"advances in psychiatric treatment"

Neurotrophic factors are a family of growth factors that modulate cellular growth, survival, and differentiation. For many decades, it has been generally believed that a lack of neurotrophic support led to the decreased neuronal synaptic plasticity, death, and loss of non-neuronal supportive cells seen in neuropsychiatric disorders. Traditional psychiatric medications that lead to immediate increases in neurotransmitter levels at the synapse have been shown also to elevate synaptic neurotrophic levels over weeks, correlating with the time course of the therapeutic effects of these drugs...

Behavioral disorders exact a tragic toll on patients, families, and society. Consequently, the search for better treatments is a public health priority. Recent research promises to lead to advances in psychiatric treatment that may include implantation of deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices. In this commentary, the authors discuss how promising results from initial pilot studies of DBS in treatment-resistant depression (TRD) were not validated in 2 randomized, controlled, multicenter trials. Reliance on pilot data may have contributed to the selection of primary efficacy endpoints that were not achieved, and to the underestimation of adverse events and device-related complications...

Over the past century, advancements in psychiatric treatments have freed countless individuals from the burden of life-long, incapacitating mental illness. These treatments have largely been discovered by chance. Theory has driven advancement in the natural sciences and other branches of medicine, but psychiatry remains a field in its "infancy". The targets for healing in psychiatry lie within the realm of the mind's subjective experience and thought, which we cannot yet describe in terms of their biological underpinnings in the brain...

BACKGROUND: Long acting injectable antipsychotics (LAI-APs) are considered a major advance in psychiatric treatment concerning treatment adherence and outcomes. Yet, both, doctors and patients remain sceptical. AIM: To explain the rationale for using LAI-APs, review their effectiveness and explore barriers to use. METHOD: Clinical overview of LAI-APs from the patient and doctor's perspective. RESULTS: LAI-APs were developed to increase adherence to treatment, thereby improving treatment outcomes...

Mood disorders continue to be a significant burden to those affected, resulting in significant illness-associated disability and premature mortality. In addition to mood disturbance, individuals also suffer from other transdiagnostic impairments (eg, anhedonia and cognitive impairment). Although there have been significant advancements in psychiatric treatment over the last few decades, treatment efficacy (eg, symptom remission, lack of functional recovery, and disease modification) continues to be an important limitation...

Stigma is a "natural" social reaction, partly unconscious and automatic towards "different" and "vulnerable" populations. Suspicion of danger, unemployment, excluded from society, locked in hospital, assaulted or killed are the possible consequences of mental disorders' stigma. Despite advances in psychiatric treatments, the stigma of the "madness" remains a barrier to access to recovery. The stigmatization process is more complex than simple labeling, and leads to discrimination and loss of social power. Understanding the mechanisms of stigmatization can determine targets for effective interventions to fight stigma at the individual, institutional and political levels...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The article was presented on the opening of the jubilee 40th Polish Psychiatric Conference, where the main theme was "Integration in psychiatry" The author describes the present developmental tendencies in medicine and analyses the changes which took place in psychiatry in the recent years, beginning with a favourable manner of perceiving and treating psychiatric patients by their surroundings, through the strengthening of the patients' positions and control of their laws, formalized by appropriate legal regulations, all the way to unfavourable instances which formulate a barrier and endangerment of further advances in psychiatric treatment reforms...

A study of the use of electroconvulsive therapy in Massachusetts shows that between 1974 and 1980 ECT use decreased significantly in both public- and private-sector hospitals. This decline was particularly pronounced in public-sector hospitals. The average age of ECT-treated patients rose during the period; women received ECT more often than men; and bilateral ECT remained in more frequent use. Though ECT was most frequently prescribed for major depression, about 20% of those receiving it were diagnosed as having a dysthymic disorder...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Due to rapid advances in psychiatric treatment, increased sophistication of welfare services, and increasing life expectancy, the number of psychiatric patients is increasing rapidly. Many of them do not have the necessary adaptive capacity to deal satisfactorily with their daily functions, such as housework, financial arrangements, and medical treatment. These patients could be assisted in day-care treatment units. We present the ideology and the different models of psychiatric day-care units which are becoming widely used in treatment, especially for rehabilitation of chronic mental patients...