Current Psychiatry Research and Reviews - Volume 21, Issue 1, 2025

Schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder are treated in most cases with antipsychotic drugs of the second generation. These drugs block dopaminergic and serotonergic receptors, i.e., D2 and 5-HT2A receptors, and cause different adverse effects, for example, movement disturbances of the extrapyramidal system and adverse effects of vital parameters and of the heart. These drugs treat positive symptoms in schizophrenia and, to a lesser extent, negative symptoms. This review presents the development of newer antipsychotic drugs.

References were taken from PubMed after using the following keywords: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, antipsychotic drug, neurotransmitter and neuropeptide. Among these newer antipsychotic drugs are cariprazine, brexipiprazole and lumateperone, which exert a partial agonistic effect at D2 and 5-HT2A receptors, pimavanserin, a 5-HT2A receptor antagonist which treats negative symptoms in schizophrenia as an add-on therapy, olanzapine combined with samidorphan, which reduces weight gain, and M4 or M1 receptor agonists, for example, xanomeline with an antipsychotic effect combined with trospium, an anticholinergic drug. Neural networks were updated in order to deduce the antipsychotic mechanism of action of newer antipsychotic drugs, especially xanomeline.

The newer antipsychotic drugs cariprazine, brexipiprazole and lumateperone show antipsychotic, antimanic and anti-depressive effects, however, the efficacy on psychotic symptoms in long-term treatment has not yet been examined. Pimavanserin reduces negative symptoms in schizophrenia as an additional pharmacotherapy to treat this disorder. Olanzapine combined with samidorphan exerts good antipsychotic effects and reduces weight gain. The new antipsychotic drug xanomeline, the antipsychotic effect of which is quite different from the antidopaminergic effect, treats positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Its mechanism of action was deduced from the neural networks presented. The long-term efficacy should still be examined.

This review is focused on newer antipsychotic drugs. The long-term efficacy of cariprazine, brexipiprazole and lumateperone in the treatment of schizophrenia should be examined furthermore. Neural networks in the brain areas involved in schizophrenia should be examined and updated furthermore. Newer antipsychotic drugs, for example, xanomeline, an M4 or M1 receptor agonist, which has been combined with trospium, an anticholinergic drug, the mechanism of action of which can be derived from the neural network suggested in this review.

Smokers’ expectancies about abstinence, that is the effects that smokers anticipate when they attempt to quit smoking, remain understudied. The aim of the present study was to examine the relation between smoking abstinence expectations and subjective experience over time among individuals in smoking cessation treatment.

A total of 215 adult smokers seeking treatment at two Italian third-level outpatient facilities were assessed at baseline and three-time points after the quit day (QD): 7 days, and 1 and 3 months. The following self-report instruments were administered: the Smoking Abstinence Expectancies Questionnaire (SAEQ), as a baseline measure of expectancies before quitting; the SAEQ-past, for assessing the actual occurrence of symptoms that were expected; the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale, as a measure of withdrawal symptoms post-quitting.

One and 3 months after the QD, participants reported fewer negative abstinence symptoms than expected, except for somatic symptoms, and fewer positive consequences than expected. A mismatch between smoking abstinence expectations and actual post-quitting experiences was found, thus expectancies were violated.

The present findings confirm the need to assess both abstinence expectancies and actual post-quitting experiences. Future studies should examine tailored interventions aimed at educating smokers about expectancies and post-quitting experiences.

Many individuals undergo drug addiction treatment relapse after treatment. Additionally, a few studies have focused on the unique challenges faced by women in addiction recovery. Therefore, we aimed to identify predictors of relapse among women who have undergone drug addiction treatment to develop a more effective intervention program tailored to their needs.

The present cross-sectional study evaluated 320 addicted women from Lorestan province, Iran, in 2020 who had used illegal substances. Convenience sampling was used to select participants from outpatient addiction treatment centers, triangular clinics, and rehabilitation centers. Demographic characteristics, drug use patterns, and risk factors for addiction were recorded. Predictors of relapse were evaluated using a negative binomial regression model.

The study included women with a mean age of 34.78±9.31 years who had a history of drug addiction relapse. Around 43.44% of the women were married and 36.88% lived with their husbands. Methamphetamine, opium, and heroin were the commonly used drugs. The study found that women with primary school education had a higher rate of relapse (IRR: 1.71, p = 0.01) and women with husbands being substance users (IRR: 1.34, p = 0.014), history of imprisonment (IRR: 1.51, p = 0.002), smoking (IRR: 1.91, p < 0.001), and alcohol consumption (IRR: 1.49, p = 0.005) were also associated with a higher rate of relapse.

In conclusion, this study found that women with primary school education, husbands being substance users, history of imprisonment, smoking, and alcohol consumption behavior had a higher rate of relapse. By addressing the identified predictors of relapse, such programs can improve the success rate of addiction treatment and promote long-term recovery among women. In addition, this study highlights that addiction relapse is not necessarily caused by a single factor, and several different personal and environmental factors can influence this issue.

India and other parts of the world have witnessed a health emergency due to COVID-19 that immensely affected the globe. These infectious diseases changed the lives of people, and the condition of working women worsened due to the responsibility of work, home, children, family, house, etc., altogether simultaneously. In a patriarchal society like India, where women are considered as ‘nurturing sex’ where domestic chores and care giving responsibilities are shouldered on women, the juggle between work and home elevated the work demand and heightened the level of stress. Based on the background discussed above, this research is an attempt to address the condition of working women the juggling between work and home elevated stress, work pressure amid COVID-19.

The world has been struggling with the greatest health crisis for the last two and a half years, affecting everyone’s life, especially working women. The condition of working women has worsened by bearing the heap of responsibilities of work, home, children, family, house, etc., which undoubtedly results in stress, frustration, and anger affecting women’s physical and mental health. This paper is to study the condition of working women who are juggling between work and home amid this COVID-19 pandemic.

For conducting the comprehensive study, a questionnaire was designed, which consisted of 14 questions excluding the demographic information, namely Name, Age, Gender, Profession, Experience, etc. Questionnaires were floated to 60 working women under different job profiles. Convenience Sampling was used to collect the data. Out of a sample of 60, 50 women recorded their responses via Google Sheets, and 38 questionnaires were finally used for analysis. The authors have utilized qualitative data analysis techniques to address the issue with the help of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software NVIVO. For analyzing the qualitative data, NVIVO 12 was used by applying three tools Word Cloud Analysis, thematic analysis, and sentiments analysis.

The findings of the study show that working women are facing continuous challenges and are under stress due to multiple roles, responsibilities, and work demands since the onset of COVID-19. It is supported by Word Cloud Analysis, thematic analysis, and sentiment analysis.

The outbreak of this COVID-19 pandemic, and its exceptional impact on lives, has generated an array of challenges in everyone’s life, but it shattered the lives of working women. The objective of this research is to unearth the stress in working women’s life amid COVID-19 due to the juggling between personal and professional life simultaneously. Results show that amid COVID-19, working women are under stress due to familial responsibility, household chores, work demands, caregiving, etc., all simultaneously without any breather. This societal stereotype lays high pressure and exceptions on working women leading to stress affecting the personal well-being and health of the woman.

With the sudden onset of COVID-19, many organisations introduced a mandatory relocation of workforce from their workplace to their homes bringing in a work from home policy for their employees. The purpose of the study is to examine the positive and negative impact on quality of life of teleworking, thereby assessing the prevalence of psychological distress of employees working in COVID-19.

A cross sectional study was conducted on Indian - representative survey of self-reported data through an online questionnaire of work from home employees and their responses were analysed using SPSS software.

The study findings revealed that out of 2943 total respondents to the questionnaires, 18.9% and 20.2% had agreed and strongly agreed respectively to the statement that, work from home was a chance to break old habits and change routine. The mean positive affect score among those affected with COVID was 20.82 ± 3.71 and for those not affected with COVID was 21.12 ± 3.71.

The results indicate age disparities in mental distress, perceived adversities highlighted the discrepancies differed by the area of residence and those affected by the corona virus.