It is important to maintain the psychological well-being of front-line healthcare staff during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

To examine COVID-19-related stress and its immediate psychological impact on healthcare staff.

All healthcare staff working in the fever clinic, from 20 January 2020 to 26 March 2020, of a tertiary general hospital were enrolled. Stress management procedures were in place to alleviate concerns about the respondents’ own health and the health of their families, to help them adjust their work and to provide psychological support via a hotline. Qualitative interviews were undertaken and the Sources of Distress and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) were administered.

Among the 102 participants (25 males; median age 30 years, interquartile range (IQR) = 27–36), the median IES-R total score was 3 (IQR = 0–8), and 6 participants (6.0%) scored above the cut-off on the IES-R (≥20). Safety and security were acceptable or better for 92 (90.2%) participants. The top four sources of distress were worry about the health of one's family/others at 0.88 (IQR = 0.25–1.25), worry about the virus spread at 0.50 (IQR = 0.00–1.00), worry about changes in work at 0.50 (IQR = 0.00–1.00) and worry about one's own health at 0.25 (IQR = 0.25–0.75). There was a moderate correlation between the IES-R score and the Sources of Distress score (rho = 0.501, P = 0.001).

The stress levels of healthcare staff in the fever clinic during the COVID-19 epidemic were not elevated. Physio-psychosocial interventions, including fulfilment of basic needs, activation of self-efficacy and psychological support, are helpful and worth recommending in fighting COVID-19.

Nations throughout the world are imposing mandatory quarantine on those entering the country. Although such measures may be effective in reducing the importation of COVID-19, the mental health implications remain unclear.

This study sought to assess mental well-being and factors associated with changes in mental health in individuals subject to mandatory quarantine following travel.

Travellers arriving at a large, urban international airport completed online questionnaires on arrival and days 7 and 14 of mandated quarantine. Questionnaire items, such as travel history, mental health, attitudes toward COVID-19, and protection behaviours, were drawn from the World Health Organization Survey Tool for COVID-19.

There was a clinically significant decline in mental health over the course of quarantine among the 10 965 eligible participants. Poor mental health was reported by 5.1% of participants on arrival and 26% on day 7 of quarantine. Factors associated with a greater decline in mental health were younger age, female gender, negative views toward quarantine measures and engaging in fewer COVID-19 prevention behaviours. For instance, travellers who stated that they rarely wore masks had nearly three times higher odds of developing poor mental health.

Although the widespread use of quarantine may be effective in limiting the spread of COVID-19, the mental health implications are profound and have largely been ignored in policy decisions. Psychiatry has a role to play in contributing to the public policy debate to ensure that all aspects of health and well-being are reflected in decisions to isolate people from others.

The number of mental health-related 999 calls to emergency services has increased in recent years. However, emergency services staff have an unfavourable reputation when it comes to supporting people experiencing mental health problems.

To assess the levels of explicit and implicit mental health stigma among accident and emergency, ambulance and police staff, and draw comparisons with the general population. Additional analyses sought to identify which variables predict mental health stigma among emergency services staff.

A cross-sectional survey of 1837 participants, comprising four independent groups (accident and emergency, ambulance and police staff, and the general population).

Levels of mental health stigma across all four groups were lower than those reported in recent surveys of the general population by the ‘Time to Change’ campaign. Within this study, explicit levels of mental health stigma were lower among the general population compared with emergency services staff. There was no difference between emergency service professions, nor were there any between-group differences in terms of implicit mental health stigma. The only consistent predictors of mental health stigma were attitudes and future behavioural intentions, whereby increased stigma was predicted by increased fear, reduced sympathy and greater intended discrimination.

Our findings suggest that levels of mental health stigma have improved over time, but there is room for improvement in emergency services staff. Interventions to improve mental health stigma may be most effective if, in line with the cognitive–behavioural model of stigma, they target attitudes and behavioural intentions.

Our aim is to study factors influencing attitudes of medical students towards pursuing Psychiatry as a career. We hypothesise that the minimal exposure and/or importance given to Psychiatry during medical school is insufficient to let a student truly experience and appreciate the specialty.

Studies report an annual decline in Psychiatry Trainees in many parts of the world. This deficiency is projected to create gaps between mental health service needs and providers. Studies have also explored the crisis in recruitment and the positive impact a short course can have in promoting engagement in Psychiatry by students.

An anonymous questionnaire was distributed amongst medical students, from years 1 to 5, in the College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Factors assessed in the survey included demographics, specialty ranking, acceptance ratios, role models and personal experiences, among others. Those who didn't express interest were asked about the lack of exposure to Psychiatry during medical school along with other influential factors that have been studied elsewhere, including those that we hypothesise to be of significance in our study population.

A total of 153 students responded. Positive views towards Psychiatry increased linearly by year (50% in Year 1 to 90% in Year 5). 33% of students selected psychiatry as a top 3 choice with the most significant factors being a unique patient-doctor relationship (P < 0.05), and the challenges faced in the specialty (95%).

Of the 67% of students who did not prefer Psychiatry, insufficient exposure to ward experiences and the specialty as a whole were unanimously agreed upon factors. Other deterring factors included lack of instant gratification when treating a psychiatric patient (72%), and an underestimation by the non-medical community of a Psychiatrists role (26%).

Our findings give an optimistic view towards the future of Psychiatry in the region, given the large number of students (33%) who consider it in their top 3 choices for a career. However, a larger number of students continue to have a negative view towards Psychiatry, especially due to the lack of exposure to the specialty during medical school. The factors identified in our study should be tackled by medical schools or curriculum provision authorities, as this has shown to be of benefit in studies in other parts of the world.

The UK Biobank contains data with varying degrees of reliability and completeness for assessing depression. A third of participants completed a Mental Health Questionnaire (MHQ) containing the gold-standard Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) criteria for assessing mental health disorders.

To investigate whether multiple observations of depression from sources other than the MHQ can enhance the validity of major depressive disorder (MDD).

In participants who did not complete the MHQ, we calculated the number of other depression measures endorsed, for example from hospital episode statistics and interview data. We compared cases defined this way with CIDI-defined cases for several estimates: the variance explained by polygenic risk scores (PRS), area under the curve attributable to PRS, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)-based heritability and genetic correlations with summary statistics from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium MDD genome-wide association study.

The strength of the genetic contribution increased with the number of measures endorsed. For example, SNP-based heritability increased from 7% in participants who endorsed only one measure of depression, to 21% in those who endorsed four or five measures of depression. The strength of the genetic contribution to cases defined by at least two measures approximated that for CIDI-defined cases. Most genetic correlations between UK Biobank and the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium MDD study exceeded 0.7, but there was variability between pairwise comparisons.

Multiple measures of depression can serve as a reliable approximation for case status where the CIDI measure is not available, indicating sample size can be optimised using the entire suite of UK Biobank data.

Mental disorders are currently the greatest global health burden. The coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having an adverse impact on people's mental health, particularly in vulnerable populations, such as refugees.

The present study was designed to examine the association between COVID-19 and changes in mental health in Syrian refugees in Turkey.

We conducted a two-wave panel survey of a representative sample of 302 of the estimated 500 000 Syrian refugees (ages 18 and older) living under humanitarian support in Istanbul (first wave between 9 and 15 July 2020 and the follow-up between 11 and 14 September 2020). We administered seven items from the CoRonavIruS Health Impact Survey in addition to one-context specific item about life changes because of COVID-19, and measures of depression (10-item Center for Epidemiologic Study Depression Scale, CESD-10), anxiety (6-item State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI-6) and perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale, PSS-4).

A factor analysis yielded three COVID-19 factors, labelled ‘social relationships’, ‘stress’ and ‘hope.’ We conducted a series of cross-lag panel analyses to test associations between the COVID-19 factors and mental health. We found associations between all COVID-19 factors and CESD-10, between COVID-19 ‘stress’ and STAI-6, and between COVID-19 ‘stress’ and COVID-19 ‘hope’ and PSS-4.

Our measures of life changes because of the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with changes in the mental health of Syrian refugees living in Istanbul. It is therefore important that they are provided with services to reduce what may be particularly debilitating consequences of COVID-19.

Studies on positive psychology interventions (PPIs) have frequently demonstrated benefits for healthy participants and patients. However, effect sizes are moderate, and underlying inter-individual differences in responses were rarely investigated.

We investigated whether severity of depression and subjective evaluation of PPIs are relevant sources of variance in this respect.

A 4-week group PPI programme (one 45-min session per week) was offered to 38 in-patients with depression. The control group (n = 38) was carefully matched and received treatment as usual. In the PPI group, emotional states were recorded before and after each session (responsiveness). Beck Depression Inventory-II scores at hospital admission and discharge were used to evaluate clinical effectiveness. The number of comorbidities (as an indicator of severity of disease) and patients’ evaluations of the PPI sessions were used as additional independent factors for overall treatment outcome.

The PPI induced a highly significant improvement in positive emotional state and decrease in negative emotional state, indicating responsiveness. Moreover, positive affectivity increased from week to week only in patients with a low number of comorbidities (indicating effectiveness). With respect to overall treatment outcome (Beck Depression Inventory-II scores), positive attitude toward the PPI resulted in the largest improvement.

The results partly explain the variance in the effectiveness of PPIs. Moreover, they support the idea of personalised psychotherapy, and may inform discussion on whether patients with depression should be included in PPIs. However, additional individual characteristics should increase knowledge about individual predictors for effectiveness.

Mental illness among survivors of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) during the post-illness period is an emerging and important health issue.

We aimed to investigate the prevalence of mental illness and the associated factors for its development among COVID-2019 survivors.

From 1 January to 4 June 2020, data were extracted from the National Health Insurance Service COVID-19 database in South Korea. Patients with COVID-19 were defined as those whose test results indicated that they had contracted the infection, regardless of disease severity. COVID-19 survivors were defined as those who recovered from the infection. The primary end-point was the development of mental illness, which was evaluated between 1 January and 1 December 2020.

A total 260 883 individuals were included in this study, and 2.36% (6148) were COVID-19 survivors. The COVID-19 survivors showed higher prevalence of mental illness than the control group (12.0% in the COVID-19 survivors v. 7.7% in the control group; odds ratio (OR) = 2.40, 95% CI 2.21–2.61, P < 0.001). Additionally, compared with the control group, the no specific treatment for COVID-19 group (OR = 2.23, 95% CI 2.03–2.45, P < 0.001) and specific treatment for COVID-19 group (OR = 3.27, 95% CI 2.77–3.87, P < 0.001) showed higher prevalence of mental illness among survivors.

In South Korea, COVID-19 survivors had a higher risk of developing mental illness compared with the rest of the populations. Moreover, this trend was more evident in COVID-19 survivors who experienced specific treatment in the hospital.

To assess the impact of Psychiatry School on the attitudes towards psychiatry in Pakistani medical students (MS) and junior doctors (JD).

Inspired by the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ ‘Choose Psychiatry’ campaign, an online event by the name of ‘Psychiatry Autumn School Pakistan’ was held on the 1st of November 2020. The event was promoted through social media and medical students and junior doctors from across Pakistan were invited to attend. Moreover, a panel of British and Pakistani psychiatrists belonging to different sub-specialties was invited to deliver talks. The attendees were provided an insight into psychiatry as a viable career option and were introduced to the training pathways, research opportunities, and the various sub-specialties present within the field.

Participants were requested to complete the 'Attitudes Towards Psychiatry' (ATP-30) questionnaires before and immediately after the event. Individual scores on the questionnaire can range from 30 to 150 and a high score indicates a positive attitude. Statistical analysis was performed using a paired t-test.

41 attendees (MS = 30, JD = 11) completed the pre-and post-school survey. The respondents were majorly female (76%) and from public sector universities (76%), with an average age of 23 years. The mean ATP score before the course was 119 (MS = 117, JD = 121) which increased by 9 points to 128 (MS = 126, JD = 131) after the event. When the two samples were compared using a paired t-test, the difference was statistically significant p < 0.005.

We conclude that a psychiatry school can positively influence attitudes towards psychiatry in medical students and junior doctors and our findings are consistent with similar studies done in other countries.

In Pakistan, unfortunately, only 2–4% of undergraduate students opt for a career in psychiatry owing to insufficient knowledge and awareness about the available treatment modalities and advancement in the field. Hence, such an intervention can greatly enhance recruitment within the profession as it makes psychiatry more accessible and visible as a career choice, generates awareness about the effectiveness and evolution of psychotherapeutic practices, and eradicates misconceptions about the field that prevail among young doctors.

This was the first psychiatry school held in Pakistan and the findings of the study as well the feedback received from the participants and the speakers motivate us to continue campaigning for ‘Choose Psychiatry.’

Misophonia is defined as significant distress (anger, distress or disgust) when exposed to certain sounds that would not affect most people, such as lip smacking or gum chewing. Although misophonia is common, the aetiology, prevalence and effective treatments are largely unknown.

Based on our proposed diagnostic criteria, we examined the prevalence of misophonia and its relationship with clinical and demographic variables in a large representative population sample.

We used a household sample (N = 541) of all residents aged >15 years, living in 300 homes randomly selected in Ankara city centre, Turkey. All participants were assessed at their homes by trained interviewers, for sociodemographic variables, misophonic sounds and related factors, using a semi-structured interview (the Misophonia Interview Schedule) developed for the current research.

The current misophonia diagnosis prevalence was 12.8% (n = 69 of 541), although 427 (78.9%) participants reported at least one sound that was distressing. The mean number of misophonic sounds was 8.6 (s.d. 8.9, range 0–44); the figure was 17.6 in those with misophonia compared with 7.3 in those without misophonia. Of those with misophonia, only 5.8% contacted services for their condition. Predictors of misophonia diagnosis included younger age, family history of misophonia and previous contact with mental health services.

Our study showed that misophonia is common in the general population, may cause significant disruption in daily life and is undertreated. Although more evidence is needed to classify misophonia as a psychiatric disorder, our findings support others who claim that the condition belongs to the group of mental disorders.

Observational studies suggest that hormonal contraceptive use may increase depressive symptoms in women, but it is unclear whether the effect is causal.

To quantitatively examine the evidence from randomised clinical trials for the link between hormonal contraceptive use and depressive symptoms.

We performed a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials comparing women randomised to any form of a hormonal contraceptive with women randomised to any other form of a (non-)hormonal contraceptive or placebo. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, EMCare and EMBASE, from inception to 1 May 2020. Certainty of the evidence was assessed with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. A random-effect Bayesian network meta-analysis was conducted, with change in depressive symptoms between baseline and three cycles as outcome.

This review identified 3492 records, of which 14 trials were eligible and 12 could be included in the network meta-analysis. These trials included 5833 participants (mean age per study range: 16.8–32.4 years) and compared 10 different interventions. Compared with placebo, hormonal contraceptive use did not cause worsening of depressive symptoms (standardised mean difference: median, −0.04; range, −0.17 [95% credible interval −0.46 to 0.13] to 0.13 [95% credible interval −0.28 to 0.56]).

This study suggests that hormonal contraceptive use does not lead to an increase in depressive symptoms in adult women. Future studies should include first-time users, to confirm the results in young women.

UK adult gender identity clinics (GICs) are implementing a new streamlined service model. However, there is minimal evidence from these services underpinning this. It is also unknown how many service users subsequently ‘detransition’.

To describe service users’ access to care and patterns of service use, specifically, interventions accessed, reasons for discharge and re-referrals; to identify factors associated with access; and to quantify ‘detransitioning’.

A retrospective case-note review was performed as a service evaluation for 175 service users consecutively discharged by a tertiary National Health Service adult GIC between 1 September 2017 and 31 August 2018. Descriptive statistics were used for rates of accessing interventions sought, reasons for discharge, re-referral and frequency of detransitioning. Using multivariate analysis, we sought associations between several variables and ‘accessing care’ or ‘other outcome’.

The treatment pathway was completed by 56.1%. All interventions initially sought were accessed by 58%; 94% accessed hormones but only 47.7% accessed gender reassignment surgery; 21.7% disengaged; and 19.4% were re-referred. Multivariate analysis identified coexisting neurodevelopmental disorders (odds ratio [OR] = 5.7, 95% CI = 1.7–19), previous adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) per reported ACE (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.1–1.9), substance misuse during treatment (OR = 4.3, 95% CI = 1.1–17.6) and mental health concerns during treatment (OR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.1–4.4) as independently associated with accessing care. Twelve people (6.9%) met our case definition of detransitioning.

Service users may have unmet needs. Neurodevelopmental disorders or ACEs suggest complexity requiring consideration during the assessment process. Managing mental ill health and substance misuse during treatment needs optimising. Detransitioning might be more frequent than previously reported.

Alcohol-related presentations to acute hospitals in the UK are increasing, but little is known of the clinical characteristics or natural history of this patient group.

To describe the clinical characteristics, drinking profile and trajectory of a cohort of patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) attending hospital, and explore participant perspectives of the impact of hospital attendance on their relationship with alcohol.

We conducted a mixed method, prospective, observational cohort study of patients with AUD seen in an acute hospital. Participants were interviewed with a range of questionnaires at baseline and followed up on at 6 months. A subsample also completed in-depth qualitative interviews.

We recruited 141 patients; 132 (93.6%) were followed up at 6 months and 26 completed qualitative interviews. Of the 141 patients, 60 (42.6%) stated the index hospital episode included the first discussion of their alcohol use in a secondary care setting. Most rated discussion of their alcohol use in hospital as ‘very positive’ or ‘positive’ (102/141, 72.3%), but lack of coordinated care with community services undermined efforts to sustain change. At 6 months, 11 (7.8%) patients had died, but in those who survived and completed assessment (n = 121), significant and clinically meaningful improvements were seen across a range of outcomes, with 55 patients (45.5%) showing a favourable drinking outcome at 6 months.

Patients with AUD have high levels of morbidity and mortality, yet many made substantial changes following intervention in hospital for their alcohol use. Prospective trials need to identify the effect of alcohol care teams in optimising this ‘teachable moment’ for patients.

To determine the prevalence and correlates of depression and quality of life and their relationship among primary caregivers of patients with schizophrenia in a psychiatry specialist hospital.

A total of 138 caregivers of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia attending the outpatient clinic of the Neuropsychiatric Hospital Aro, Abeokuta were recruited. Sociodemographic questionnaire, Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI-PLUS) (depressive module) and World Health Organization Quality of Life-Bref (WHOQOL-Bref) were administered on the caregivers while Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) was used to measure symptoms severity in the patients.

The mean (±SD) age of respondents was 48.3 years (±14.7), 53.6% were females and 33.3% were without partners. The prevalence of depression among the caregivers who participated in the study was 13.8%. Female gender (χ2 = 5.68, df = 1, p = 0.02), hailing from a minority tribe (χ2 = 9.78 df = 1, p < 0.01), and Previous treatment for mental illness (χ2 = 8.24 df = 1, p < 0.01) were associated with depression. Female gender (ß = 1.35, OR = 3.86, p = 0.03), minority tribe (ß = 1.95, OR = 7.03, p < 0.01), and previous treatment for mental illness (ß = 3.19, OR = 24.21, p = 0.01) were independently predictive of depression in the caregivers.

Independent predictors of lower quality of life (QOL) were: Parents/siblings relationship for social relationship domain (ß = −7.076, p = 0.037) and spending more than 35 hours per week for Environmental domain (ß = −5.622, p = 0.028).

Finally, a significant correlation was also found between Depression and Psychological Domain of QOL (t = 3.048, p < 0.01) and Social Domain of QOL (t = 2.154, p = 0.03).

This study shows that primary caregivers of patients with schizophrenia have high prevalence of depression and poor quality of life. There is need to pay attention to the psychological wellbeing and quality of life of caregivers who come in contact with psychiatric services, and not just the patients they accompany.