Exposure to violence in childhood and risk of violence in adult schizophrenia: Results from a multinational study.

This study investigated the connection between childhood violence exposure and violent behavior in adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs). The case-control study included 398 SSD patients: 221 cases with a history of severe interpersonal violence in the past and 177 controls with no history of violence. The findings indicated that cases were significantly more likely to report childhood exposure to all forms of witnessed or personally sustained violence both within and outside the family, with those who had witnessed intra-familial violence being more likely to assault a family member in adulthood.

Characteristics of people attending psychiatric clinics in inner Sydney homeless hostels.

Objective: To describe the characteristics of people attending mental health clinics at shelters for the homeless in inner city Sydney.

Design: Retrospective review of medical records of homeless hostel clinic attenders.

Setting: Mental health clinics located in three inner city homeless hostels.

The first 30 months of the MindSpot Clinic: Evaluation of a national e-mental health service against project objectives.

Objective: The MindSpot Clinic provides online mental health services to Australian adults with anxiety and depression. This paper describes users of MindSpot between January 2013 and June 2015. Outcomes are considered against three key objectives: improving access to mental health services, improving public awareness of how to access services and providing evidence-based treatments.

MindSpot Clinic: An Accessible, Efficient, and Effective Online Treatment Service for Anxiety and Depression.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to report the feasibility of delivering online cognitive-behavioral therapy (iCBT) treatments for anxiety and depression in a national public mental health service.

Methods: A prospective noncontrolled cohort study was conducted of all patients who began assessment or treatment at the MindSpot Clinic from January through December 2013. Clinic services were used by a representative cross-section of the Australian population.

A 21-year retrospective outcome study of New South Wales forensic patients granted conditional and unconditional release.

Aim: To retrospectively examine the outcomes of forensic patients found not guilty by reason of mental illness (NGMI) in New South Wales (NSW) and subsequently released into the community, as measured by reoffending, conditional release revocation and psychiatric hospital readmission.

Method: Data were collected from the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal (MHRT) files for all patients who received an NGMI verdict between January 1990 and December 2010, and who were released into the community during this period. The outcome measures of conditional release revocation and psychiatric hospital readmission were extracted from these files.

Mania, homicide and severe violence.

Background: Mania has been reported to be a risk factor for aggression and violence in psychiatric hospitals, but the extent of any association between mania and severe interpersonal violence in community settings is not known.

Aim: To examine the association between mania and severe violence in a series of patients found not guilty by reason of mental illness (NGMI).

Methods: A review of the court documents of those found NGMI of offences involving severe violence, including homicide, attempted homicide and assault causing wounding or serious injury, in New South Wales between 1992 and 2008.

Self-enucleation: forget Freud and Oedipus, it's all about untreated psychosis.

Self-enucleation is a rare but serious ophthalmological and psychiatric emergency. It has traditionally been considered to be the result of psycho-sexual conflicts, including those arising from Freud's Oedipal complex and Christian religious teaching. However, an analysis of published case reports suggests that self-enucleation is a result of psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Meta-analysis of self-reported substance use compared with laboratory substance assay in general adult mental health settings.

An accurate assessment of substance use is necessary to make a correct psychiatric diagnosis and to provide appropriate treatment. This study uses meta-analysis to establish the strength of the association between self-reported substance use and the results of laboratory substance assay including the testing for specific substances and screening for any substance use in psychiatric hospitals and in community mental health settings. A systematic search for published studies was supplemented by additional data required for meta-analysis provided by several researchers in this field.

Comparison of first-episode and previously treated persons with psychosis found NGMI for a violent offense.

Objective: Evidence has emerged of a higher risk of serious violence in first-episode psychosis. This study compared the characteristics of two groups of persons with psychosis found not guilty of violent offenses on the grounds of mental illness (NGMI): those who had not yet been treated and those who had previously received treatment.

Methods: Demographic, clinical, and offense data were taken from psychiatric reports and court documents for persons found NGMI of homicide, attempted homicide, and assaults causing serious injury in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

Severe non-lethal violence during psychotic illness.

Background: Research about violence in psychosis has mainly considered homicide by people with mental disorder, especially schizophrenia, and violence in groups of psychiatric patients. In this study we examine the characteristics of a sample of offenders with psychotic illness who committed severe non-lethal violent offences.

Method: A review of court documents from a consecutive series of cases involving violence resulting in significant injury concluded in the District Court of New South Wales, Australia, in the years 2006 and 2007.