Relapse prevention in recurrent major depressive disorder. A comparison of different treatment options based on clinical experience and a critical review of the literature.

Background: Reducing the risk of relapses is a critical component of major depressive disorders treatment. Guidelines suggest maintenance with antidepressant drugs in recurrent depression, but this solution has recently been questioned.

Objective: The aim of this article is to provide a critical review of the literature of the main treatment options currently available to prevent relapse and recurrence in depression.

An innovative approach for the assessment of mood disturbances in patients with eating disorders.

Objective: Assessment of mood in eating disorders (EDs) has important clinical implications, but the current standard psychiatric classification (DSM-5) has limitations. The aim of the current study is to broaden the evaluation of depressive symptomatology by providing a comprehensive and innovative assessment approach in EDs through instruments that capture clinical phenomena of demoralization, subclinical distress, and psychological well-being.

Methods: Seventy-nine patients who met diagnostic criteria for EDs of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fifth edition (DSM-5) were evaluated for depressive symptoms through Paykel's Clinical Interview for Depression, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 for major depressive episode and persistent depressive disorder, and the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) interview for demoralization.

The Diagnostic clinical Interview for Drug Withdrawal 1 (DID-W1) – New Symptoms of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) or Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRI): inter-rater reliability.

Aim: A wide range of clinical phenomena have been reported with dose reduction or drug discontinuation of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) or Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs). In 2015, a new classification of SRIs/SNRIs withdrawal (i.e.

Efficacy and tolerability of benzodiazepines versus antidepressants in anxiety disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Placebo-controlled trials showed that both benzodiazepines (BDZ) and antidepressant drugs (AD) are effective in treating anxiety disorders. However, in the last years a progressive shift in the prescribing pattern from BDZ to newer AD has taken place. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to analyze whether controlled comparisons support such a shift.

Alexithymia in the medically ill. Analysis of 1190 patients in gastroenterology, cardiology, oncology and dermatology.

Objective: To use the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) for characterizing alexithymia in a large and heterogeneous medical population, in conjunction with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) and other DCPR criteria.

Method: Of 1305 patients recruited from 4 medical centers in the Italian Health System, 1190 agreed to participate. They all underwent an assessment with DSM-IV and DCPR structured interviews.

Prevalence of hyperandrogenic states in late adolescent and young women: epidemiological survey on italian high-school students.

Context: Most of the estimates of the prevalence of hyperandrogenic states refer to the general adult population.

Objective: The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of hyperandrogenic states in late adolescence and youth and to evaluate potential independent predictors.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study.

[Promoting psychosocial well-being in adolescence. A controlled study].

Introduction: In the recent years a large body of literature has focused its attention to the study of the positive aspects of adolescence, in particular quality of life, happiness and social functioning. The school is an ideal setting for promoting learning abilities, educational processes and also optimal human and social development.

Aim: A new school program for the promotion of psychological well-being has been tested and compared to an attention-placebo intervention in a high school setting.

Anniversary reactions in medical patients.

The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence and characteristics of anniversary reactions (somatic symptoms occurring at the anniversary of specific events) in a large sample of 1498 medical patients from different medical settings who underwent the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) and the Structured Interview for Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR), which provide definition of anniversary reactions. In 54 (3.6%) of the 1498 patients for whom anniversary reaction was identified, 61.

[Italian validation of Multiple Visual Analogue Scales for Bipolarity (MVAS-BP) of Ahearn and Carroll].

Aim: The aim of the present study was to validate the Italian version and to assess the clinimetric properties of Ahearn and Carroll's Visual Analogue Scales for Bipolarity (MVAS-BP), a self-rating questionnaire measuring affective state.

Method: MVAS-BP consist of 26 items: 1 item assesses overall mood, 2 items anger and 23 items are based on the Carroll model of bipolar disorder (Consummatory Reward, Incentive Reward, Central Pain, Psychomotor Regulation). MVAS-BP have been translated into Italian and administered with Kellner's Symptom Questionnaire (SQ), Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scales (PWB), and Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) to a normative sample of 450 people.

The spectrum of adjustment disorders: too broad to be clinically helpful.

The clinical value of the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders diagnosis of adjustment disorder is controversial. The aim of this article is to review the literature on adjustment disorder and to present suggestions for the improvement of this diagnostic category in future classification systems. The literature utilized for this review was retrieved by MEDLINE (1967 until May 2009) and was supplemented by a manual search of the literature.

Psychosomatic medicine is a comprehensive field, not a synonym for consultation liaison psychiatry.

There is controversy surrounding the term psychosomatic. If it is used as an equivalent of consultation liaison psychiatry, there is little justification for retaining it. Psychosomatic medicine, however, may be defined as a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework for the assessment of psychosocial factors affecting individual vulnerability, course, and outcome of any type of disease; holistic consideration of patient care in clinical practice; and integration of psychological therapies in the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of medical disease.

Residual symptoms in depression: an emerging therapeutic target.

Residual symptoms, despite successful response to therapy, appear to be the rule in unipolar depression. Most of the residual symptoms occur in the prodromal phase of illness. Residual symptoms are associated with biological correlates, mainly involving the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sleep architecture.

[Long-term treatment of depression: there is more than drugs].

Recent studies have emphasized the chronic nature of depressive disorder, and the need for endorsing the same treatment protocols used for other chronic disease, such as diabetes. But duration of treatment does not seem to affect long-term prognosis of patients with depression, once the drug is stopped. Despite treating depression effectively in the short-term, antidepressant drugs may worsen its course.