Trends in psychiatric emergency visits: insights from France's largest psychiatric emergency department.

Introduction: Psychiatric emergency departments (EDs) in France have been under pressure from several factors, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic led to an increase in psychiatric disorders, particularly anxiety and depression, with younger people and women being most affected. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive description of the trends in the number of visits to the largest psychiatric emergency department in France, with a particular focus on the period preceding and following the advent of COVID-19 pandemic.

The nightmare severity index (NSI): A short new multidimensional tool for assessing nightmares.

This psychometric pilot study aims to evaluate a new multidimensional simple scale, named the nightmare severity index (NSI) - close to the existing insomnia (ISI) and hypersomnia (HSI) severity indexes. The NSI encompasses all main dimensions of nightmare disorder, evaluating four subdimensions: frequency, emotional impact, diurnal impact, and nocturnal impact of nightmares. The NSI was completed by a total of 102 patients.

Sleep Immune Cross Talk and Insomnia.

Sleep and immunity have bidirectional relationships. In this chapter, we review the links between sleep and immunity, focusing on immune changes occurring in the insomnia disorder. During physiological sleep, there is a decrease of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α) and a decrease of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10).

Impact of meteorological factors on alcohol use disorders: A study in emergency departments.

No data exist on the influence of meteorological factors on alcohol use disorders (AUD). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between meteorological factors and AUD. All patients who were admitted to an emergency department (ED) in the Paris-region for an alcohol-related condition were included using the Oscour® database over the period January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019.

Nightmares in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and Psychotic Disorders: A Systematic Review.

Chronic nightmares are very common in psychiatric disorders, affecting up to 70% of patients with personality or post-traumatic stress disorders. In other psychiatric disorders, the relationships with nightmares are poorly known. This review aimed to clarify the relationship between nightmares and both mood and psychotic disorders.

Patient flow in the largest French psychiatric emergency centre in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To date, we have no French data about the psychiatric consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and the confinement. In the largest French psychiatric emergency centre, we compared the average number of consultations per day during the confinement with the same period preceding the confinement and with the same periods of previous years, and we observed a significant drop in attendance. Our team had to adapt promptly to these changes in public mental health services, and we set up a telephone hotline dedicated to psychiatric patients and their families, in order to prevent a secondary psychiatric crisis.

[The risk/benefit ratio in psychiatry].

The risk/benefit ratio weighs up on the one hand the expected advantages and on the other the potential risks of a procedure. It is taken into consideration with every therapeutic decision, whether it concerns medication-based treatments, psychotherapy or any other type of treatment. The ethical dimension is a critical element which must be taken into account during team deliberations, whenever these are possible.

[Decision of emergency involuntary hospitalization: categorical or dimensional approach?].

Background: In 2005, in its recommendations on the modalities of decision making for compulsory hospitalization, the French Health High Authority (HAS) had already stressed the need for rapid implementation of studies and epidemiological analyses on the subject to compensate the lack of adequate data in France. The new French law of July 5, 2011, on the rights and protection of persons under psychiatric care, establishes a judicial review of decisions for compulsory hospitalization. Therefore, healthcare professionals need to better define and characterize the criteria for such decisions, especially in their relation to psychopathology.