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The demobilisation of guerrillas and paramilitaries in Colombia, also known as irregular armed groups, has raised the question among mental health professionals as to whether ex-combatants who have had repeated exposure to stressful events might meet the requirements for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Upon arrival at a psychiatric clinic in Bogota, 76 patients were evaluated by a group of mental health professionals with experience in this diagnosis. Contrary to clinicians' expectations, there was a conspicuous lack of PTSD among this population. Subsequently, the clinical team administered the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale with 21 of these patients; PTSD was found in 57% of the men. The authors consider various arguments that might explain this discrepancy. Differences between the clinical presentation of PTSD among the ex-combatants and the classic descriptions contained in the DSM-IV-TR may be explained by organisational characteristics of the irregular armed groups. Further research is necessary which focuses on the mental health of populations in the context of political violence, such as those encountered in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: It has been said that mental illnesses are characterised by poor decision making; there is some neuroscientific evidence of specific alterations in performance in decision making tests, but little is known about how patients make choices about their own treatments., Methods: Focus groups with patients from two psychiatric clinics, with discourse analysis., Results: Five deductive categories (tools, capacity, therapeutic relationship, method and family and network), plus one additional category from the analysis (stigma), and 35 inductive (posterior) categories were considered. The categories are analysed and the findings presented., Conclusions: Patients express a need for greater participation in decisions about their treatment, and a more symmetrical psychiatrist-patient relationship, involving families. Decisions may be changed due to stigma, barriers to treatment access, and previous experiences., (Copyright © 2019 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the association of country of residence with body mass index (BMI) between Mexican and Colombian patients exposed to antipsychotics. We hypothesize that there will be a significant association between country of residence and BMI and that Mexican patients will have higher BMI than their Colombian counterparts. Design: The International Study of Latinos on Antipsychotics (ISLA) is a multisite, international, cross sectional study of adult Latino patients exposed to antipsychotics in two Latin American Countries (i.e. Mexico and Colombia). Data were collected from a total of 205 patients (149 from Mexico and 56 from Colombia). The sites in Mexico included outpatient clinics in Mexicali, Monterrey and Tijuana. In Colombia, data were collected from outpatient clinics in Bogotá. For this study we included patients attending outpatient psychiatric community clinics that received at least one antipsychotic (new and old generation) for the last 3 months. A linear regression model was used to determine the association of country of residence with BMI for participants exposed to an antipsychotic. Results: After controlling for demographics, behaviors, biological and comorbid psychiatric variables, there was a significant difference between Colombia vs. Mexico in the BMI of patients exposed to antipsychotics ( β  = 4.9; p  < 0.05). Conclusion: Our hypotheses were supported. These results suggest that differences in BMI in patients exposed to antipsychotics in Mexico and Colombia may reflect differences in prevalence of overweight/obesity at the population level in the respective countries, and highlights the involvement of other risk factors, which may include genetics.