Post-psychotic depression (PPD) is defined as the development of depression during the phase of remission of schizophrenia. Two groups of DSM-III-R schizophrenics, one with PPD and the other without PPD (30 subjects in each group) were compared. Significantly more patients in PPD group belonged to nuclear families, had longer duration of psychotic phase of the illness, were hospitalised more frequently and had more sadness and anxiety-somatisation during florid illness phase. The PPD group also had more past history of depression. Although PPD patients had better premorbid personal-social adjustment in comparison with non-PPD group, they perceived themselves to be lacking in social support and had experienced more stressful life events. For patients in the PPD group, stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed age of onset, sadness during florid psychotic state, premorbid adjustment, social support and life events as significant determinants of severity of depression in the post-psychotic phase.
Clonidine, an adrenergic alpha-2-agonist drug, was compared to withdrawal using an opioid for efficacy of detoxification in an in-patient sample of opioid-dependent subjects. No significant difference in the withdrawal pattern was observed. Clonidine tended to ameliorate general autonomic disturbances more effectively, and subjective rating of discomfort less effectively than opioid substitution. The overall results suggest that clonidine may be used effectively as a detoxification agent in lieu of opioid substitution which carries its own risk of fostering iatrogenic opioid abuse and dependence.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.