The Rapunzel syndrome: a hairy tale.

Background: Trichobezoars are a rare medical condition, often requiring a surgical approach and commonly associated with an underlying psychiatric disorder. The Rapunzel syndrome is a rare variant of trichobezoar in the stomach extending from the stomach into the small intestine causing a bowel obstruction.

Case Presentation: In this case report, the clinical presentation, diagnostic approach, and surgical removal of a large-size bezoar (Rapunzel syndrome) in a young and otherwise healthy female is described.

Compulsory Interventions in Severe and Persistent Mental Illness: A Survey on Attitudes Among Psychiatrists in Switzerland.

Some psychiatric patients develop severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI), which, for a variety of reasons, can be therapy-refractory. Sometimes, treatment is not considered helpful by the patients themselves and does not improve their subjective quality of life. Furthermore, many SPMI patients experience compulsory interventions such as seclusion, restraint, or treatment against their will, which can cause harm.

Risks and Benefits of Web-Based Patient Narratives: Systematic Review.

Background: Patient narratives are illustrative, individual accounts of patients' experiences with certain health conditions. Web-based patient narratives have become widely available on the internet and in social media, as part of electronically available patient decision aids or Web-based databases. In recent years, the role of patient narratives as a source of information, insight, and support for both health care users and providers has increasingly been emphasized.

Acceptability of palliative care approaches for patients with severe and persistent mental illness: a survey of psychiatrists in Switzerland.

Background: Some patients develop severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) which is therapy-refractory. The needs of these patients sometimes remain unmet by therapeutic interventions and they are at high risk of receiving care that is inconsistent with their life goals. Scholarly discourse has recently begun to address the suitability of palliative care approaches targeting at enhancing quality of life for these patients, but remains to be developed.

Self-regulation of the dopaminergic reward circuit in cocaine users with mental imagery and neurofeedback.

Background: Enhanced drug-related reward sensitivity accompanied by impaired sensitivity to non-drug related rewards in the mesolimbic dopamine system are thought to underlie the broad motivational deficits and dysfunctional decision-making frequently observed in cocaine use disorder (CUD). Effective approaches to modify this imbalance and reinstate non-drug reward responsiveness are urgently needed. Here, we examined whether cocaine users (CU) can use mental imagery of non-drug rewards to self-regulate the ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra (VTA/SN).