Psychiatric emergencies during, after, and before the COVID-19 lockdown: what happened to our patients? A naturalistic observational study.

Background: Despite concerns on mental health problems related to lockdowns, recent reports revealed a reduction in psychiatric admissions in Emergency Departments (ED) during the lockdown period compared with the previous year in several countries. Most of the existing studies focused on the first lockdown not considering the different phases of the COVID-19 crisis. The present study aimed to analyze differences in ED admission for psychiatric consultation during three different phases of the COVID-19 health crisis in Italy.

Competence to consent to sexual activity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenic spectrum disorders.

Little is known about the ability of persons with severe mental disorders to give consent to sexual activity. A possible reason for this shortcoming is the absence of specific criteria and tools to measure sexual consent in psychiatric clinical settings. We developed a clinician oriented semi-structured interview, the Sexual Consent Assessment Scale (SCAS), and investigated sexual consent capacity in a sample of hospitalized patients with bipolar disorder (n = 54, M (age) = 38.

Autistic spectrum disorders and schizophrenia in the adult psychiatric setting: diagnosis and comorbidity.

Background: The relationship between Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and schizophrenia is currently unclear. We aimed to (a) assess psychotic symptoms in a consecutive series of adult patients with ASDs, (b) evaluate the comorbidity diagnosed to account for the concurrent psychotic symptoms in patients with ASDs, and (c) compare the clinical features between the patients with schizophrenia and patients with comorbid schizophrenia and ASDs.

Subjects And Methods: We included patients with ASD that were seen in adult psychiatric clinical settings during a 15-year period.

Comorbidity of Asperger's syndrome and Bipolar disorder.

Background And Objective: Asperger's Syndrome (AS) is a pervasive developmental disorder that is sometimes unrecognized, especially in the adult psychiatric setting. On the other hand, in patients with an AS diagnosis, comorbid psychiatric disorders may be unrecognized in the juvenile setting. The aim of the paper is to show and discuss some troublesome and complex problems of the management of patients with AS and comorbid Bipolar Disorder (BD).

Treatment of psychotic disorders with aripiprazole in the emergency psychiatric setting.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of aripiprazole in the treatment of patients with psychotic symptoms in the emergency psychiatric setting.

Subjects And Methods: We considered all patients admitted to a psychiatric intensive care unit of a general hospital in a two year-period, treated with at least one dose of aripiprazole. We measured 1) the rate of cases starting aripiprazole who did not change antipsychotic in the course of hospitalization; 2) the rate of cases who were concurrently treated with another antipsychotic; 3) the CGI Improvement score.

Post-traumatic stress disorder among people exposed to the Ventotene street disaster in Rome.

Objective: To test five hypotheses on Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): 1) Is PTSD the most prevalent disorder after trauma? 2) Is the proximity to the disaster related to the risk of PTSD? 3) Is PTSD associated with child mourning or separation, previous stress, or familiarity for psychiatric disorders? 4) Does the exposition to trauma increase substance abuse or somatization? 5) Can episodic trauma cause long-lasting psychiatric morbidity?

Methods: Clinical assessment of subjects exposed to an explosion in a building caused by a gas-leak. Best estimate clinical diagnoses were made according to DSM-IV-TR criteria. The Zung Depression Rating Scale, the Zung Anxiety Rating Scale, and the Clinician Administered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Scale were used in the clinical assessment.

Thought disorder in Asperger syndrome and schizophrenia: issues in the differential diagnosis. A series of case reports.

The relationship between Asperger syndrome (AS) and schizophrenia is still unclear. An unanswered question is, do hallucinations or delusions per se justify a diagnosis of schizophrenia when these symptoms appear in subjects with AS? The aims of the present study were: (1) to review the characteristics of thought disorder in AS and schizophrenia; (2) to describe the clinical features of six adult patients with AS who presented psychotic symptoms without mood symptoms; (3) to observe their clinical course and response to therapy in order to speculate possible relations between AS and schizophrenia. In the presence of its specific symptoms, it seems inappropriate to omit the diagnosis of AS because the DSM-IV-TR criteria for schizophrenia are also met, whether delusions and hallucinations appear early or late in the course of the disease.

Characteristics of HCV positive patients in an Italian urban psychiatric unit.

Objectives: 1) to assess the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in a population of acute psychiatric in-patients; 2) to find out relationships between HCV comorbidity and clinical features of psychiatric patients.

Methods: Prospective observational study in a 6-year period.

Results: 2396 cases (1492 patients) were admitted in the considered period.

Hypericum-induced mood disorder: switch from depression to mixed episodes in two patients.

Objective. To point out the danger of worsening mood disorders with the use of hypericum. Methods.

Hostility and violence of acute psychiatric inpatients.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to find out the extent of hostility and violence and the factors that are associated with such hostility and violence in a psychiatric intensive care unit.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of data prospectively collected in a 6-year period.

Results: No hostility was observed in 56.

Clinical management of obsessive-compulsive-bipolar comorbidity: a case series.

Objective: To assess the clinical characteristics and the optimal treatment of obsessive compulsive symptoms in patients with familial background, current or past symptoms consistent with a bipolar spectrum diagnosis.

Methods: Longitudinal clinical observation of seven cases with obsessive-compulsive-bipolar comorbidity.

Results: In the cases presented that met the DSM-IV-TR criteria for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), the concurrent symptoms and the clinical course pointed to a different principal diagnosis and suggested therapeutic strategies different from those currently recommended in OCD.

Oxcarbazepine vs. valproate in the treatment of mood and schizoaffective disorders.

To compare the efficacy of oxcarbazepine (OXC) and valproate (VPA) in the treatment of mood and schizoaffective disorders, we retrospectively analysed data regarding 27 in-patients with mood or schizoaffective diagnosis treated with OXC (and other psychoactive drugs except VPA) and 27 matched in-patients treated with VPA (and other psychoactive drugs except OXC), in a psychiatric intensive care unit of a general hospital. In the evaluation of the outcome, we considered the length of hospitalization, the changes in the scores of BPRS, SAPS, SANS, MMSE, CGI, GAF, UPDRS, BAS, and Morrison's scale. The assessment of global psychopathology and functioning, of positive and mood symptoms suggested similar efficacy of OXC and VPA.

Comparison of three antipsychotics in the emergency psychiatric setting.

In the present naturalistic study, the effectiveness and safety of quetiapine, risperidone and olanzapine were compared in the treatment of non selected acutely psychotic patients. It was observed that the rate of antipsychotic switch because of a lack of efficacy or side effects was higher in the quetiapine treated cases in comparison with the risperidone or olanzapine treated cases. The proportion of cases concomitantly treated with typical neuroleptics was significantly higher in the quetiapine group compared with the other two groups.

Sexual behavior and sexual problems among patients with severe chronic psychoses.

The aim of the present study was to investigate sexual behavior in population of psychiatric patients affected by schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder by means of an ad hoc questionnaire designed to explore the three phases of the sexual response: desire (or interest), arousal, and performance. The study assessed patients' attitude toward sexuality, several aspects of their sexual behavior, including patients' awareness of the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), contraceptive strategy preferred by patients, and sexual effects of psychotropic medication. Patients reported a high frequency of sexual dysfunction, in particular, hyposexuality.

Diabetes is not a risk factor for tardive dyskinesia: a retrospective observational study.

The aim of this observational study was to compare the prevalence of tardive dyskinesia (TD) in diabetic and non diabetic patients. We compared 34 diabetic patients with 34 non diabetic controls, matched by sex, age and time of admission, who had received a complete neuropsychiatric evaluation and who had been exposed to antidopaminergic treatment for at least 3 months. Among them, 8 of 24 diabetic (33.