[Staging of unipolar affective illness].

In this article, a concept of staging of unipolar affective illness (recurrent depression) is presented. In respective subchapters, three most important aspects of this issue have been discussed: 1) staging of unipolar affective illness; 2) staging of treatment-resistant depression; and 3) conversion of unipolar into bipolar affective illness. The evidence for so called neuroprogression of the illness, accumulated in recent years, has allowed for a classification of staging based on a concept of allostasis and allostatic load.

[Burning mouth syndrome: pathogenic and therapeutic concepts].

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic pain condition characterized by pain, burning sensations and dryness within an oral mucosa, without any clinical changes of the latter. It occurs approximately seven times more frequently in women, mostly in perimenopausal age. The psychiatric aspect of BMS is significant: the most frequent co-morbidities are depression and anxiety disorders, and a number of psychotropic drugs play an essential role in its treatment.

Neurobiology and temperament in the offspring of excellent lithium responders.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess neurobiological and temperamental correlates in offspring of lithium-treated patients, related to parental lithium response.

Methods: The study comprised 27 female and 23 male subjects, aged 17-54 years, the offspring of 36 bipolar patients receiving lithium for 5-38 years. Thirteen subjects were offspring of excellent lithium responders (ELR), 25 of partial lithium responders and 12 of lithium non-responders.

[Staging of bipolar affective illness].

The concept of staging as a description of clinical advancement of illness is prevalent and commonly used in medicine. Regarding bipolar mood disorder (BD) a staging model assumes a progression from prodromal (at-risk) to more severe and treatment-refractory conditions. Four different staging models of BD have been proposed.