Background: Mental health services in Nepal are limited and there is a scarcity of epidemiological studies in our country. The present study is done with the aim to study the socio-demographic characteristic and diagnostic profile of patients attending the psychiatric OPD. Methods: This is a retrospective study where case records of all new patients, diagnosed to be suffering from Mental and Behavioral disorders according to Chapter V (F) of ICD-10, who attended the OPD from July 2011 to December 2011, were included in the study. Results: Maximum patients fall in the younger age group and are females. The patients were found to be suffering from neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders (35.4%) followed by mood disorder (18.3%), schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders (17.4%) and mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance use (9.7%). Conclusion: Mental disorders comprise a wide variety of disorders and affect the most productive age group suggesting the need for early identification and prompt management. Keywords: ICD-10 DCR; psychiatric OPD; psychiatric morbidity; neurotic disorders DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njms.v1i1.5790 Nepal Journal of Medical Sciences. 2012; 1(1): 15-18

Background: Psychiatric cases are widespread in rural communities of Nepal and there is scarcity of data. The present work was undertaken to study the psychiatric cases and its association with different socio-demographic variables. Methods: A house to house survey was done with simple random method (n=261) in Kusmi Village Development Committee of Baglung District. A semi-structures proforma was used to record the socio-demographic variables and General Health Questinnaire-12 (GHQ-12) was administered to assess the psychiatric cases. Results: The overall prevalence of psychiatric cases was found to be 37.5 percent. The psychiatric cases were found more in age above 30 years, in males and in other caste (Dalit/Nepali). The maximum number of cases was also elicited in unskilled workers, married group and people who were using alcohol. Conclusion: The study concludes that there is high prevalence of psychiatric cases in rural community in Nepal. This also calls the need to strengthen the mental health services in the rural community and to address the risk factors associated with psychiatric cases. Nepal Journal of Medical Sciences | Volume 02 | Number 01 | Jan-Jun 2013 | Page 52-56 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njms.v2i1.7654

Background: Alcohol use disorders in elderly people are common and associated with considerable morbidity. The objective is to estimate the prevalence of alcohol dependence syndrome among elderly patients attending psychiatric outpatient department of a private hospital in Western region of Nepal. Methods: A total of 80 elderly patients aged 65 years and above who attended the psychiatry outpatient department of Fewa City Hospital and Research Centre, Pokhara, Nepal were included in the study. A semistructured Performa was used to record the sociodemographic variables and the diagnosis was made according to ICD-10 Diagnostic Criteria for Research. Results: Five percent of the samples were diagnosed with alcohol dependence syndrome. The male to female ratio was 3:1. Conclusion: Results show high rates of alcohol dependence among the elderly population attending the outpatient department of a private hospital in Western Region of Nepal. Keywords: Alcohol dependence syndrome; older adults; psychiatric OPD DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njms.v1i1.5796   Nepal Journal of Medical Sciences. 2012; 1(1): 39-41

Introduction: Pregnancy increases the risk of various psychiatric illness including depression. Such illness can result in prematurity, low birth weight and mother-child bonding. Depression is more common in women who have had negative experiences in previous pregnancies, have prior history of psychiatric disorder or are experiencing stressful life events. Unfortunately, psychiatric disorders among pregnant women are still undiagnosed and untreated, especially in developing country like Nepal. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence and correlates of depression in pregnancy. Material and Method: A cross-sectional, hospital based, descriptive study was conducted among 135 pregnant women attending Manipal Teaching Hospital’s antenatal clinic. Sociodemographic data and relevant clinical variables were collected using a predesigned proforma after obtaining informed written consent. The subjects were interviewed with Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI). For the assessment of correlates, regression analysis was carried out. All statistical analyses were done using SPSS v 20.0. P values < 0.05 were considered significant. Results: The prevalence of depression was 13.3 % according to BDI with additional 19% fulfilling criteria of mild mood disturbance. Factors such as history of sub fertility, pregnancy-induced illness and presence of domestic violence were found to be statistically significant predictors of depression during pregnancy. Conclusion: Depression can occur frequently among pregnant women. Certain factors can be identified, which further increase the risk of such mental illnesses. Thus, pregnant women who are at high risk such as with pregnancy induced illness, have history of sub fertility, exposed to domestic violence etc., must be identified and diagnosed so that they can be treated timely.

Introduction: Stigma is a sign of disgrace or discredit that sets a person apart from others. Stigma has detrimental effect on stigmatized persons’ life which may even hamper or delay the help seeking behavior, which ultimately increases the duration of untreated mental illness. Material And Method: A cross sectional survey was conducted among 90 psychiatry outpatients attending Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal. Discrimination and disclosure sub-scale of the Stigma scale and ISMI- 10 was administered to measure the extent of stigma. Help seeking delay was assessed using pre- structured questionnaire. Prediction of help seeking delay due to stigma was identified using logistic regression. Results: Low mean value on the subscales of the Stigma scale indicated low public stigma in the participants. 34% of the study population exhibited moderate to high self stigma. The full model for initial help seeking delay using logistic regression explained 21.8% (Cox and Snell R square) and 31.5% (Nagelkerke R square) of the variance in initial help seeking delay while the model for the recent help seeking delay explained 13.6% (Cox and Snell R square) and 20.8 % (Nagelkerke R square) of the variance in recent help seeking delay. The strongest predictor of both initial and recent help seeking delay was discrimination subscale (OR= 1.11; 95% CI= 1.033- 1.195). Conclusion: Discrimination experienced due to stigmatization leads to delay in help seeking behavior. Public stigma experienced by stigmatized individual acts as a stronger predictor for help seeking delay than self stigma.