Antipsychotic agents in anxiety disorders: An umbrella review.

Background: Although not approved for the treatment of anxiety disorders (except trifluoperazine) there is ongoing off-label, unapproved use of first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs) and second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) for anxiety disorders. There have been systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the use of antipsychotics in anxiety disorders, most of which focused on SGAs.

Objective: The specific aims of this umbrella review are to: (1) Evaluate the evidence of efficacy of FGAs and SGAs in anxiety disorders as an adjunctive treatment to traditional antidepressant treatments and other nonantipsychotic medications; (2) Compare monotherapy with antipsychotics to first-line treatments for anxiety disorders in terms of effectiveness, risks, and side effects.

Dexmedetomidine in the Treatment of Depression: An Up-to-date Narrative Review.

Depressive disorders (DD) are common, and their prevalence is expected to rise over the next decade. Depressive disorders are linked to significant morbidity and mortality. The clinical conundrum of depressive disorders lies in the heterogeneity of their phenomenology and etiology.

The Implications of the Diving Response in Reducing Panic Symptoms.

Increased CO sensitivity is common in panic disorder (PD) patients. Free divers who are known for their exceptional breathing control have lower CO sensitivity due to training effects. This study aimed to investigate the immediate effects of cold facial immersion (CFI), breath holding and CO challenges on panic symptoms.

Pharmacotherapy of Anxiety Disorders: Current and Emerging Treatment Options.

(Appeared originally in 2020 Dec 23; 11:595584).

Clinical effectiveness of non-TMS neurostimulation in depression: Clinical trials from 2010 to 2020.

Objective: Treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) have evolved, although there is still a strong unmet need for more effective and tolerable options. The present study summarizes and discusses recent evidence regarding the non-transcranial magnetic stimulation (non-TMS) neurostimulation treatment for MDD.

Methods: The authors reviewed non-TMS neurostimulation clinical trials for MDD between 2010 and 2020.

Pharmacotherapy of Anxiety Disorders: Current and Emerging Treatment Options.

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychiatric disorders and a leading cause of disability. While there continues to be expansive research in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and schizophrenia, there is a relative dearth of novel medications under investigation for anxiety disorders. This review's first aim is to summarize current pharmacological treatments (both approved and off-label) for panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), and specific phobias (SP), including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), azapirones (e.

COVID-19 and its psychological consequences: Beware of the respiratory subtype of panic disorder.

• COVID-19 could increase the rates of the respiratory subtype of panic disorder.

Panic disorder respiratory subtype: psychopathology and challenge tests - an update.

Panic disorder (PD) pathophysiology is very heterogeneous, and the discrimination of distinct subtypes could be very useful. A subtype based on respiratory symptoms is known to constitute a specific subgroup. However, evidence to support the respiratory subtype (RS) as a distinct subgroup of PD with a well-defined phenotype remains controversial.

Neurostimulation in Anxiety Disorders, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Many pharmacological treatments were proved effective in the treatment of panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); still many patients do not achieve remission with these treatments. Neurostimulation techniques have been studied as promising alternatives or augmentation treatments to pharmacological and psychological therapies. The most studied neurostimulation method for anxiety disorders, PTSD, and OCD was repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS).

Quality of life in panic disorder: the influence of clinical features and personality traits.

Objective: To identify which clinical features and personality traits are associated with quality of life (QoL) in panic disorder (PD) patients.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with PD patients. The brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) and the Big Five Inventory (BFI) were used to assess QoL and personality traits respectively.

Panic Disorder and Chronic Caffeine Use: A Case-control Study.

Background: Acute administration of caffeine produces panic attacks in most Panic Disorder (PD) patients, but little is known about chronic caffeine use in these patients.

Objective: To assess caffeine use in patients with PD and to ascertain if caffeine consumption is associated with sociodemographic or clinical features.

Methods: 65 adults with PD and 66 healthy controls were included in the current study.

Panic attack provocation in panic disorder patients with a computer simulation.

Background: Computer simulations (CS) and virtual reality exposure are promising techniques for research and treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA). The objective of this study was to ascertain whether a given CS was a stimulus capable of producing panic attacks (PAs), anxiety and psychophysiological changes in patients with PDA.

Methods: Thirty PDA patients and 30 healthy subjects were recruited for this study.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and benzodiazepines in panic disorder: A meta-analysis of common side effects in acute treatment.

Background: Benzodiazepines (BZs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are effective in the pharmacologic treatment of panic disorder (PD). However, treatment guidelines favor SSRIs over BZs based on the belief that BZs are associated with more adverse effects than SSRIs. This belief, however, is currently supported only by opinion and anecdotes.

Megacities, migration and an evolutionary approach to bipolar disorder: a study of Sardinian immigrants in Latin America.

Objective: To determine whether people with a Sardinian genetic background who live in the megacities of South America have a higher frequency of hypomania than residents of Sardinia.

Methods: A community survey of Sardinian immigrants was carried out in four Brazilian metropoles (n=218) and Buenos Aires (n=306). The results were compared with those of a study involving a similar methodology (Mood Disorder Questionnaire [MDQ] as a screening tool) conducted in seven Italian regions, including a sub-sample from Sardinia.

Elevated peripheral kynurenine/tryptophan ratio predicts poor short-term auditory memory in panic disorder patients.

Abnormalities in the kynurenine pathway (KP) have been implicated in the cognitive deficits of psychiatry disorders, possibly through cytokines that increase the activity of indoleamine-2,3 dioxygenase (IDO), a key enzyme for tryptophan-to-kynurenine conversion. Some studies on panic disorder (PD) have detected elevated cytokines in blood. We aimed to determine the extent to which elevated peripheral cytokine levels and kynurenine/tryptophan (kyn/tryp) ratio (1) are biological markers for PD patients and (2) are related to cognition in PD.

Pharmacological and Neuromodulatory Treatments for Panic Disorder: Clinical Trials from 2010 to 2018.

Objective: Treatment for panic disorder (PD) have evolved, although there is still a strong unmet need for more effective and tolerable options. The present study summarizes and discusses recent evidence regarding the pharmacological and neuromodulatory treatment of PD.

Methods: MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO and Thomson Reuters's Web of Science were searched for clinical trials published between 2010 and 2018.

The role of acid-sensitive ion channels in panic disorder: a systematic review of animal studies and meta-analysis of human studies.

Acid-sensitive ion channels, such as amiloride-sensitive cation channel (ACCN), transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1), and T-cell death-associated gene 8 (TDAG8) are highly related to the expression of fear and are expressed in several regions of the brain. These molecules can detect acidosis and maintain brain homeostasis. An important role of pH homeostasis has been suggested in the physiology of panic disorder (PD), with acidosis as an interoceptive trigger for panic attacks.

The impact of fibromyalgia syndrome and the role of comorbidity with mood and post-traumatic stress disorder in worsening the quality of life.

Background:: The aim is to measure the association between fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mood and anxiety disorders using reliable psychiatric diagnoses according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) and with a case-control design.

Methods:: Case-control study with cases (71 consecutive female patients with FMS) and controls (284 subjects without FMS), randomly drawn after a gender- and age-matching technique from the database of an epidemiological survey.