Publications by authors named "Andrei Novac"

Objective: This study seeks to evaluate the weight gain effect within a community-based population of patients with diagnoses of depression, mood disorder, and schizophrenia receiving aripiprazole over a period of at least 6 months.

Method: The four million members of Kaiser Permanente of Southern California (KPSC) were queried for a four-year period between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2013. The initial cohort comprised 25,682 KPSC members who received at least one dispense of aripiprazole.

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Objective: To determine if the use of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in patients with a history of 2 or more episodes of major depressive disorder and other mood disorders will decrease the need for medication management and other interventions and will also decrease the need for outpatient services and the overall cost of treatment.

Methods: The study patients completed MBCT group sessions between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013. Patients who had 2 or more episodes of major depressive disorder (recurrent MDD) were categorized into a group.

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Sensorineural hearing loss is an infrequently recognized side effect of pain medication abuse. Chronic pain patients treated with opiates develop different degrees of tolerance to pain medications. In many cases, the tolerance becomes the gateway to a variety of cycles of overuse and unmasking of significant psychiatric morbidity and mortality.

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How does the human brain absorb information and turn it into skills of its own in psychotherapy? In an attempt to answer this question, the authors will review the intricacies of processing channels in psychotherapy and propose the term transprocessing (as in transduction and processing combined) for the underlying mechanisms. Through transprocessing the brain processes multimodal memories and creates reparative solutions in the course of psychotherapy. Transprocessing is proposed as a stage-sequenced mechanism of deconstruction of engrained patterns of response.

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Over the past few decades, a sizable body of literature on the effects of rumors and gossip has emerged. Addressing rumors in the workplace is an important subject, as rumors have a direct impact on the quality of the work environment and also on the productivity and creativity of the employees. To date, little has been written on the effect of rumors and gossip in psychiatric hospitals.

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Diagnosis and treatment of catatonia in the psychiatry consultation service is not infrequent. Usually, the patient either presents to the Emergency Department or develops catatonia on the medical floor. This condition manifests with significant behavioral changes (from mildly decreased speech output to complete mutism) that interfere with the ability to communicate.

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This article proposes transprocessing (as in "transduction" and "processing") as a term to denote mechanisms by which the brain processes information in psychotherapy and develops solutions that have a lasting, curative effect. The case of a woman with a history of posttraumatic conversions, who recovered after long-term psychotherapy, is presented as the basis for a discussion on psychotherapeutic changes of the brain. Psychological healing and change, in general, is seen here as a result of a large variety of neurobiologic processes that reframe complex or multimodal memories.

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Valproic acid (VPA) is an antiepileptic medication used in the treatment of bipolar disorder. Its toxicity profile is characterized by a very rare but well-documented complication-hepatotoxicity. The risk of acute hypersensitivity syndrome (AHS) caused by VPA is less well known.

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The diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder has been criticized on numerous grounds, but principally for three reasons (a) the alleged pathologizing of normal events, (b) the inadequacy of Criterion A, and (c) symptom overlap with other disorders. The authors review these problems along with arguments why the diagnosis is nevertheless worth retaining in an amended form. A proposal for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) is put forward that involves abolishing Criterion A, narrowing the B criteria to focus on the core phenomena of flashbacks and nightmares, and narrowing the C and D criteria to reduce overlap with other disorders.

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