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The process of medical scientific journal publishing merits further explanation for authors and readers. Prospective authors need to understand the scope of the journal and the article types that are published. We give an overview of the editorial process, including selection of reviewers, peer review and decisions regarding revision, acceptance and rejection of papers for Australasian Psychiatry. We encourage authors and readers to submit papers, and volunteer as peer reviewers, working together with the journal editorial team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australasian Psychiatry is a journal that aims to provide evidence-based substance and experience-based sustenance for integrating the art and science of psychiatry. The journal focuses on clinical psychiatric practice, service delivery, and the well-being of psychiatrists and trainees. The new editorial team plans to expand the scope and reach of the journal, welcoming submissions from various fields to enrich psychiatric practice. They also aim to increase the speed of reviews and depth of expertise by involving early and mid-career clinical academic psychiatrists in new roles as Deputy and Associate Editors. The journal encourages respectful discourse and offers various submission options for papers, subject to formal peer review. The team also plans to enhance learning and discourse through podcasts and social media updates. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the importance of respectful scientific debate in the field of psychiatry. The journal, Australasian Psychiatry, welcomes correspondence from readers and authors who have views about papers published in the journal. The correspondence should focus on evidence and reasoned arguments, avoiding personal attacks or offensive language. The journal encourages the submission of letters to the editor, which are subject to peer review, and limits further rounds of correspondence to avoid repetition. The goal is to challenge the evidence and arguments within a paper to promote independent assessment by readers. [Extracted from the article]

Background: School-age children enrolled in the DAS speech-language therapy programme are often diagnosed with both dyslexia and language disorder. The current study shows the positive impact of language therapy on these children as it is practised by speech-language therapists (SLTs) at DAS. Methods: The study involved 23 children in mainstream education aged 5 to 12 who were diagnosed with dyslexia and subsequently with mild-severe language disorder at the start of the study. A smallscale quasi-experimental design with a control group was used without random assignment of participants to either an intervention condition (n=11), or a control condition (n=12). The intervention group underwent language therapy directly delivered by DAS SLTs in a group setting (1 SLT : 2-3 children) once a week, an hour per session, for at least a term (i.e. ≥ 8 sessions). Participants in the control group matched those in the intervention group overall on age and level of severity but did not receive any speech-language therapy for the duration of the study. All participants in both groups received the same level of literacy support from educational therapists in the curriculumbased DAS Main Literacy Programme (MLP) whilst the study was on-going. Results: Participants in the intervention group showed performance improvements compared to those in the control group in the primary outcome measures of different language skills as measured by the core language subtests of CELF®-4UK, a standardised assessment tool used to assess the presence of a language disorder or delay in children aged 5-21. Statistically significant improvements were found in both the raw and scaled scores of the Formulated Sentences subtest. In addition, positive effect sizes ranging from small to large were observed for other subtests. Conclusions: The current small scale controlled intervention study targeting the range of subskills addressed by CELF®-4UK identified the significant impact of the approach adopted by SLTs at DAS, with strong effect sizes. The findings support the use of small-group intervention as effective for children with a range of severity in language disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several recent studies have reported that serious violence towards self and others is more common in the first episode of psychosis than after treatment. Aim: To estimate the proportion of survivors of suicide attempts during psychotic illness by jumping from a height who had not previously received treatment with antipsychotic medication. Methods: An audit of the medical records of patients admitted to nine designated trauma centres in New South Wales, Australia, after surviving a jump of more than 3 m. Jumping was defined using routine hospital ascribed International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes. The height of the jump and all clinical data were extracted from case notes. Results: The files of 160 survivors of jumps of more than 3 m were examined, which included 70 who were diagnosed with a psychotic illness (44%). Thirty-one of the 70 diagnosed with a psychotic illness (44%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 32–56%) had never received treatment for psychosis and hence were in the first episode of psychosis. One in five (19.4%) of all survivors of a suicide attempt by jumping had an undiagnosed and untreated psychosis that was often characterized by frightening delusional beliefs. Conclusion: A large proportion of the survivors of suicide attempts by jumping were diagnosed with a psychotic illness, which confirms an association between psychosis and suicide by jumping. Some suicides might not have been linked to psychosis had the patient not survived the suicide attempt, suggesting that the contribution of schizophrenia to suicide mortality might have been underestimated in psychological autopsy studies. The finding that nearly half of the survivors diagnosed to have a psychotic illness had never received treatment with antipsychotic medication indicates a greatly increased risk of suicide by jumping in the first episode of psychosis when compared to the annual risk after treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study that explored gender differences in challenging behaviors, management and outcomes in age-matched elderly patients with delirium. The study was done at the Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, from October 2008 to April 2009 on patients aged 65 to 90 years diagnosed with delirium. It found that more challenging behaviors are displayed by male patients that require physical restraint and pharmacological management.

Objective: The Vastaamo psychotherapy data breach in Finland is perhaps the largest cybersecurity incident in mental healthcare to date, resulting in significant patient harm. There are specific lessons for mental healthcare providers from an analysis of the incident., Method: Case study of this specific electronic health record data breach, based on detailed media reporting., Results: The issues raised include: the importance of governance of the cybersecurity of sensitive personal patient data, such as compliance with legislative requirements on privacy and data security; specific security measures such as de-identification of data, data protection via passwords, multi-factor authentication, firewalls and encryption; and timely and effective communication, and support of those who have been affected., Conclusions: The implications for mental healthcare providers, including psychiatrists and trainees, are that, within their capability, providers need to assess the efficacy and robustness of cybersecurity of electronic health record systems they use, and carefully consider the information that is recorded to minimise exposures such as in the Vastaamo breach., Competing Interests: DisclosureThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors declare that JCLL, SA, TB, PAM, SK and SR are editorial team members for the journal – they were not involved in the independent peer review process.

Background: Frontotemporal dementia is the third or fourth most common form of dementia in the 45-65 years age group. It causes significant morbidity as well as a six to eightfold increase in mortality risk., Objective: This article provides an overview of the pathophysiology of frontal lobe function and the genetics of frontotemporal dementia. It also summarises the clinical features, diagnosis and management of frontotemporal dementia., Discussion: While the clinical presentation of frontotemporal dementia was described as early as the nineteenth century, recent advances in genetics have resulted in greater understanding of the pathophysiology of this disease. While imaging may support the diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia, it is essentially a clinical diagnosis based on the presence of typical clinical features and the findings of neuropsychological tests. Clinical management of frontotemporal dementia remains a challenge and is largely centred on behavioural management. Pharmacological agents such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and antipsychotics may be helpful, although evidence to support their use is minimal.