The effects of war-related experiences on mental health symptoms of individuals living in conflict zones: a longitudinal study.

On October 7, 2023, a large-scale attack in southern Israel and the subsequent war resulted in extensive loss of life and injuries, with many individuals experiencing traumatic losses, such as family members or close friends being killed or kidnapped. This study aims to longitudinally examine its effects on mental health, specifically, clinical symptoms of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We anticipated greater symptom severity among individuals who experienced traumatic loss, were forcibly displaced, or suffered income loss, as well as among women and members of ethnic minorities.

Brief video intervention to increase treatment-seeking among individuals living in a conflict zone: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: On October 7, 2023, a large-scale attack in Southern Israel and the ensuing war led to widespread casualties and the displacement of hundreds of thousands in Southern and Northern Israel. The conflict has exacerbated mental health issues. This randomized controlled trial assessed a brief social-contact-based video intervention on a large sample of individuals living in conflict zones, aiming to examine its effects on increasing treatment-seeking intentions.

Positive Reframing of Psychosis Risk Is Seen as More Beneficial and Less Harmful Than Negative Framing by Clinicians: An Experimental Videotaped Simulated Feedback Study.

Background And Hypothesis: Recent studies show that, despite providing some relief, feedback about being at risk for psychosis often triggers negative emotional reactions. Inspired by Tversky and Kahneman's (1981) work on the framing effect and medical framings that favors positive framing like "life-threatening" over "high-risk for death," this study tested the hypothesis that positive reframing of psychosis risk (PR) could alleviate these concerns. To establish the justifiability and feasibility of testing this hypothesis with patients and their families, the study first sought to test whether mental health professionals (MHPs) view positive framing as superior to present state-of-the-art approaches.

Long-term efficacy of a continuity-of-care treatment model for patients with severe mental illness who transition from in-patient to out-patient services.

Background: Despite its significance, ensuring continuity of care demands substantial resources, which might not be readily accessible in many public healthcare systems. Studies indicate that continuity of care remains uncertain in numerous healthcare systems.

Aims: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a continuity-of-care model for patients with severe mental illness (SMI), providing seamless treatment from discharge from a closed ward to subsequent psychiatric, psychological and rehabilitation services.

[MULTI-DIMENSIONAL APPROACH FOR ASSESSING CREDIBILITY OF INDIVIDUALS CLAIMING COMBAT PTSD COMPENSATIONS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY].

Diagnosis of combat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is largely based on the subjective reports of the claimant and is therefore prone to over-diagnosis of symptoms. Over-diagnosis of combat PTSD is associated with harm. Therefore, it is important to assess the claimant's credibility in assessing PTSD as accurately as possible.

Using Failure Mode and Effect Analysis to Identify Potential Failures in a Psychiatric Hospital Emergency Department.

Objectives: Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is a powerful tool for accessing potential failures, but the participants are limited. It has not been used in psychiatric hospitals. Objectives were to implement FMEA in a psychiatric hospital and determine whether the FMEA process can be expanded by including participants who are familiar with the emergency department (ED) admission process and those who are not.

The MATRIX: A deliberate practice approach for clinical supervision in the public sector.

Clinical supervision is an essential component of psychotherapeutic practice. However, the literature suggests that the provision of supervision in the public sector has been declining significantly over the past two decades, suggesting that many health care professionals are receiving neither the guidance nor support needed to deliver safe and effective care. Identifying the distinct challenges of supervision in the public sector and proposing prospective solutions is, therefore, a burning issue.

Intranasal Oxytocin as Add-On Treatment for Inpatients with Severe Mental Illness: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Introduction: In recent years, several studies were conducted to explore the potential augmenting effect of oxytocin for the treatment of individuals with severe mental illness. Nonetheless, studies exploring its effects in routine inpatient settings using high-quality randomized controlled trials are scarce. The current study assessed the effect of oxytocin administration on treatment process and outcome among psychiatric inpatients, while employing a rigorous experimental methodology.

Mental health professionals' awareness of the parental functioning of persons with severe mental disorders: a retrospective chart study.

Background: The proportion of persons with severe mental illness (SMI) who are parents has increased in recent decades. Children of parents with SMI are at increased risk for medical, behavioral, emotional, developmental, academic, and social problems. They also have an increased risk for injuries, accidents, and mortality, addictions, and various psychiatric disorders compared to children of parents with no such diagnoses.

Psychiatrists' awareness of the cost of medication, rates of social disability pension, and their attitudes regarding knowledge of treatment costs.

Background: Medication is a significant component of the cost of mental health care. Studies from different countries indicate that physicians are often not aware of medication costs, despite the impact of such knowledge on treatment plans. The purpose of this study was to examine Israeli psychiatrists' knowledge regarding the cost of medication and rates of disability pension, and the impact of these factors on treatment decisions.

The Impact of a Continuity-of-Care Model From Hospitalization to Outpatient Clinic for Patients With Severe Mental Illness.

The authors sought to assess the impact of a continuity-of-care model on quality-of-care measures among hospitalized patients with severe mental illness in Israel. A "continuity-of-care physician" provided psychiatric care to patients during hospitalization and outpatient care after discharge. In the year after the model's implementation, emergency department visits significantly decreased by 32% and rehospitalization rates of patients discharged within 30 and 90 days decreased by 40% and 29%, respectively.

Distress and Well-Being Among Psychiatric Patients in the Aftermath of the First COVID-19 Lockdown in Israel: A Longitudinal Study.

Studies assessing the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric patients have mostly focused on cross-sectional evaluations of differences in levels of distress. In this study, we aimed to assess changes in distress and well-being following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak as compared with pre-pandemic levels, as well as potential predictors of symptomatic deterioration, among psychiatric outpatients treated in a public mental health hospital in Israel. Patients evaluated for distress and well-being before the pandemic ( = 55) were re-evaluated at the end of the first lockdown in Israel.

Exploring the relation between clinician ratings and patient-reported experience and outcomes.

Background: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) are increasingly recognized as important ways for patients to be more actively involved in their treatment and enhance shared decision-making.

Objective: The current study investigated the associations between PROMs, PREMs and various symptoms measures reported by clinicians and psychiatric patients.

Method: One hundred and twenty people admitted to a psychiatric hospital completed two PREMs, one PROM (the shortened version of the Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life scale) and Effects of Symptoms on Daily Functioning (the Sheehan Disability Scale), the Patient Clinical Global Impression and the Modified Colorado Symptom Index.

Hope as a predictor for COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

The worldwide effort to recover from the COVID-19 crisis is now at its pinnacle with the putative vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. To reach herd immunity, it has become an urgent global need to understand the emotional factors that drive people's choice to get vaccinated. Therefore, this exploratory study examined emotional motivations as predictors of the decision to receive the vaccine.

Case Report: Oxytocin and Its Association With Psychotherapy Process and Outcome.

The potential of Oxytocin (OT) as a facilitator of psychotherapy has been previously acknowledged, nonetheless, randomized controlled trials thus far have not yielded conclusive results. One approach suggested to clarify empirical inconsistencies is to refine the study hypotheses and data collection process by utilizing an in-depth idiographic exploration of the investigated phenomena. In this case illustration we provide an in-depth analysis comparing two patients hospitalized in a closed psychiatric ward with depression and undergoing psychotherapy twice a week.

Open-Label placebo for the treatment of unipolar depression: Results from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The response to placebo is robust in studies of various antidepressant treatments. The strong placebo response, combined with the absence of side-effects, has prompted suggestions to use the ethically sound open-label placebo (OLP) as a treatment for depression. The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy of OLP as an adjunct to treatment as usual (TAU) in the setting of a randomized controlled trial for the treatment of unipolar depression.

Fear of COVID-19 scale: Psychometric characteristics, reliability and validity in the Israeli population.

Mental health clinicians worldwide have been expressing concerns regarding the broad psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, only a few studies have thus far evaluated the degree of fear of COVID-19, partially due to the lack of validated measures. In this study we evaluated the psychometric properties of the Hebrew version of the Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S), recently developed to assess different aspects of the fear of the pandemic, in a normative population of participants in Israel.

Patient-therapist congruent exchanges engaged with the potential-to-experience is associated with better outcome of psychotherapy.

Background: The concept of potential-to-experience is a major component in psychodynamic theory and assumed to be an important component of psychotherapeutic technique. However, as this assumption has never been empirically tested, the relationship between such interventions and treatment outcome is unclear. The aim of this pilot study is to explore the relationship between patient-therapist congruence of potential-to-experience engaged statements and the outcome of psychodynamic treatments.

Attitudes of mental health clinicians toward perceived inaccuracy of a schizophrenia diagnosis in routine clinical practice.

Background: Mental health clinicians have previously been reported to express reservations regarding the utility and accuracy of the psychiatric classification systems. In this study we aimed to examine clinicians' experiences with instances of perceived inaccuracy of a schizophrenia diagnosis.

Methods: Mental health clinicians (N = 175) participated in an online survey assessing prevalence and perceived reasons for inaccuracies of a schizophrenia diagnosis.

Processes in Psychotherapy and the MATRIX: The Case of Projective Identification.

The MATRIX is a tool designed to analyze psychoanalytic sessions. It is composed of two axes: focus (patient, therapist, and dyad) and dimension (space, content, and order). The MATRIX was found to be a reliable tool, and valid for identifying the therapist's theoretical inclinations in psychoanalytic-oriented psychotherapy sessions.

The association between patient-therapist MATRIX congruence and treatment outcome.

: The present study aimed to examine the association between patient-therapist micro-level congruence/incongruence ratio and psychotherapeutic outcome. : Nine good- and nine poor-outcome psychodynamic treatments (segregated by comparing pre- and post-treatment BDI-II) were analyzed ( = 18) moment by moment using the MATRIX (total number of MATRIX codes analyzed = 11,125). MATRIX congruence was defined as similar adjacent MATRIX codes.

The MATRIX, a novel tool exploring dynamic psychotherapy: Preliminary psychometric properties.

Most measures in the field of psychodynamic psychotherapy are bound to a specific theory, and usually focus only on patient processes or therapist interventions. The MATRIX is a newly developed research tool that focuses on events within both the patient and the therapist individually, as well as on dyadic events, and provides the simple and meaningful coding of content for therapy session transcripts in psychotherapy. The present study describes the inter-rater reliability and construct validity of the MATRIX.

Individual Psychotherapy ("Talking Therapy"): A Survey of Attitudes among Residents & Specialists in Psychiatry, Israel 2010-2011.

Background: Individual psychotherapy is an efficient tool and an integral part of psychiatric treatment. However, its status among psychiatrists in Israel has never been explored.

Objectives: To explore and map the attitudes of psychiatrists in Israel regarding psychotherapy and psychotherapy training during residency, with comparisons between residents vs.

Dying in the psychiatric ward.

General hospital staff is experienced in dealing with the death of a patient. However, aside from cases of sudden death among psychiatric inpatients, psychiatric medical staff faces such situations considerably less frequently. Many chronic psychiatric patients do not have a family or home, a situation which may become even more painful if the patient is dying of a physical illness.