Comparison between Standard Expository Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-E) and Immersive Virtual Reality CBT (CBT-VR) for Rehabilitation of Patients Affected by Occupational Stress Disorders: Study Protocol.

Work-related stress presents a significant impact on work performance and physical health. It has been associated with the onset of a multitude of symptoms that can lead to occupational stress diseases, namely Adjustment Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The literature has evidenced that "exposure therapy" of cognitive-behavioral training (CBT-E) seems to be the most effective technique to manage stress symptoms, including work stress diseases, and several studies have considered Virtual Reality (VR) as an adjuvant tool to exposure-based psychotherapy (CBT-VR) for the treatment of multiple psychiatric disorders.

Affective temperament and mood spectrum symptoms in workers suffering from work-related stress disorders.

Introduction: Adjustment Disorders (AD) which develop in response to work-related stressors represent a model of psychiatric occupational disease. Major Depressive Episodes (MDE) although often associated to work-related stressors are unlikely recognized by insurance institutes as occupational diseases. Affective temperament and mood spectrum symptoms are possible factors of vulnerability to stress.

Evaluation of the Anti-Spike (RDB) IgG Titer among Workers Employed at the University of Pisa Vaccinated with Different Types of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines.

With the development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, many authors started evaluating the immunization efficacy of the available vaccines mainly through sero-positivity tests or by a quantitative assessment of the IgG against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 virus in vaccinated subjects. In this work, we compared the titers resulting from vaccination and tried to understand the potential factors affecting the immune response to the available SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. This study was conducted on 670 volunteers employed at the University of Pisa and undergoing a health surveillance program at the University Hospital of Pisa.

Do Autistic Traits Correlate with Post-Traumatic Stress and Mood Spectrum Symptoms among Workers Complaining of Occupational Stress?

The adult autism subthreshold spectrum model appears to be a useful tool for detecting possible vulnerability factors in order to develop mental disorders in the contest of work-related stress. The aim of the present study is to analyze the relationship between autism, mood, and post-traumatic spectrum in a cohort of subjects complaining of work-related stress before the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors carried out a retrospective investigation of both medical records and self-assessment tools of a sample of subjects evaluated at the Occupational Health Department of a University hospital in central Italy.

Heart rate variability, serum cortisol levels and temperament in a sample of workers exposed to occupational stress: a preliminary report.

Work-related stress is an emerging risk for psychiatric occupational disorders including Adjustment Disorders (AD). The aim of this study was to investigate in workers exposed to occupational stress suffering from AD about putative indices of stress and mental health resilience such as serum cortisol (seC) levels, Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and affective temperaments. We consecutively recruited 15 male and 15 female AD patients between workers evaluated for occupational stress at an Italian Occupational Medicine Unit.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome prevalence and work ability in a sample of healthcare workers exposed to occupational stress.

Objective: Occupational stress represents a significant precipitating factor in different diseases but its role in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) needs to be clarified. The present cross-sectional study aimed at investigating the prevalence of IBS diagnosis in a sample of health workers and exploring the potential relationships between IBS, work-related stress levels and work ability.

Methods: 653 health workers undergoing periodical occupational health surveillance at the Occupational and Preventive Medicine Unit of a major University Hospital in central Italy, were consecutively recruited and screened for IBS diagnosis, according to ROMA IV criteria.

Mental health of Health Care Workers (HCWs): a review of organizational interventions put in place by local institutions to cope with new psychosocial challenges resulting from COVID-19.

The COVID-19 outbreak has been associated with significant occupational stressors and challenges for healthcare workers (HCWs) including the risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Many reports from all over the world have already found that HCWs have significant levels of self-reported anxiety, depression and even symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Therefore, supporting mental health of HCWs is a crucial part of the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Unlabelled: «Mental disability management within occupational health surveillance».

Introduction:: The management of workers with mental disability is a current topic of great interest. The aim of the article is to report the experience of managing cases of employees with mental disabilities in an Italian university hospital and to describe the preventive measures adopted and the therapeutic programs carried out.

Plasma Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and serum cortisol levels in a sample of workers exposed to occupational stress and suffering from Adjustment Disorders.

Introduction: Decreased plasma BDNF (pBDNF) levels have been proposed as a biomarker in illness phases of mood disorders. Serum cortisol (seC) levels are an index of energy mobilization and stress. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate pBDNF and seC levels in workers exposed to occupational stress and suffering from Adjustment Disorders (AD) compared to healthy workers.

Sociodemographic, clinical and criminological characteristics of a sample of Italian Volterra REMS patients.

Background: In Italy the Law 9/2012 prescribed the total closure of forensic psychiatric hospitals (OPGs) and the conversion to a care model based on residential units in the community employing only clinical personnel (Residenze per l'Esecuzione delle Misure di Sicurezza - REMS) and fully integrated in public mental health services. The aim of this study is to report sociodemographic, clinical and criminological characteristics of patients admitted in Volterra REMS since it opened on 01/12/15 up to 31/12/17.

Methods: Sociodemographic and clinical information was collected from official documents (clinical files, ward reports) and from patients' personal health records.

Human Appeasing Pheromone (HAP) influence on behavior and psychopathological residual symptoms of patients with complex psychiatric disorders.

This article is a case-report series showing the effectiveness of a three-month exposure to a synthetic analogue of Human Appeasing Pheromone as add-on strategy to psychopharmacological treatment on behavioral and residual symptoms of three patients suffering from severe psychiatric disorders with complex clinical pictures.

Psychopathology of terrorists.

Terrorist behavior represents a subtype of human aggression probably determined by a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors, as well as by peculiar environmental influences and group dynamics. As regards terrorists' psychological characteristics, the available studies (mostly carried out with no sound scientific design) have failed to identify the common or typical pathological personality traits of modern terrorists. The popular opinion that terrorists must be insane or psychopathic is still widespread; however, no evidence exists that terrorist behavior may be caused either by prior or current psychiatric disorders or psychopathy.

Work-related stress disorders: variability in clinical expression and pitfalls in psychiatric diagnosis.

Background: Putative occupational stress-related psychiatric disorders are Adjustment Disorders (AD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Mood Disorders (MD) are not excluded but are unlikely to be identified as occupational diseases. The differential diagnosis between AD and MD is not easy and is based on strict categorical criteria.

Food addiction spectrum: a theoretical model from normality to eating and overeating disorders.

The authors comment on the recently proposed food addiction spectrum that represents a theoretical model to understand the continuum between several conditions ranging from normality to pathological states, including eating disorders and obesity, as well as why some individuals show a peculiar attachment to food that can become an addiction. Further, they review the possible neurobiological underpinnings of these conditions that include dopaminergic neurotransmission and circuits that have long been implicated in drug addiction. The aim of this article is also that at stimulating a debate regarding the possible model of a food (or eating) addiction spectrum that may be helpful towards the search of novel therapeutic approaches to different pathological states related to disturbed feeding or overeating.

Decreased plasma levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) during mixed episodes of bipolar disorder.

Background: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin involved in neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. Decreased blood levels of BDNF have been found during acute manic and depressive states. BDNF has been proposed as a biomarker in illness phases of mood disorders.

Plasma amyloid-β levels in drug-resistant bipolar depressed patients receiving electroconvulsive therapy.

Aims: Alterations of plasma amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides have been related to a high risk for cognitive impairment and dementia. The present study aimed to measure plasma Aβ peptides (Aβ40, Aβ42) and the Aβ40/Aβ42 ratio in a sample of drug-resistant bipolar depressed patients, as well as to explore the possible correlation between biological parameters and clinical changes along an electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) course.

Methods: Aβ40 and Aβ42 were measured by means of an ELISA assay in 25 drug-resistant bipolar depressed patients before (T0) and 1 week after (T1) the end of ECT.

Methodological approach to depressive symptoms in fibromyalgia patients.

Objectives: Depression is a common comorbid condition in fibromyalgia (FM) and a major contributor to poor quality of life and disability. However, depression can be difficult to assess in patients with FM due to overlapping symptoms between the two conditions. This review aims to present the most used rating scales for depression in FM patients by discussing their potential drawbacks.

Neurodegeneration, β-amyloid and mood disorders: state of the art and future perspectives.

Objective: Depression may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent studies have shown modifications in blood beta-amyloid (Aβ) levels in depressed patients. This literature review examines the potential relationship between Aβ-mediated neurotoxicity and pathophysiology of mood disorders.

Plasma β-amyloid peptides levels: a pilot study in bipolar depressed patients.

Background: Patients with mood disorders present a great risk for dementia and generally for cognitive decline. Low levels of β-amyloid peptide 1-42 (Aβ42) and high Aβ40/Aβ42 ratio have been associated with this risk and have been reported also in geriatric patients suffering from depression. The aim of the present study was to compare the plasma levels of Aβ40 and Aβ42 in patients with bipolar depression and healthy subjects, and to correlate them with the characteristics of clinical course.

Depressive symptoms in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the relationship between the presence and severity of depression and the degree of motor and functional disability in Parkinson's disease (PD).

Methods: One hundred twenty-two outpatients with PD were enrolled in a neurology department: 65 satisfied the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, Fourth Edition criteria for major depression, and 57 did not (PD-C). Depressive symptoms were assessed by means of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), and the PD severity was assessed according to the Hoehn and Yahr System.