‘Soother of mind’ – meditation in psychiatric disorders: a narrative review

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Vinod Kumar ◽  
Shree Raksha Bhide ◽  
Rashmi Arasappa ◽  
Shivarama Varambally ◽  
Bangalore N. Gangadhar

SUMMARY Meditation, a component of ashtanga yoga, is an act of inward contemplation in which the mind fluctuates between a state of attention to a stimulus and complete absorption in it. Some forms of meditation have been found to be useful for people with psychiatric conditions such as anxiety, depression and substance use disorder. Evidence for usefulness of meditation for people with psychotic disorders is mixed, with reported improvements in negative symptoms but the emergence/precipitation of psychotic symptoms. This article narrates the benefits of meditation in psychiatric disorders, understanding meditation from the yoga perspective, biological aspects of meditation and practical tips for the practice of meditation. We also explain possible ways of modifying meditative practices to make them safe and useful for the patient population and useful overall as a society-level intervention.

2021 ◽  
pp. 025371762199953
Author(s):  
Bhavneesh Saini ◽  
Pir Dutt Bansal ◽  
Mamta Bahetra ◽  
Arvind Sharma ◽  
Priyanka Bansal ◽  
...  

Background: Normal personality development, gone awry due to genetic or environmental factors, results in personality disorders (PD). These often coexist with other psychiatric disorders, affecting their outcome adversely. Considering the heterogeneity of data, more research is warranted. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study on personality traits in psychiatric patients of a tertiary hospital, over 1 year. Five hundred and twenty-five subjects, aged 18–45 years, with substance, psychotic, mood, or neurotic disorders were selected by convenience sampling. They were evaluated for illness-related variables using psychiatric pro forma; diagnostic confirmation and severity assessment were done using ICD-10 criteria and suitable scales. Personality assessment was done using the International Personality Disorder Examination after achieving remission. Results: Prevalence of PD traits and PDs was 56.3% and 4.2%, respectively. While mood disorders were the diagnostic group with the highest prevalence of PD traits, it was neurotic disorders for PDs. Patients with PD traits had a past psychiatric history and upper middle socioeconomic status (SES); patients with PDs were urban and unmarried. Both had a lower age of onset of psychiatric illness. Psychotic patients with PD traits had higher and lower PANSS positive and negative scores, respectively. The severity of personality pathology was highest for mixed cluster and among neurotic patients. Clusterwise prevalence was cluster C > B > mixed > A (47.1%, 25.2%, 16.7%, and 11.4%). Among subtypes, anankastic (18.1%) and mixed (16.7%) had the highest prevalence. Those in the cluster A group were the least educated and with lower SES than others. Conclusions: PD traits were present among 56.3% of the patients, and they had many significant sociodemographic and illness-related differences from those without PD traits. Cluster C had the highest prevalence. Among patients with psychotic disorders, those with PD traits had higher severity of psychotic symptoms.


2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 2419-2430 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. Oher ◽  
A. Demjaha ◽  
D. Jackson ◽  
C. Morgan ◽  
P. Dazzan ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe extent to which different symptom dimensions vary according to epidemiological factors associated with categorical definitions of first-episode psychosis (FEP) is unknown. We hypothesized that positive psychotic symptoms, including paranoid delusions and depressive symptoms, would be more prominent in more urban environments.MethodWe collected clinical and epidemiological data on 469 people with FEP (ICD-10 F10–F33) in two centres of the Aetiology and Ethnicity in Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses (AESOP) study: Southeast London and Nottinghamshire. We used multilevel regression models to examine neighbourhood-level and between-centre differences in five symptom dimensions (reality distortion, negative symptoms, manic symptoms, depressive symptoms and disorganization) underpinning Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) Item Group Checklist (IGC) symptoms. Delusions of persecution and reference, along with other individual IGC symptoms, were inspected for area-level variation.ResultsReality distortion [estimated effect size (EES) 0.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06–0.24] and depressive symptoms (EES 0.21, 95% CI 0.07–0.34) were elevated in people with FEP living in more urban Southeast London but disorganized symptomatology was lower (EES –0.06, 95% CI –0.10 to –0.02), after controlling for confounders. Delusions of persecution were not associated with increased neighbourhood population density [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.01, 95% CI 0.83–1.23], although an effect was observed for delusions of reference (aOR 1.41, 95% CI 1.12–1.77). Hallucinatory symptoms showed consistent elevation in more densely populated neighbourhoods (aOR 1.32, 95% CI 1.09–1.61).ConclusionsIn people experiencing FEP, elevated levels of reality distortion and depressive symptoms were observed in more urban, densely populated neighbourhoods. No clear association was observed for paranoid delusions; hallucinations were consistently associated with increased population density. These results suggest that urban environments may affect the syndromal presentation of psychotic disorders.


1995 ◽  
Vol 166 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshinori Kitamura ◽  
Yuji Okazaki ◽  
Akira Fujinawa ◽  
Masahiro Yoshino ◽  
Yomishi Kasahara

BackgroundThe literature on the statistical analysis of symptoms of psychoses was limited to positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia. The present study explored the relationship between positive and negative symptoms as well as affective symptoms in a wider category of psychotic disorders.MethodThe symptoms of 584 psychiatric patients, consecutively admitted to any of the 95 mental hospitals in Japan, were studied. They manifested at least one of the following: (a) delusions, (b) hallucinations, (c) formal thought disorder, (d) catatonic symptoms, or (e) negative (defect) symptoms.ResultsFactor analysis yielded five factors interpretable as (a) manic symptoms, (b) depressive symptoms, (c) negative (defect) symptoms and formal thought disorders, (d) positive (psychotic) symptoms, and (e) catatonic symptoms.ConclusionThese results suggest that although major symptoms seen among psychotic patients can be categorised into positive, negative, manic, and depressive groups, corresponding to current knowledge of phenomenology, catatonic symptoms constitute a discrete syndrome, while formal thought disorders merge into the negative syndrome.


2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  

Since the time of Kraepelin and Bleuler, it has been recognized that schizophrenia is associated with a profound and persistent cognitive impairment. This paper reviews the major clinical and epidemiological studies of cognitive functioning in schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, and presents several possible models to explain the association between cognitive impairment and psychosis. Cognitive impairment is present in the majority of patients with schizophrenia, and, in some, it is already evident in the premorbid stages of the disorder. This cognitive impairment is not secondary to psychotic symptoms, negative symptoms, or socioeconomic status. Cognitive impairment can also be observed in nonpsychotic family members of psychotic patients. On the basis of this evidence, it has been proposed that abnormal cognitive functioning can be considered as a possible causal risk factor for psychosis. Recent studies assessing the relationship between genetic background, cognition, brain function, and schizophrenia are presented here as an outline for future research.


Author(s):  
Andrea E. Cavanna

Rufinamide, lacosamide, and perampanel are third-generation agents licensed for use as antiepileptic drugs in recent years. Clinical experience is still limited, and little is known about their positive and negative psychotropic properties or their implications for the management of behavioural symptoms in patients with epilepsy. There are initial reports of anxiety, depression, irritability, and agitation in patients with epilepsy treated with rufinamide, whereas depression, irritability, agitation, and psychotic symptoms have been reported during lacosamide treatment. There are initial reports of behavioural disturbances (especially depression, anxiety, irritability, and psychosis) in patients with epilepsy treated with perampanel. These effects seem to be dose-related and tend to appear within the first weeks of treatment. Overall, these antiepileptic drugs have no indications for the treatment of psychiatric disorders and there is insufficient experience to draw any conclusion regarding their psychotropic profiles.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baptiste Pignon ◽  
Guillaume Sescousse ◽  
Ali Amad ◽  
Imane Benradia ◽  
Guillaume Vaiva ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims Psychotic symptoms can occur in the general population, and alcohol use disorder (AUD) is an identified vulnerability factor. However, it remains unclear how AUD is associated with psychotic symptoms, depending on the underlying psychiatric condition. We aimed to compare the prevalence of psychotic symptoms among subjects with different types of psychiatric disorders, i.e. unipolar or bipolar disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders or no psychiatric disorder, depending on whether or not there was an underlying AUD. Methods In a 38,694-subject general population study, we compared the likelihood of occurrence of seven types of psychotic symptoms, depending on the AUD status and the underlying psychiatric disorders, after adjustment for age, sex, marital status, education and income levels. Results In unipolar depression and anxiety disorders, almost all types of psychotic symptoms were found associated with AUD (odds ratios (ORs) between 1.98 and 2.19). In contrast, in bipolar disorder, only auditory hallucinations were associated with AUD (OR = 2.50). In psychotic disorders, only thought broadcasting was more frequent among subjects with AUD (OR = 1.78). Conclusion Our findings in depression and anxiety disorders are in line with the ‘dual diagnosis’ concept, which posits that comorbid psychiatric/addictive disorders form distinctive entities that are more frequently associated with non-specific severity factors, here psychotic symptoms. The co-occurrence of AUD in bipolar/psychotic disorders was not associated with a generalized increased occurrence of psychotic symptoms but altered their manifestations with an increased risk of auditory hallucinations for bipolar disorder and thought broadcasting for psychotic disorders.


2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROSS M. G. NORMAN ◽  
ASHOK K. MALLA

Background. The concept of duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) has recently attracted much interest because of its possible relationship to treatment outcome and implications for preventive efforts with reference to psychotic disorders, especially schizophrenia. In this paper we review critically the literature concerning the concept and its importance.Methods. Articles concerned with measuring DUP and those that have been suggested to provide indirect or direct evidence of the effect of DUP on treatment outcome are reviewed.Results. Evidence thus far suggests that DUP may be related to ease of reducing psychotic symptoms once treatment begins for first episode patients, but there is no evidence of a relationship to likelihood of relapse. There has been little investigation of the relationship of DUP to other long-term outcomes such as negative symptoms and cognitive functioning neither have the possible confounds of DUP been widely investigated or controlled.Conclusions. It is important that there should be more thorough investigations of DUP, its correlates, and the extent to which it does mediate any advantages of earlier intervention.


2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Clausen ◽  
C. R. Hjorthøj ◽  
A. Thorup ◽  
P. Jeppesen ◽  
L. Petersen ◽  
...  

BackgroundSeveral studies indicate that cannabis use among patients with psychotic disorders is associated with worse outcome, but only a few studies have controlled for baseline condition and medication.MethodAt 5-year follow-up, interviews were carried out with 314 first-episode psychosis patients included in the OPUS trial. The patients included were in the age range of 18 to 45 years old and 59% were male. Cannabis use was extracted from the Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry. At follow-up, the patients were divided into different groups according to the variable cannabis use: abstainers, stoppers, starters and continuers. Psychotic, negative and disorganized dimensions (ranging from zero to five) were calculated for each of the four groups based on the Schedule for the Assessment of Positive and Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia.ResultsCannabis users were younger (24.6 years v. 27.4 years, p < 0.001) and had a lower level of education. At the 5-year follow-up, users of cannabis had higher scores on the psychotic dimension [difference 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.41–1.53, p = 0.001] and lower levels of the Global Assessment of Functioning (difference 8.26, 95% CI 2.13–14.39, p = 0.01). Those who stopped using cannabis between entry and 5-year follow-up had a significantly lower level of psychotic symptoms at 5-year follow-up even after controlling for baseline level of psychotic symptoms and for insufficient antipsychotic medication (adjusted difference in psychotic dimension –1.04, 95% CI –1.77 to –0.31, p = 0.006).ConclusionsContinuous cannabis use was associated with higher levels of psychotic symptoms after 5 years, and this association was only partly explained by insufficient antipsychotic medication.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (16) ◽  
pp. 2667-2670
Author(s):  
Ihsan Fadhilah ◽  
Mustafa M. Amin

BACKGROUND: Electricity is a necessity for humans to carry out their daily activities, wherein modern times there are many human life support devices require electricity that makes humans depend on their existence, it cannot be denied that electricity is the energy needed by humans in everything that supports human activities, that increased injury due to electric shocks such as the cardiovascular system, nervous system, respiratory system, cutaneous injuries, burns, neurotransmitter system and death. Psychiatric disorders such as psychosis, mania, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, conversion disorder, adjustment disorders and schizophrenia have been reported as diseases triggered by electrical injuries. CASE REPORT: This study reports cases of electrical injuries that cause psychotic symptoms such as schizophrenia. After low voltage electrical injury. A 20 years old male, Malay, Indonesian, graduated from high school, worked, unmarried, a history of psychiatric disorders was not found, family history of experiencing the same disease was not found. Reported to have suffered an injury due to electricity twice the first injury occurred, and caused a change in behaviour and emotions, and the second injury caused obvious psychotic symptoms, aggressive behaviour and mood enhancement. A brief review of the literature on the occurrence of psychiatric disorders in these injuries is also presented. CONCLUSION: Electrical injuries can cause sequelae such as psychotic disorders, the increased mood has occurred after an electrical injury in someone without prior mood disorders and personality. This is associated with circulatory hormone changes that occur in the hippocampus.


Author(s):  
Michael J. Marcsisin ◽  
Jessica M. Gannon

Psychosis has probably affected humans since the start of humanity itself, although the construct of schizophrenia is a relatively new phenomenon, dating back to the nineteenth century. Work by Emil Kraepelin and Eugen Bleuler helped consolidate ideas about psychotic disorders, setting the stage for both clinical care and neuroscience research in subsequent centuries. Phenomenologically, psychotic symptoms range from “positive” symptoms (delusions, hallucinations), to “negative” symptoms (avolition, affective blunting), to “disorganization” symptoms (disorganized speech and behavior), which all combine to produce functional deficits. Different psychotic disorders have different combinations of symptoms, which can combine with mood and anxiety symptoms to affect functioning problems in unique ways. These symptoms can be recognized fairly reliably in individuals. Understanding the inner experience of psychosis can help improve patient-centered care.


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