SARS-CoV-2 Risk Management in Clinical Psychiatry: A Few Considerations on How to Deal With an Unrivaled Threat.

The pandemic spread of the corona virus SARS-CoV-2 has even-handedly shattered national and international health systems and economies almost in an instant. As numbers of infections and COVID-19-related deaths rise from day to day, fears and uncertainties on how to deal with this unknown threat are extremely present both for individuals and societies as a whole. In this manuscript, we aim to exemplarily describe the bullet points concerning (a) the internal risk management, (b) the organizational and structural changes, and (c) the communicational strategies applied in a Psychiatric University Hospital in the Southern part of Germany.

Acute psychiatric inpatient care: a cross-cultural comparison between two hospitals in Germany and Japan.

Background: Intercultural differences influence acute inpatient psychiatric care systems.

Aims: To evaluate characteristics of acute inpatient care in a German and a Japanese hospital.

Method: Based on a sample of 465 admissions to the Psychiatric State Hospital Regensburg (BKR) and 91 admissions to the Hirakawa Hospital (HH) over a six-month period in 2008, data from the psychiatric basic documentation system (BADO) were analysed with regard to socio-demographic characteristics, treatment processes and outcome indicators.

Recognizing and treating peripartum depression.

Background: In this article, we review current data on the prevalence of, risk factors for, and treatment of peripartum depression.

Method: Pertinent publications were retrieved by searches in Medline and the Cochrane Library using the key words "peri/pre/post", "partum/partal/natal", "maternal/motherhood/pregnancy", and "depression/affective disorder".

Results: Depression is the most common peripartal disease: The prevalence of depressive disorders is 18.

Individual clearance and therapeutic drug monitoring of quetiapine in clinical practice.

Objective: Quetiapine is one of the most frequent prescribed antipsychotics. Based on the consensus guidelines of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in clinical practice, TDM of Quetiapine is "useful". In this pilot study, using a natural sample, we investigated the influence of co-medication, age and gender on the serum concentrations and clearance of Quetiapine.

[Antipsychotic treatment of dementia after publication of new risks].

Objective: We investigated the change of antipsychotic treatment of elderly persons with dementia after several publications indicated an association between use of antipsychotics and cerebrovascular events in this population.

Methods: Twice a year, the complete medication, age, diagnosis and gender of all inpatients in 30 German psychiatric sites is collected anonymously in a data base for statistical analysis.

Results: The treatment changed for the benefit of Quetiapine and Haloperidol.

[Psychopharmacoepidemiology: differences in prescribing strategies in the inpatient and outpatient settings].

Objective: Doctors' prescribing behaviour in 34 psychiatric hospitals in southern Germany was investigated and compared with outpatient prescribing behaviour of doctors licensed to practise within the German health insurance system.

Methods: On the basis of the AGATE cut-off dates for 2000-2006, we analysed developments in the drug groups antidepressants, neuroleptics, benzodiazepines, and antidementia drugs over time.

Results: The proportion of inpatient prescriptions of antidepressants and antidementia drugs is increasing, whereas neuroleptics and benzodiazepines are undergoing the reverse trend.

Gender differences in help-seeking behavior on two internet forums for individuals with self-reported depression.

Background: The published literature reflects differences between the sexes in the help-seeking behavior of individuals with depression. Professional mental health services reach men to a lesser extent than women. Internet forums are considered an option to better reach males specifically.

[Information and consent in psychiatry and psychotherapy].

Objective: The number of medical liability court cases in Germany has more than trebled over the past 30 years. In almost every case of a therapeutic failure, the accusation is one of insufficient medical information. It was investigated which requirements information for patients has to meet in the field of psychiatry and psychotherapy.

[Does sociotherapy lose importance in scientific discourse?].

Background: Sociotherapy is an approved method in the treatment of mental disorders. The present study aimed at evaluating the role of sociotherapy in a scientific journal during the last 20 years.

Methods: A systematic analysis of all papers published in the "Psychiatrische Praxis" in the years 1985/1986, 1995/1996 and 2005/2006 was carried out.