Exploring psychotic experiences in the context of multidimensional psychopathology:a longitudinal community-based approach

Hearing voices, seeing things that others don’t, subtle suspicion, odd or magical beliefs etc. These psychotic experiences are far more common than schizophrenia and other psychotic illness in communities. In this thesis, these experiences were assessed at households of a general population (4011 individuals). Furthermore, data on socio-environmental risk factors for mental health problems were collected and blood sampling was made to assess genetic factors. The population is representative of the city Izmir, which is one of the major cities in Europe and Middle East, with approxiamately 4 million residents. The population is followed up for 6 years to investigate the questions: Are individuals with these experiences going to have mental problems on the long run? If yes, which mental disorders? Are they associated with subsequent schizophrenia and other psychotic illness, depression and other mood disorders ? Which genetic factors and social adversities are associated with these experiences, also with subsequent outcomes of these experiences

Opioid kullanım bozukluğu sürdürüm tedavisinde naltrekson implant ile oral buprenorfin-nalokson kullanan hastaların tedaviyi yarıda bırakma risklerinin karşılaştırılması

Objective: Through increasing prevalence, opioid use disorder has been an important public health problem. The aim of this study is to compare the risk of drop-out from opioid use disorder maintenance treatment in patients using naltrexone implants vs. oral buprenorphine-naloxone, and to assess some sociodemographic and clinical correlates of drop-out. Method: The study has a retrospective-cohort design. All patients who completed the 21-days inpatient detoxification treatment between January 1st - November 1st, 2019 in a specialized alcohol and substance abuse treatment centre, and planned to be treated with either oral buprenorphine-naloxone or naltrexone implants were included in the study (n: 107). The associations between the drop-outs from the maintenance treatment and the treatment used (buprenorphine-naloxone or naltrexone implants), sociodemographic/clinical characteristics were assessed via multivariate cox regression. Results: No large or significant differences in sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were found between the two treatment groups. Both univariate and multivariate analysis showed no significant differences in the risk of drop-out from treatment between patients using oral buprenorphine-naloxone vs. naltrexone implants (Hazard Ratio: 1.39, %95CI: 0.82-2.35, p: 0.2). Multivariate analysis showed that presence of another substance use in addition to opioid use was significantly associated with the risk of drop-out (Hazard Ratio: 1,79, %95CI: 1,06-3,16, p: 0,04). Discussion: Results suggest no significant difference in the risk of drop-out from opioid maintenance treatment in patients using naltrexone implants vs. oral buprenorphine-naloxone. Additional substance use should be carefully considered while planning opioid use disorder maintenance treatment

Pharmacotherapy of Schizophrenia in Acute and Maintenance Phase

Schizophrenia is one of the leading disorders causing impairment in society. Therefore, it is crucial to review evidence-based treatment approaches which are both effective and causing minimum side effects. In this paper, treatment recommendations for first episode schizophrenia, patients in acute phase with a history of multiple episodes, and patients in the maintenance phase will be discussed in light of the Psychiatric Association of Turkey Guideline for Treatment of Schizophrenia, other recent national and international guidelines as well as expert consensus reports in the literature. Finally, practical considerations will be suggested

Editorial:Substance use and the psychosis spectrum

[No Abstract Available

COVID 19 pandemic and psychotic symptoms

WOS:000612398500009COVID-19 pandemic causes substantial psychosocial stress on individuals and the community. Due to social isolation, neurotrophic potential of coronaviruses and the inflammatory processes, occurrence and relapse of psychotic symptoms may increase during the pandemic. Furthermore, pandemic has limited some protective factors for psychosis (i.e. social support, community mental health practices and physical activity). Additionally, admission of individuals suffering from psychotic symptoms may decrease due to risk of viral contamination. This may lead to under-detection of the problem, persistence of psychotic symptoms, poorer prognosis and more severe outcomes. Psychotic symptoms were reported among infected individuals during the recent coronavirus outbreaks (SARS CoV-1 and MERS CoV). Furthermore, mental problems were of the most substantial causes of long term disability associated with these outbreaks. in this paper, limited data on psychotic symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic will be reviewed. Furthermore, psychosocial stress during the pandemic and plausible associations between the coronaviruses and psychotic symptoms will be discussed in light of the previous research

The role of thought suppression in conversion disorder in relation to depression, symptom interpretation and sleep hygiene:a case-control study

Background: Thought suppression has been associated with a number of psychiatric disorders. However, the association with conversion disorder (CD) has not been investigated yet. Objective: To investigate the role of thought suppression in CD. Methods: Eighty consecutive outpatients with a diagnosis of CD and sixty age, sex and neighborhood-similar controls were evaluated using Beck Depression Inventory-I (BDI-I), White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI), Symptom Interpretation Questionnaire (SIQ) and Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI). Cases and controls were compared in regard to thought suppression scores considering their status of high depression scores via a logistic regression model. The reciprocal associations of thought suppression with other clinical dimensions in CD were assessed. Finally, structural equation modelling was applied to untangle the possible connections. Results: CD patients had significantly higher scores of thought suppression than the control group. However, the difference was below the significance level when CD patients without comorbid high depression scores were taken into account. Thought suppression was associated with the clinical severity of CD. According to the structural equation model, older age and somatic attributions to the common bodily sensations were the significant correlates of thought suppression among CD patients. Discussion: Thought suppression may be considered as a non-specific marker of clinical severity in CD