Hyperactivity and Risk for Dysregulation of Mood, Energy, and Social Rhythms Syndrome (DYMERS): Standardization of a Simple One-Item Screener versus the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ).

This study aims to verify the accuracy of item 10 on the energy level of the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) in an item screening according to Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) results, providing a measure of hyper-energy. Regression techniques were employed in a dataset comprising 4093 records of respondents to test both linear and nonlinear relationships between predictor and outcome variables (energy level and symptoms considered in the MDQ). We examined the relationship of energy level with cases identified using MDQ with a cut-off of 7.

Depression during the COVID pandemic in La Manouba Governorate, Tunisia: A community survey.

Background: It is difficult to quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health as many community surveys have limited quality, rely on screening tests to measure mental health conditions and distress, and often use convenience samples. Moreover, robust surveys come mainly from high-income countries.

Aim: To measure the prevalence of depressive disorders with onset during the pandemic in a community of a Lower-Middle-income country (LMIC)-Tunisia.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being, work conditions, and education of early career psychiatrists in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region: study protocol.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic placed great strain on healthcare professionals, leading to a substantial impact and a redistribution of the workforce. Despite the active involvement of the Eastern Mediterranean Region Office (EMRO) and the World Health Organization in managing mental health crises, there is a knowledge gap concerning the working conditions and training opportunities available for early career psychiatrists (ECPs) during the pandemic period.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ECPs and how it affected their well-being, employment, and educational opportunities.

Stigma towards mental illness in Asian nations and low-and-middle-income countries, and comparison with high-income countries: A literature review and practice implications.

Background: Stigma related to mental illness (and its treatment) is prevalent worldwide. This stigma could be at the structural or organizational level, societal level (interpersonal stigma), and the individual level (internalized stigma). Vulnerable populations, for example, gender minorities, children, adolescents, and geriatric populations, are more prone to stigma.

Prevalence of Mood Disorders and Associated Factors at the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Potocol for a Community Survey in La Manouba Governorate, Tunisia.

Aims: The present survey aims to assess the overall mood disorder prevalence and identify associated socio-demographic and clinical factors in a Tunisian community sample, with special attention to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Mood disorders are one of the leading causes of all non-fatal burdens of disease, with depression being at the top of the list. The COVID-19 pandemic may have increased the prevalence of mood disorders, especially in Low and Middle-income countries (LMICs) and in vulnerable populations.

The grief experience during the COVID-19 pandemic across different cultures.

Grief is the physical or mental suffering experienced after a major loss, usually the death of a loved one. It is a universal experience, but sociocultural factors, such as cultural or ethnic identity and religious beliefs predict and shape the expression of grief. The circumstances under which people are experiencing grief during the coronavirus outbreak have adversely affected the grieving process.

Use of modern technology in psychiatry training in a middle-income country.

Recent advances in information technology (IT) provided us with novel teaching solutions, with the potential of a new enhanced learning experience, that is, more adapted to the needs and preferences of the younger generations of psychiatric trainees. These tools include the use of online/virtual whiteboards, live surveys/polls, live quizzes, virtual classrooms, and virtual reality. In the present paper, we describe the implementation of modern technology in psychiatric training in Tunisia, a North-African middle-income country.

COVID-19 related mental health issues: a narrative review of psychometric properties of scales and methodological concerns in scale development.

Objectives: The global crisis of COVID-19 and its consequential strict public health measures placed around the world have impacted mental health. New scales and tools have been developed to measure these mental health effects. This narrative review assesses the psychometric properties of these scales and tools and methodological aspects of their development.

Establishing a clinical high-risk program in Tunisia, North Africa: A pilot study in early detection and identification.

Background: Early identification and prevention research has provided huge advances in our understanding of early screening and identification of young people at clinical high-risk (CHR). Most of these procedures were developed in high-income countries, yet middle-income countries in North Africa such as Tunisia can benefit from these empirically-based assessment approaches.

Methods: Using established procedures, nine Tunisian psychiatric raters were trained on structured assessments: the CAARMS, BPRS, and SCID to high standards of interrater reliability.

Telepsychiatry in the Arab World: A Viewpoint Before and During COVID-19.

Purpose: Telepsychiatry, a subset of telemedicine, has been increasingly studied to meet the growing demands for psychiatric care. The utility of telepsychiatry is relevant now more than ever as the world endures the COVID-19 global pandemic. This paper describes the prior state and the changes that the COVID-19 outbreak brought to telepsychiatry in a selected group of Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Telepsychiatry During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Development of a Protocol for Telemental Health Care.

Background: The rapid spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has forced most countries to take drastic public health measures, including the closure of most mental health outpatient services and some inpatient units. This has suddenly created the need to adapt and expand telepsychiatry care across the world. However, not all health care services might be ready to cope with this public health demand.

COVID-19 mental health care toolkit: an international collaborative effort by Early Career Psychiatrists section.

The collaborative effort of an international research team from the Early Career Psychiatrists section of the World Psychiatry Association has brought about an easy-to-use, quick and stepwise mental health care toolkit for the identification and appropriate referral of those in need of mental health care during the pandemic. This simple guide can be applied in the general outpatient setting and is catered for all healthcare professionals, regardless of their expertise within the mental health field with minimal training. It is our hope that by incorporating this toolkit into our daily clinical care during the pandemic for high-risk patients and patients with non-specific complaints, we will be able to bridge the mental health gap present in our society.

Management of psychiatric conditions and delirium during the COVID-19 pandemic across continents: lessons learned and recommendations.

Background: With the uncertainties of COVID-19, people infected with coronavirus present with diverse psychiatric presentations. Some institutions have had to manage their patients with existing protocols, others have had to create them. In this article we aimed to report the challenges and good practices in the management of psychiatric conditions and delirium coexisting with COVID-19 across continents.