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Resistance to pharmacological treatment poses a notable challenge for psychiatry. Such cases are usually treated with brain stimulation techniques, including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Empirical evidence links treatment resistance to insufficient brain plasticity and chronic inflammation. Therefore, this study encompasses analysis of neurotrophic and inflammatory factors in psychiatric patients undergoing rTMS and ECT in order to refine the selection of patients and predict clinical outcomes. This study enrolled 25 drug‐resistant depressive patients undergoing rTMS and 31 drug‐resistant schizophrenia patients undergoing ECT. Clinical efficacy of brain stimulation therapies was gauged using MADRS and HAM‐D scales in the depression group and PANSS scale in the schizophrenia group. Blood‐derived BDNF, VEGF, and TNFα were analysed during the treatment course. For reference, 19 healthy control subjects were also enrolled. After statistical analysis, no significant differences were detected in BDNF, VEGF, and TNFα concentrations among healthy, depressive, and schizophrenic subject groups before the treatment. However, depressive patient treatment with rTMS has increased BDNF concentration, while schizophrenic patient treatment with ECT has lowered the concentration of TNFα. Our findings suggest that a lower initial TNFα concentration could be a marker for treatment success in depressed patients undergoing rTMS, whereas in schizophrenic patient group treated with ECT, a higher concentration of VEGF correlates to milder symptoms post‐treatment, especially in the negative scale.

Stress plays an important role in human life. Under normal conditions it has a favorable influence. However, constant pathological stress can be harmful. The results can be depression, leading sometimes to alcohol and/or drug abuse, or suicide. Some specific groups of society are affected by stress more frequently and more severely. One of these groups is the police. This article aims to identify key psychosocial problems which police officers of Lithuania are encountering in an independent post‐communist state. The common social situation in Lithuania is briefly reviewed and the main stress factors which influence police officers are evaluated using a specially developed Lithuanian University of Law Questionnaire (LULQ). The stress factors having the greatest negative effect are the administrative problems of police work, family problems, and an ineffective criminal justice system. The results are compared with similar studies carried out in the USA. The necessity of amendments in LULQ and survey design, as well as the development of a program of police officer psychophysiological “abilitation” and rehabilitation, are discussed.