Current Psychiatry Reviews - Volume 2, Issue 3, 2006

Objective: We conducted a comprehensive review of the English language literature on the comorbidity of anxiety symptoms/disorders in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) in order to determine: their prevalence rates in clinical and non-clinical populations, the temporal relationship of anxiety comorbidity to SSDs, and the effect of comorbidity on outcome. Method: Medline and PsychInfo databases were s Read More

Schizophrenic individuals show impairments in language affecting what is referred to as the pragmatic component of language, typically the processing of non-literal language (e.g., irony, metaphor, indirect request). Such non-literal utterances require the ability to process the speaker's utterance beyond its literal meaning in order to allow one to grasp the speaker's intention by reference to the contextual information. T Read More

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as defined by DSM-IV, is a heterogeneous syndrome affecting an estimated 7% of children. Many will continue to have clinically-significant features of ADHD as adults, although some patients referred to adult psychiatrists have previously-unrecognised ADHD. Studies involving neurocognitive assessments or brain imaging have indicated ADHD-associated brain dysfunctions. Read More

Tinnitus is an abnormal perception of sound that cannot be attributed to an external source. In most cases, tinnitus is caused by insults to the peripheral auditory system. Tinnitus also displays strong links with negative emotional states such as anxiety. However, the relations of tinnitus with anxiety are still debated. Of particular interest is the question whether the occurrence of tinnitus is, at least partially, consecutive to high Read More

Gender differences in schizophrenia, in the age of onset, course, lifetime risk, age distribution of onsets over the life cycle and clinical symptoms will be reviewed from the literature and our own studies. Also, the pre- and postmenopausal course of illness in women will be explored. Explanations for the gender differences using "normal" behavioural sex differences and the protective oestrogen hypothesis will be discu Read More

Shared Psychotic Disorder (SPD) is the development of a delusion in an individual in the context of a close relationship with another who has an existing delusion. SPD has consistently been interpreted from a psychiatric perspective with little regard for the relational component of the sharing of delusions between individuals. We review the epidemiology, etiology, and clinical symptomatology of SPD, together with various theor Read More

Background: Brief definition of rapid cycling is the occurrence of at least four mood episodes in a year. It may be seen in patients with bipolar I, or bipolar II disorder. Rapid cycling bipolar disorder is frequently treatment-resistant. There is need for new, effective medications for the treatment of these patients. Objective: Novel anticonvulsants and newer generation of atypical antipsychotics may offer promising alternative treatm Read More

Depressive symptoms in schizophrenia patients are not usually the primary therapeutic goal, as the psychiatric evaluation of the schizophrenia is generally based in the assessment of the positive and negative syndrome. However, direct approach of the pure depressive symptoms in schizophrenia is of capital importance from both prognostic and therapeutical perspective. This paper reviews the recently published evi Read More

Spontaneous recurrence of methamphetamine- or amphetamine-induced paranoid hallucinatory psychosis (i.e., flashbacks) occasionally occurs in response to non-specific mild stress in drug-free patients with a history of methamphetamine- or amphetamine-induced psychosis. Stress sensitization associated with noradrenergic hyperactivity and increased dopamine release may be related to this flashbacks. Stressful fri Read More

Aim: To review the literature on randomized clinical trials for pediatric anxiety and depression, and evaluate their quality using the criteria developed by the American Psychological Association. Method: Inclusion of randomized controlled clinical trials in the medical and psychological literature. Results: Research evidence thus far suggests that CBT is a probably efficacious treatment for depression in children. None of t Read More