COVID-19 and psychiatric disorders among young people: a cross-sectional study.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant rise in mental health issues was observed. Particularly, children and adolescents have shown a higher risk of developing mental disorders than adults. This study aimed to describe the evolving features of the requests for psychiatric emergency interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic in young people.

Number of episodes and duration of illness associated with hypertension and 10-year cardiovascular risk in patients with bipolar disorder type I.

Severe Mental Illnesses, including bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SCZ), are burdened with an increased mortality and a significantly reduced life expectancy than general population, and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are considered the most contributing conditions. The aim of the present study is to evaluate 10-year CV risk and the associated clinical characteristics in patients with SCZ, BD type I and II. Patients were consecutively recruited from two Italian psychiatric acute units.

The impact of COVID-19 on the psychiatric emergency departments of two Italian hospitals in Milan.

During the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 contagion in Italy, mental health care services continuity has been granted to the general population. Emergent and urgent conditions, however, are managed in collaboration with Emergency Departments (EDs). This collaboration may have suffered from the overload of the EDs due to the high number of SARS-CoV-2 positive patients.

Emergency Psychiatric Consultations During and After the COVID-19 Lockdown in Italy. A Multicentre Study.

The aim was to analyse the psychiatric consultations in nine Italian hospital emergency departments, by comparing the lockdown and post-lockdown periods of 2020 with the equivalent periods of 2019. Characteristics of psychiatric consultations, patients, and drug prescriptions were analyzed. Joinpoint models were used to identify changes in the weekly trend of consultations.

Cardiovascular risk in patients with severe mental illness in Italy.

Background: Patients with severe mental illness (SMI), such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorders, are more frequently affected by metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular (CV) diseases than the general population, with a significant reduction in life expectancy. Beyond metabolic syndrome, quantifying the risk of CV morbidity in the long-term may help clinicians to put in place preventive strategies. In this study, we assessed 10-year CV risk in patients with SMI and healthy individuals using an algorithm validated on the Italian general population.

Brain metabolism in substance-induced psychosis and schizophrenia: a preliminary PET study.

Introduction: The relation between schizophrenia and cannabis abuse has been widely discussed from etiopathogenetic, psychopathological and neurometabolic points of view. Relatively little has been written about the differences between schizophrenia with co-occurrent cannabis abuse and substance-induced psychotic disorder (SIPD). Given these premises, our study aims to investigate the psychopathological and neurometabolic features of these clinical entities.

A case of severe psychosis induced by novel recreational drugs.

Introduction:  The use of novel recreational drugs is becoming of public interest, especially after recent international alerts about their cardiovascular and neurological toxicity. Additionally, little is known about the psychiatric consequences of the long-term use of these compounds.

Case Presentation: We describe a case of severe psychotic episode likely induced by chronic use of a combination of new recreational drugs (methylenedioxypyrovalerone, mephedrone, butylone and alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone).

White matter metabolism differentiates schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: a preliminary PET study.

Fluorodeoxyglucose-F18 positron emission tomography studies (FDG-PET) have shown similar corticolimbic metabolic dysregulation in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, with hypoactive prefrontal cortex coupled with hyperactive anterior limbic areas. However, it is not clear whether white matter metabolism connecting these regions is differently affected in the two disorders. Twenty-six patients with schizophrenia (mean age ± S.

Substance-induced psychoses: a critical review of the literature.

Substances with psychotomimetic properties such as cocaine, amphetamines, hallucinogens and cannabis are widespread, and their use or abuse can provoke psychotic reactions resembling a primary psychotic disease. The recent escalating use of methamphetamine throughout the world and its association with psychotic symptoms in regular users has fuelled concerns. The use of cannabis and cocaine by young people has considerably increased over recent years, and age at first use has dramatically decreased.

Hallucinatory disorder, an original clinical picture? Clinical and imaging data.

Objective: The aim of this study was to verify the existence of areas of clinical and neurofunctional homogeneity in a group of patients with auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) as an isolated symptom, attributable to what we have called "Hallucinatory Disorder" (HD) in an attempt to propose a clinical picture that is distinct from Schizophrenia.

Method: Nine patients clinically characterised by chronic AVHs were compared with nine schizophrenic patients using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R, BPRS, PANSS, SAPS, SANS, HRS-A, HRS-D, CDSS, MMSE, CGI and PSYRATS. Both groups of patients and nine healthy subjects underwent EEG and SPECT examinations.