Trauma, risk, and resilience: A qualitative study of mental health in post-conflict Liberia.

The Liberian civil wars led to widespread destruction and devastation for its individuals, communities, and economy. However, individuals' subjective trauma experiences and long-term psychological impact remain relatively understudied. This study aims to explore context-specific traumatic events and examine how risk and protective factors combine with traumas to influence trajectories of suffering and recovery over time.

A mental health needs assessment of children and adolescents in post-conflict Liberia: results from a quantitative key-informant survey.

Between 1989 and 2004, Liberia experienced a devastating civil war that resulted in widespread trauma with almost no mental health infrastructure to help citizens cope. In 2009, the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare collaborated with researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital to conduct a rapid needs assessment survey in Liberia with local key informants ( = 171) to examine the impact of war and post-war events on emotional and behavioral problems of, functional limitations of, and appropriate treatment settings for Liberian youth aged 5-22. War exposure and post-conflict sexual violence, poverty, infectious disease and parental death negatively impacted youth mental health.

Relationships between positive psychological constructs and health outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease: A systematic review.

Depression and anxiety are well-known to be associated with adverse health outcomes in cardiac patients. However, there has been less work synthesizing the effects of positive psychological constructs (e.g.

Epidemiology of major depression with atypical features: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC).

Objective: To examine prevalence, correlates, comorbidity and treatment-seeking among individuals with a lifetime major depressive episode (MDE) with and without atypical features.

Method: Data were derived from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, a large cross-sectional survey of a representative sample (N = 43,093) of the US population that assessed psychiatric disorders using the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule-DSM-IV Version (AUDADIS-IV). Comparison groups were defined based on the presence or absence of hypersomnia or hyperphagia in individuals who met criteria for lifetime DSM-IV MDE.

Gender differences in generalized anxiety disorder: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC).

Objective: To assess gender differences in the epidemiology, comorbidity, and treatment-seeking patterns of DSM-IV generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in the United States.

Method: Data were derived from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, a large cross-sectional survey of a representative sample (N = 43,093) of the U.S.

Safe return to homeland of an illegal immigrant with psychosis.

The disposition of illegal immigrants who lack social support and wish to return to their homeland is a frequent and difficult challenge for many mental health facilities in the United States. This case involved an undocumented Mexican patient with severe psychosis who was safely transferred to his hometown according to his and his family's wishes through the use of specific services provided by the Mexican Consulate. We hope that publication of this case will make the medical community more aware of the availability of these underused services, which can make a major difference in the prognosis of some undocumented patients who would otherwise be left without resources or appropriate care.

Psychiatric disorders in pregnant and postpartum women in the United States.

Context: Psychiatric disorders and substance use during pregnancy are associated with adverse outcomes for mothers and their offspring. Information about the epidemiology of these conditions in this population is lacking.

Objective: To examine sociodemographic correlates, rates of DSM-IV Axis I psychiatric disorders, substance use, and treatment seeking among past-year pregnant and postpartum women in the United States.