Background: Psychiatric disorders differ in their typical age of onset, but evidence describing onset patterns in small clinical samples from Kerala, India, is limited. This pilot study examined the association between diagnostic group and age of symptom onset and described the interval between symptom onset and first diagnosis. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using 50 consecutively sampled patient records from psychiatric outpatient and inpatient services at VPSV Ayurveda College, Kottakkal, Kerala. Diagnoses were based on DSM-5 criteria. Data included age at symptom onset, age at first diagnosis, sex, source of onset information, family psychiatric history, comorbidity, and medical or neurological conditions. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests were used; inferential analyses were considered exploratory. Results: Participants included 30 males and 20 females; mean current age was 35.14 ± 15.36 years. Mean age at symptom onset was 26.02 ± 14.83 years (median 25.5; range 1-72), and 28% reported onset before age 18. Age of onset differed across ten diagnostic groups (Kruskal-Wallis H = 28.58, df = 9, p < 0.001). Median onset was earliest in neurodevelopmental disorders (3.5 years) and latest in neurocognitive disorders (66 years). Median onset-to-diagnosis interval was one year (interquartile range 0-4); 14% waited six years or longer. Earlier onset correlated with a longer interval to diagnosis (Spearman ? = -0.350, p = 0.013). No significant sex difference in onset age was observed. Conclusion: The findings suggest distinct onset patterns across diagnostic groups in this clinical sample and indicate that some patients experience prolonged diagnostic delays. Larger, multicentre studies are required to confirm these exploratory results.
Psychotherapy is supported by evidence across several psychological conditions, yet its value cannot be understood solely through symptom change. This thematic integrative review examines psychotherapy as both an intervention and a relational setting in which psychological safety, trust, collaboration, and self-understanding may support change. Literature discussed in the source synopsis is organized around three themes: psychotherapy outcomes across mood, anxiety, trauma-related, and personality difficulties; the therapeutic alliance and safety; and adapted, neurodiversity-affirming support for autistic people. Meta-analytic and theoretical literature generally supports psychotherapy effectiveness, while alliance research identifies the therapeutic relationship as a robust correlate of outcomes. Work on autistic youth suggests that adapted interventions can be beneficial, although outcomes and methods vary. Across these areas, the review identifies a need to connect clinical outcomes with clients? lived experience of safety, identity, accessibility, and agency. The review is integrative rather than systematic: the source material does not document reproducible database searches, screening counts, or formal quality appraisal. Accordingly, conclusions are interpretive and should not be treated as a comprehensive estimate of treatment effects. The paper argues for therapeutic spaces that combine evidence-informed care with collaborative, individualized, and affirming relationships.
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia in which the normal muscle atonia of REM sleep is lost, and patients act out their dreams.Serotonergic antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a recognized trigger, but in psychiatric patients the nocturnal behaviors are easily attributed to stress or to the primary illness.We report the case of a 46-year-old man with schizoaffective disorder, depressive type, maintained on aripiprazole 15 mg daily, who was started on escitalopram 10 mg at bedtime (day one); the dose was reduced to 5 mg on day 77.Around day 430, about 14 months after starting escitalopram and while taking 5 mg, he began to walk in his sleep and act out his dreams, including punching movements and, on one occasion, walking while holding a clothing iron, with no recollection on waking.The episodes occurred late in the night, with his eyes closed, two to three times a month and were accompanied by sleep paralysis and daytime sleepiness.His mental status examination and routine blood tests were unremarkable.He declined polysomnography and brain imaging, so a diagnosis of probable RBD, possibly associated with escitalopram, was made on clinical grounds; a non-REM parasomnia could not be excluded.On day 616, escitalopram was stopped and clonazepam 0.5 mg at bedtime was started at the same time.The episodes had stopped by day 665.Clonazepam was discontinued on day 772, and at the latest follow-up on day 1962 there had been no recurrence.Because clonazepam was started when escitalopram was withdrawn, the improvement cannot be attributed to stopping escitalopram alone, although the absence of recurrence after clonazepam was discontinued supports a role for the antidepressant.Clinicians who prescribe serotonergic antidepressants should take a sleep history from patients and their bed partners, arrange polysomnography where it is available, and review the suspected drug.
Abstract Background Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental illness associated with emotional and functional impairment, elevated suicide risk, and high individual and societal costs. BPD is under-researched in the general population, especially among males, and from a developmental perspective. We examined the prevalence and development of BPD symptoms in young men and explored the longitudinal associations with risk-taking behaviors. Methods Data came from the prospective-longitudinal Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF), a population sample of young men. Participants were screened for BPD risk using the McLean Screening Instrument (MSI-BPD) at mean age 25 (2016–2018; n = 5,516) and again at mean age 28 (2019–2020; n = 5,367). Risk-taking behaviors (e.g., interpersonal violence, gambling, substance use) were self-reported at both time points. Multilevel regression models examined within-person changes in BPD symptoms, including self-harm, and risk-taking behaviors over time. Results 7.4% of participants had a high risk of BPD, defined by endorsing 7 + MSI-BPD items at least once. Among those with 7 + items endorsed at the first assessment, 29.5% still endorsed 7 + items three years later. Despite a general within-person decline in BPD symptoms with age, participants at initially high risk for BPD continued to exhibit elevated levels of risk-taking behaviors after three years. Conclusion BPD symptomatology affects a substantial proportion of young men. Despite its modest stability over time, it is associated with persistent engagement in various risk-taking behaviors. Interventions targeting BPD symptoms in male populations may offer a promising avenue towards mitigating substantial psychosocial burden associated with these behaviors.
Abstract Court-Ordered Treatment (COT) is used to address treatment non-adherence and psychiatric readmission in individuals with serious mental illness (SMI), who are at risk for treatment non-adherence and recurrent psychiatric hospitalization. Evidence regarding clinical outcomes associated with COT remains mixed, partly due to differences in legal frameworks and program implementation. To compare psychiatric readmission, outpatient appointment attendance, and long-acting injectable (LAI) medication adherence during COT and during the year following COT expiration in Arizona’s public behavioral health system. This exploratory, retrospective chart review identified 94 patients placed on COT between 2020 and 2021. Paired within-subject analyses included 29 patients whose COT expired and who completed a full one-year follow-up after COT expiration. Outcomes during COT were compared with outcomes during the year after COT expiration. Among the 29 patients analyzed, psychiatric hospital admission rates rose significantly from 10.3% (3/29) during COT to 34.5% (10/29) post COT expiration ( p = .039). Missed psychiatric appointments increased from 24.1% (7/29) during COT to 37.9% (11/29) after COT expiration, but this change was not statistically significant (p =.219). Among 19 patients with complete LAI follow-up data, 1 missed at least one scheduled LAI dose during COT compared with 4 after COT expiration ( p =.250). In this exploratory cohort, psychiatric readmissions were less frequent during COT than during the year following COT expiration. Both missed outpatient appointments and LAI doses were also more frequent after COT expiration, although these differences were not statistically significant, and the small sample limited the ability to detect meaningful differences. These findings should be interpreted cautiously given the small, selected cohort and retrospective observational design. Larger prospective studies are needed to further evaluate outcomes following COT expiration.
This article aims to establish the possibility of a phenomenological-hermeneutic psychopathology of anorexia nervosa based on Martin Heidegger's thought. To this end, it uses a narrative review methodology to articulate an understanding of the Phenomenological Psychopathology of this pathology, the problem of corporeality in Phenomenology and the Heideggerian perspective on corporeality, and the interrelationships between the technology age, anorexia nervosa and the body lived in the first person. It should be emphasized that the current model of descriptive psychopathology of signs and symptoms, as well as the cognitivist views that explain anorexia as an alteration of beliefs and body image, are insufficient to highlight the profound transformations that occur in the lived body (Leib) of the anorexic experience. This corporeality is experienced as a source of concern, constant measurement, the search to acquire a new identity, closure to otherness and alienation. A panorama of possible articulations of the temporality, spatiality and corporeality of such suffering is then established. In addition, based on the Heideggerian approach, which emphasizes the mundanity of the experience of the body, it is possible to establish a link between corporeality as an intermediary phenomenon and the world of technology, which emphasizes modes of relationship focused on control, manipulation, representation and objectification.
Traditional diagnostic systems, such as the DSM-5 and ICD-11, suffer from well-documented limitations, including high comorbidity rates, arbitrary diagnostic thresholds, and within-disorder heterogeneity. Consequently, the field is evolving towards hierarchical, transdiagnostic, dimensional models of psychopathology. This study reports on the development and initial validation of the Multidimensional Transdiagnostic Inventory of Psychopathology (MTIP). This new broadband inventory aligns traditional DSM disorders with contemporary dimensional models of psychopathology. We conducted initial development and basic psychometric analyses in a mixed sample of 301 adults. We then validated the MTIP in a second independent sample (N = 826), of which 640 who self-reported no history of past mental health treatment were used as our normative/reference sample. The final MTIP contained 13 clinical scales and seven supplemental scales. All the MTIP scales met core psychometric assumptions at the item, scale, and transdiagnostic levels. A series of exploratory and second-order factor analyses supported the MTIP hierarchical dimensional structure. Concurrent validity correlations with the DSM-5 level 1 cross-cutting symptom measure were strong, ranging from 0.89 (depression) to 0.51 (drug misuse). Regression analyses supported the construct validity of the higher-order transdiagnostic scales. Twelve of the 13 clinical scales differentiated individuals with a history of mental health care from those without past care, with effect sizes ranging from 0.20 (Alcohol Misuse) to 1.06 (Anxiety). Effect sizes for the transdiagnostic scales ranged from 0.33 (Thought Dysregulation) to 1.07 (Emotion Dysregulation). The clinical implications and potential applications of the MTIP are discussed.
Parental loss is a severe stressor for individuals with schizophrenia, yet research on resilience in schizophrenia tends to focus on internal individual factors or caregiver burden rather than the survivors’ own experiences. This study aims to understand the process of resilience in individuals with schizophrenia following parental loss. A qualitative case study design was used, involving one primary informant (AW) and one secondary informant (PP) a significant other. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews guided by Reivich and Shatté’s (2002) aspects of resilience, then analyzed thematically with source triangulation. The findings reveal six forms of resilience in AW: active diversion from emotional distress, self-awareness and medication adherence, pursuing concrete life goals, providing reciprocal support to fellow survivors, openness to new relationships and experiences, and meaning-making of the loss. These findings indicate that resilience develops through a continuous adaptive process involving self-awareness, social support, and meaning-making.
فقدان والدین یک عامل استرسزای شدید برای افراد مبتلا به اسکیزوفرنی است، با این حال پژوهشها درباره تابآوری در اسکیزوفرنی عمدتاً بر عوامل درونی فردی یا بار مراقبتکننده تمرکز دارند و کمتر به تجربههای خود بازماندگان پرداختهاند. هدف این مطالعه، فهم فرایند تابآوری در افراد مبتلا به اسکیزوفرنی پس از فقدان والدین است. این پژوهش با رویکرد کیفی و طرح مطالعه موردی انجام شد و شامل یک مطلع اصلی (AW) و یک مطلع ثانویه (PP) به عنوان فرد مهم دیگر بود. دادهها از طریق مصاحبههای نیمهساختاریافته عمیق بر اساس جنبههای تابآوری از دیدگاه Reivich و Shatté (2002) گردآوری و با تحلیل تماتیک و استفاده از مثلثسازی منابع تحلیل شدند. یافتهها شش شکل از تابآوری را در AW نشان میدهد: انحراف فعال از پریشانی عاطفی، خودآگاهی و پایبندی به مصرف دارو، پیگیری اهداف عینی زندگی، ارائه حمایت متقابل به سایر بازماندگان، گشودگی نسبت به روابط و تجربههای جدید، و معنابخشی به فقدان. این یافتهها نشان میدهد که تابآوری از طریق یک فرایند سازگارانه مستمر شامل خودآگاهی، حمایت اجتماعی و معنابخشی شکل میگیرد.
Insomnia is a prevalent sleep disorder with growing evidence implicating immune and inflammatory processes. Elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation, is frequently observed in individuals with poor sleep, yet the genetic basis of this relationship remains unclear. This study aims to characterize the shared genetic architecture between insomnia and CRP using large-scale genomic data. CRP levels were significantly elevated in 130 611 individuals with insomnia compared with 327 375 controls in the UK Biobank. Genome-wide genetic correlation, pleiotropic analysis, colocalization, Mendelian randomization (MR), and functional annotation were used to characterize shared genetic architecture and biological pathways. Insomnia and CRP showed a significant positive genetic correlation. We identified 125 pleiotropic loci jointly associated with insomnia and CRP. Functional annotation implicated chromatin organization and nucleosome assembly, while pathway analyses highlighted immune signaling, cellular senescence, and programmed cell death. Colocalization analysis provided support for shared causal variants at six loci in or near APOE, HLA-B, NLGN1, AK5/DNAJB4, FAM114A2/GRIA1, and SATB1. Bidirectional MR provided stronger evidence for a directional relationship from insomnia liability to elevated CRP than in the reverse direction. This study uncovers shared genetic mechanisms linking insomnia and systemic inflammation. The directional genetic relationship from insomnia liability to elevated CRP suggests that sleep dysfunction may contribute to inflammatory processes.
بیخوابی یکی از اختلالات شایع خواب است که شواهد فزایندهای نقش فرایندهای ایمنی و التهابی را در آن نشان میدهد. سطوح بالای پروتئین واکنشی C (CRP) که نشانگر التهاب سیستمیک است، اغلب در افراد دارای خواب ضعیف مشاهده میشود، اما مبنای ژنتیکی این رابطه همچنان نامشخص باقی مانده است. هدف این مطالعه، توصیف معماری ژنتیکی مشترک بین بیخوابی و CRP با استفاده از دادههای ژنومی در مقیاس بزرگ است. سطوح CRP در ۱۳۰٬۶۱۱ فرد مبتلا به بیخوابی نسبت به ۳۲۷٬۳۷۵ فرد کنترل در بانک زیستی بریتانیا به طور معناداری بالاتر بود. برای توصیف معماری ژنتیکی مشترک و مسیرهای زیستی، از همبستگی ژنتیکی در سراسر ژنوم، تحلیل پلئوتروپیک، هممکانی، رندومسازی مندلی (MR) و حاشیهنویسی عملکردی استفاده شد. بیخوابی و CRP همبستگی ژنتیکی مثبت و معناداری نشان دادند. ما ۱۲۵ جایگاه پلئوتروپیک شناسایی کردیم که به طور مشترک با بیخوابی و CRP مرتبط بودند. حاشیهنویسی عملکردی به سازماندهی کروماتین و مونتاژ نوکلئوزوم اشاره داشت، در حالی که تحلیل مسیرها بر سیگنالینگ ایمنی، پیری سلولی و مرگ برنامهریزیشده سلول تأکید کرد. تحلیل هممکانی از وجود واریانتهای علّی مشترک در شش جایگاه در یا نزدیک APOE، HLA-B، NLGN1، AK5/DNAJB4، FAM114A2/GRIA1 و SATB1 حمایت کرد. رندومسازی مندلی دوسویه شواهد قویتری برای رابطه جهتدار از استعداد بیخوابی به افزایش CRP نسبت به جهت معکوس ارائه داد. این مطالعه سازوکارهای ژنتیکی مشترک مرتبطکننده بیخوابی و التهاب سیستمیک را آشکار میکند. رابطه ژنتیکی جهتدار از استعداد بیخوابی به افزایش CRP نشان میدهد که اختلال خواب ممکن است به فرایندهای التهابی کمک کند.
BACKGROUND: Presenteeism is an occupational health challenge. Although adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to adult health, evidence on comprehensive ACE exposure and presenteeism remains limited. METHODS: We analyzed data from working adults in the 2022 Japan COVID-19 and Society Internet Survey (JACSIS). ACEs were assessed using an expanded Japanese ACE questionnaire and categorized as 0, 1, 2, 3, and ≥4 ACEs. Presenteeism was measured using the Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun), and high presenteeism was defined as WFun ≥21. Using logistic regression, we examined the association between ACE counts (0, 1, 2, 3, and ≥4) and high presenteeism. We further evaluated the cumulative effect of increasing ACE counts. Models were adjusted for age, sex, educational attainment, marital status, weekly working hours, and job stress. Stratified analyses were conducted by current mental disorder status. RESULTS: Among 19,409 workers included in the analytic sample, those with any ACE exposure had higher odds of high presenteeism than those reporting no ACEs, and the association displayed a dose-response pattern with increasing ACE counts. This graded relationship was also observed in stratified analyses, irrespective of the presence or absence of a current mental disorder. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that expanded childhood adversity is relevant to presenteeism among working adults, regardless of current mental disorder status. These findings reveal the value of a life-course perspective in occupational health and point to the need for future research to clarify the mechanisms linking ACE exposure to presenteeism and to examine trauma-informed approaches for reducing presenteeism.
زمینه: پرزنتیسم یکی از چالشهای سلامت شغلی است. اگرچه تجربیات نامطلوب دوران کودکی (ACEs) با سلامت بزرگسالی مرتبط دانسته شدهاند، اما شواهد مربوط به مواجهه جامع با ACE و پرزنتیسم همچنان محدود است. روشها: دادههای بزرگسالان شاغل از پیمایش اینترنتی کووید-۱۹ و جامعه ژاپن در سال ۲۰۲۲ (JACSIS) تحلیل شد. ACEها با استفاده از پرسشنامه ژاپنی گسترده ACE ارزیابی و به صورت ۰، ۱، ۲، ۳ و ≥۴ دستهبندی شدند. پرزنتیسم با استفاده از مقیاس اختلال عملکرد کاری (WFun) سنجیده شد و پرزنتیسم بالا به صورت WFun ≥21 تعریف گردید. با استفاده از رگرسیون لجستیک، ارتباط بین تعداد ACE (۰، ۱، ۲، ۳ و ≥۴) و پرزنتیسم بالا بررسی شد. همچنین اثر تجمعی افزایش تعداد ACEها ارزیابی گردید. مدلها برای سن، جنس، میزان تحصیلات، وضعیت تأهل، ساعات کاری هفتگی و استرس شغلی تعدیل شدند. تحلیلهای لایهای بر اساس وضعیت فعلی اختلال روانی انجام شد. نتایج: در میان ۱۹٬۴۰۹ کارگر وارد شده به نمونه تحلیلی، افرادی که هرگونه مواجهه با ACE داشتند، نسبت به افرادی که هیچ ACE گزارش نکرده بودند، شانس بیشتری برای پرزنتیسم بالا داشتند و این ارتباط با افزایش تعداد ACEها الگوی دوز-پاسخ نشان داد. این رابطه تدریجی در تحلیلهای لایهای نیز صرفنظر از وجود یا عدم وجود اختلال روانی فعلی مشاهده شد. نتیجهگیری: این مطالعه نشان میدهد که ناملایمات گسترده دوران کودکی با پرزنتیسم در میان بزرگسالان شاغل مرتبط است، صرفنظر از وضعیت فعلی اختلال روانی. این یافتهها اهمیت دیدگاه سیر زندگی در سلامت شغلی را نشان داده و بر لزوم پژوهشهای آینده برای روشن شدن سازوکارهای ارتباط مواجهه با ACE و پرزنتیسم و بررسی رویکردهای مبتنی بر تروما برای کاهش پرزنتیسم تأکید میکند.