of AUDs. Earlier initiation of treatment could help avoid some of the health and social burden., (© The Author 2015. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.)

Aims: Growing data reveals deficits in perception, understanding and regulation of emotions in alcohol dependence (AD). The study objective was to explore the relationships between emotional processing, drinking history and relapse in a clinical sample of alcohol-dependent patients., Methods: A group of 80 inpatients entering an alcohol treatment program in Warsaw, Poland was recruited and assessed at baseline and follow-up after 12 months. Baseline information about demographics, psychopathological symptoms, personality and severity of alcohol problems was obtained. The Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence (EI) Test and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) were utilized for emotional processing assessment. Follow-up information contained data on drinking alcohol during the last month., Results: At baseline assessment, the duration of alcohol drinking was associated with lower ability to utilize emotions. Patients reporting more difficulties with describing feelings drank more during their last episode of heavy drinking, and had a longer duration of intensive alcohol use. A longer duration of the last episode of heavy drinking was associated with more problems identifying and regulating emotions. Poor utilization of emotions and high severity of depressive symptoms contributed to higher rates of drinking at follow-up., Conclusions: These results underline the importance of systematic identification of discrete emotional problems and dynamics related to AD. This knowledge has implications for treatment. Psychotherapeutic interventions to improve emotional skills could be utilized in treatment of alcohol-dependent patients., (© The Author 2014. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.)

Background: We investigated effects of current age and age at onset on symptomatology of depression with reference to proposed revisions in DSM-5., Methods: The study entailed medical records of 326 inpatients diagnosed with major depressive disorder, including 520 depressive episodes, with 113 first episodes lifetime. Subjects were divided into three groups: young-adults, middle-aged adults and older adults., Results: In young-adults, active suicidal ideation, lifetime suicidal attempts, irritability, anhedonia and persistent depressive symptoms between the episodes were more frequent than in the other groups. Among older adults, depression was associated with insomnia, hypochondriasis, somatization, decreased appetite, weight loss, memory impairment and decreased activity. The older age was not associated with higher number of previous episodes of depression, bigger severity or duration of a single episode or a different degree of remission. Early-onset depression was associated with more suicidal attempts., Limitations: The study was retrospective and the sample may be treated only as representative for hospitalized depressed patients., Conclusions: Age and age at onset are important factors influencing the course and symptomatology of a depressive episode. Depressive episodes with anxiety and with suicide risk severity are important specifiers that vary with the age at onset and/or age of the patient and should be considered for inclusion in the DSM-5 revision., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Depressive symptoms as well as high levels of impulsivity are subjects of special interest in alcohol dependence, as these factors are considered to influence the course of this disorder. However, until now mutual relationships between impulsivity and depression have not been investigated thoroughly in alcohol-dependent patients., Methods: By means of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and stop-signal task, levels of impulsivity among 304 alcohol-dependent patients were measured. The stop-signal task was used as a manipulation-free method of estimating the level of behavioral impulsiveness, and the BIS-11 is a self report measure of global as well as cognitive impulsivity. Patients were also asked to complete the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Hopelessness Scale (BHS). The results were analyzed in order to examine relationships between impulsiveness and depressive symptoms., Results: Statistical analyses revealed significant associations between impulsiveness and severity of depressive symptoms. Individuals with higher scores on the BDI were more impulsive on the BIS-11, whereas patients with higher scores on the BHS were more impulsive on both the stop-signal task and BIS-11. The strongest correlations were found with the attention impulsivity subscale of BIS-11. Adjusting for other variables, a linear regression analysis revealed that cognitive impulsivity was the strongest predictor of depression severity., Limitations: The main limitation of the study is a not fully representative sample, with exclusion of patients with active mood disorders, Conclusions: The results indicate a strong association between depressive symptoms and impulsivity in alcohol-dependent patients, and suggest an important distinction between hopelessness and other depressive symptoms., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Unlabelled: Depression is one of the most severe health issues of the modern medicine. One of the most troublesome symptoms of depression is pain. On the other hand, patients suffering from chronic pain problems are also often subjects of mood or anxiety disorders. There are still very little studies in the field of co-occurrence of these two symptoms and therefore there are no universal standards to deal with such cases., Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between symptoms of depression and pain., Method: The study consisted of 3726 female and 2116 male participants, all patients of Mental Health and Neurological clinics. The mean age of the patients was 47 years. A structured questionnaire was used including data about demographics, Depression, Anxiety, and Pain Severity Scales., Results: The data analysis revealed statistically significant relationship between severity of pain and depression, anxiety as well as suicidal thoughts. The study also revealed a high correlation between severity of mood disorders and the severity of pain., Conclusions: The patients with a long history of pain disorders have also an increase of depression and anxiety symptoms, and suicidal thoughts. Patients with more severe depression and anxiety symptoms have also an increase of pain problems. There is significant relationship between depression and pain symptoms, as well as between pain and suicidal thoughts.

For the assessing the incidence of mood disturbances among the neurological out-patients 3287 of them were examined by 111 neurologists during their routine practice. Early diagnosis, the type of mood disturbances and the depth of depression were estimated by the use of Beck's Depression Inventory, the questionnaire based on The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, as well. Around half of the patients (50.47%) were suspected on depression, as an early diagnosis. In suspected and diagnosed depressive patients the symptoms as anxiety, low activity precordial pain, headaches, dry mouth, constipation, sleep and appetite troubles were significantly (p < 0.01) more frequent than in euthymic subjects. Among all studied patients the episode of depression were found as a final diagnose in 17.2%, recurrent depressive disorders--in 17.6% and dysthymia--in 2.8% of subjects. In finally diagnosed depressive patients the chronic neurological problems were significantly (p = 0.013) more frequent, as the cause of the visit, than in the euthymic ones. The low mood was equally frequent among the patients with Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and cerebrovascular disorders, as well.

The aims of the Polish survey were to assess efficacy of screening for depression in gynecological practice and to estimate prevalence of depressive disorders in midlife women visiting gynecologists. The study included 2262 female outpatients aged 45-55, who were screened by 120 gynecologists throughout Poland. Patients completed the Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) and were assessed by gynecologists to verify the presence of symptoms of a current Depressive Episode according to ICD-10 diagnostic criteria. Patients who obtained a score of 12 points or more on the BDI were referred for psychiatric evaluation, including the modified version of Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). The study showed that gynecologists in Poland are able to perform screenings for depression effectively in outpatient settings. Results also suggested that about 19% of women aged 45 to 55 years visiting gynecologists may suffer from depressive disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]