Aggressive behaviour towards a care-giver: a case report of a patient with paranoid schizophrenia

Background: Aggressive behaviours are often found in paranoid schizophrenia, which could occur either at the acute or chronic phases of the disorder. Paranoid schizophrenic patients may show dysfunctional impulsive aggression which may be caused by several factors such as environmental frustration. These patients have poor insight, experience disorders of thought and have poor control of their aggressive impulses.Methods: This is a case report of a 27 year old school dropout, who has been on treatment for paranoid schizophrenia for five years. He presented with acute symptoms of the disorder which includes delusion of reference, delusion of persecution, command hallucination and restlessness. Prior to the current presentation, patient had stopped taking his medication and refused to come for follow-up. Last follow-up from records was thirteen months prior to this current admission.Results: Clinical features met the criteria for diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia following a relapse due to poor compliance with medication and follow-up visits.Conclusions: Elevated risk forviolent-offending in paranoid schizophrenia is not just as a result of active symptoms, but also associated social problems. Therefore managing these groups of patients should target such issues.Keywords: Aggressive behaviour, Care-Giver, Paranoid, Schizophreni

Posttraumatic stress disorder among internally displaced victims of Boko Haram terrorism in north-eastern Nigeria

Background: A large number of youth are often directly involved in armed-conflict, and therefore are at greater risk of developing a wide range of mental disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However little is known about the prevalence of PTSD among youth who constitute a large work force.Objective: This study was carried out to assess the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder among Internally Displaced youth exposed to Boko Haram terrorism in North-Eastern Nigeria. It also assessed the socio-demographic factors associated with PTSD in this population.Method: A cross-sectional study that employed a consecutive sampling technique to select eligible subjects undergoing a Citizenship and leadership training at Citizenship and Leadership training institute Jos, Plateau State. The posttraumatic stress disorder module of Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used to assess for current symptoms of PTSD.Results: The results show that more than two-third of the respondents were unemployed youth with secondary level of education and had low or no stable income. More than 63% of the respondents were diagnosed with PTSD. Educational status (p=0.002), marital status (p=0.001) and income before displacement (p=0.010) were the significant factors associated with PTSD.Conclusions: The results point to the importance of screening and treatment for traumatic armed conflict victims, with particular attention to youth who had low education and low income levels as well as being never married or widowed.Keywords: PTSD, sociodemographic factors, Bokoharam terrorism, North Eastern Nigeri