A Cross-Sectional Study of Psychiatric Comorbidity in Croatian Homeland War Veterans Who Were Held as Prisoners of War and Are Affected by Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Background: As a extremely traumatic experience, captivity may cause other mental disorders in addition to posttraumatic stress disorder, which is highly prevalent among ex-prisoners of war, and which often occurs in comorbidity with at least one other mental disorder. This objective of this study is to identify the incidence of comorbid mental disorders in Homeland war veterans ex-prisoners of war affected by posttraumatic stress disorder, as well as to identify the factors that influenced psychiatric comorbidity.

Subjects And Methods: The study sample comprised 264 subjects, all of whom were Croatian Homeland War veterans with combat experience in the defence of the Republic of Croatia, and all of whom fulfilled clinical criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder at the time of the study.

The Role of Perceived Social Support in Assessing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Mental Health-Related Quality of Life in Veterans.

This study aims to establish the effect of self-perceived social support on the intensity of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms and Mental Health-Related Quality of Life (MHRQoL) in veterans more than two decades after exposure to trauma in the Homeland War in Croatia, which took place from 1990 to 1995. The sample comprised 259 Croatian Homeland War veterans diagnosed with PTSD, with at least 6 months of combat experience. Among them, 90 subjects had also experienced imprisonment in enemy prison camps (at least 1 month of captivity).

Health-Related Quality of Life of Ex-Prisoners of War Affected by Posttraumatic Stress Disorder 25 Years After Captivity.

Background: War captivity is one of the most difficult human experiences and can cause long-lasting effects on mental and physical health. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as one of the frequent consequences of war trauma, is often associated with the psychiatric and/or somatic comorbidity. Therefore, PTSD results in impaired Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL).

Relationship Between Coping Strategies and Emotional Intelligence among Patients with Schizophrenia.

Background: Behavioural investigation has become increasingly more focused on emotional intelligence as researchers strive to understand its influence on various social interactions. Recent research indicates that EI plays an integral role in adopting active and effective coping strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and coping strategies in patients with schizophrenia.

Quality of life of patients with schizophrenia treated in foster home care and in outpatient treatment.

Background: The Sveti Ivan Psychiatric Hospital in Zagreb, Croatia, offers foster home care treatment that includes pharmacotherapy, group psychodynamic psychotherapy, family therapy, and work and occupational therapy. The aim of this study is to compare the health-related quality of life of patients with schizophrenia treated in foster home care with that of patients in standard outpatient treatment.

Methods: The sample consisted of 44 patients with schizophrenia who, upon discharge from the hospital, were included in foster home care treatment and a comparative group of 50 patients who returned to their families and continued receiving outpatient treatment.

Emotional profile and risk behaviours among tattooed and non-tattooed students.

Aim: To determine differences in emotional profile and frequencies of certain risk behaviours between tattooed and non-tattooed students.

Methods: One hundred students fulfilled personality assessment (trust, timid, depressive, distrust, aggressive, gregarious, controlled, uncontrolled) and questionnaire of socio-demographic data that also included some questions about possession of tattoo (time, place, motive) and about certain risk behaviours (court punishment, consummation of alcohol, psychoactive substances and cigarettes).

Results: The total number of 35 (out of 100) students had a tattoo, and 67 wished to have a tattoo.

Placebo and nocebo effect: a mini-review.

It is well-known that placebo is a substance without medical effects, which benefits the health status because of the patient's belief that the substance is effective and that the nocebo is defined as a substance without medical effects but which worsenes the health status of the person taking it by the negative beliefs and expectations of the patient. Starting with the history of the placebo effect and giving a review of the most significant studies reporting about the placebo effect from 1939-2013 it was our intention to give the all-around look on this phenomena discussing the neurobiological and other theories of its origin and concentrating especially on the field of psychiatry and finally coming to conclusions regarding the conductance of clinical trials and ethics. Regarding psychiatry, the placebo effect has a substantial role in most of psychiatric conditions including depression, anxiety, addictions, and contrary to what may have been expected, schizophrenia.

The case report of treatment strategy for Anorexia nervosa with psychotic elements in adolescent.

Eating disorders in early childhood are the same frequency in boys and girls. During adolescence eating disorders are ten (10) times more frequent in girls than in boys. Worrying is the fact that eating disorders are the third chronic illness among adolescents after obesity and asthma.

Psychopharmacotherapy and remission of patients with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a clinical syndrome of variable, but profoundly disruptive, psychopathology that involves cognition, emotion, perception and other aspects of behavior The Remission in Schizophrenia Working Group (RSWG) has defined criteria for symptomatic remission based on achieving and maintaining a consistently low symptom threshold for at least six consecutive months. Aim of our study was to determine which antipsychotic are used in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia, as well as to assess are there differences between patients treated with typical and atypical antipsychotics and how many of them are in remission according to the defined remission criteria. All outtreated patients with schizophrenia treated at the University Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Osijek in the period of three months were assessed.

[Ethical dilemmas of contemporary psychiatry].

Ethics in the contemporary psychiatry, as well as in medicine in general, is based on the two core ethical traditions: deontological and theological. Good ethical decision takes into the consideration both traditions, and is preceded with ethical dilemmas to provide the best possible care to the patients in that moment. In the article are presented most recent research results of the literature about ethical dilemmas in psychiatry.

Psychoeducation and compliance in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia.

Psychoeducation provides to the patient and his family members full information about schizophrenia and all aspects of the treatment. If the patient is not fully informed about the treatment and the side effects, there is a higher risk for discontinuation of the therapy without consulting his psychiatrist. Dicontinuation of the treatment is one of the main reasons for the relapse of schizophrenia.

Second generation antipsychotics and risk of diabetes type II--comparison between olanzapine and risperidone.

Differences in the glucose metabolism were examined and analysed in this study between patients treated with olanzapine and risperidone in comparison with healthy volunteers. The aim of the study was to determine differences of the impaired glucose metabolism in the study groups as well as to point out to the possible mechanisms which bring to these differences. To the group of 15 schizophrenic patients treated with olanzapine, and group of 15 schizophrenic patients treated with risperidone and to 14 healthy volunteers oral glucose tolerancy test is applied in order to determine the level of the impaired glucose tolerance.

Infanticide in Eastern Croatia.

For the layperson no crime is more difficult to comprehend than the killing of a child by his or her own parents. This is a retrospective study of neonaticide and infanticide in Eastern Croatia from 1980 to 2004. Judicial records of infanticide cases stored in Regional and County Courts were analyzed for the circumstances surrounding the offense.

Tattoo and personality traits in Croatian veterans.

To examine whether tattooed patients, treated for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by war at the Ward for Psycho-trauma of the Clinical Hospital Osijek, differ from non-tattooed patients by certain personality traits. The study was conducted on one hundred Croatian veterans who were divided into two groups with respect to the presence/ absence of tattoo. To assess the symptoms of PTSD, the Clinical Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-2) was used for all subjects.

The influence of risperidone on cognitive functions in schizophrenia.

Introduction of the antipsychotics of the second generation (SGA) into the therapy of schizophrenia roused expectations that, finally, the cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia could be eliminated by psychopharmacological therapy. The purpose of the study was to verify the effect of atypical antipsychotic risperidone on cognitive functions in schizophrenic patients. The study was carried out upon 48 male schizophrenic patients aged 21-47 years who were switched from the antipsychotics of the first generation (FGA) to the antipsychotic risperidone, due to intolerance, during the treatment.