Designing and Implementing the Psychiatrist-led Personalized Mentorship Programs: The Role and Impact of Live Consultation-driven Training Methods.

Background: Clinical training in traditional medical education often needs more translational value, especially for in-service MBBS doctors working in primary health centers (PHCs), who provide first-line treatment for psychiatric disorders. To address this gap, a psychiatrist-led personalized mentorship program incorporating three live consultation-driven training (CDT) methods was developed to integrate psychiatric care into PHCs.

Methods: The authors designed and implemented a personalized mentorship program using three CDT methods tailored for in-service MBBS doctors.

Developing and testing Advance Choice Document implementation resources for Black African and Caribbean people with experience of compulsory psychiatric admission.

Background: Advance Choice Documents (ACDs) have been recommended for use in England and Wales based on evidence from trials that show that they can reduce involuntary hospitalisation, which disproportionately affects Black African and Caribbean people. Our aim was therefore to develop and test ACD implementation resources and processes for Black people who have previously been involuntarily hospitalised and the people that support them.

Methods: Resource co-production workshops were held to inform the development of the ACD template and two types of training for all stakeholders, comprising a Recovery College course and simulation training.

An exploration into the prevalence and experience of neurodiversity among staff at a UK high-secure psychiatric hospital.

Background: Whilst there is increasing recognition and interest in how staff who have neurodivergence are represented and contribute to industry, to date, there has been very little exploration of neurodivergence among healthcare staff and none with those working in forensic psychiatric services.

Aims: To estimate the prevalence of neurodivergence among staff working in a UK high-secure psychiatric hospital and explore their experiences.

Methods: All staff were invited to complete a confidential online self-report questionnaire consisting of both closed and open questions.

Psychiatrists' views on clozapine prescribing in Ireland.

Introduction: Despite proven effectiveness in refractory schizophrenia, clozapine remains underutilised, and it is important to understand potential reasons for this. This study's aim was to examine in a National sample of Consultant Psychiatrists their knowledge of, attitudes and perceived barriers to clozapine use.

Methods: A novel questionnaire was designed and distributed by email to 275 Consultant Psychiatrists in Republic of Ireland.

A systematic scoping review of the literature on sexual orientation obsessive compulsive disorder (SOOCD): Important clinical considerations and recommendations.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterised by the occurrence of persistent thoughts, urges, or images that are experienced as intrusive and unwanted (obsessions), and compulsive actions that the individual feels driven to act on in response to an obsession. These actions are carried out by an individual in order to try and prevent or reduce anxiety or distress, or to prevent something terrible from happening (American Psychiatric Association, APA, 2013). The aim of this review was to identify studies which have explored SOOCD.

The Profile and Characteristics of Young People Accessing Recently Implemented Community Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (F:CAMHS) in Northern Ireland.

Children under the age of 18 who are known to forensic child and adolescent mental health services often present with complex psychosocial and behavioural needs that are elevated compared with those in the general youth population. The Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service for Northern Ireland (FCAMHSNI) was commissioned in 2014 to support these children. Despite almost a decade of implementation, the profile and characteristics in the service remain under-analysed, impeding service improvement and making international comparisons more difficult.

2024 FDA-approved psychotropic medications: A conspectus.

As of August 2024, (US) FDA has granted approval for a number of psychotropic drugs on market that might usher an innovative sparkle in psychopharmacotherapy. This is a recap to update busy clinicians.

Spanish experts consensus on emergency psychiatric care in hospital emergency departments.

Background: The demand for urgent psychiatric care is increasing, but in Spain there are no clear recommendations for emergency departments (ED) on how to optimize care for patients with psychiatric emergencies. We aimed to provide expert consensus recommendations on the requirements for general hospitals´ emergency departments to treat patients with urgent psychiatric symptoms.

Methods: We used a modified Delphi technique.

Prisoners' perceptions and satisfaction with telepsychiatry services in Greece.

Telepsychiatry is an effective tool to support and provide mental health services to prison inmates. In Greece, telepsychiatry was formally applied in two correctional facilities in 2018. The objective of this study was to compare inmates' perceptions and satisfaction with telepsychiatry versus face-to-face consultation.

Need for education of psychiatric evaluation of offenders with mental disorders: A questionnaire survey for Japanese designated psychiatrists.

Background: The management of offenders with mental disorders has been a significant concern in forensic psychiatry. In Japan, the introduction of the Medical Treatment and Supervision Act in 2005 addressed the issue. However, numerous psychiatric patients at risk of violence still find themselves subject to the administrative involuntary hospitalization (AIH) scheme, which lacks clarity and updated standards.

Prisoners' Perceptions and Satisfaction with Telepsychiatry Services in Greece and the Effects of Its Use on the Coercion of Mental Healthcare.

Background: Prisoners are often associated with mental health and substance use disorders. Coercive measures are widely used in prison settings. The objective of this study was to compare inmates' perceptions and satisfaction with telepsychiatry versus face-to-face consultation and the effects of telepsychiatry on the use of coercive measures.

Identification and support of autistic individuals within the UK Criminal Justice System: a practical approach based upon professional consensus with input from lived experience.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (hereafter referred to as autism) is characterised by difficulties with (i) social communication, social interaction, and (ii) restricted and repetitive interests and behaviours. Estimates of autism prevalence within the criminal justice system (CJS) vary considerably, but there is evidence to suggest that the condition can be missed or misidentified within this population. Autism has implications for an individual's journey through the CJS, from police questioning and engagement in court proceedings through to risk assessment, formulation, therapeutic approaches, engagement with support services, and long-term social and legal outcomes.

Jailing is failing: psychiatry can help.

There is accumulating evidence that imprisonment is expensive but does little to address the underlying drivers of offending. At the same time, it is now recognised that a large proportion of prisoners are diagnosable with significant psychiatric disorders. In this piece we explore the potential role of psychiatry in addressing the societal challenge of a failing prison system.

Expert Evidence of "Risk Assessments" and the Preventive Detention of "Dangerous Prisoners".

The Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 (Qld) provides for the preventive detention of a prisoner if there is "acceptable, cogent evidence" to a "high degree of probability" that the prisoner is a "serious danger to the community" because of an "unacceptable risk" that the prisoner will commit a "serious sexual offence". In preventive detention cases courts rely on the expert opinion of psychiatrists and psychologists who often use actuarial risk assessment instruments. In Black v Attorney-General (Qld) [2022] QCA 253 the Queensland Court of Appeal considered a decision to detain an offender who had a history of possessing and trading child sexual exploitation material but who had not previously been proved to have committed a contact offence against a child.

Forensic psychiatric issues in intellectual disability.

Forensic psychiatrists and neuropsychiatrists are likely to encounter individuals with intellectual disability as they are over-represented in the judicial system. These individuals may have the full range of mental illnesses and comorbid conditions, including physical infirmity, sensory deficits, language impairment, and maladaptive behaviors. They are frequently disadvantaged in the judicial system due to lack of comprehension, lack of accommodations, and stigmatization.

Comparison of coercive practices in worldwide mental healthcare: overcoming difficulties resulting from variations in monitoring strategies.

Background: Coercive or restrictive practices such as compulsory admission, involuntary medication, seclusion and restraint impinge on individual autonomy. International consensus mandates reduction or elimination of restrictive practices in mental healthcare. To achieve this requires knowledge of the extent of these practices.

The Moral Dilemma of Euthanasia Through the Eyes of the Medical Society in Bulgaria.

Introduction: With the development of human society, the question of the value and inviolability of human life begins to occupy a central place in the various social strata and social structures. With the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after the Second World War, the basic postulates protecting the right to inviolability of human life were laid. The question focused on euthanasia has been discussed in several European countries, such as Germany, Ireland, France, and Italy, leading to considerable interest in the medical community in Bulgaria.