Psoriasis is connected with a high risk of social stigma of patients and thus the risk factor of depression as well as the worsening of their quality of life. Consequently, the more the human beings’ characteristics are divergent from existing social-cultural pattern, the higher the stigma risk is.

The aim of the study was to determine the biopsychosocial variables in predicting depression among psoriasis patients.

The study was a cross-sectional examination and involved 219 patients with psoriasis. The following assessments were employed: BSA (severity of psoriasis), DLQI (quality of life), ASI-R (body image), BDI (depression).

In the examined group moderate depressive symptoms were recorded, however, those symptoms already indicate the risk of major depressive disorder. The relevant depression predictors were only the factors connected with the body image and the assessments of the psoriasis impact on patient-reported health-related quality of life. The severity of psoriasis were not significant predictor of depressive symptoms.

The psychosocial factors were more important predictors of depressive symptoms in patients than the severity of psoriasis. The work on improvement of the patient’s body image, reduction of the frustration linked with the patient self-comparison with the cultural created ideal body image as well as correction of beliefs about the psoriasis may help patients to improve their quality of life and decline the risk of depression.

The present study examined whether recreational use of cannabis affected prospective memory ability in teenagers and young adults.

An independent measures design utilising pre-existing groups of cannabis users and non-users was employed in which an opportunity sample of 90 undergraduates studying at universities in the north east of England completed an objective video-based prospective memory task and a series of self-report questionnaires assessing failures in prospective memory, levels of anxiety and depression, use of strategies to assist remembering and recreational drug use.

Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed no significant differences in the number of self-reported failures in prospective memory. Cannabis users, however, correctly recalled significantly fewer location-action combinations during the video-based prospective memory task than non-users. These findings were observed after controlling for age, level of anxiety and depression, use of strategies to assist remembering, and the use of other recreational drugs including alcohol, nicotine and ecstasy.

The findings from the objective prospective memory task in the present study suggest that recreational cannabis use has a detrimental effect on prospective memory ability in teenagers and young adults.

PTSD-veterans’ spouses often become indirect victims of their partner’s dysfunction, confronting many stressors including relationship crisis, rearrangement of family roles, social isolation and adjustment to clinical course of disease.

Compare levels of caretaker burden and burnout in partnership relations of PTSD and non-PTSD veterans’ spouses, particularly in situation where the spouses have PTSD themselves.

Test group consisted of 154 veterans who are undergoing treatment for war psychotraumatisation caused PTSD at the Clinical hospital Mostar, and their spouses. Control group consisted of 77 war veterans without PTSD, and their spouses. The General demographic questionnaire, Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ), the Experience of Subjective and Objective Burden and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used in research.

PTSP-veterans’ spouses had significantly higher results on al subscales of the caretaker burden questionnaire and partnership relations burnout questionnaire. When both partners have PTSD, the burden of subjective demands and subjective stress, and burnout in partnership are significantly higher in comparison with the couples where only the veteran has PTSD or when partners don't have PTSD. The difference wasn't found in the objective burden when both partners have PTSD in comparison with the case when only the veteran has PTSD.

PTSD-veterans’ spouses in comparison with the non-PTSD veterans’ spouses are exposed to more objective burden of life, burden of partner's subjective demands and subjective perception of stress overburden, and their burnout is also higher. The burden of subjective demands, subjective stress and burnout are even more prominent when the spouse has PTSD.

The main objective of the present study was to compare the coping strategies used by adolescents with and without subclinical psychotic symptoms.

The sample was composed of 1,713 Spanish adolescents, 881 (51.4%) females, with a mean age of 14.7 years (SD = 1.7).

The results showed that the adolescents with subclinical psychotic symptoms used Avoidance-type coping strategies more frequently and Positive-type coping strategies less frequently in comparison to the control group.

These findings indicate a pattern of deficit in the strategies used to cope with stress similar to that of patients with schizophrenia, which is very interesting with a view to establishing lines of intervention within early detection and treatment programs for high-risk individuals aimed at modifying these patterns of deficit in coping with environmental stimuli in these populations.

Recent findings suggest that functional irregularities in oxytocin biology may play a role in the pathophysiology of depression. One of the proposed pathways is related to stress, as oxytocin exerts a regulatory effect over neuroendocrine stress axis. Moreover, stress exposure and stress axis dysregulation are likely connected to dissociative symptoms.

Therefore, the study investigates the relationship between depression severity, stress symptoms levels, dissociation and plasma oxytocin levels.

Depression severity was assessed by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), symptoms related to stress were assessed by Trauma Symptom Checklist (TSC-40), psychological and somatoform dissociative symptoms were assessed by Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ-20), respectively. Plasma oxytocin was measured using radioimmunoassays.

69 patients were included in the study, 34 in severe depression group (BDI-II≥29) and 35 in mild to moderate depression group (BDI-II≤28). the groups did not differ significantly in oxytocin levels. in severe depression group, negative correlations between oxytocin and TSC-40 and SDQ-20 were found (R = −0,55; p < 0,01 and R = −0,35; p < 0,05, respectively). Interestingly, no significant correlation was found between oxytocin and BDI-II.

The negative correlation between oxytocin and symptoms related to trauma and somatoform dissociation in severe depression group is, to our knowledge, the first finding in this context. It is consistent with stress-reducing effect of oxytocin in acute stress paradigms and suggests that stress and somatoform dissociation may represent important factors in complex relationship linking oxytocin to depression. the directionality of these relationships need to be assessed in longitudinal studies.

Characterised by its population density, cultural and ethnic diversity, familial fragmentation and high levels of HIV/AIDS, crime and homelessness, Paris poses specific problems with regard to mental healthcare.

Epidemiological studies show high rates of generalised anxiety and drug and alcohol abuse and dependence, greater use ofpsychoactive medication and, at the same time, apprehension about looking after mentally ill family members at home.

Although the Greater Paris area has a much higher density of GPs and specialists than the national mean, there are considerable variations within the region itself, with the central area having up to four times as many GPs or psychiatrists as the outer suburbs. On the other hand, although the number of mental health medical acts and the number of people receiving mental health care have been rising dramatically over the last 15 years, Paris has considerably less adult psychiatry beds and day care places per head of population than the rest of France.

Current planning targets include a more equitable distribution of mental health care service provision for the rapidly evolving urban population, early prevention of psycho-affective disorders, suicide and drug and alcohol misuse and the creation of low threshold services for adolescents in difficulty.

Chronic alcoholism is associated with impaired cognitive functioning. Over 75% of autopsied chronic alcoholics have significant brain damage and over 50% of detoxified alcoholics display some degree of learning and memory impairment. In clinical practice, it could be difficult to differentiate between the various syndromes associated with chronic alcohol use.

The authors present the various syndromes associated with cognitive impairment induced by chronic alcohol use.

Review of the most recent literature with the following key words: alcoholism, differential diagnosis, cognitive impairment and dementia.

Chronic alcohol use can cause dementia such as chronic subdural hematoma after head injury, hepatocerebral degeneration by cirrhosis and nutritional deficiencies. The thiamine deficiency can originate Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. If not properly treated, it can develop as a chronic amnesic syndrome known as Korsakoff's syndrome. It is characterized by episodic memory deficit with confabulations, involvement of semantic memory, nistagmus and ataxic gait. The Machiafava- Bignami disease is rare and usually diagnosed in alcoholics. The symptoms include dementia, muscle stiffness, seizures, dysphagia and less often coma. Finally, diagnostic criteria for alcoholic dementia include dementia diagnosis made at least 60 days after the last exposure to alcohol; minimum of 35 standard doses for men and 28 for women per week for more than 5 years and, ethanol abuse mean within 3 years after the onset of cognitive decline.

Although various syndromes present similarities, the clinicians should be aware of the different symptoms as the treatment may vary according to the pathology.

The aims of the present study were to determine the rates of depression in patients with psoriatic (PsA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) attending a tertiary referral centre, and to investigate possible factors that are associated with depression in this population.

Interim data pertaining to depression (HADS), pain (British Pain Society Pain scale), quality of life (EuroQoL), physical function (HAQ-DI), inflammation (CRP) and emotional intelligence (Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire - TEIQue-SF) were analysed from data from 100 patients (50 PsA and 50 RA).

Upto 30% of patients with PsA and RA were found to be depressed. Similarly, upto 25% of patients with PsA and RA fulfilled the criteria for caseness on the HADS A subscale.

None of these patients were on therapeutic doses of an antidepressant. There was significant correlation between depression scores and scores on quality of life, disability and emotional intelligence. Together, they explained almost 50% of the variance in depression scores.

The prevalence of depression is high in people with inflammatory arthritides. Disability, Quality of life and trait emotional intelligence seems to be important factors associated with inflammation and presence of depression in this population.

GAD is one of the most common disorders in psychiatry, usually observed twice in women than in men.

Considering the side effects of drugs and their financial burden, the purpose of this research was to study the effects of yoga as a complementary treatment on GAD in women.

In a single blind clinical trial the effects of yoga on GAD was studied in 40 women who were diagnosed with GAD by psychiatrist interview, SADS questionnaire and spilberger's anxiety scale in psychiatric clinics. The participants were randomly divided into two intervention and control. All the participants took the usual drugs (SSRIs). The intervention group was given Hata yoga instruction for six weeks, while the control group was only watching movies. At the end of the six week period the spilberger anxiety scale was refilled for both groups. Finally the comparison was done by statistical methods for both groups.

The mean ages of intervention and control groups were 37.7 ± 9.87 and 37.65 ± 10.42 respectively. Improvement was observed in both groups after the six week period. The grades of state and trait anxiety were declined according to spilberger anxiety scale but no statistical difference was observed in two groups regarding improvement.

In the present study no statistical difference was observed between two groups however the participants of intervention group were inclined to continue their yoga sessions due to sense of well being. So it is concluded that yoga can have a positive effect on anxiety in long terms.

Nigerian adolescents report various sleep disorders metaphorically based on the local/native description of such disorders. Hence, it is sometimes difficult for clinicians without a good grasp of the nuance in their description to understand their presentation.

To develop a culturally relevant (Nigerian) instrument for assessing sleep disorders.

One thousand two hundred and twenty-seven Nigerian Secondary School adolescents (634 males and 593 females) between 12–19 years with mean age of 15.20 (SD = 1.5) were administered a 44 item instrument developed following the DSM (V), American Association of Sleep Medicine's International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD, 2005) criteria, and case reports of sleep disorders. The data was subjected to a Principal Component Analysis using Varimax rotation.

Ten factors instead of the original eleven factors suggested by the authors emerged in the analysis and on closer examination and in juxtaposition with cultural nuances, it was found the ten factors were in line with what is generally reported by adolescents. Sleep walking disorders and sleep related movement disorders loaded in one factor labelled sleep movement disorders, while items representing non restorative sleep experiences, sleep talking, sleep paralysis, sleep apnea, circadian rhythm sleep disorder, narcolepsy, insomnia, sleep terror disorder and nightmare disorder loaded on their individual factors. The SDINQ showed a Cronbach Alpha of .916 and a good correlation with subscales of the School Sleep Habits Survey (SSHS).

The SDINQ has been found to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the presence of sleep disorders among adolescents in Nigeria.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Although there are studies on ageist attitudes and perceptions of quality of life (QoL) among elderly people, no publications exist that compare ageist attitudes and QoL perceptions among elderly people who live in private sector sheltered housing (PRSSH) and in the community.

To map the differences and understand the relations between QoL and negative social perceptions of one’s own age group among older adults, living in PRSSH and in the community.

(1) To examine if there are differences in ageist attitudes and perceptions of quality of life (QoL), and

(2) to understand the role of QoL in explaining ageist attitudes among these two groups of elderly people.

The sample included 126 participants, aged 64–94, who live in PRSSH or in the community. The participants completed Fraboni et al. scale of ageism, a QoL inventory (SF-36 inventory), which provides scores on measures such as physical functioning, mental health and social functioning, and answered demographic questions.

Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) partially supported our hypotheses that elderly people who live in PRSSH will demonstrate more ageist attitudes towards people of their own age, and report a lower QoL than elderly people who live in the community.

Gender also had a distinctive effect on ageism and QoL among individuals in PRSSH. These findings were supported by regression analyses.

Although PRSSH may offer luxurious living conditions, the current study shows that living in an age segregated environment, may trigger negative self-perceptions of old age and decrease QoL.