Anne Aboaja, Prashant Pandurangi, Susana Almeida, Luca Castelletti, Guillermo Rivera-Arroyo, Annette Optiz-Welke, Justus Welke, Stephen Barlow
{"title":"Six nations: a clinical scenario comparison of systems for prisoners with psychosis in Australia, Bolivia and four European nations.","authors":"Anne Aboaja, Prashant Pandurangi, Susana Almeida, Luca Castelletti, Guillermo Rivera-Arroyo, Annette Optiz-Welke, Justus Welke, Stephen Barlow","doi":"10.1192/bji.2022.16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1192/bji.2022.16","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This paper compares across six nations the mental health systems available to prisoners with the highest acuity of psychosis and risk combined with the lowest level of insight into the need for treatment. Variations were observed within and between nations. Findings highlight the likely impact of factors such as mental health legislation and the prison mental health workforce on a nation's ability to deliver timely and effective treatment close to home for prisoners who lack capacity to consent to treatment for their severe mental illness. The potential benefits of addressing the resulting inequalities are noted.</p>","PeriodicalId":36441,"journal":{"name":"BJPsych International","volume":"20 1","pages":"13-17"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9909414/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10291645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reflections on mental healthcare for an asylum seeker population caught in limbo on the Greek island of Samos.","authors":"Lindsay Solera-Deuchar","doi":"10.1192/bji.2022.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1192/bji.2022.3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A psychiatry trainee reflects on a period of work on the Greek island of Samos with the international medical non-governmental organisation Medécins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders, providing mental health and psychosocial support to asylum seekers. The clinic provided services to asylum seekers who were living in a crowded refugee camp, many of whom were experiencing symptoms of severe mental illness. The author reflects on the nature and severity of these presentations, and questions the role of psychiatry in treating mental illness that is clearly exacerbated by circumstances resulting from European asylum policies.</p>","PeriodicalId":36441,"journal":{"name":"BJPsych International","volume":"20 1","pages":"23-25"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9909443/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10816807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shaeraine Raaj, Vijo Verghese, Myelone Tharmaseelan, Richard Duffy, N K S Tharmaseelan N K Sinnadorai
{"title":"Perinatal mental health in Malaysia: understanding the treatment gap and recommendations for the future.","authors":"Shaeraine Raaj, Vijo Verghese, Myelone Tharmaseelan, Richard Duffy, N K S Tharmaseelan N K Sinnadorai","doi":"10.1192/bji.2022.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1192/bji.2022.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Maternal mental health problems are widespread worldwide, especially against the backdrop of population growth. There is an increasing prevalence of perinatal mental illness in low- and middle-income countries, and Malaysia is no exception. Despite significant improvements in the Malaysian mental health system over the past decade, there are substantial gaps in the delivery of perinatal health services in Malaysia. This article seeks to give a general overview of perinatal mental health in Malaysia and provide recommendations for the development of Malaysia's perinatal mental health services.</p>","PeriodicalId":36441,"journal":{"name":"BJPsych International","volume":"20 1","pages":"9-12"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9909434/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10770106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pandora's Box.","authors":"","doi":"10.1192/bji.2022.33","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1192/bji.2022.33","url":null,"abstract":"BOX Cannabis, pregnancy and children C has been in the limelight for some time for a variety of reasons, including its medicinal benefits and easing of restrictions on its use in many parts of the world. Public attitudes have relaxed as more powerful drugs attract more attention to their risks. Medicinal use may have influenced public thinking and possible lack of understanding of the versions of cannabis available and the relevance of the THC (delta-9tetrahydrocannabinol) component. In the USA, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of cannabis during pregnancy, which has stimulated interest in examining the possible effects on the offspring of user mothers. Non-clinical evidence shows that THC crosses the placenta and may potentially affect the brain development of the offspring. Researchers had previously found that maternal cannabis use during pregnancy was associated with increased psychopathology in middle childhood. In a recently published study, following up the original data from the ABCD (Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development) study, they examined the possibility that psychopathology persists into early adolescence. Following the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines for cohort studies, they used mixed models to estimated associations between retrospective reports of cannabis use in three maternal groups (group 1, cannabis use during pregnancy, before mothers became aware of their pregnancy; group 2, cannabis use both before and after knowledge of pregnancy; and group 3, no exposure to cannabis) and child psychopathology. A total of 10 631 mothers participated in the study, with the following numbers in each group: group 1, n=391; group 2, n= 208; and group 3, n=10 032. Of these, 81% were White, 22% were African American, 7% were Asian or Asian American, 7% were Hispanic, 4% were native American and 7% were other. The researchers assessed children for psychopathology, at baseline and at follow-up after 1 and after 2 years. Cannabis exposure during pregnancy was associated with persisting psychopathology (attention, social and behavioural problems) throughout early adolescence and did not change with age. This raises serious concerns about the effects of the substance on neurodevelopment, which may increase vulnerability in these children to later mental disorders and substance misuse. Pregnant women are advised against alcohol use, drug use and cigarette smoking during pregnancy. This study highlights the importance of more specific advice on the detrimental effects of cannabis on children.","PeriodicalId":36441,"journal":{"name":"BJPsych International","volume":"20 1","pages":"26-28"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9909410/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10770109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aruni Hapangama, Jayan Mendis, K A L A Kuruppuarachchi
{"title":"Why are we still living in the past? Sri Lanka needs urgent and timely reforms of its archaic mental health laws.","authors":"Aruni Hapangama, Jayan Mendis, K A L A Kuruppuarachchi","doi":"10.1192/bji.2022.26","DOIUrl":"10.1192/bji.2022.26","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mental health legislation protects the rights of people with mental illnesses. However, despite major social, political and cultural changes, Sri Lankan mental health services still operate on laws enacted mostly during the British rule more than a century ago, in the pre-psychotropics era, and focusing more on the detention of people with mental illnesses than on their treatment. It is high time all stakeholders made efforts for the much-awaited new Mental Health Act to pass through parliament urgently to meet the needs and protect the rights of patients, their caregivers and service providers.</p>","PeriodicalId":36441,"journal":{"name":"BJPsych International","volume":"20 1","pages":"4-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9909436/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10760906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Climate change, biodiversity and mental health","authors":"Rachel Jenkins","doi":"10.1192/bji.2022.21","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1192/bji.2022.21","url":null,"abstract":"Climate change is closely linked to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane due to human activities, and soaring temperatures might themselves pose a risk to natural carbon sequestration in the land. This editorial introduces three papers in the current issue exploring the adverse effects on mental health of climate-related loss of biodiversity and cultural heritage markers and the beneficial effects of adopting a plant-based diet. It also suggest three simple steps that clinicians can themselves take to act against climate change: choosing and recommending a plant-based diet, reducing personal use of fossil fuels and integrating climate change in discourse in all areas of their professional work.","PeriodicalId":36441,"journal":{"name":"BJPsych International","volume":"19 1","pages":"81 - 83"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45762726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}