Clinical guide for women with mental health problems during the perinatal period.

Pregnancy and childbirth have various effects on the physical as well as mental aspects of women. Therefore, appropriate considerations must be given to the mental health of pregnant women. The Guideline Review Committee of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology launched a liaison meeting for the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology and the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, with a view to creating a "Clinical guide for women with mental health problems during the perinatal period" by cooperation of these two fields.

[Higher Brain Dysfunction].

The technical term "higher brain dysfunction" is used widely in Japan. However, it is not always clear what "higher" means. The author thinks that the term "higher" is understood as being associated with a meaning.

[Mind and brain "Kasane-egaki (Oomori, S.)"].

A mind-brain problem might be explainable by the concept "Kasane-egaki (Oomori, 1994)". Kasane-egaki of the mind and brain is crucial and meaningful in medical treatment. For Kasane-egaki, it is important to note that the mind (psychiatric symptoms) must be translated into an expression which could be connected with the brain function, and vice versa As a case of Kasane-egaki, a patient with left frontal infarction showing mild obsessive-compulsive-like symptoms is introduced.

Symptoms overlooked in hospitalized cancer patients: Impact of concurrent symptoms on oversight [corrected] by nurses.

Objective: Physical and psychological symptoms in cancer patients are frequently overlooked by medical staff. However, little is known regarding the potential impacts of concurrent physical and psychological symptoms on the overlooking of other symptoms. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of concurrent symptoms on the overlooking of other symptoms in cancer inpatients.

Object relations in adolescence: a comparison of normal and inpatient adolescents.

Aims: We aimed to study the development of object relations in adolescents and their correlation with their mothers' defense styles in inpatient and normal adolescents.

Methods: We administered the Thematic Apperception Test to adolescents in the adolescent unit (junior high, n = 16; senior high, n = 22) and normal controls (junior high, n = 16; senior high, n = 16). Results were analyzed using the Complexity of Representations Scale (CRS).

Lower subjective quality of life and the development of social anxiety symptoms after the discharge of elderly patients with remitted schizophrenia: a 5-year longitudinal study.

Objectives: Remitted schizophrenic patients living in the community often encounter difficulties in their daily lives, possibly leading to the development of social anxiety symptoms. Although several studies have reported the significance of social anxiety as a comorbidity in patients with schizophrenia, few longitudinal data are available on the development of social anxiety symptoms in patients with remitted schizophrenia, especially in association with the process of "deinstitutionalization." The aims of this study were to assess the social anxiety symptoms in remitted outpatients with schizophrenia and to examine whether the development of social anxiety symptoms was associated with psychotic symptoms, social functioning, or subjective quality of life.

How successful are physicians in eliciting the truth from their patients? A large-scale Internet survey from patients' perspectives.

Objective: How honestly patients report their symptoms and medication adherence to their physicians has not been adequately addressed in patients with depression. We therefore conducted a large-scale Internet survey in an effort to discover how successful physicians are in eliciting the truth from their patients and also to examine reasons for patients' truth-concealing behaviors.

Method: 2,354 participants who had received treatment for depression within the past year and had been diagnosed with depression by Patient Health Questionaire were identified from 323,226 registrants at the Macromill database through screening procedures.

Aberrant sense of agency in patients with schizophrenia: forward and backward over-attribution of temporal causality during intentional action.

Self-disturbances in schizophrenia have been explained and studied from the standpoint of an abnormal sense of agency. We devised an agency-attribution task that evaluated explicit experiences of the temporal causal relations between an intentional action and an external event, without any confounding from sense of ownership of body movement. In each trial, a square piece appeared on the bottom of a computer screen and moved upward.

Is switching antidepressants following early nonresponse more beneficial in acute-phase treatment of depression?: a randomized open-label trial.

Rationale: Treatment guidelines for major depressive disorder (MDD) recommend a continuous use of antidepressants for several weeks, while recent meta-analyses indicate that antidepressant efficacy starts to appear within 2 weeks and early treatment nonresponse is a predictor of subsequent nonresponse.

Objectives: We prospectively compared 8-week outcomes between switching antidepressants and maintaining the same antidepressant in early nonresponders, to generate a hypothesis on possible benefits of early switching strategy.

Method: Patients with MDD without any treatment history for the current episode were included.

Lack of association between psychosis-like experiences and seeking help from professionals: a case-controlled study.

Backgrounds: It still remains unclear whether individuals who experience attenuated psychotic symptoms are likely to seek help, whereas depressive symptoms are more likely to be associated with help-seeking behavior than these symptoms themselves. The aims of our study were to compare the profile of these symptoms between clinical and community samples and to investigate to what extent help-seeking behavior depends on the severity of psychosis-like symptoms and/or depressive symptoms.

Methods: The clinical sample consisted of help-seeking outpatients aged 16-30 years who had approached a community mental health clinic (N=750, mean age: 23.

Plasma substance P level in patients with schizophrenia: a cross-sectional study.

Aspiration pneumonia is a serious health concern in older patients with schizophrenia. In this study, we examined clinical and demographic variables that could impact the plasma substance P level, which is a useful predictive biomarker of aspiration. Thirty-four patients were included (mean age ± SD: 70.

Successful aging in individuals with schizophrenia dwelling in the community: a study on attitudes toward aging and preparing behavior for old age.

Aim: 'Successful aging' in individuals with schizophrenia has been attracting attention. We examined two forward-looking factors of successful aging among schizophrenia patients: 'attitude toward aging' and 'preparing behavior for old age'.

Methods: Fifty-seven middle-aged and elderly schizophrenia patients with successful aging were identified using the Attitude toward Aging Scale, the Preparing Behavior for Old Age Scale, and assessments of their cognitive function, psychiatric symptoms, social functioning and quality of life.

Cost of depression among adults in Japan in 2005.

Aim: Major depression is expected to become the leading contributor to disease burden worldwide by 2020. Previous studies have shown that the societal cost of depression is not less than that of other major illnesses, such as cardiovascular diseases or AIDS. Nevertheless, the cost of depression in Japan has never been examined.

Subjective recognition of adverse events with antidepressant in people with depression: a prospective study.

Background: While it has been reported that physicians may under-recognize adverse effects of antidepressants thoroughly in clinical settings, subjective bias in recognition of adverse effects (AEs) with antidepressants has not been specifically investigated.

Methods: Four-hundred ninety-three participants with depressive disorders (ICD-10) were assessed for the severity of 20 common AEs and their inferred causal relationship with antidepressants, together with the Quick Inventory for Depressive Symptoms (QIDS). These assessments occurred twice at the 1st visit (when they were antidepressant free) and 2nd visit (10 days after the initiation of antidepressants).

Is antipsychotic polypharmacy associated with metabolic syndrome even after adjustment for lifestyle effects?: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Although the validity and safety of antipsychotic polypharmacy remains unclear, it is commonplace in the treatment of schizophrenia. This study aimed to investigate the degree that antipsychotic polypharmacy contributed to metabolic syndrome in outpatients with schizophrenia, after adjustment for the effects of lifestyle.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out between April 2007 and October 2007 at Yamanashi Prefectural KITA hospital in Japan.

Patient's trust in their psychiatrist: a cross-sectional survey.

Investigating and characterizing the degree and correlates of patient's trust in their treating psychiatrists across a range of psychiatric disorders is of a great clinical relevance to enhance our therapeutic alliance, which has not been addressed in the literature. In this study, outpatients who visited one of the participating psychiatric clinics in Tokyo, Japan between October and November, 2010 were asked to complete the Trust in Physician Scale (TPS), an 11-item self-report questionnaire. A univariate general linear model was used to examine the effects of the following variables on the TPS total score: age, sex, diagnosis, Global Assessment of Functioning score, educational background, physician's years of practice as a psychiatrist, duration of treatment with their current psychiatrists, sex concordance between patients and their psychiatrists, and whether patients were older than their psychiatrists.

How long to wait before reducing antipsychotic dosage in stabilized patients with schizophrenia? A retrospective chart review.

Objective: Antipsychotic dose reduction is generally recommended to occur after six months of clinical stabilization despite inadequate evidence. This timing issue was addressed in this study.

Methods: This is an observational, retrospective and medical chart-based study.

Factors associated with response to clozapine in schizophrenia: a review.

Background: Clozapine has been serving as the gold standard medication for patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia who failed to respond to other antipsychotics. However, factors affecting response to this medication have not been comprehensively reviewed recently.

Methods: In order to find factors associated with response to clozapine in schizophrenia, a literature search was conducted using PubMed through January 2011 with keywords of clozapine, response, and schizophrenia.

Clinical and demographic characteristics associated with postural instability in patients with schizophrenia.

As people with schizophrenia grow older, prevention of falls in this older population has become a public health priority. It is therefore critically important to identify risk factors to effectively prevent falls. For this purpose, the degree of postural sway can serve as a convenient index of risk assessment.

Constraint-induced movement therapy as a paradigm of translational research in neurorehabilitation: Reviews and prospects.

There is an increasing awareness about the importance of translation from basic scientific findings into practical application for efficiently improving human health, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. In the field of neurorehabilitation, however, the bench-to-bedside process continues to be developing, and thus most of the therapeutic interventions have encountered barriers during exploration of evidence-based effectiveness. Despite this immaturity, constraint-induced movement therapy (CIT), a well-evidenced treatment evolved from research in nonhuman primates, is suggested to be an ideal paradigm of translational research in the field of neurorehabilitation.