The social defeat hypothesis of schizophrenia, which proposes that the chronic experience of outsider status or subordinate position leads to increased striatal dopamine activity and thereby to increased risk, has been criticized. The aims of this paper are to improve the definition of defeat and to integrate the social defeat hypothesis with the neurodevelopmental hypothesis. Marmot advanced the idea that low status is pathogenic in that it is associated with a lack of social participation and a lack of autonomy. Given the similarity with outsider status and subordinate position, we re-define social defeat as low status. From this new perspective it is also likely that pre-schizophrenic impairments (of neurodevelopmental origin or not) are pathogenic in that they contribute to low status. The effect of low status may be enhanced by repeated exposure to humiliation, but few studies have measured this variable. Since most individuals exposed to low status do not develop schizophrenia, we propose that this risk factor increases the risk of disorder in the presence of a poor homeostatic control of dopamine neurons in midbrain and dorsal striatum. This is consistent with studies of healthy subjects which report a negative association between low socio-economic status and dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability in the dorsal striatum. In this new version of the social defeat hypothesis we propose that the combination of low status, repeated humiliation and poor homeostatic control of dopamine neurons in midbrain and dorsal striatum leads to increased striatal dopamine activity and thereby to an increased risk of schizophrenia.

In the eighteenth century, masturbation was extended from the moral to the medical sphere and conceptualized as being the cause of various deteriorative physical illnesses. In the nineteenth century, psychiatrists accepted that difficult to control masturbation was a feature of many mental disorders. They also believed that masturbation could play a casual role in a specific type of insanity with a distinctive natural history. In 1962, E.H. Hare published an article on the concept of masturbatory insanity that became an important explication of the masturbation and mental illness relationship in the history of psychiatry. Historical research published subsequent to Hare's article suggests several updates to his analysis. Hare did not note that the masturbation and mental illness relationship was promoted to the general public by quacks peddling quick cures. Hare emphasized psychiatrists’ condemnatory language only, neglecting the aspiration of psychiatrists to treat disorders caused by excessive masturbation, not punish the sin of masturbation. Hare recognized the importance of hebephrenia and neurasthenia to this history but attributed the decline of masturbation related mental illness in part to the rejection of an irrational, unscientific hypotheses about masturbation's causal role. As an alternative, we suggest that before the causal role of masturbation was widely abandoned, the concepts of hebephrenia and neurasthenia gained a competitive advantage and became primary diagnoses for cases that once would have been conceptualized as masturbatory insanity.

Successful leaders are at risk of developing exaggerated pride, contempt for others, and a diminished sense of reality. The ancient Greeks feared this syndrome and called it hubris. Although certain contemporaneous leaders show signs of hubris and pose a great danger, the hubris syndrome does not yet figure in our classification systems. The purpose of this paper is to examine several aspects of its validity, including clinical description, laboratory study, and exclusion of other disorders. Firstly, a substantial body of evidence indicates that the hubris syndrome may develop after a person has held substantial power for a considerable amount of time. Thus, the syndrome differs from a personality disorder with its characteristic onset in late adolescence or early adulthood. It is proposed, therefore, that the syndrome is a non-organic personality change after gaining substantial power or achieving overwhelming success, characterized by the emergence or marked increase of pathological personality traits within the domains of dissociality and disinhibition. Within the domain of dissociality, grandiosity is an obligatory trait. Secondly, with reference to laboratory study, recent evidence suggests that machine learning algorithms have the ability to differentiate hubristic from non-hubristic speech patterns. Thirdly, the exclusion of other disorders is difficult, because individuals with the hubris syndrome do not collaborate in any investigation. Some suggestions are made to overcome this problem. In conclusion, there is sufficient reason to further examine the validity of the hubris syndrome and to consider it for inclusion in our classification systems.

While previous systematic reviews of trials evaluating conventional antidepressants highlighted inadequacies and inconsistencies in adverse event (AE) reporting, no evaluation is available on esketamine in resistant depression. The objective of this review was to assess quality of reporting AEs in all published clinical trials studying esketamine. It also aimed to compare the proportions of AEs reported in journal articles to those recorded in the ClinicalTrial.gov Registers. Clinical trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of esketamine in depression were searched using Medline and ClinicalTrials.gov. The quality of reporting harms was assessed using a 21-item checklist from the CONSORT Extension of Harms (1 point by item). The total quality score was graded into four categories: high (17–21), moderate (12–16), low (7–11) and very low (0–6). Ten clinical trials were included in the analysis. Nine trials were classified as ‘low quality’ with regard to safety, one trial was classified as ‘moderate quality’. Compared to AEs recorded in ClinicalTrials.gov, we found that 41.5% of serious AEs and 39% of non-serious AEs were not reported in the published articles. Among them, the majority were psychiatric events but also cardiovascular events and 94% concerned patients from esketamine groups. Quality of AEs reporting in published clinical trials of esketamine was poor and harms were reported less frequently in journal publications than in ClinicalTrial.gov Registers. The study suggests that an assessment of the benefits/risks balance of esketamine based on the results reported in trial publications is flawed due to the poor accuracy and completeness of harm data.

Adolescents' sense of self has important implications for their mental health. Despite more than two decades of work, scholars have yet to amass evidence across studies to elucidate the role of selfhood in the mental health of adolescents. Underpinned by the conceptual model of selfhood, this meta-analytic review investigated the strength of associations of different facets of selfhood and their associated traits with depression and anxiety, moderating factors that attenuate or exacerbate these associations, and their causal influences. Using mixed-effects modeling, which included 558 effect sizes from 298 studies and 274 370 adolescents from 39 countries, our findings revealed that adolescents' self-esteem/self-concept [r = −0.518, p < 0.0001; (95% CI −0.49 to −0.547)] and self-compassion [r = −0.455, p < 0.0001; (95% CI −0.568 to −0.343)] demonstrating largest effect sizes in their associations with depression. Self-esteem/self-concept, self-compassion, self-awareness, self-efficacy, and self-regulation had similar moderate negative associations with anxiety. Meta-regressions revealed that adolescent age and type of informants (parents v. adolescents) were important moderators. Findings on causal influences indicated bidirectional causations, particularly low self-esteem/self-concept, self-awareness and self-efficacy drive higher depression and vice-versa. In contrast, the different self traits did not demonstrate specific causal direction with anxiety. These results pinpoint self traits that are pivotal in relating to adolescent mental health functioning. We discussed the theoretical implications of our findings in terms of how they advance theory of selfhood for adolescent mental health, and the practical implications of building selfhood as cultivating psychological skills for mental health.

Previous meta-analyses on psychotherapy for adult depression have found a larger treatment effect in non-Western trials compared to Western trials (i.e. North America, Europe, and Australia). However, factors contributing to this difference remain unclear. This study investigated different study characteristics between Western and non-Western trials and examined their association with effect size estimates. We systematically searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, and Cochrane Library (01–09–2022). We included randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) that compared psychotherapy with a control condition. The validity of included RCTs was assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool (RoB 1). Effect sizes were pooled using the random-effects model. Subgroup analyses and meta-regressions were also conducted. We identified 405 eligible trials, among which 105 trials (117 comparisons, 16 304 participants) were from non-Western countries. We confirmed that non-Western trials had a larger treatment effect (g = 1.10, 95% CI 0.90–1.31) than Western trials (g = 0.57, 95% CI 0.52–0.62). Trials from non-Western countries also had more usual care controls, higher risk of bias, larger sample sizes, lower mean ages, younger adults, more group-based interventions, and other recruitment methods (e.g. systematic screening; p < 0.05). The larger effect sizes found in non-Western trials were related to the presence of wait-list controls, high risk of bias, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and clinician-diagnosed depression (p < 0.05). The larger treatment effects observed in non-Western trials may result from the high heterogeneous study design and relatively low validity. Further research on long-term effects, adolescent groups, and individual-level data are still needed.

The network paradigm for psychiatric disorder nosology was proposed based on the hypothesis that mental disorders are caused by networks of symptoms that are themselves causally related. Researchers have widely applied and integrated this paradigm to examine a variety of mental disorders, particularly depression. Existing studies generally focus on the correlation structure of symptoms, inferring causal relationships. Thus, presumption of causality may not be justified. The goal of this review was to examine the assumptions necessary for causal inference in network studies of depression. Specifically, we examined whether and how network studies address common violations of causal assumptions (i.e. no measurement error, exchangeability, and positivity). Of the 41 studies reviewed, five (12%) studies discussed sources of confounding unrelated to measurement error; none discussed positivity; and five conducted post-hoc analysis for measurement error. Depression network studies, in principle, are conducted under the assumption that symptom relationships are causal. Yet, in practice, studies seldomly discussed or adequately tested assumptions required to infer causality. Researchers continue to design studies that are unable to support the credibility of the network paradigm for the study of depression. There is a critical need to ensure scientific efforts cease to perpetuate problematic designs and findings to a potentially unsubstantiated paradigm.

Aberrant microstructure of the uncinate fasciculus (UNC), a white matter (WM) tract implicated in emotion regulation, has been hypothesized as a neurobiological mechanism of depression. However, studies testing this hypothesis have yielded inconsistent results. The present meta-analysis consolidates evidence from 44 studies comparing fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD), two metrics characterizing WM microstructure, of the UNC in individuals with depression (n = 5016) to healthy individuals (n = 18 425). We conduct meta-regressions to identify demographic and clinical characteristics that contribute to cross-study heterogeneity in UNC findings. UNC FA was reduced in individuals with depression compared to healthy individuals. UNC RD was comparable between individuals with depression and healthy individuals. Comorbid anxiety explained inter-study heterogeneity in UNC findings. Depression is associated with perturbations in UNC microstructure, specifically with respect to UNC FA and not UNC RD. The association between depression and UNC microstructure appears to be moderated by anxiety. Future work should unravel the cellular mechanisms contributing to aberrant UNC microstructure in depression; clarify the relationship between UNC microstructure, depression, and anxiety; and link UNC microstructure to psychological processes, such as emotion regulation.

Specialist early intervention teams consider clinician–patient engagement and continuity of care to be a driving philosophy behind the treatment they provide to people who have developed schizophrenia or a related psychotic illness. In almost all countries where this service model has been implemented there is a dearth of available data about what is happening to patients following time-limited treatment. Information on discharge pathways in England indicates that some early intervention specialists are discharging most of their patients from all psychiatric services after only 2 or 3 years of input. Some ex-patients will be living in a state of torment and neglect due to an untreated psychosis. In the UK, general practitioners should refuse to accept these discharge pathways for patients with insight-impairing mental illnesses.

This study aimed to systematically review and synthesise the available evidence on the prevalence and associations between psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and substance use in children and adolescents aged ⩽17 years, prior to the typical age of development of prodromal symptoms of psychosis. As substance use has been associated with earlier age of psychosis onset and more severe illness, identifying risk processes in the premorbid phase of the illness may offer opportunities to prevent the development of prodromal symptoms and psychotic illness. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases were searched for chart review, case-control, cohort, twin, and cross-sectional studies. Study reporting was assessed using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist, and pooled evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Searches identified 55 studies that met inclusion criteria. Around two-in-five substance users reported PLEs [rate = 0.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.32–0.51; low quality evidence], and one-in-five with PLEs reported using substances (rate = 0.19, 95% CI 0.12–0.28; moderate-to-high quality evidence). Substance users were nearly twice as likely to report PLEs than non-users [odds ratio (OR) 1.77, 95% CI 1.55–2.02; moderate quality evidence], and those with PLEs were twice as likely to use substances than those not reporting PLEs (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.55–2.41; very low quality evidence). Younger age was associated with greater odds of PLEs in substance users compared to non-users. Young substance users may represent a subclinical at-risk group for psychosis. Developing early detection and intervention for both substance use and PLEs may reduce long-term adverse outcomes.

A significant percentage of people with bipolar disorder (BD) exhibit suboptimal functional adjustment, even when appropriately treated and after symptomatic recovery is achieved. Given that cognitive impairment is one of the strongest correlates of socio-occupational outcomes and quality of life in BD, cognitive remediation (CR) is currently acknowledged as a promising treatment that could help bridge the gap between symptomatic and full functional recovery. The aim of this review was to explore the efficacy of CR approaches in improving cognitive and functional outcomes in BD patients. PubMed, PsycINFO, and CENTRAL were searched from inception to November 2022. Randomized controlled trials exploring the effects of CR on cognition and/or functional adjustment in adult BD patients were eligible. Ten studies based on seven independent trials (n = 586) were included. Change-score effect sizes (Hedges' g) were obtained for efficacy outcome measures and combined by means of meta-analytic procedures. Small but significant overall effects were observed for working memory (g = 0.32, 95% CI 0.11–0.52), planning (g = 0.30, 95% CI 0.03–0.56), and verbal learning (g = 0.40, 95% CI 0.15–0.66). However, CR was not found to exert any significant effects on functional outcomes at treatment completion or at follow-up assessment. Although CR may modestly enhance the cognitive performance of BD patients, this effect does not translate into an improvement at the functional level. The current data do not support the inclusion of CR as a treatment recommendation in clinical practice guidelines for the management of BD.

Several in-person and remote delivery formats of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for panic disorder are available, but up-to-date and comprehensive evidence on their comparative efficacy and acceptability is lacking. Our aim was to evaluate the comparative efficacy and acceptability of all CBT delivery formats to treat panic disorder. To answer our question we performed a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and CENTRAL, from inception to 1st January 2022. Pairwise and network meta-analyses were conducted using a random-effects model. Confidence in the evidence was assessed using Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis (CINeMA). The protocol was published in a peer-reviewed journal and in PROSPERO. We found a total of 74 trials with 6699 participants. Evidence suggests that face-to-face group [standardised mean differences (s.m.d.) −0.47, 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.87 to −0.07; CINeMA = moderate], face-to-face individual (s.m.d. −0.43, 95% CI −0.70 to −0.15; CINeMA = Moderate), and guided self-help (SMD −0.42, 95% CI −0.77 to −0.07; CINeMA = low), are superior to treatment as usual in terms of efficacy, whilst unguided self-help is not (SMD −0.21, 95% CI −0.58 to −0.16; CINeMA = low). In terms of acceptability (i.e. all-cause discontinuation from the trial) CBT delivery formats did not differ significantly from each other. Our findings are clear in that there are no efficacy differences between CBT delivered as guided self-help, or in the face-to-face individual or group format in the treatment of panic disorder. No CBT delivery format provided high confidence in the evidence at the CINeMA evaluation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs). We aimed to identify the factors associated with depression among HCWs during the pandemic. We conducted literature search using eight electronic databases up to July 27 2022. Observational studies with more than 200 participants investigating correlates of depression in HCWs after COVID-19 outbreak were included. We used fixed- and random-effects models to pool odds ratios (ORs) across studies, and Cochran's chi-squared test and I2 statistics to assess study heterogeneity. Publication bias was evaluated by funnel plots. Thirty-five studies involving 44,362 HCWs met the inclusion criteria. Female (OR=1.50, 95% CI [1.23,1.84]), single (OR=1.36, 95% CI [1.21,1.54]), nurse (OR=1.69, 95% CI [1.28,2.25]), history of mental diseases (OR=2.53, 95% CI [1.78,3.58]), frontline (OR=1.79, 95% CI [1.38,2.32]), health anxiety due to COVID-19 (OR=1.88, 95% CI [1.29,2.76]), working in isolation wards (OR=1.98, 95% CI [1.38,2.84]), and insufficient personal protective equipment (OR=1.49, 95% CI [1.33,1.67]) were associated with increased risk of depression. Instead, HCWs with a positive professional prospect (OR=0.34, 95% CI [0.24,0.49]) were less likely to be depressed. This meta-analysis provides up-to-date evidence on the factors linked to depression among HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the persistent threats posed by COVID-19, early screening is crucial for the intervention and prevention of depression in HCWs.

People with bipolar disorder (BD) often present emotion dysregulation (ED), a pattern of emotional expression interfering with goal-directed behavior. ED is a transdiagnostic construct, and it is unclear whether it manifests itself similarly in other conditions, such as major depressive disorder (MDD) or borderline personality disorder (BPD), or has specific features in BD. The present systematic review and meta-analysis explored ED and adopted emotion regulation (ER) strategies in BD compared with other psychiatric conditions. PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, and PsycINFO databases were systematically searched from inception to April 28th, 2022. Studies implementing validated instruments assessing ED or ER strategies in BD and other psychiatric disorders were reviewed, and meta-analyses were conducted. Twenty-nine studies yielding multiple comparisons were included. BD was compared to MDD in 20 studies (n = 2451), to BPD in six studies (n = 1001), to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in three studies (n = 232), to anxiety disorders in two studies (n = 320), to schizophrenia in one study (n = 223), and to post-traumatic stress disorder in one study (n = 31). BD patients did not differ from MDD patients in adopting most adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies. However, small-to-moderate differences in positive rumination and risk-taking behaviors were observed. In contrast, patients with BPD presented an overall higher degree of ED and more maladaptive ER strategies. There were insufficient data for a meta-analytic comparison with other psychiatric disorders. The present report further supports the idea that ED is a transdiagnostic construct spanning a continuum across different psychiatric disorders, outlining specific clinical features that could represent potential therapeutic targets.