Augmentation of Electroconvulsive Therapy with Oral Caffeine: A Retrospective Analysis of 40 Patients with Major Depression.

Objective: Studies have demonstrated the efficacy of injectable caffeine as an augmentation method in electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This study investigated whether orally administered caffeine increases seizure duration during ECT.

Methods: Medical records of 40 patients treated with a series of ECT were retrospectively analyzed.

Impact of Psychiatric and Related Somatic Medications on the Duration and Severity of COVID-19: A Retrospective Explorative Multi-center Study from the German Metropolitan Ruhr-area.

Introduction: Several psychiatric and somatic medications are assumed to improve COVID-19-symptoms. These include antidepressants, antipsychotics, and anticonvulsants as well as anticoagulants, statins, and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system (RAAS)-inhibitors for somatic comorbid conditions. All these agents may reduce the hyperinflammatory response to SARS/CoV-2 or the related negative cardio-cerebrovascular outcomes.

Availability of Illegal Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Western Germany.

In response to the COVID-19-pandemic, a lockdown was established in the middle of March 2020 by the German Federal Government resulting in drastic reduction of private and professional traveling in and out of Germany with a reduction of social contacts in public areas. We seek evidence on whether the lockdown has led to a reduced availability of illegal drugs and whether subjects with substance-related problems tried to cope with possible drug availability issues by increasingly obtaining drugs via the internet, replacing their preferred illegal drug with novel psychoactive substances, including new synthetic opioids (NSO), and/or by seeking drug treatment. A questionnaire was anonymously filled in by subjects with substance-related disorders, typically attending low-threshold settings, drug consumption facilities, and inpatient detoxification wards from a range of locations in the Western part of Germany.

Ward Atmosphere and Patient Satisfaction in Psychiatric Hospitals With Different Ward Settings and Door Policies. Results From a Mixed Methods Study.

Open-door policies in psychiatry are discussed as a means to improve the treatment of involuntarily committed patients in various aspects. Current research on open-door policies focuses mainly on objective effects, such as the number of coercive interventions or serious incidents. The aim of the present study was to investigate more subjective perceptions of different psychiatric inpatient settings with different door policies by analyzing ward atmosphere and patient satisfaction.

[Open-door psychiatry and community mental health work].

In connection with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, mental healthcare concepts increasingly focus on the prevention of violence and coercion. Hospital care with an open-door policy is linked with a reduction in violence and coercive measures. The authors describe a specific therapeutic milieu aiming to promote social resources and to reduce institutional exclusion.

Computerized positive mental imagery training versus cognitive control training versus treatment as usual in inpatient mental health settings: study protocol for a randomized controlled feasibility trial.

Background: Enhancing the capacity to experience positive affect could help improve recovery across a range of areas of mental health. Experimental psychopathology research indicates that a computerized cognitive training paradigm involving generation of positive mental imagery can increase state positive affect, and more recent clinical studies have suggested that this training could be used as an adjunct treatment module to target symptoms related to positive affect deficits, specifically anhedonia. The current study investigates the feasibility of adding a positive mental imagery computerized training module to treatment for patients in inpatient mental health settings, with a focus on increasing positive affect and reducing anhedonia.

Brief reasons for living inventory: a psychometric investigation.

Background: The present study aimed at validating the German version of the Brief Reasons for Living inventory (BRFL).

Methods: Validity and reliability were established in a community (n = 339) and a clinical sample (n = 272). Convergent and discriminant validity were investigated, and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted for the complete BRFL as well as for a 10-item version excluding conditional items on child-related concerns.

Effectiveness of Psychoanalytic-Interactional Group Therapy vs. Behavioral Group Therapy in Routine Outpatient Treatment of Alcohol-Dependent Patients.

Background: The cognitive behavioral therapy has been extensively investigated to assess relapse prevention rates in patients with alcohol dependence. In contrast, only little is known regarding the effectiveness of psychoanalytical psychotherapy in relapse prevention, although this treatment is widely used and especially so in Germany. The aim of this quasi-randomized study was to compare the effectiveness of these two group treatments' approaches under the condition of routine outpatient treatment in a non-university hospital.

Gabapentin's acute effect on mood profile -- a controlled study on patients with alcohol withdrawal.

Rationale: Delayed beneficial effects of gabapentin on mood were frequently reported in various patient populations. This is the first controlled study which addressed acute effects of gabapentin on mood.

Methods: Analysis of the German version of Profile of Mood States (POMS) throughout a randomised placebo-controlled, double-blinded study of gabapentin on acute alcohol withdrawal [Bonnet, U.

[Maintenance treatment and relapse prophylaxis of depressive disorders].

After the remission of a depressive episode, the antidepressant should be continued at the same dose level for at least six months to prevent a relapse. Following severe, therapy-refractive depression, or if the course of the disease reveals an increased tendency to relapse, a phase-prophylactic long-term treatment is recommended. In the treatment of unipolar depressive disorders, lithium and antidepressant agents applied at the dosage effective for acute treatment are equally effective.

Association of the functional V158M catechol-O-methyl-transferase polymorphism with panic disorder in women.

Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder with an estimated heritability of up to 48%. Pharmacological and genetic studies suggest that genes coding for proteins involved in the catecholaminergic system might be relevant for the pathogenesis of the disease. In the present study, we genotyped a single nucleotide polymorphism (472G/A=V158M) in the coding region of the catechol-O-methyl-transferase (COMT) gene in 115 patients with panic disorder and age- and sex-matched controls.

Treatment of acute alcohol withdrawal with gabapentin: results from a controlled two-center trial.

A few case reports and data from animal experiments point to a possible efficacy of gabapentin (GP) in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS). Because of ethical considerations, the efficacy of GP in acute AWS was tested in an add-on fashion to clomethiazole (CLO). Given that the symptom-triggered amount of CLO required to limit AWS within the first 24 hours is related to the severity of AWS, we tested this amount of CLO during placebo (P) or GP (400 mg qid) under double blind, randomized conditions.