Experience of the psychiatric and psychotherapy services of an infectious hospital in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

The article reflects the results of the work of the psychiatric and psychotherapy services of the Hospital for war veterans converted into an infectious hospital in the context of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) pandemic. The aim of our study was to determine the frequency and nature of mental disorders in patients treated in hospital for a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) between April and June 2020. The case histories of patients who received psychotherapy or psychiatric care in addition to the treatment of the underlying disease were studied retrospectively. The study included 557 patients, 266 men, 291 women, the average age was 62.36+18.65 years. The work used clinical and psychological methods using the international classification of diseases 10 revision (ICD-10), the diagnosis of a new coronavirus infection (COVID — 19) was carried out in accordance with the Temporary guidelines of the Ministry of health of the Russian Federation. As a result of data evaluation, it was revealed that the proportion of patients requiring consultation or treatment by a psychiatrist or psychotherapist was 557 (7,10%) patients of the total number of hospital admissions, of which emergency psychiatric care was indicated in 58 (10,41%) of cases. The transition of the hospital to an infectious diseases hospital mode has set new challenges for the psychiatric and psychotherapy service, which required organizational measures, therapeutic issues and confirmed the need for participation of mental health specialists in providing full-fledged medical care in the treatment of somatic disorders.

Counselling and psychotherapy service use in Chinese sexual minority populations: a nationwide survey

Background This study investigated the prevalence and factors associated with counselling and psychotherapy service use among Chinese sexual minority populations. Methods A nationwide cross-sectional study was performed using snowball sampling method, which led to the inclusion of 18,193 participants. Participants’ sociodemographic background, clinical, and psychological data were gathered. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to explore any associated factors. Results There were 2007 participants who had used counselling and psychotherapy service out of the total population. Among those who had used psychotherapy services, 80.2% participants perceived discrimination, 1.1% reported that they had been refused treatment by a counsellor and/or psychotherapist, 1.6% had experienced verbal harassment, and 8.4% reported that their counsellor and/or psychotherapist lacked knowledge and experience in treating sexual minorities. In addition, regression analyses indicated that those who were divorced/widowed, had religious beliefs, and those who had experienced discrimination, verbal harassment, and rejection for treatment by health professionals all had an increased likelihood of utilising counselling and psychotherapy service. Conclusions Service providers and policy makers in China should improve the quality and availability of counselling and psychotherapy services to address the mental health needs of sexual minority populations.

Ethical Issues for Direct-to-Consumer Digital Psychotherapy Apps: Addressing Accountability, Data Protection, and Consent

This paper focuses on the ethical challenges presented by direct-to-consumer (DTC) digital psychotherapy services that do not involve oversight by a professional mental health provider. DTC digital psychotherapy services can potentially assist in improving access to mental health care for the many people who would otherwise not have the resources or ability to connect with a therapist. However, the lack of adequate regulation in this area exacerbates concerns over how safety, privacy, accountability, and other ethical obligations to protect an individual in therapy are addressed within these services. In the traditional therapeutic relationship, there are ethical obligations that serve to protect the interests of the client and provide warnings. In contrast, in a DTC therapy app, there are no clear lines of accountability or associated ethical obligations to protect the user seeking mental health services. The types of DTC services that present ethical challenges include apps that use a digital platform to connect users to minimally trained nonprofessional counselors, as well as services that provide counseling steered by artificial intelligence and conversational agents. There is a need for adequate oversight of DTC nonprofessional psychotherapy services and additional empirical research to inform policy that will provide protection to the consumer.