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Essential public health functions (EPHF) are primary responsibility of the state and are fundamental for achieving public health goals through collective action. There are several EPHF frameworks that have core and enabling functions, which should be integrated within health systems. The preferred approach is to identify the framework that best suits the local context. International Health Regulation (IHR) are legally binding set of regulations meant to prevent international spread of diseases and are closely related to EPHF. EPHF focus on building capacity for public health nationally, while IHR respond to the obligations of public health globally. This Chapter makes a case for investing in public health as an obligation and an ethical and moral imperative of governments in every country by ensuring well performing EPHF and IHR.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating behavior disorder that is often related to various personality factors. The relationship between obsessive compulsive disorder and eating Disorders has been highlighted.
Objectives
To present a clinical case of a patient with eating disorder and gastric bezoar, secondary to compulsive hair ingestion.
Methods
Bibliographic review of articles published in relation to the comorbidity of these disorders, based on articles published in the last 5 years in Pubmed.
Results
26-year-old female. Diagnosis of restrictive anorexia nervosa. She was admitted to the hospital on two occasions for nutritional disorders. In the last admission, she reported greater anxiety and significant weight loss. She reports that she has limited her food intake, but she does feel thin and is unable to eat for fear of gaining weight. Ruminative thoughts about her body image. During admission, the patient expressed a sensation of fullness, nausea and vomiting, later observing in abdominal X-ray and gastroscopy, the presence of a gastric trichobezoar, which was finally resolved conservatively.
Conclusions
Trichotillomania is observerd in 1 in 2000 people, trichophagia is even less frequent. According to DSM-
V, these disorders are grouped within obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. A Trichobezoar is a conglomerate that can be found in the stomach or intestine, composed mainly of hair, previously ingested. Trichotillomania can be associated with anorexia nervosa, especially in patients with obsessive personality traits, which occurs frequently. The gastric slowing that patients with anorexia often present is a factor that favors the formation of the bezoar
The harmful use of alcohol is an important risk factor for the health of the population around the world. The incidence of alcohol dependence in women is increasing and both its consumption pattern and its consequences have unique characteristics.
Objectives
To present a literature review focused on alcohol use disorder with a gender perspective.
Methods
Literature review.
Results
- Women use to start using alcohol sooner than men and this seems to be a risk factor to become addicted. - Due to physiological and psychological factors women experience more negative health effects from excessive alcohol use than men and it occurs at lower levels of use. - Psychiatric comorbidity associated with alcohol abuse such as anxiety and depression is more common in women and this in turn worsens the alcohol use disorder. - Alcohol consumption increases the vulnerability of women on several levels, including an increased risk of physical abuse.
Conclusions
Alcohol abuse among women deserves special attention and a specific intervention focused on the gender perspective.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a medical treatment for those patients with high suicide risk or refractory psychiatric disorders. It is currently a safe technique, and its effectiveness has been widely demonstrated.
Objectives
Presentation of a clinical case about a patient with drug-resistant delusional disorder and high suicide risk, who eventually received ECT treatment.
Methods
Bibliographic review including the latest articles in Pubmed about ECT procedure, effects and use.
Results
We present a 45-year-old man, who visited different doctors several times by reporting he had the feeling of “having a brain tumor or a vascular disorder”, so he requested imaging tests (computed tomography and magnetic resonance). These tests were absolutely normal, but he kept thinking something was wrong, and eventually attempted suicide by hanging (his family founded him before it was too late). The patient was admitted to hospital, and started psychopharmacological treatment, with minimal response. He desperately insisted that he had “something inside his head”. At this point, it was proposed to start ECT, and the patient accepted. After 6 bilateral ECT sessions, he was visibly more relaxed and less worried, and he no longer presented autolytic ideation. He was still a little bit suspicious about the feeling of having a neurological disease. Currently, the patient runs a follow-up consultation.
Conclusions
Electroconvulsive therapy is a safe and effective technique for those patients with high suicide risk. It may be useful to perform imaging tests in certain cases, for detecting intracranial pressure, acute hemorrhage, tumors… A follow-up of these patients must be performed
Mutism is the inability or unwillingness to speak, resulting in an absence or marked paucity of verbal output. Mutism is a common manifestation of psychiatric, neurological, and drug-related illnesses. Psychiatric disorders associated with mutism include schizophrenia, affective disorders, conversion reactions, dissociative states, and dementias. Neurological disorders causing mutism affect the basal ganglia, frontal lobes, or the limbic system.
Objectives
Outline the importance of setting a differential diagnosis of mutism in the Emergency Room.
Methods
Review of scientific literature based on a relevant clinical case.
Results
Male, 58 years old. He has lived in a residence for 3 months due to voluntary refusal to ingest. Diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder. He is refered to the Emergency Service due to sudden mutism. During this day, he has been stable and suitable with a good functionality. For 3 hours he is mutist, oppositional attitude and stiff limbs, refusing to obey simple orders. Hyperalert and hyperproxia. Not staring. After ruling out organic pathology: normal blood tests, negative urine toxins and cranial CT without alterations, he was admitted to Psychiatry for observation and, finally, he was diagnosed with Psychotic Disorder NOS.
Conclusions
Mutism most often occurs in association with other disturbances in behavior, thought processes, affect, or level of consciousness. The most common disorder of behavior occurring with mutism is catatonia. The differential diagnosis of mutism is complex. In some cases the diagnosis will be clarified only by careful observation and after a neurological evaluation. Published studies show neurological disorders presenting with mutism can be misdiagnosed as psychiatric.
There is a high comorbidity between psychiatric disorders and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), observed in up to 58% of these patients; specifically, mood disorders, anxiety and personality disorders (PD). In some patients with PD there are nonspecific alterations in the EEG, which nevertheless sometimes involve pathology. The presence of personality disorders along with JME has been repeatedly described. Previous studies have emphasized the difficulties in treating patients with JME, which have been attributed to some specific psychiatric, psychological and psychosocial characteristics.
Objectives
Describing distinctive personality traits in JME
Methods
Review of scientific literature based on a relevant clinical case.
Results
19-year-old woman, single. Psychiatric history since she was 12 due to anxiety-depressive symptoms, after being diagnosed with JME. 4 admissions in Psychiatry, with a variety of diagnoses: eating disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and borderline personality disorder. The evolution of both disorders has been parallel, presenting epileptic seizures due to irregular therapeutic adherence together with pseudo-seizures, which made difficult their differential diagnosis. In addition, he has had frequent visits to the emergency room for suicide attempts and impulsive behaviors.
Conclusions
In 1957, for the first time, distinctive personality traits were described in patients with JME: lack of control and perseverance, emotional instability, variable self-concept and reactive mood, which have been confirmed in subsequent studies. It is believed as epilepsy progresses, patients tend to develop symptoms of depression, anxiety, social problems, and attention deficit. Therefore, these patients have difficulty in following medical recommendations, especially precautions regarding precipitating factors for seizures.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of adolescents. Several descriptive studies and systematic reviews have shown an increase in suicide rates in this age group.
Objectives
- To present a literary review on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health and suicidal behavior of adolescents around the world. - To present data on admission rates due to suicidal behavior during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic in a Spanish child-adolescent psychiatric hospitalization unit.
Methods
- We will present a literature review and a retrospective cross-sectional study on admission rates for suicidal behavior in a child-adolescent psychiatric hospitalization unit. - Admission rates for suicidal behavior during the year prior to the pandemic will be compared with rates relative to the first year of the pandemic.
Results
- We have found a significant increase in admission rates for suicidal behavior during the year of the pandemic. Similar results have been found in different studies and meta-analyzes. - The socio-demographic characteristics of the patients are quite similar in the two periods of time analyzed, but the reference to intra-family problems has been more frequent in the year of the pandemic.
Conclusions
Our data is in line with other studies suggesting that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on teenage suicidal behavior.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause changes in the personality and behaviors. History of TBI has been associated with violent behavior and substance abuse.
Objectives
Presentation of a clinical case of a patient with antisocial personality traits who suffered a TBI and abuses alcohol.
Methods
We conducted a bibliographic review by searching for articles published the last 5 years in Pubmed
Results
We present the case of a 48-year-old male patient with a history of myoclonic epilepsy, who suffered a TBI in a car crash. During his stay at ICU antisocial and borderline personality traits were found. When he came to consultations, he presented signs of alcohol intoxication (verbiage with hasty and dysarthric speech, and psychomotor incoordination). He acknowledges daily alcohol intake, although he minimizes it. During the interview he is irritable, prone to anger when contradicted and boasts of episodes of heteroaggressiveness and violence that he has carried out in the past. He reports morning sickness and tremors, but does not accept that they may be due to alcohol withdrawal. There is no motivation for change.
Conclusions
It has been determined that history of TBI is more frequent in individuals with antisocial personality. TBI has been linked to violent behaviors, poor inhibitory control, engaging in illegal acts and higher rates of substance abuse. However, the causal relationship between antisocial behavior and TBI has yet to be clarified, as the available evidence does not show which comes first. More research is needed in the future that takes into account the temporal sequence of events.
Migrations are a source of stress for patients, which can have repercussions on their Mental Health. We present the case of a native Senegalese patient who presented a first psychotic episode.
Objectives
Presentation of a clinical case of an immigrant patient with a psychotic disorder.
Methods
Bibliographic review on migration and psychosis by searching for articles in Pubmed.
Results
We present the case of a patient of 20 years, a native of Senegal, who has been living in Spain for 3 months in a shelter home. He has no family or relations in Spain, and only speaks Wolof, presenting serious difficulties in communication with healthcare workers. He came to Hospital with his social worker because strange behaviors had been observed. He presented delusional ideation of self-referential and mystical-religious content, related to “the prophet” and “the need to fulfill a mission”. He also presented auditory hallucinations that he identified as of divine origin, and ordered him to perform behaviors such as picking hairs from the ground and various rituals. He acknowledges cannabis and alcohol use in the previous days. Paliperidone treatment was started. Throughout the admission, he begins to show concern for the state of his relatives in Senegal and the need to send them money.
Conclusions
Multiple studies indicate that migrants are at higher risk of psychosis, specially those from countries where the majority of population was black, according to some series. The challenge lies in understanding the mechanisms underlying this increased incidence, taking into account psychosocial factors such as social isolation and trauma.
There are life events that may increase the possibilities of suffering some kind of Psychopathology. The most validated model for understanding the aetiology of psychosis is based on genetic and environmental risk factors and their interaction, likely involving epigenetic mechanisms. It is necessary to consider those events as risk factors for Mental Health.
Objectives
Study of risk and prognostic factors in psychosis.
Methods
Review of scientific literature based on a relevant clinical case.
Results
We present the case of a 28-year-old male patient from Peru, currently living in Germany. History of sexual abuse in childhood. He started taking drugs at the age of 8. In the emergency department, he reports that since the beginning of the pandemic, after listening to a speech by the Pope, he begins to interpret signals about situations occurring around him. He begins to read about mystical-religious subjects, changes the style of music he listens to and recognises changes in his personality. He says for months he has been feeling watched, persecuted and expresed someone wants to kill him. He says hears voices and that they communicate with him through bodily sensations.
Conclusions
Childhood trauma, immigration and cannabis use are significantly associated with an increased risk of functional psychosis. A neurotic personality also independently contributes to this risk. The accumulation of these factors increases vulnerability to mental disorders and leads to a worse prognosis and evolution of these pathologies. These findings could help to improve the prevention of psychosis and the development of specific treatment strategies in this particular population.
Suicide rates in people diagnosed with a psychotic disorder can be up to 50 times higher than in the general population, with the lethality of attempts being significantly higher in this group, compared to people diagnosed with other psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, it is known that being male is associated with more serious suicide attempts and higher rates of completed suicides.
Objectives
To reflect on the increased risk of suicide associated with psychotic disorders.
Methods
Case report and literature review.
Results
Case report 40-year-old male, recently diagnosed with Schizophreniform Disorder and currently with persistent positive symptoms. He was admitted to our psychiatric hospitalization unit due to a voluntary overdose of almost 100 tablets (antihypertensives, antiarrhythmics, and benzodiazepines) and alcohol. He admits taking the pills with the aim of committing suicide. Literature review: - Around 10% of people diagnosed with schizophrenia commit suicide. - In young patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, suicide is the leading cause of death. - Between 15 and 65% of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia have depressive symptoms such as hopelessness. - Depressive symptoms in these patients seem to be directly proportionally with awareness of the disease (stigma, awareness of its severity and a sudden decrease in quality of life and social integration). - The risk of suicide increases especially in the first 10 years of the disease.
Conclusions
Psychosis is an important risk factor of suicide and active preventive measures should be carried out in these patients.
Brain lesions may induce psychiatric symptoms in some cases. Imaging tests are important to make a differential diagnosis, and therefore initiate an appropriate treatment.
Objectives
Presentation of a clinical case about a patient with psychiatric symptoms who presented an organic lesion.
Methods
Bibliographic review including the latest articles in Pubmed about psychiatric symptoms induced by organic lesions.
Results
We present a 51-year-old male patient, with adequate previous functionality, who attended psychiatric consultations due to changes in his character, with delusional mystical and megalomaniac ideation, verbiage, hypoprosexia, memory loss and insomnia (diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder type II, hypomanic episode). Eventually, a brain computed tomography scan was performed, in which meningioma was visualized. The patient underwent surgery, and he asked to keep a sample of his tumor to always carry it with him on a pendant. Psychiatric symptoms induced by organic lesions are highly variable, depending on the location and size of the lesion, and they may be the first and/or only symptom of a meningioma (up to 21% according to various studies), so it is important to perform imaging tests in some cases. At this time, the patient is under follow-up, he has remained euthymic and stable, and he refuses to take psychopharmacological medication.
Conclusions
Psychiatric symptoms may be the first and/or only manifestation of an organic lesion in some cases. Neuroimaging tests (CT and MR) may be useful in the differential diagnosis. It is important to carry out an indiviualized treatment based on the patient’s pathology, which may include surgery and/or drugs.
Trichotillomania is an obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder characterized by recurrent and uncontrolled hair pulling. This behavior causes significant anxiety as well as low self-esteem in people who suffer from this disorder. There is still no therapy of proven efficacy in the treatment of trichotillomania. Psychotropic drugs and cognitive behavioral psychotherapy have been tried in the management of this disease, but the relapse rate is high. Narrative therapy is an innovative type of postmodern psychotherapy and in our literary search we have not found data related to its use in the treatment of trichotillomania.
Objectives
To present a novel therapeutic approach to a highly resistant disorder, trichotillomania.
Methods
Case report and literature review.
Results
We present a case of a 39-year-old woman diagnosed with trichoticolomania twenty years earlier. She tried several types of psychotherapies for manage her hair-pulling problem, all related with relapse only a few days after finishing the sessions. We have carried out a total of 5 narrative therapy sessions spread over 3 months. No relapses have been observed during the subsequent 9-month follow-up period.
Conclusions
Based on our experience, we believe that Narrative Therapy is a good and still unexplored alternative for people diagnosed with trichotillomania.
Concerns about health and fitness during lockdown may serve as a trigger for eating disorders in vulnerable individuals. Other risk factors may also include increased use of social networks and comparison with beauty ideals. Isolation, loneliness and problems with emotional regulation may lead people to reduce food intake by giving them a greater sense of control.
Objectives
Emphasise the relevance of the increase in the incidence of Eating Disorders (ED) cases during the pandemic.
Methods
Review of the scientific literature based on a relevant clinical case.
Results
14-year-old female, residing with her mother. She reports that from the beginning of COVID-19 confinement she became obsessed with leading a healthier life, starting to restrict food, limiting fats and carbohydrates, and having also started compulsive physical activity (approximately 4 hours of aerobic exercise per day), without associated purging behaviours. She also acknowledges eating small amounts (although she minimises this aspect) and controlling all calories, stating that food and practices aimed at “staying healthy” now dominate her life. Her previous BMI was 18, with a current BMI of 11.7.
Conclusions
Patients suffering from ED, who often have poor knowledge of their illness and find social-emotional communication difficult, may delay seeking help. Studies suggest the relevance of identifying specific vulnerability factors among ED patients in confinement in order to develop preventive strategies and personalised treatment approaches.
Megalomanic ideas in a patient with limited intellectual functioning may be due to the psychotic clinic or be the result of their disability.
Objectives
This case is intended to highlight the importance of a joint approach between psychiatrists and psychologists to assess functionality before and after the psychotic episode.
Methods
34-year-old woman with no mental health history. She came to the emergency department for an episode of aggression at home. Her parents report that they have observed strange behaviour, she is more aggressive, speaks alone, changing voices and global insomnia in the last few days. Her language is incoherent and disorganised, with a long response latency. Megalomaniacal and catastrophic delusions. Possible auditory hallucinations and thought control phenomena.
Results
During admission, antipsychotic treatment was introduced with good tolerance and response on the part of the patient. She has been distancing herself from the ideas and has become somewhat critical. A psychological evaluation was carried out with different scales that showed borderline IQ.
Conclusions
It is important to make a good assessment of the patient’s symptoms in order to make a differential diagnosis. In this case, it is advisable to carry out a control and follow-up, as well as a neuropsychological assessment before and after the acute episode. In addition, a multidisciplinary approach with psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers is important.
We present the clinical case of a patient where the psychotic clinic coexists with gender dysphoria. This scenario can be the result of a change in gender identity derived from the psychotic process or appear independently of it.
Objectives
We want to explain the importance of knowing how to act with a patient in whom these two processes coexist.
Methods
20-year-old woman, with no history of mental health. She comes to the emergency department for behavioral alteration. The family observes strange behaviors, unmotivated laughter, soliloquies and aggressive episodes. Abandonment of studies, hobbies and radical physical change. Delusions of prejudice and self-referential delusions. Possible phenomena of echo and diffusion of the thought. Auditory hallucinations talking to her in male gender, since then she presents doubts about her sexual identity and manifests her desire to change sex. Altered judgment of reality.
Results
During admission, we started treatment with an antipsychotic with good tolerance and she was referred to mental health team, where psychopharmacological treatment was adjusted with good response. In the following medical appointments the psychotic clinic disappeared at the same time that sexual identification was completely restored and made a critique of the behavior and experiences.
Conclusions
This case highlights the importance of assessing the chronology of symptoms, the patient’s criticality, the response to antipsychotic treatment and the need to exclude the psychotic background of the desire for gender reassignment before making a therapeutic decision.
The therapeutic alliance is critical to the efficacy of psychiatric treatment and can be weakened by involuntary treatment measures. In Western culture, mental illness is still associated with violence and if significant risk of violence is detected, in Spain a civil court can order the application of involuntary treatments such as Involuntary Outpatient Commitment.
Objectives
To discuss the effectiveness of some psychiatric involuntary treatments used in Spain.
Methods
- Literature review about involuntary psychiatric treatments used in Spain - Case report about a patient undergoing Involuntary Outpatient Commitment
Results
We present the case of a 54-year-old man, diagnosed with schizophrenia, admitted to our acute psychiatric yard more than five times due to violent behavior and psychotic symptoms. Five years ago, he was summitted to a period of three years of Involuntary Outpatient Commitment. In Spain this measure can include the administration of involuntary medication, an injectable antipsychotic treatment in this case. At the end of the order, he immediately stops attending consultations and abandoned psychopharmacological treatment.
Conclusions
Involuntary Outpatient Commitment is a controversial measure and it stirs up the concepts of stigma, coercion, care, patient autonomy and, globally, the values of humanization in psychiatry.
To identify the corporate political activity (CPA) strategies used by food industry actors during the development of two public health nutrition policies in Central America: Law #570 (taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages) in Panama and Bill #5504 (labelling and food marketing regulations) in Guatemala.
Design:
We triangulated data from publicly available information from 2018 to 2020, (e.g. industry and government materials; social media material) with semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders.
Setting:
Guatemala and Panama.
Participants:
Government, academia and international organisations workers in health and nutrition.
Design:
CPA strategies were categorised according to an existing internationally used taxonomy into action-based, instrumental strategies (coalition management, information management, direct involvement and influence in policy, legal action) and discursive strategies.
Results:
Instrumental strategies included the establishment of relationships with policymakers and direct lobbying against the proposed public policies. Discursive strategies were mainly criticising on the unfounded ground that they lacked evidence of effectiveness and will imply negative impacts on the economy. The industry pointed at individuals for making their own food choices, in order to shift the focus away from the role of its products in contributing to ill health.
Conclusion:
We provide evidence of the political practices used by the food industry to interfere with the development and implementation of public health nutrition policies to improve diets in Central America. Policymakers, public health advocates and the public should be informed about those practices and develop counterstrategies and arguments to protect the public and policies from the vested interests of the food industry.
Vitamin E is an important nutrient from the earliest stages of life. It plays key roles as an antioxidant and in the maintenance of the immune system, among others. Vitamin E deficiency (VED), which occurs more frequently in children, is rarely addressed in the literature. This narrative review aims to summarize the chemistry, biology, serum indicators, and clinical trials that have evaluated the impact of fortification and other relevant aspects of vitamin E, in addition to the prevalence of its deficiency, in children worldwide. Vitamin E intake in recommended amounts is essential for this nutrient to perform its functions in the body. Serum α-tocopherol is the most widely used biochemical indicator to assess the prevalence of VED. VED has been associated with symptoms secondary to fat malabsorption and may lead to peripheral neuropathy and increased erythrocyte hemolysis. Reduced concentrations of α-tocopherol may be caused by the combination of diets with low amounts of vitamin E, associated with inadequate consumption of fats, proteins, and calories. The lowest prevalence of vitamin E deficiency was found in Asia and the highest, in North America and Brazil. High proportions of VED provide evidence that this nutritional deficiency is a public health problem in children and still little addressed in the international scientific literature. The planning, evaluation, and implementation of health policies aimed at combating vitamin E deficiency in the pediatric population are extremely important.
This chapter focuses on the national level and studies interlinkages, institutional integration and policy coherence in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. After defining key terms, the chapter reviews how perspectives on interlinkages have shaped a new discourse, followed by an analysis of the steering effects of the global goals on institutional integration and policy coherence. The chapter finds that some measures have been taken by national governments to advance institutional integration through coordination by central agencies and inter-ministerial exchanges. Growing policy coherence, however, is not clearly observable. Existing barriers in political-administrative systems preventing institutional integration and policy coherence have not vanished with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. Although recent studies have considerably enhanced knowledge on the conceptual understanding of interlinkages, integration and coherence, empirical data about how these concepts play out in practice at national level is still very limited.