Background: Head-and-neck cancers (HNCs) are associated with significant psychosocial challenges at all stages of illness, which influence the course and outcome of cancer. We aimed to assess the prevalence of depressive disorders among patients with HNC and its sociodemographic and clinical determinants. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted in the department of oncology of a medical college hospital from South India. A total of 100 adult patients with HNC were recruited over a period of 1 year, after obtaining ethical clearance. Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used to assess for depressive disorders in these patients. Results: We found that 49% of the patients were suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD), 13% of the patients had MDD with melancholic features, and 10% had dysthymia. Functional impairment and surgical treatments were associated with the diagnosis of depressive disorders. Conclusion: Depressive disorders are highly prevalent in HNC and emphasize the need for tailored psycho-oncological and psychotherapeutic interventions.
Epigenetics is defined as the changes in gene expression that lead to predictable, stable and possibly heritable alterations in cell function that are not due to changes in DNA sequence. It is of major relevance in psychiatry since environmental factors like stress or substance abuse, significant contribute in causing psychiatric pathologies like depression, anxiety, depression, etc. Epigenetics research in psychiatry would give an opportunity to extend the outlook and approach towards psychiatric pathologies. Hence timely interventions would be sought for. This would also allow gaining access to ‘brain tissue’ from live patients with mental illness and predicting occurrence of or vulnerability to psychiatric illnesses by evaluation of biomarkers, thus preventing, reversing or atleast curbing the progress at an initial stage. There are evidences of work done in the field of epigenetics both in pre-clinical as well as clinical settings. It is remarkable to see how the DNA methylation at various sites can result in alteration of the mental health of an individual and also how this can affect as early as during the first week of life. This is an exciting frontier in psychiatry, providing long sought biomarkers for predicting complex and devastating human behaviours as well as mental illnesses.
Introduction: Motherhood is regarded to be stressful, but when the child has a psychiatric illness, the mother is affected more than the father since she is the primary caregiver. She gets affected not only emotionally but also psychologically. Increasing severity of stress in mothers may lead to negative outcome on a child's care. Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the stress levels in mothers of children diagnosed with psychiatric disorder and to study the association between children having a psychiatric disorder and the psychiatric morbidity in their mothers. Materials and Methods: This was a case–control study with a total of 150 participants, in which 75 consecutive mothers of children were diagnosed with any psychiatric illness using ICD-10 criteria and compared to 75 mothers of typically developing children. The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee. The Parental Stress Scale and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus questionnaire were used for assessments. Results: The study showed statistically significant stress scores (49.54) in mothers having children diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses as compared to scores (30.98) in mothers of normally developing children. Psychiatric morbidity in cases ( n = 58; 77.3%) was statistically significant as compared to controls ( n = 23; 30.6%). Depression and anxiety were among the most common psychiatric morbidities evaluated, and the highest was for mothers having children with severe mental retardation. Conclusion: In all children with psychiatric disorders, mothers have to be screened for psychiatric morbidity to prevent, detect, and manage it at the earliest.
Aim: To understand the attitude and knowledge of mental health professionals towards psychodrama. Materials and Methods: Knowledge and attitude towards psychodrama was studied during a basic psychodrama workshop for 30 mental health professionals, which included psychiatrists, residents of psychiatry, psychologists, social workers and mental health nurses. A specially designed 10 item questionnaire was used for a pre and post-test which evaluated on various aspects of psychodrama to know the attitude and knowledge towards this unique therapeutic tool. Participants were asked to rate their experience of the psychodrama session. Written informed consent was taken from all participants. Results and Discussion: Results showed that in all 10 questions there was a marked, positive change in the post test results. The 3 hours basic course made an impact on attitude and knowledge of psychodrama of all participants. The acceptance of the session, by the participants, delivered an average score of 7.8 on a 10 point scale. Conclusion: Mental health professionals must necessarily undergo workshops on psychodrama in order to bring about positive and impactful results in their clinical applications, which would go a long way in effective clinical therapies. Psychodrama with proper training can have a wide range of clinical applications in various psychiatric settings.
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