[A FOLLOW-UP OF FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH READMISSION OF PATIENTS IN BEER SHEVA MENTAL HEALTH CENTER DURING 2015 - 2018].

In recent years, there is a significant increase in the "revolving door" phenomenon, when patients, discharged from psychiatric hospitals, return to hospitalization in less than a month. During the last decade, experience with clinical activity at the Beer- Sheva Mental Health Center raised a question regarding whether there is a similar trend in our center as well.

[FUNCTIONAL SOMATIC SYNDROMES AMONG ETHIOPIAN IMMIGRANTS IN ISRAEL].

Introduction: The psychiatric classifications of disease (DSMIV; ICD-10) relate to a family of high incidence somatoform disorders whose use isn't uniform and cannot be measured. DSM-5 presents the term "cultural conceptualization of distress", which attempts to describe the cultural construct and its influences on mental distress and symptom presentation. Somatization among immigrants poses a diagnostic, treatment and research challenge due to cultural differences such as wrong understanding of their symptoms that may lead to misdiagnosis and to prescribing wrong and possibly harmful treatment and unnecessary hospitalization.

[NONINVASIVE BRAIN STIMULATION IN NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS].

Noninvasive brain stimulation is a growing field of treatment for many neuropsychiatric problems. In this review, several of the more common brain stimulation devices are presented. Specifically, we will review Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), Alternating Current Stimulation (ACS), Infrared Stimulation, Electroencephalography Neurofeedback (EEG-NF) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imagining Neurofeedback (fMRI-NF).

Food insecurity among psychiatric patients and welfare clients in Israel.

Background: Twenty-two percent of households in Israel experience food insecurity, and it is especially widespread in socio-economically distressed strata. Although their low socio-economic status renders psychiatric patients at risk for food insecurity, this issue has thus far been ignored in both practice and research.

Objective: To explore food insecurity among psychiatric patients in comparison with welfare-services clients in order to raise awareness of food insecurity in this population.

Beneficial effects of caloric vestibular stimulation on denial of illness and manic delusions in schizoaffective disorder: a case report.

Introduction: Preliminary data suggests that caloric vestibular nerve stimulation (CVS) single session application of cold water to the left ear induces a clinically significant, short-lived beneficial effect on specific types of illness denial (i.e., anosognosia) and delusions (i.

Food insecurity and mental health: a pilot study of patients in a psychiatric emergency unit in Israel.

The objective of this study was to examine food insecurity among psychiatric patients and as a concern for mental health practitioners. Food security and psychological distress were measured among 113 patients hospitalized in a psychiatric emergency unit. Of 113 respondents 67 (59.

COMT: a common susceptibility gene in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

A variety of psychiatric illnesses, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, have been reported in patients with microdeletion on chromosome 22q11-a region which includes the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene. The variety of psychiatric manifestations in patients with the 22q11 microdeletion and the role of COMT in the degradation of catecholamine neurotransmitters may thus suggest a general involvement of the COMT gene in psychiatric diseases. We have previously reported on a significant association between a COMT haplotype and schizophrenia.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in posttraumatic stress disorder: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Objective: The efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the right prefrontal cortex was studied in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) under double-blind, placebo-controlled conditions.

Method: Twenty-four patients with PTSD were randomly assigned to receive rTMS at low frequency (1 Hz) or high frequency (10 Hz) or sham rTMS in a double-blind design. Treatment was administered in 10 daily sessions over 2 weeks.

Right prefrontal TMS versus sham treatment of mania: a controlled study.

Objective: Left prefrontal transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been reported to have ECT-like effects in depression and we therefore planned a study of TMS in mania. Sixteen patients completed trial of right versus left prefrontal TMS at 20 Hz, 2-sec duration per train, 20 trains per day for 10 treatment days. Mania was evaluated using the Mania Scale, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and the Clinical Global Impression.

A highly significant association between a COMT haplotype and schizophrenia.

Several lines of evidence have placed the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene in the limelight as a candidate gene for schizophrenia. One of these is its biochemical function in metabolism of catecholamine neurotransmitters; another is the microdeletion, on chromosome 22q11, that includes the COMT gene and causes velocardiofacial syndrome, a syndrome associated with a high rate of psychosis, particularly schizophrenia. The interest in the COMT gene as a candidate risk factor for schizophrenia has led to numerous linkage and association analyses.