Dear colleagues,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the last issue of 2018.
In our first article, Anghelescu and colleagues review and evaluate treatment options for stress management and the role of Rhodiola rosea. Most pharmacological treatment options target psychological and physical stress symptoms, which often include undesirable side effects. Rhodial rosea extract fulfils certain important requirements as well as it offers a comprehensive treatment of stress symptoms and can prevent chronic stress and stress related complications.
Potes et al., review the current state of research on mindfulness as a treatment option in severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). It emerged that mindfulness is feasible for individuals with SPMI and shows potential benefits in several clinical outcomes unrelated to psychotic symptoms. The usefulness of mindfulness in psychotic symptoms needs further research.
Takada and associates assessed the measurement error in the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAC). Their results revealed that the measurement error for total score and for several subscales of the LSAC is large and indicates a potential problem when using the scale to detect changes at an individual level.
Shahini and colleagues aimed to investigate the predictions of affective temperaments by explaining the association between temperament, anxiety and depression in a community sample. The authors found that affective temperaments were significant predictors for depression and anxiety. They state that the importance of screening for effective temperament to identify depression and anxiety at an early stage.
Leone et al., tested the impact of physical training on physiological, biological and psychological profiles in subjects with mood disorders. An 8-week training program resulted in significant improvements on several domains such as changes in cortisol levels, clinical reduction of stress-related symptoms and improvement of depressive symptoms in patients with mood disorders.
Alosaimi and colleagues estimated the prevalence and risk factors of hyperprolactinemia in patients with various psychiatric disorders. The prevalence of hyperprolactinemia was 44.3% without any gender difference. Huge variability was detected in the use of antipsychotics and other psychotropic medications. The authors recommend routine measurements of blood prolactin levels in patients taking antipsychotics.
Griendt and associates investigated the effect of short versus prolonged exposure on treatment outcome in Tourette syndrome. It emerged that after taking in the difference in illness duration into account, the effect of short exposure is not inferior to prolonged exposure. In conclusion, shorter exposure treatment might be more efficient as well as more patients can be reached.
Jingwen and co-workers examined the factors influencing quality of life in subacute stroke patients. Patients with intracranial haemorrhage had worse overall quality of life compared to other stroke patients. The factors that proved most important in relation to quality of life were level of patient satisfaction, duration of hospitalization and severity of stroke.
Cao et al., examined the association between norepinephrine transporter gene polymorphisms in major depressive disorder patients with suicidality. No difference was found between patients and control groups in regard to allele or genotype distribution. The authors conclude that the genetic variants investigated are not major susceptibility factors in developing major depression with suicidality.
In a short report, García-Blanco and colleagues assessed malleolar hypoesthesia in distinguishing patients with major depression and generalised anxiety disorder. It emerged that depressed patients had higher hypoesthesia than patients with anxiety, subjects with hypoesthesia have higher anxiety and depression scores and that hypoesthesia may serve as a predictor of major depression relative to generalised anxiety disorder. To conclude, detection of hypoesthesia may aid in studying the differential etiology of depression and anxiety diagnosis.