Cognitive behavioural therapy added to standard care for first-episode and recent-onset psychosis.

Background: Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be effective in the general population of people with schizophrenia. It is still unclear whether CBT can be effectively used in the population of people with a first-episode or recent-onset psychosis.

Objectives: To assess the effects of adding cognitive behavioural therapy to standard care for people with a first-episode or recent-onset psychosis.

The role of key workers in improving physical health in first episode psychosis: A scoping review.

Aim: Studies have demonstrated that a majority of the decline in health status and functioning emerges during the first few years following the onset of psychosis. This knowledge led to the development of specialized early intervention services (EIS) targeting patients experiencing their first episode of psychosis (FEP). The central component of EIS is often assertive case management delivered by a multidisciplinary team, where an appointed key worker is responsible for coordinating treatment and delivering various psychosocial interventions to service users.

Key Worker-Mediated Enhancement of Physical Health in First Episode Psychosis: Protocol For a Feasibility Study in Primary Care.

Background: Studies have demonstrated that, for patients with psychosis, a majority of the decline in health status and functioning emerges during the first few years after the onset of illness. This knowledge led to the development of specialized early intervention services (EISs) targeting patients experiencing their first episode of psychosis. The central component of EISs is often assertive case management delivered by a multidisciplinary team, where an appointed key worker is responsible for coordinating treatment and delivering various psychosocial interventions to service users.

Two-year outcome of vagus nerve stimulation in treatment-resistant depression.

One of the major goals of antidepressant treatment is a sustained response and remission of depressive symptoms. Some of the previous studies of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) have suggested antidepressant effects. Our naturalistic study assessed the efficacy and the safety of VNS in 74 European patients with therapy-resistant major depressive disorder.

Implication of rates of referral to a specialised inpatient neuropsychiatry team.

Objectives: This study examined and compared the number and pattern of referrals from neurosurgery and neurology specialist services to the inpatient liaison neuropsychiatry service in the years 2002 and 2005. We estimated the prevalence of psychiatric illness and evaluated the results of subsequent psychiatric assessment and follow-up of all patients reviewed by the neuropsychiatry service.

Methods: The medical notes of those patients referred to the neuropsychiatry team were retrospectively examined to obtain appropriate information on assessment and management of these cases.

Effect of aspirin on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function and on neuropsychological performance in healthy adults: a pilot study.

Rationale: Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation predicts poor clinical and biochemical response to antidepressants. Antiglucocorticoids have therapeutic benefits but most have a troublesome adverse event profile. Aspects of neuropsychological performance, notably working memory, are susceptible to corticosteroid modulation and are impaired in depression.

Maximizing treatment outcomes in the depressed patient.

Depression is a serious illness associated with morbidity and mortality, but it is treatable. However, outcomes are often far from ideal with patients left with residual symptoms of depression. These are associated with poor social functioning and an increased risk of relapse.

Vagus nerve stimulation in chronic treatment-resistant depression: preliminary findings of an open-label study.

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of vagus nerve stimulation therapy in the treatment of 11 patients with chronic treatment-resistant depression. Mood was evaluated at frequent intervals over the year following implantation. All measures of depression, including the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression reduced significantly.

The effects of vagus nerve stimulation on pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in humans: a preliminary report.

Objective: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a novel therapy in resistant epilepsy, and is undergoing clinical trials in resistant depression. The mechanism of action of VNS is assumed to be due to modulation of deep brain structures via its afferent connections. As the vagus nerve has potentially important immunological actions that may have relevance to its therapeutic effects, we hypothesised that an additional mechanism may occur via vagally mediated actions on cytokine synthesis.

Changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis measures after vagus nerve stimulation therapy in chronic depression.

Background: Little is known about the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis stress system in chronic depression. This study examined the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) challenge test in a group of patients with chronic depression, before and after 3 months of treatment with vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy, and a matched group of healthy control subjects.

Methods: Key inclusion criteria were DSM-IV-defined major depressive disorder, a history of a current episode lasting for at least 2 years, and unresponsiveness to at least two classes of antidepressant medications.

Long-stay forensic psychiatric inpatients in the Republic of Ireland: aggregated needs assessment.

Objectives: To profile the current cohort of forensic psychiatric inpatients in the Republic of Ireland, comparing psychiatric healthcare and placement needs of long-stay patients with those more recently admitted.

Method: All forensic psychiatric inpatients in the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum on a census date were included in the study. Patients and key worker were interviewed using a standardised schedule and validated research instruments.