Association of polygenic score and the involvement of cholinergic and glutamatergic pathways with lithium treatment response in patients with bipolar disorder.

Lithium is regarded as the first-line treatment for bipolar disorder (BD), a severe and disabling mental health disorder that affects about 1% of the population worldwide. Nevertheless, lithium is not consistently effective, with only 30% of patients showing a favorable response to treatment. To provide personalized treatment options for bipolar patients, it is essential to identify prediction biomarkers such as polygenic scores.

Telemedicine for outpatient treatment of depressive disorders.

Background: The newly developed app TellUs is a digital offering for psychiatric outpatient treatment that includes diagnostic and therapeutic tools. The aim of this study was to test the clinical efficiency and patient satisfaction of TellUs.

Methods: Sixty-four patients with depressive disorder took part in the study for 3 months.

[Documentation, Application and Efforts to Reduce Involuntary Admissions and Coercive Measures - Results from a Nationwide Study on Acute Psychiatric Hospitals in Germany].

Objective: This nationwide full census survey investigated the documentation status regarding involuntary admissions and coercive measures in psychiatric hospitals in Germany.

Methods: As part of the ZIPHER study, a questionnaire survey on the documentation, application and reduction of coercion was conducted ( = 147, response rate = 34.4 %).

Homelessness among psychiatric inpatients in North Rhine-Westphalia: a retrospective routine data analysis.

Background: Within the last five years the number of homeless persons in Germany has more than doubled, with many suffering from mental illnesses that require treatment. Whether the mental illness itself led to losing shelter or whether the state of being homeless increased the likelihood of developing symptoms of a mental disorder remains unclear. The current study assessed the interaction of homelessness and mental illness from a care provider perspective.

Psychosocial functioning as a personal resource promoting a milder course of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia has been shown repeatedly to be associated with a low level of psychosocial functioning. It is assumable that psychosocial functioning is related not only to current, but also to future symptom severity. To test this assumption, a follow-up study with two measurement time points with an interval of 18 months was conducted.

Clinical manifestations and immunomodulatory treatment experiences in psychiatric patients with suspected autoimmune encephalitis: a case series of 91 patients from Germany.

Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) can rarely manifest as a predominantly psychiatric syndrome without overt neurological symptoms. This study's aim was to characterize psychiatric patients with AE; therefore, anonymized data on patients with suspected AE with predominantly or isolated psychiatric syndromes were retrospectively collected. Patients with readily detectable neurological symptoms suggestive of AE (e.

Gender, age at onset, and duration of being ill as predictors for the long-term course and outcome of schizophrenia: an international multicenter study.

Background: The aim of the current study was to explore the effect of gender, age at onset, and duration on the long-term course of schizophrenia.

Methods: Twenty-nine centers from 25 countries representing all continents participated in the study that included 2358 patients aged 37.21 ± 11.

Quality of Parental Care and Traumatic Experiences in Childhood Related to Schizophrenic Disorders.

In recent times, an increasing interest in the role of childhood adversities in schizophrenia can be seen. In this study, 37 schizophrenic patients were compared with 25 individuals from the general population with regard to the quality of parental care and traumatic experiences in childhood. Two self-report scales for retrospective measurement of these variables were used that differentiate between maternal and paternal rejection, emotional warmth and control on the one hand, and trauma subtypes on the other.

Adjuvant Guided Exercise Therapy Versus Self-Organized Activity in Patients With Major Depression.

Exercise seems to be effective in reducing depression itself, as well as the risk of relapse. This study evaluated whether standardized guided exercise therapy (GET) in comparison with self-organized activity (SOA) is an effective augmentation therapy in depressive adults. A total of 111 inpatients (66.

Modeling psychological function in patients with schizophrenia with the PANSS: an international multi-center study.

Background: The aim of the current study was to explore the changing interrelationships among clinical variables through the stages of schizophrenia in order to assemble a comprehensive and meaningful disease model.

Methods: Twenty-nine centers from 25 countries participated and included 2358 patients aged 37.21 ± 11.

Role of child maltreatment and gender for bipolar symptoms in young adults.

Background: Child maltreatment has been shown to be associated with a wide range of mental disorders, including bipolar disorders. In this 2-year follow-up study, recollections of emotional, physical and sexual abuse were related to bipolar symptoms, namely depressive, hypomanic and manic symptoms.

Methods: The sample consists of 134 students who took part at five measurement times within the 2-year period.

An Investigation of Psychosis Subgroups With Prognostic Validation and Exploration of Genetic Underpinnings: The PsyCourse Study.

Importance: Identifying psychosis subgroups could improve clinical and research precision. Research has focused on symptom subgroups, but there is a need to consider a broader clinical spectrum, disentangle illness trajectories, and investigate genetic associations.

Objective: To detect psychosis subgroups using data-driven methods and examine their illness courses over 1.

The social-psychiatric service and its role in compulsory hospitalization.

Coercive measures are a sensitive, much-discussed ethical and legal issue in the psychiatric context. Hence, the identification of their predictors and ways of prevention are of utmost importance. The present study aimed to determine the impact of the social-psychiatric services (SPS) in North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) on involuntary admissions according to the German Mental Health Act and to identify predictors for the reduction of these involuntary admissions.

Staging of Schizophrenia With the Use of PANSS: An International Multi-Center Study.

Introduction: A specific clinically relevant staging model for schizophrenia has not yet been developed. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the factor structure of the PANSS and develop such a staging method.

Methods: Twenty-nine centers from 25 countries contributed 2358 patients aged 37.

A longitudinal approach to biological psychiatric research: The PsyCourse study.

In current diagnostic systems, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are still conceptualized as distinct categorical entities. Recently, both clinical and genomic evidence have challenged this Kraepelinian dichotomy. There are only few longitudinal studies addressing potential overlaps between these conditions.

At-risk symptoms of bipolar disorder in a university student cohort.

To assess the occurrence and frequency of bipolar at-risk symptoms in a large sample of previously undiagnosed students using the new screening tool Bochumer Screeningbogen Bipolar (BSB). 2329 students of the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany completed online demographic data as well as various self-rating questionnaires (BSB; Hypomania Checklist 32; Altman Self-Rating Mania Scale; Beck Depression Inventory). Within the student cohort (64.

Antidepressive response of inpatients with major depression to adjuvant occupational therapy: a case-control study.

Background: Despite marked costs and limited evidence regarding effectiveness, occupational therapy (OT) is widely applied in psychiatric settings and financed by health insurance companies in European countries. This pilot study investigated the antidepressive effects of adjuvant OT for patients with major depression in a 6-week inpatient setting, stratified for females and males.

Methods: A total of 114 inpatients with major depression were assigned to either a standard OT group (using basic handcraft) or an active control group that played board games (2 h daily, 5 days a week).

A case of GABAR antibodies in schizophrenia.

Background: In the last couple of years, schizophrenia was often discussed as autoimmune disease. Several antibodies were suspected, but so far there has been no proof of Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor antibodies in patients with schizophrenia.

Case Presentation: In this case report we present a 21-year old woman with schizophrenic symptoms, who showed anti-GABAB1 antibodies when screened by a vast recombinant neurology mosaic on Human Embryonic Kidney Cells 293 (HEK293) cells.

Multiplatform metabolome and proteome profiling identifies serum metabolite and protein signatures as prospective biomarkers for schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness with a biological basis. However, the search for reliable biomarkers suitable for clinical routine has been futile so far. Accordingly, there is a need for innovative approaches such as genomics and proteomics to achieve this goal.

Impact of social-psychiatric services and psychiatric clinics on involuntary admissions.

Background: Germany provides a wide range of highly developed mental health care to its citizens. The aim of this study was to identify factors influencing the voluntariness of admissions to psychiatric hospitals. Especially the impact of demographic factors of the region, characteristics of the psychiatric hospitals and characteristics of the psychosocial services was analyzed.

The bipolar disorder prodrome revisited: Is there a symptomatic pattern?

Objectives: To assess the phenomenology and course of pre-(hypo)manic and pre-depressed prodromal symptoms, including mood swings, as precursors of bipolar disorder (BD) in a German multi-center study.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews [Bipolar Prodrome Symptom Scale-Retrospective (BPSS-R); Semi-structured Interview for Mood Swings] were administered to patients within 8 years of BD (BD I, BD II) onset.

Results: Forty two outpatients were included (40.