Category: Mental Health Research

Theoretical Assumptions & Mental Disorders

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Research Paper Title

Should definitions for mental disorders include explicit theoretical elements?

Background

In this article the researchers argue that mental disorders have come to be defined according to a descriptive theory of meaning. In other words, mental disorders are defined according to superficial descriptive criteria that count as necessary and sufficient criteria for the inclusion of a particular instance under its corresponding class.

These descriptive criteria are allegedly theory independent, leading to the assumption that psychiatric symptoms are directly identified in an object-like fashion.

Against this view, the researchers hold that a descriptive theory of meaning is unable to offer a proper account of the meaning of mental disorders both due to its own internal limitations and to the specific nature of psychiatric phenomena.

Due to the hermeneutic structure of psychiatric practice, they argue that the identification and description of mental symptoms and disorders unavoidably depends on (frequently unacknowledged) theoretical assumptions.

Since there is no global consensus regarding these theoretical commitments, and due to the fact that these significantly affect the final picture the researchers hold with respect to each mental disorder, they believe that these commitments should be explicitly stated both in diagnostic argumentation and in theoretical discussions in order to maximise self- and mutual understanding.

Reference

Adan-Manes, J. & Ramos-Gorostiza, P. (2020) Should definitions for mental disorders include explicit theoretical elements? Psychopathology. 47(3), pp.158-166. doi: 10.1159/000351741. Epub 2013 Aug 30.

Personality Core of Mental Illness

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Research Paper Title

Does it exist a personality core of mental illness? A systematic review on core psychobiological personality traits in mental disorders,

Background

Research investigating the relationship between mental disorders and personality traits leads to interesting results. Individuals affected by several mental disorders have been worldwide assessed according to the psychobiological model of personality. This review aims to explore which temperament and character traits are recurrent in mental disorders and to highlight what traits may be shared determinants or consequences of the expression of a mental disorder.

Methods

Systematic search of Medline database between 1998 and 2011 has been conducted to select the studies exploring the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) dimensions in the most relevant axis I psychiatric disorders. Of the 110 studies that were retrieved, 88 met the inclusion/exclusion criteria and were analysed.

Results

High HA (HA) and low self-directedness are recurrent and can be considered as a “personality core” regardless of the diagnosis. They may be risk factors and relapse-related, they can indicate incomplete remission or chronic course of mental disorders, and consistently influence patients’ functioning. Furthermore, they can be modified by medications or psychotherapy and represent outcome predictors of treatments.

Conclusion

This “core” may represent a personality diathesis to psychopathology. Relational environment can influence the development of both temperament and character, thus prevention of mental disorders should promote a positive development of these traits. Although further research is needed, psychotherapeutic interventions should be performed also considering that mental disorders could benefit from HA desensitisation and SD reinforcement. Finally, these traits may be used to provide diagnostic, prognostic, quality of life and efficacy inferences on psychiatric treatments.

Reference

Fassino, S., Amianto, F., Sobrero, C. & Daga, G.A. (2020) Does it exist a personality core of mental illness? A systematic review on core psychobiological personality traits in mental disorders. Panminerva Medica. 55(4), pp.397-413.

The Use of Complementary & Alternative Medicine in Mental Disorders

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Research Paper Title

Mental disorders and the use of alternative medicine: results from a national survey.

Background

The study examined the relationship between mental disorders and the use of complementary and alternative medicine.

Methods

Data from a national household telephone survey conducted in 1997-1998 (N=9,585) were used to examine the relationships between use of complementary and alternative medicine during the past 12 months and several demographic variables and indicators of mental disorders. Structured diagnostic screening interviews were used to establish diagnoses of probable mental disorders.

Results

Use of complementary and alternative medicine during the past 12 months was reported by 16.5% of the respondents. Of those respondents, 21.3% met diagnostic criteria for one or more mental disorders, compared to 12.8% of respondents who did not report use of alternative medicine. Individuals with panic disorder and major depression were significantly more likely to use alternative medicine than those without those disorders. Respondents with mental disorders who reported use of alternative medicine were as likely to use conventional mental health services as respondents with mental disorders who did not use alternative medicine.

Conclusions

The researchers found relatively high rates of use of complementary and alternative medicine among respondents who met criteria for common mental disorders. Practitioners of alternative medicine should look for these disorders in their patients, and conventional medical providers should ask their depressed and anxious patients about the use of alternative medicine. More research is needed to determine if individuals with mental disorders use alternative medicine because conventional medical care does not meet their health care needs.

Reference

Unutzer, J., Klap, R., Sturm, R., Young, A.S., Marmon, T., Shatkin, J. & Wells, K.B. (2020) Mental disorders and the use of alternative medicine: results from a national survey. The American Journal of Psychiatry. 157(11), pp.1851-1857. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.157.11.1851.

Is the Association between Mental Disorders & Cardiovascular Disease Spurious or Real?

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Research Paper Title

PsyCoLaus: mental disorders and cardiovascular diseases: spurious association?

Background

Cardio-vascular diseases (CVD), their well established risk factors (CVRF) and mental disorders are common and co-occur more frequently than would be expected by chance.

However, the mechanisms underlying this association are still poorly understood.

The main study questions of PsyCoLaus, the psychiatric arm of CoLaus, are:

  • Do mental disorders increase vulnerability to CVRF and CVD?
  • Do CVRF and CVD promote the development of mental disorders?
  • Do CVRF/ CVD and mental disorders share common pathogenetic processes?

The longitudinal project adds a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation to the CoLaus investigation.

A better understanding of the psychological, physiological and behavioural links underlying CVD/ CVRF and mental disorders will result in the development of more specific and efficient strategies of prevention and treatment for both psychiatric and CVD/CVRF, two major elements of burden of disease.

Reference

Preisig, M., Waeber, G., Mooser, V. & Vollenweider, P. (2020) PsyCoLaus: mental disorders and cardiovascular diseases: spurious association? Revue Medicale Suisse. 7(315), pp.2127-2129.

What are the Current Trends in Therapy for Mental Disorders in Adolescence?

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Research Paper Title

Mental disorders in adolescence: current trends in therapy.

Background

On the basis of the high prevalence for behavioural problems and mental disorders in adolescence and its persistence into adulthood it is tested whether and based upon which emphasis this topic is considered in the recent discussion on psychotherapy.

Therefore, a bibliometric analysis is given that summarizes the issue in the 2011 and 2012 volumes of representative German child and adolescent psychological and psychiatric journals.

The focus lies on conduct disorder, depression, deliberate self-harm, dissociative disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder.

Reference

de Vries, U., Lehmkuhl, G. & Petermann, F. (2020) Mental disorders in adolescence: current trends in therapy.

Are Treatments for Common Mental Disorders also Effective for Functional Symptoms & Disorder?

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Research Paper Title

Are treatments for common mental disorders also effective for functional symptoms and disorder?

Background

To consider whether the many types of treatments for mental disorders – both those specifically targeting illness mechanisms and nonspecific elements – are also effective in treating functional symptoms and syndromes. The paper discusses the need for well-organised care that emphasizes early treatment and recognition of more complex problems in primary and secondary medical care.

Methods

Evidence from a wide range of research and clinical experience is used to identify and illustrate general themes.

Results

Despite a limited evidence base, it is clear that both specific and nonspecific interventions that are effective with mental disorders are also effective in treating functional complaints. They are also helpful in the management of maladaptive reactions to physical disorders. Delivery is most effective as stepped care.

Conclusions

There is a particular need for more evidence on the effectiveness of the nonspecific elements of treatment and of their most appropriate delivery by non-specialists in general medical settings.

Experience with a variety of treatment methods will enhance our understanding of psychological and other etiological variables and thereby influence the development of improved definitions in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5(th) Edition.

It is argued that a main focus of review of somatoform disorder should be the resolution of conceptual problems.

Reference

Mayou, R. (2020) Are treatments for common mental disorders also effective for functional symptoms and disorder? Psychosomatic Medicine. 69(9), pp.876-880. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e31815b00a6.

Is Neuroanalysis a Useful Method for Brain-Related Neuroscientific Diagnosis of Mental Disorders?

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Research Paper Title

Neuroanalysis: a method for brain-related neuroscientific diagnosis of mental disorders.

Background

As an Ancient Chinese proverb says “The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names” thus we must start calling mental disorders by the names of their underlying brain disturbances. Without knowledge of the causes of mental disorders, their cures will remain elusive.

Methods

Neuroanalysis is a literature-based re-conceptualisation of mental disorders as disturbances of brain organisation. Psychosis and schizophrenia can be re-conceptualised as disturbances to connectivity and hierarchical dynamics in the brain; mood disorders can be re-conceptualised as disturbances to optimization dynamics and free energy in the brain, and finally personality disorders can be re-conceptualised as disordered default-mode networks in the brain.

Results and Conclusions

Knowledge and awareness of the disease algorithms of mental disorders will become critical because powerful technologies for controlling brain activity are developing and becoming available. The time will soon come when psychiatrists will be asked to define the exact ‘algorithms’ of disturbances in their psychiatric patients. Neuroanalysis can be a starting point for the response to that challenge.

Reference

Peled, A. (2020) Neuroanalysis: a method for brain-related neuroscientific diagnosis of mental disorders. Medical Hypotheses. 78(5), pp.636-640. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2012.01.043. Epub 2012 Feb 18.

Qigong and its Role in Mental Disorders

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Research Paper Title

Qigong-induced mental disorders: a review.

Background

This review article aims to explore current opinions on Qigong-induced mental disorders, an entity which is unfamiliar to Western psychiatrists.

Method

Relevant literature published in Chinese and English is reviewed.

Results

The review is divided into three sections:

  • First, there is brief consideration of the historical development of Qigong in traditional Chinese medicine and its role in psychiatry;
  • Second, there is a review of the literature published on Qigong deviations and Qigong-induced mental disorders; and
  • Third, there is a discussion on the aetiological role of Qigong in these conditions.

Conclusions

Qigong remained veiled in secrecy and available only to the elite until the early 1980s. Despite the widespread use of Qigong, there is a conspicuous lack of controlled data regarding its effects on mental health.

Qigong, when practised inappropriately, may induce abnormal psychosomatic responses and even mental disorders. However, the ties between Qigong and mental disorders are manifold, and a causal relationship is difficult to establish.

Many so-called ‘Qigong-induced psychoses’ may be more appropriately labelled ‘Qigong-precipitated psychoses’, where the practice of Qigong acts as a stressor in vulnerable individuals.

Reference

Ng, B.Y. (2020) Qigong-induced mental disorders: a review. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 33(2), pp.197-206. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1614.1999.00536.x.

What is Qigong?

Qigong, which is sometimes spelled Chi-Kung (and pronounced chee-gung), is the study and practice of cultivating vital life-force through various techniques, including:

  • Breathing techniques.
  • Postures.
  • Meditations.
  • Guided imagery.

Qi means “breath” or “air” and is considered the “vital-life-force” or “life-force energy.” Qigong practitioners believe that this vital-life-force penetrates and permeates everything in the universe. It corresponds to the Greek “pneuma,” the Sanskrit “prana,” or the Western medical conception of “bioelectricity.”

Gong means “work” or “effort” and is the commitment an individual puts into any practice or skill that requires time, patience, and repetition to perfect.

Through study, the individual aims to develop the ability to manipulate Qi in order to promote self-healing, prevent disease, and increase longevity.

Mental Disorders, Personality Traits & Impaired Work Functioning: Is There an Association?

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Research Paper Title

Mental disorders and personality traits as determinants of impaired work functioning.

Background

Both mental disorders and personality characteristics are associated with impaired work functioning, but these determinants have not yet been studied together. The aim of this paper is to examine the impairing effects that mental disorders and personality characteristics (i.e. neuroticism, locus of control and self-esteem) have on work functioning.

Methods

Data for a representative sample of 3570 working people were derived from the first two waves of the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS), a prospective cohort study in the Dutch adult population.

Results

Higher neuroticism, more external locus of control and lower self-esteem were each significantly associated with subsequent impairment in work functioning, independently of any effects from mental disorders. Associations between mental disorders and subsequent work impairment disappeared once personality traits were taken into account. Personality traits did not moderate the relationships between mental disorders and work functioning.

Conclusions

Working people with vulnerable personalities have a greater risk of impaired work functioning, independent of the risk from any mental disorder they may have.

Reference

Michon, H.W.C., Have, M.T., Kroon, H., van Weeghel, J., de Graaf, R. & Schene, A.H. (2020) Mental disorders and personality traits as determinants of impaired work functioning. Psychological Medicine. 38(11), pp.1627-1637. doi: 10.1017/S0033291707002449. Epub 2008 Jan 21.

Psychiatrists have Started the Process of Mapping Genetic Architecture of Mental Disorders

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Research Paper Title

Psychiatrists begin to map genetic architecture of mental disorders.

Background

Mental illness affects one in six US adults, but scientists’ sense of the underlying biology of most psychiatric disorders remains nebulous.

That is frustrating for physicians treating the diseases, who must make diagnoses based on symptoms that may only appear sporadically.

Now, a large-scale analysis of postmortem brains is revealing distinctive molecular traces in people with mental illness.

An international team of researchers reports that five major psychiatric disorders have often overlapping patterns of gene activity, which furthermore vary in disease-specific – and sometimes counterintuitive – ways.

The findings, they say, might someday lead to diagnostic tests, and one has already inspired a clinical trial of a new way to treat overactive brain cells in autism.

Reference

Dengler, R. (2020) Psychiatrists begin to map genetic architecture of mental disorders. Neuroscience. 359(6376), pp.619. DOI: 10.1126/science.359.6376.619