Metabolic Syndrome in Dutch Patients With Bipolar Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objective: To characterize the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among Dutch patients with bipolar disorder (BD), identify factors associated with MetS, and estimate the rate of pharmacologic treatment of MetS in this population.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of medical records of adult patients (≥ 18 years) with BD receiving psychotropic drug treatment was performed in a Dutch psychiatric outpatient setting. MetS was determined according to National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III-Adapted (NCEP ATP III-A) criteria.

Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Psychiatry.

Mindfulness meditation has a longstanding history in eastern practices that has received considerable public interest in recent decades. Indeed, the science, practice, and implementation of Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBIs) have dramatically increased in recent years. At its base, mindfulness is a natural human state in which an individual experiences and attends to the present moment.

A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Unipolar Depression in Patients With Chronic Pain.

Objective: Chronic pain is a disabling illness, often comorbid with depression. We performed a randomized controlled pilot study on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) targeting depression in a chronic pain population.

Method: Participants with chronic pain lasting ≥ 3 months; DSM-IV major depressive disorder (MDD), dysthymic disorder, or depressive disorder not otherwise specified; and a 16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Clinician Rated (QIDS-C₁₆) score ≥ 6 were randomly assigned to MBCT (n = 26) or waitlist (n = 14).

Effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Body Awareness in Patients with Chronic Pain and Comorbid Depression.

Body awareness has been proposed as one of the major mechanisms of mindfulness interventions, and it has been shown that chronic pain and depression are associated with decreased levels of body awareness. We investigated the effect of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) on body awareness in patients with chronic pain and comorbid active depression compared to treatment as usual (TAU; N = 31). Body awareness was measured by a subset of the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) scales deemed most relevant for the population.

Efficacy and safety of a form of cranial electrical stimulation (CES) as an add-on intervention for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder: A three week double blind pilot study.

We examined efficacy and safety of one specific cranial electrical stimulator (CES) device at a fixed setting in subjects with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (MDD). Thirty subjects (57% female, mean age 48.1 ± 12.