Patient Satisfaction with Use of Telemedicine in University Clinic of Psychiatry: Skopje, North Macedonia During COVID-19 Pandemic.

There is increasing interest in the use of telemedicine as a means of health care delivery especially in circumstances of pandemics. This is partly because technological advances have made the equipment less expensive and simpler to use and partly because increasing health care costs and patient expectations have increased the need to find alternative modes of health care delivery. Telemedicine and telepsychiatry, in particular, are rapidly becoming important delivery approaches to providing clinical care and information to patients in cases wherein the medical resources and the patients are very hard to be brought together with respect to rules of behavior in case of epidemics.

Mental Health Legislation and Involuntary Hospitalization in the Republic of Macedonia.

As psychiatrists, we are often obliged to provide non-consensual treatment. This institute comprises the rights of the patients with mental health disorders. The aim of this paper is to explain the contemporary mental health legislation in our country the Republic of Macedonia and the problems with the implementation of involuntary hospitalisation.

Association between Serum Cortisol and DHEA-S Levels and Response to Antipsychotic Treatment in Schizophrenia.

Background: Previous studies suggested that alterations in serum cortisol and DHEA-S levels may play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

Aim: To compare serum cortisol and DHEA-S levels between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls and to evaluate their association with the response to antipsychotic treatment.

Material And Methods: In this clinical prospective study were included 60 patients with schizophrenia and 40 healthy age and sex matched control subjects.

Different serum BDNF levels in depression: results from BDNF studies in FYR Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Background: A growing body of evidence shows that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a role in depressive disorder. Serum BDNF levels are lower in depressed patients and they increase after a long course of antidepressant treatment. Our study aims to test the effect of antidepressant treatment on serum BDNF levels in patients with a depressive episode, after they have achieved remission in two studies in Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Forms of antipsychotic therapy: improved individual outcomes under personalised treatment of schizophrenia focused on depression.

Depressive symptoms are common in schizophrenia and they can occur during any phase of the disorder. Early diagnosis, adequate differential diagnosis and promptly initiated interventions have been shown to reduce further deterioration of illness and to improve patients' quality of life. Common psychiatric rating scales for early detection of depressive symptoms in schizophrenia are Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, but the most appropriate assessment instrument today regarding this topic is Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia.