Depression is highly prevalent and disabling mental disorder, less than one third of all cases receive any treatment, suggesting a remarkable level on unmet needs.

The aim of the study was to assess differences in health care utilization among people with depression and those with no symptoms in representative sample of the general Latvian population.

The study was a part of the FINBALT health monitoring survey in 2012, a collaborative project between Baltic States and Finland, which monitors health related behaviours; the questionnaire included depression module of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). A total of 3003 15-64 years old persons were interviewed by using face-to-face computerized data collection tool.

The 12-month prevalence of depression in the general population of Latvia was 7.3% (95% CI 6.4–8.3). Use of any health care service over last 12 months was higher among those with depression compared with those without symptoms (84.8% and 73.1%); these differences remained significant after adjusting for age and gender (OR=2.0; 95% CI 1.4–3.0; p<0.001). Primary care services were used 4.3 times (SD 3.0) during the last 12 months among those with depression as compared with 3.2 (SD 3.9) times among those with no depression (t=4.50; p<0.001); while specialist services were used 3.1 times (SD 2.5) and 2.4 times (SD 1.8)(t=-3.973, p<0.001), respectively.

Health care services are more frequently sought-after by people with depression, and taking into account underdiagnosis of depression in Latvia, more efficient screening and management tools are needed.

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between births in different season and bipolar disorder.

For this purpose, a retrospective review of all psychiatric admissions in our hospital between 2002 and 2013 was performed, as well as the date of births and the final diagnostic codes according to ICD 10 for each hospital discharge. Only the first admission was included for each subject to avoid the confounding variable in frequency, caused by readmissions. An ANOVA analysis was used to calculate the differences between the months and the frequency of the diagnosis.

Significant differences that suggest a possible relationship between month of birth and Bipolar Disorder were found.

An important limitation is the large number of cases dismissed for improper coding and the possibility of changing the diagnosis of an individual throughout their lifetime.

Conducting prospective cohort studies to confirm this hypothesis are considered necessary.

The dopaminergic, noradrenergic, serotoninergic and GABA-ergic imbalances as well as the kindling phenomena lead to a particular therapeutic approach for the bipolar affective disorder.

The therapeutic management aims both at prolonged remissions, and at the prevention of mood veering.

Evaluating the efficacy of using atypical antipsychotic substances with and without the association of mood-stabilizing substances in the favourable evolution of the disorder.

The study included two groups of patients with bipolar affective disorder (according to DSM-IV criteria) in the period 2009–2011.

Group A (n = 28) was treated with quetiapinum 600 mg /day, while group B (n = 30) with quetiapinum 600 mg/day together with valproat 1500 mg/day, during the study period, with evalution through MADRAS, CGI, YMRS scales.

Remission was obtained in both groups, within sensibly equal time.

In group A(quetiapinum), 7,15% of patients presented mood veering (from anger to depression), 42,7% relapsed within the first 12 months, and 7,15% had at least 4 depressive episodes in 12 months. Remission was not maintained in any of the patients during the study period.

In group B (quetipinum+valproat) remission had longer duration for 80% (over 18 months), 20% didn’t have any decompensation, and no mood veering was recorded.

The association of mood-stabilizers in the treatment with atypical antipsychotic substances led to remissions with long duration.

The use of mood-stabilizers in the treatment of bipolar affective disorder prevents mood veering and avoids the disorder evolution towards a rapid cycling form.

Violent behavior of patients is a common problem in emergency psychiatry and evaluation, diagnosis, management and treatment of which is very difficult.The absence of a test that could be used to predict violent behavior hampers proper decision in the case of emergency admissions, as well as discharge from the hospital. The application of such a test would upgrade assessment offering solve this problem.

To identify risk and protective factors of violent behaviors : to establish the degree to which the HCR-20 predicts the frequency and severity of violent behavior; to examine the predictive validity of the scales of the HCR-20.

Improve assessment, management and treatment of patients with violent behaviors in the psychiatric ward.

Prospective cohort study, during 24 weeks. Psychiatric evaluation based on structural clinical interviews and questionnaires related to violent behaviors and risk factors were conducted to patients admitted in psychiatric hospital on UHC “Mother Tereza” Tirana.

According to our data, the relationship between violence and mental illness vary considerably across different diagnoses.

The highest rate of violence is reported in subjects with substance abuse disorder and antisocial personality disorder followed by Bipolar disorder and psychotic patients.

Among the risk factors verified so far, the past violence behaviors reported show the highest predictive value.

HCR-20 tool has currently shown good results to roughly estimate probability of future violence and taking appropriate measures in order to prevent unwanted consequences.

Asenapine (ASE) is a second-generation antipsychotic with a unique pharmacological profile, that was recently approved for the treatment of moderate/severe manic episodes (ME). Real-world data on rapidity of action in inpatient settings are lacking.

1) rating scale variation after 7 days (T0-T1) of treatment with ASE in patients hospitalized for ME during Bipolar I Disorder or a Schizoaffective Disorder

2) follow-up on continuity of treatment at 6 months

Determination of short-term effects of ASE and continuity of treatment in an observational, real-world study.

All inpatients who met DSM-IV-TR criteria for ME treated with ASE were recruited in the 2 years after the drug was available. YMRS and BPRS were administered at T0 and T1. 6 months follow-up data were collected from patients taking ASE at discharge.

The mean total YMRS score decreased by 12.6 (SD ±10.3; t(17)=5.2, p<.005), implying a mean 37.8% improvement. A statistically significant reduction was observed for all YMRS items, except for 'sexual interest”.

The mean total BPRS score decreased by 17.2 (SD ±14.9; t(17)=4.9, p<.005). A statistically significant reduction was observed for several items, including 'conceptual disorganization”, 'grandiosity”, 'unusual thought content”, 'excitement”.

At hospital discharge, ASE was confirmed in 55% of patients, 18% of which were still taking the drug at 6 months: lack of efficacy and poor adherence were found to influence continuity of treatment rather than specific side effects.

ASE is rapidly effective in the first week of treatment, but is subject to a high discontinuation rate on the long term.

The aim is to analyze the connection between emotional and behavioral problems in children of fathers - war veterans who show the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

We analyzed a group of 120 children of school age (10–15 years) whose fathers were veterans of the war. the children were divided into two groups according to the presence of PTSD in fathers - war veterans. Symptoms of PTSD in fathers - war veterans were estimated using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire-Bosnia and Herzegovina version (Allden et all, 1998). for the assessment of children's emotional and behavioral problems, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire -SDQ (Goodman, 2001) is used. Data were processed by descriptive statistics.

Children of fathers whit PTSD symptoms showed significantly more emotional and behavioral problems comparing to children whose fathers do not show symptoms of PTSD (p < 0.01). There was a positive correlation between post-traumatic stress disorder of fathers - war veterans and emotional problems (p < 0.05), dealing with problems (p < 0.01), hyperactivity of children (p < .01), problems with peers (p < 0.01). Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics.

The obtained results of this study indicate that children of war veterans with PTSD symptoms showed more significantly behavioral problems and that there is correlation between behavioral problems of children and post-traumatic stress disorder of war veterans.

Suicide is a major problem in public health and is related to many risk factors as unemployment and changing in a labour market.

This article aims to undesrstand the current escalating impacts of work on menatl health workers from the study of the relationship between unemployment and suicide as the direct effects of this new morphology of labour.

The search was conducted using the following databases: PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, Library of Knowledge online (b-on), Social Care Online, EBSCO, PsycINFO, to ensure that search strategy in the literature examined thoroughly covered the areas of medicine, sociology and psychology, beyond the textbooks and official documents of the above areas. The terms used in the search were: “unemployment”, “mental health”, “suicide”, “mental disorder”. Using the PRISMA methodology, the 628 articles were considered if the search terms were included and published in the period 2005-2014; after a review of the title and summary, 53 eligible studies in english, french, german, spanish, portuguese and italian were included. Duplicates and documents dealing with mental health in retirees, children and adolescents were excluded.

Findings suggest that long-term unemployment is associated with greater incidence of suicide. Changes in the workplace, such as the reduction of employment, expansion of unemployment, have led to an increase in unemployment, which, in turn, has led the worker to the disease process, especially mentally. Community programs mental and psychotherapeutic strategies evidence-based health can help reduce and prevent suicide in the working world, a global imperative.

The pregnancy and the postpartum are two periods of intense psychic vulnerability in particular for women suffering from schizophrenia. The role of the family is paramount during this difficult period.

To investigate the role of the family assistance in the triggering of the psychotic decompensation and relapses of women suffering from schizophrenia during pregnancy and postpartum.

This was retrospective descriptive study, including 30 women patients suffering from schizophrenia and mothers of a child of less than two years. Data was collected from patients’ clinical files. Information obtained was recorded on a pre-established questionnaire.

The average age of the patients was 39 years. 80% of the patients were married at the time of the study. The quality of the marital relation was considered to be rather good in 66.66% of the cases, rather bad in 26.66% and was absent for two patients. 40% of the patients faced marital conflicts during the pregnancy and 47% during the postpartum. A good marital support was noticed in 67% of the cases during the pregnancy and 63% of the cases during the postpartum. The patients' mothers were present during the pregnancy in 53% of the cases and during the postpartum in 60%. The patients who were hospitalized for a psychotic decompensation of the postpartum were in 75% of the cases those whose mothers were absent.

The support of the family during the pregnancy and the postpartum is important in the prevention of psychotic decompensation of the patients suffering from schizophrenia.

There is evidence that social support predicts self-esteem and related moods for individuals with psychotic disorders. There has, however, been little investigation of relative importance of specific components of social support.

Evidence from social psychology suggests that perceived relational evaluation (PRE) or the extent to which individuals see others as valuing them, is a particularly important determinant of self-esteem and mood.

The current study compared the importance of PRE and other types of social support, in predicting self-esteem and depressive mood, anxiety and anger hostility in a sample of patients in an early intervention program for psychotic disorders.

One hundred and two patients of the Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychoses (PEPP) in London, Ontario completed measures of PRE, appraisal, tangible and general emotional social support, self-esteem and mood. in addition, ratings of positive and negative symptoms were completed for all participants.

In general, perceived relational evaluation was the most important predictor of self-esteem and mood. These relationships were not a result of confounding with positive or negative symptoms.

The extent to which an individual perceives himself or herself as being positively valued by those in his or her immediate social environment is a particularly important component of social support in predicting self-esteem and affect of individuals with a psychotic disorder

Internet addiction is a multi-faceted construct which is currently under review for inclusion in the forthcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. In Greece, a specialized outpatient counseling service has been setup by our Psychiatric department in order to provide counseling for any students with related problems.

This survey has been setup in order to facilitate comparisons with those seeking help and validate the research measures used for their assessment. Furthermore, it sheds some light into Internet use from the future health professionals, an area of research that has been neglected.

To gather data on student Internet use, social media use, online gaming and gambling, use of online sexual content and any addictive phenomena related to those behaviors.

We employed an extensive battery of questionnaires identical to that employed by our counseling service. The battery includes detailed measures of all online behaviors, the SCL-90 psychopathology index, the Defense Styles Questionnaire (DSQ) and the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ).

The presentation includes detailed results from the battery of questionnaires including comparisons with the validation samples and previous related research work carried out. Our sample demonstrated an unexpectedly high incidence of psychiatric symptoms and several cases of online addictive behaviors.

Our results are demonstrating the need for a broader reach out to the target populations since a large number of students may be hesitant to seek help for their online addictions or simply prefer to ignore them.

The relationship between sexuality and schizophrenia is complex. The prevalence of sexual dysfunctions is higher in persons with mental disorders and may be related to both the psychopathology and the pharmacotherapy. On one hand the negative symptoms of schizophrenia limit the capability for interpersonal and sexual relationships; on the other hand several mechanisms can cause sexual dysfunction during antipsychotic therapy. Although it is a troublesome side effect, information on antipsychotic-induced sexual dysfunction is limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sexual dysfunction and its impact in patients with a psychotic disorder treated with various antipsychotics under routine clinical conditions.

Subjects included were sexually active male and female patients 18 years of age or older with the diagnosis of Schizophrenia, Schizophreniform disorder, Schizoaffective disorder or other psychotic disorder. In addition to sexual functioning, was recorded demographic data, psychiatric diagnosis and medication history. The instrument of evaluation used was the Pyschotropic-Related Sexual Dysfunction Questionnaire (PRSexDQ-SalSex).

All the analyses were performed in the 101 evaluable patients. Most patients were males (76%) and the most common diagnosis was Schizophrenia.Overall, the patients exhibited sexual dysfunction according to the assessment with the SalSex. Among the patients exhibiting sexual dysfunction, a third reported to have poor tolerance to the disturbance.

Sexual dysfunction is very common in patients receiving long-term treatment with antipsychotics and it is associated with a great impact in a substantial proportion of patients.

Depression is a serious illness that affects health, family and professional life of many people of all sectors of society. It also affects medical students, regardless of their geographical location. The stress of studying and the great responsibility awaiting students immediately after graduation may predispose the occurrence of depression.

To compare the level of depression among medical students from different countries.

Medical students from different parts of the world were asked to fill in an electronic form containing the Beck Depression Inventory(BDI). The form was created separately for each country, using official translation of the BDI, approved by the competent psychiatry association. The control group were students of the University of Technology. Google Drive and Statisticav10 were used for statistical analysis.

The form was filled in by 752 medical students from 7 countries: Poland-218, Taiwan-227, Germany-64, Portugal -102, Mexico- 65, Indonesia-45, Spain-31. The control group consisted of 195 students. The average score of the BDI of Polish medical students was 14.0+/- 10.0 points. The score of the BDI of the control group was: 9.5+/-8.2 points. The score of the BDI of the other countries: Taiwan-10,02+/-7,48, Germany- 7,57+/-5,92, Portugal-7,01+/-7,41, Mexico-9,85+/-8,05, Indonesia-11,33+/-8,96, Spain-7,24+/-6,92. There was statistically significant differences(p<0.05) between groups in terms of the mean score of the BDI.

Depression is a serious problem among medical students regardless the part of the world they are studying. A proper monitoring of depression is required, as well as rapid and appropriate help for those who suffer from it.

Response to treatment and long-term outcome following the first-episode of psychosis are very heterogeneous. Therefore, the early identification of individuals destined to have a worse illness course is of crucial importance, since it can reduce disability, healthcare costs, and eventually improve long-term outcome.

We have used structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging in patients at their first psychotic episode and followed them up clinically to identify neuroanatomical predictors of outcome.

We evaluated patients (n=260) at their first psychotic episode and followed them up for periods varying from 3 months to 5-6 years. We used a number of imaging approaches to study neuroanatomical predictors of outcome, including Support Vector Machine.

At onset, brain alterations of likely neurodevelopmental origin (reduced frontal and temporal gyrification and altered white matter microstructure of interconnecting tracts) were present in individuals with poorer early outcome (all p<0.05 corrected); furthermore, smaller volumes were predictive of subsequent illness episodes with significant accuracy (70% correctly classified; p=0.005). However, brain changes were also observed after illness onset. Among these, hippocampal volume increase (present in 29% of patients) was predictive of better clinical, functional and cognitive outcomes at 6 years (all p<0.03).

In combination with other neuroimaging and clinical measures, neuroanatomical data could considerably help patient stratification in psychiatry, ultimately allowing individualised patient management from the time of the first presentation to services.