The Role of Infectious and Stress-related Onsets in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptomatology and Functioning

This study examined how the mode of onset for myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME and CFS) impacts patients’ presenting symptomatology. Specifically, this study investigated the differences between the most commonly reported ME and CFS onsets: infectious, stress-related, and a combined infectious and stress-related onset (referred to as ‘combined onset’). Three patient samples were combined and utilized. All participants met Fukuda et al. (1994) criteria and self-reported their illness onset. Analyses showed the infectious group reported the most impairment for general health functioning—which relates to the susceptibility of getting or feeling sick—in comparison to the stress-related group. Meanwhile, both the stress-related and combined groups reported more impairment for mental health functioning than the infectious group. Lastly, the infectious and combined groups reported worse autonomic and immune symptomatology than the stress group. These findings illustrate that the mode of onset for ME and CFS could play a factor in a patient’s prognosis. An infectious onset might lead to worse physical and somatic symptoms, while a stress onset might lead to worse psychological functioning. These findings are consistent with prior research. Future research should continue investigating the differences amongst patients based on illness onset, as well as other factors (e.g., psychiatric co-morbidity)

Higher Sense of Control Predicts Long-term Well-being After Depression

Excellent outcomes after major depression, including the possibility of optimal well-being (OWB), are understudied. In a previous investigation, nearly 10% of initially depressed adults met OWB criteria 10-years later, yet little is known about factors that explain OWB after depression. This study examined whether sense of control (SOC) beliefs and coping behaviors, specifically, reappraisal and seeking social support, predict OWB after depression. Secondary data analyses were conducted on Waves 1 and 2 of the Midlife Development in the United States (1995–1996; 2004–2006; MIDUS) study, which includes a nationally representative sample of middle-aged adults. Participants in the present analyses met DSM-III depression criteria and completed relevant Wave 1 questionnaires (N = 418), of which 23 met criteria for recovery and OWB (exceed cutoffs across nine facets of psychological well-being that characterize the top 25% of U.S. non-depressed adults). Zero-order correlations examined whether SOC beliefs, positive reappraisal, and seeking social support at Wave 1 associated with OWB after depression 10 years later, at Wave 2. Reappraisal, but not advice seeking, correlated with OWB after depression with small effects (r = .13, p \u3c .05); the reappraisal effect was no longer significant when controlling for SOC beliefs. Meanwhile, SOC beliefs significantly predicted OWB after depression (OR = 2.19, 95% CI: 1.15, 4.19, p = .046), even controlling for age, gender, education, depression severity, and overall well-being (ps \u3e .05). As a malleable psychological variable, SOC may be a potential target for interventions that would increase the likelihood of OWB after depression

Optimal Well-Being After Major Depression

Can people achieve optimal well-being and thrive after major depression? Contemporary epidemiology dismisses this possibility, viewing depression as a recurrent, burdensome condition with a bleak prognosis. To estimate the prevalence of thriving after depression in United States adults, we used data from the Midlife Development in the United States study. To count as thriving after depression, a person had to exhibit no evidence of major depression and had to exceed cutoffs across nine facets of psychological well-being that characterize the top 25% of U.S. nondepressed adults. Overall, nearly 10% of adults with study-documented depression were thriving 10 years later. The phenomenon of thriving after depression has implications for how the prognosis of depression is conceptualized and for how mental health professionals communicate with patients. Knowing what makes thriving outcomes possible offers new leverage points to help reduce the global burden of depression

Supplementary_Material_B_Table_2 – Supplemental material for Suicidal ideation in non-depressed individuals: The effects of a chronic, misunderstood illness

<p>Supplemental material, Supplementary_Material_B_Table_2 for Suicidal ideation in non-depressed individuals: The effects of a chronic, misunderstood illness by Andrew R Devendorf , Stephanie L McManimen and Leonard A Jason in Journal of Health Psychology</p

The Value of Extracting Clinician-Recorded Affect for Advancing Clinical Research on Depression: Proof-of-Concept Study Applying Natural Language Processing to Electronic Health Records

BackgroundAffective characteristics are associated with depression severity, course, and prognosis. Patients’ affect captured by clinicians during sessions may provide a rich source of information that more naturally aligns with the depression course and patient-desired depression outcomes. ObjectiveIn this paper, we propose an information extraction vocabulary used to pilot the feasibility and reliability of identifying clinician-recorded patient affective states in clinical notes from electronic health records. MethodsAffect and mood were annotated in 147 clinical notes of 109 patients by 2 independent coders across 3 pilots. Intercoder discrepancies were settled by a third coder. This reference annotation set was used to test a proof-of-concept natural language processing (NLP) system using a named entity recognition approach. ResultsConcepts were frequently addressed in templated format and free text in clinical notes. Annotated data demonstrated that affective characteristics were identified in 87.8% (129/147) of the notes, while mood was identified in 97.3% (143/147) of the notes. The intercoder reliability was consistently good across the pilots (interannotator agreement [IAA] >70%). The final NLP system showed good reliability with the final reference annotation set (mood IAA=85.8%; affect IAA=80.9%). ConclusionsAffect and mood can be reliably identified in clinician reports and are good targets for NLP. We discuss several next steps to expand on this proof of concept and the value of this research for depression clinical research

Leveraging the Strengths of Psychologists With Lived Experience of Psychopathology

Psychopathology is a common element of the human experience, and psychological scientists are not immune. Recent empirical data demonstrate that a significant proportion of clinical, counseling, and school psychology faculty and graduate students have lived experience, both past and present, of psychopathology. This commentary compliments these findings by leveraging the perspectives of the authors and signatories, who have personal lived experience of psychopathology, to improve professional inclusivity in these fields. By "coming out proud," the authors aim to foster discussion, research, and inclusion efforts as they relate to psychopathology experiences in psychological science. To that end, the authors describe considerations related to disclosure of lived experience, identify barriers to inclusion, and provide concrete recommendations for personal and systemic changes to improve recognition and acceptance of psychopathology lived experience among psychologists