Efficacy of a Culturally Adapted Emotion Recognition Training Program in Improving Facial Emotion Recognition in Persons with Schizophrenia.

Background: Facial emotion recognition (FER) deficits are being considered as core features of social cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, associated with socio-occupational dysfunction. Social cognition intervention programs have been shown to improve these deficits; however, there are no such intervention strategies in India. In this study, we aim to examine the efficacy of Training of Affect Recognition - Indian Version (TAR-IV) to enhance the FER abilities of people with schizophrenia.

Evaluating the Experience of a Postgraduate and Faculty Study Tour Program in the Field of Mental Health: A Mixed-methods Study.

Background: Study tours are known to have an important role in enriching the knowledge of students in all fields. Our study aimed to evaluate the experience of a postgraduate and faculty study tour in the field of mental health.

Methods: We obtained both quantitative and descriptive feedback from 31 participants who had taken part in the annual study tour conducted in the years 2014-2018 using a specially designed feedback pro forma.

Manipal model of telepsychiatry.

Telepsychiatry can be understood as an interactive mental health service providing mode using information and communication technology. In recent decades, services provided under the umbrella term of telepsychiatry expanded to cater clinical services, diagnostic services, interventions, therapies, education, and research. Since telepsychiatry has been practiced in India for two decades, various models have emerged to meet the country's demands and the logistics that are available.

Factor structure of the Jefferson Scale for Empathy among medical undergraduates from South India.

Background: Empathy is a multidimensional construct and is considered an essential attribute among healthcare professionals. The Jefferson Scale for Empathy (JSE) is a commonly used tool to measure physician empathy and has been used in medical students as well; however, the psychometric properties have not been well studied in India. We aimed to study the factor structure of JSE among medical undergraduates.

Madison to Manipal: A narrative review of modified assertive community treatment programs.

Background: Assertive community treatment (ACT) is a multidisciplinary, team-based approach providing comprehensive individualized care for the patients with various mental illness, has been adapted variably across the world in terms of patient-staff ratio, selection of patients, the pattern of service delivery and frequency of contact. We aim to review the extant literature on the modifications of ACT programs for severe mental disorders and their effectiveness.

Methods: Studies on modified ACT approaches for mental illnesses were searched in multiple databases.

Re-examining Psychometric Properties of Fertility Problem Inventory: A Clinic-Based Study from India.

Background: The fertility problem inventory (FPI) is one of the most widely used measures that tap the diverse psychological problems faced by infertile couples. Research on translated versions of FPI has also reflected its high clinical significance.

Aim: This research aimed to explore the psychometric properties and the clinical validity of the original 46-item FPI in an Indian sample.

Efficacy and safety of maintenance electroconvulsive therapy (M-ECT) in treatment-resistant schizophrenia: A case series.

Background: Treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) is a substantial burden to patients, caregivers, and the treating team. There is a lack of robust evidence to support the efficacy of various pharmacological and non-pharmacological measures to augment clozapine in this population. When used in conjunction with clozapine or other combination antipsychotic regimens, maintenance electroconvulsive therapy (M-ECT) can be a potential therapeutic option in preventing symptom exacerbation in TRS.

"When Love Does not bear a Fruit": Patterns and Prevalence of Sexual Difficulties in Infertile Men and Women as Predictors of Emotional Distress.

Background: Self-identity, sexuality, and subfertility have multidirectional effects on each other. Subfertility is known to alter sexual esteem, threaten identity, body image, sexual attractivness, coital pleasure, and sexual satisfaction.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate sexual difficulties as predictors of infertility-specific stress in patients undergoing fertility treatments and to assess the profile of sexual dysfunctions in participants.

Facial emotion recognition and its association with quality of life and socio-occupational functioning in patients with bipolar disorder and their first-degree relatives.

Introduction: Facial emotion recognition deficits (FERD) are common even in the remitted phase of bipolar disorder (BD). Research regarding FERD in first-degree relatives is inconclusive. This study aimed to assess the facial emotion recognition in remitted patients of bipolar disorder and first-degree relatives(FDR) in comparison with healthy controls.

Stigma, Empathy, and Attitude (SEA) educational module for medical students to improve the knowledge and attitude towards persons with mental illness.

Objective: The objective was to develop an educational module on stigma, empathy, and attitude towards mental illness and evaluate its effectiveness among undergraduate medical students.

Methods: In phase I, the authors developed the Stigma, Empathy, and Attitude (SEA) module consisting of interactive teaching-learning components through an experts-based consensus (two rounds of Delphi). In phase II, the effectiveness of the module was evaluated.

Does lunar synodic cycle affect the rates of psychiatric hospitalizations and sentinel events?

The lunar synodic cycle is often believed to be associated with psychiatric emergencies and exacerbation in various countries, including India. However, the scientific literature regarding this matter is inconclusive. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between lunar cycle phase and admission rates plus occurrence of sentinel events in the psychiatric ward of a tertiary care general hospital in India.

"The Miracle Mothers and Marvelous Babies": Psychosocial Aspects of Surrogacy - A Narrative Review.

Surrogates are described in literature as true angels "who make dreams happen." On the other hand, surrogacy has also been surrounded by several psychosocial controversies. In this review, we have made an attempt to encapsulate this topic from the multiple perspectives of individuals who are involved in the surrogacy cycle.

Application of Mindfulness-Based Psychological Interventions in Infertility.

Living mindfully helps one gain a deeper understanding into realities of life. It enables people to witness suffering, desire, attachments, and impermanence without any fear, anxiety, anger, or despair. This is considered the hallmark of true psychological insight.

Association between functional polymorphisms in serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) and escitalopram treatment response in depressive patients in a South Indian population.

Purpose: Ethnicity plays a key role in deciding the direction of the association between serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms and treatment response of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The present study explored the association of 5HTTLPR and 5HTTLPR-rs25531 polymorphisms with the treatment response of escitalopram in South Indian patients with major depressive disorder.

Methods: A total of 148 depressive patients receiving escitalopram 10-20 mg/day were genotyped for 5HTTLPR and rs25531 polymorphisms.

Melancholic Versus Non-Melancholic Depression: a Prospective Study.

Background: The binarian model views melancholia as a distinct depressive class, whereas the unitarian model views it as a more severe expression of depression. This study aims to investigate the sociodemographic, clinical, and course differences between melancholic and non-melancholic depression.

Methods: This prospective observational study was carried out at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, India from November 2010 to September 2011.

"In Cycles of Dreams, Despair, and Desperation:" Research Perspectives on Infertility Specific Distress in Patients Undergoing Fertility Treatments.

"Emotional distress in infertility" is a broad expression that loosely denotes anxiety, depression, grief, crisis, depleting psychological well-being, and all forms of affective and interpersonal disturbances faced by individuals with infertility. The distress is usually associated with involuntary childlessness as it is an unwelcoming event. The developmental crisis associated with childlessness poses a threat to one's sense of self at all levels (individual, family and social).

Psychosocial Aspects of Therapeutic Donor Insemination.

The experience of delays in conception or possibility of remaining childless has the potential to create considerable psychological discomfort. In couples with severe male factor infertility, therapeutic intrauterine insemination using donor sperms (TDI) is offered as a treatment, second to fertilization using donor sperms. TDI is lucrative, less invasive, and a hopeful treatment.

Evidence for perturbed metabolic patterns in bipolar disorder subjects associated with lithium responsiveness.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is multifactorial mood disorder characterized by alternating episodes of hyperactive mania and severe depression. Lithium is one of the most preferred drug used as mood stabilizer in treating BD. In this study, we examined the changes in plasma metabolome in BD subjects in the context of lithium responsiveness.

Role of Mental Health Practitioner in Infertility Clinics: A Review on Past, Present and Future Directions.

A large body of literature has emerged over the past four decades which highlights the need to address emotional needs in infertility and integrates psychological services within routine fertility care. Evidenced-based guidelines in most countries propagate that the mental health expert (MHP) plays a vital role as a team member in reducing the impact of infertility on the lives of patients, across all stages of treatment. In accordance with these global developments, inclusion of psychosocial care in fertility treatments is an upcoming trend in our nation.