Dear colleagues,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the second issue of 2013.
In our first article Linden et al. sought to assess the pharmacotherapeutic options for patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). An algorithm was developed to provide pretreatment and next treatment (PN) information for drug selection. They concluded that the PN-GAD algorithm could support clinical decision-making and increase patient empowerment and adherence in long-term treatment.
Destoop and colleagues examined the prevalence and clinical characteristics of remission during treatment in GAD. Their results suggest that remission prevalence varied with occupational status and severity of the current anxiety episode. While remission prevalence was higher in patients who were taking antidepressants, it was lower in patients who were taking sedatives.
Bajoghli et al. investigated the concept of romantic love in Iranian female and male adolescents. It emerged that participants in love had higher hypomania scores, fewer depressive symptoms but higher state anxiety scores. Moreover, hypomanic-like stages increased the duration of the romantic relationship, suggesting a favourable association between being currently in love and emotional and cognitive processes.
Aydin and colleagues evaluated the seasonality in self-destructive behaviour in terms of completed and attempted suicides according to demographic characteristics. While a significant decline was detected among patients who were single and students in spring, a peak was found in autumn in patients suffering from psychological problems.
Anyansi and Agyapong aimed to identify demographic and clinical factors that could predict suicidal ideation in psychiatric outpatients. They concluded that a history of self-harm or no previous history of psychiatric inpatient treatment was the best predictor of suicidal ideation in patients attending a psychiatric outpatient clinic.
Steylen and colleagues sought to determine the prevalence of cardiometabolic dysregulations and their somatic treatment regimens in patients treated with antipsychotics. It emerged that cardiometabolic risk factors were highly prevalent in antipsychotic treated patients. Moreover, the authors advocate specific guidelines for young psychiatric patients taking into account the high cardiovascular risk and potential pharmacokinetic interactions between psychotropics and somatic compounds.
Sulaiman et al. explored the efficacy and safety of aripiprazole in the treatment of methamphetamine dependence and associated psychosis. While aripiprazole was no more effective than placebo in maintaining abstinence from methamphetamine use, it facilitated treatment retention and reduced the severity of psychotic symptoms.
Dos Santos and colleagues adapted the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale to a self-report version (LSAS-SR) and assessed its validity among university students. They concluded that the LSAS-SR was a valid and reliable tool when applied to both the general population and clinical groups.
Wedig et al. investigated demographic, clinical and psychosocial predictors of depressive symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) at hospital discharge. They concluded that female sex, earlier age at onset and poorer social adjustment were unique predictors of symptom outcome.
Gade and colleagues examined the course and the predictors of remission in outpatients with first-episode psychosis during quetiapine monotherapy. Their study confirmed the predictive value of early treatment response and a low degree of negative symptoms in patients suffering from first-episode psychosis.
Choudhuri et al. provided a short report on the implications of acute withdrawal from gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) for psychiatric services in general hospitals. It emerged that the significant number of patients with neuropsychiatric symptoms requiring intensive input from the liaison psychiatry team during withdrawal from GHB emphasizes the importance of close liaison between medical and psychiatric teams in managing these patients in general hospitals.
Yours sincerely,
Siegfried Kasper, MD
Chief Editor