Mental Disorders

Sleep-immune interactions and mental disorders

Sleep-immune interactions and mental disorders

Prospective epidemiological studies suggest that sleep disturbance (ie, difficulties in sleep onset and sleep maintenance) is a robust predictor of major depression episodes and depression recurrence. In parallel, experimental endotoxin model support a role of innate immune activation (inflammation) in the aetiology of depression, yet the precise role played by sleep disturbance is poorly understood. Sleep disturbance may increase peripheral pro-inflammatory cytokines by upregulating NF-kB pathways, modulating gut-microbiota, autonomic and neuroendocrine (eg, HPA) activity.

International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN) – EEG research workgroup: Recommendations on frequency and topographic analysis of resting state EEG rhythms. Part 1: Applications in clinical research studies

In 1999, the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN) published “IFCN Guidelines for topographic and frequency analysis of EEGs and EPs” (Nuwer et al., 1999).

CoViD-19 and psychiatry: can mental illness justify further exceptions to the obligation to stay at home?

To face the CoViD-19 pandemic, the italian government has approved regulations which state, with no exceptions, that it is considered offence for people tested positive to the virus to leave their house, whereas other people are allowed to leave their house for proven needs such as work, health or emergencies.

Diagnosis of alcohol use disorder from a psychological point of view

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is one of the most common psychiatric disease in the general population, characterized by having a pattern of excessive drinking despite the negative effects of alcohol on the individual's work, medical, legal, educational, and/or social life. Currently, the bio-psycho-social model describes properly AUD as a multidimensional phenomenon including biological, psychological, and socio-cultural variables affecting the nature, maintenance, and expression of the disorder.

Drafting a dual diagnosis program: A tailored intervention for patients with complex clinical needs

Background. Clinical practice of mental health services changed in 1978 after the Basaglia Law was passed, and it is now characterized by usually voluntary treatments offered by community-based services. That broadened the interventions' focus from the single subject to their environment. Dual diagnosis is defined by WHO as «the co-occurrence in the same individual of a psychoactive substance use disorder and another psychiatric disorder». It is considered to be a "border territory" since entails networking between different medical services. Materials and methods.

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