SOCIAL PHOBIA (SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER) DURING COVID-19 IN MEDICAL INTERNSHIP STUDENTS

Background & Method: A cross sectional study was conducted on 100 internship students (50 male and 50 female students). To assess Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder) during COVID-19 Pandemic in medical internship students based on determination of frequency, quantifying the symptoms, severity & socio demographic profile, duration of study – conducted from May to July 2020. Result: In our study we found, social phobia present in 44% in males & 38% in females. ?2 = 7.714, p = 0.05, Highly significant. Conclusion: According to my study, frequency of Social Phobia is 82% during COVID-19 in medical internship students. Our study suggests that during COVID-19, mild and moderate degree of social phobia is maximum in medical interns of both sexes. Proper psycho education along with sessions of applied relaxation and social skills training was given to medical internship students because of their high prevalence of social anxiety disorder during COVID-19 which was quite successful. Keywords: social phobia, clinical, anxiety & disorder.

Anterior hippocampal volume predicts affect-focused psychotherapy outcome

BackgroundThe hippocampus plays an important role in psychopathology and treatment outcome. While posterior hippocampus (PH) may be crucial for the learning process that exposure-based treatments require, affect-focused treatments might preferentially engage anterior hippocampus (AH). Previous studies have distinguished the different functions of these hippocampal sub-regions in memory, learning, and emotional processes, but not in treatment outcome. Examining two independent clinical trials, we hypothesized that anterior hippocampal volume would predict outcome of affect-focused treatment outcome [Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT); Panic-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (PFPP)], whereas posterior hippocampal volume would predict exposure-based treatment outcome [Prolonged Exposure (PE); Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT); Applied Relaxation Training (ART)].MethodsThirty-five patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 24 with panic disorder (PD) underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before randomization to affect-focused (IPT for PTSD; PFPP for PD) or exposure-based treatments (PE for PTSD; CBT or ART for PD). AH and PH volume were regressed with clinical outcome changes.ResultsBaseline whole hippocampal volume did not predict post-treatment clinical severity scores in any treatment. For affect-focused treatments, but not exposure-based treatments, anterior hippocampal volume predicted clinical improvement. Smaller AH correlated with greater affect-focused treatment improvement. Posterior hippocampal volume did not predict treatment outcome.ConclusionsThis is the first study to explore associations between hippocampal volume sub-regions and treatment outcome in PTSD and PD. Convergent results suggest that affect-focused treatment may influence the clinical outcome through the ‘limbic’ AH, whereas exposure-based treatments do not. These preliminary, theory-congruent, therapeutic findings require replication in a larger clinical trial.

The 2013/14 Thames Basin Floods: Do Improved Meteorological Forecasts Lead to More Skillful Hydrological Forecasts at Seasonal Time Scales?

The Thames basin experienced 12 major Atlantic depressions in winter 2013/14, leading to extensive and prolonged fluvial and groundwater flooding. This exceptional weather coincided with highly anomalous meteorological conditions across the globe. Atmospheric relaxation experiments, whereby conditions within specified regions are relaxed toward a reanalysis, have been used to investigate teleconnection patterns. However, no studies have examined whether improvements to seasonal meteorological forecasts translate into more skillful seasonal hydrological forecasts. This study applied relaxation experiments to reforecast the 2013/14 floods for three Thames basin catchments with different hydrogeological characteristics. The tropics played an important role in the development of extreme conditions over the Thames basin. The greatest hydrological forecasting skill was associated with the tropical Atlantic and less with the tropical Pacific, although both captured seasonal meteorological flow anomalies. Relaxation applied over the northeastern Atlantic produced confident ensemble forecasts, but hydrological extremes were underpredicted; this was unexpected with relaxation applied so close to the United Kingdom. Streamflow was most skillfully forecast for the catchment representing a large drainage area with high peak flow. Permeable lithology and antecedent conditions were important for skillfully forecasting groundwater levels. Atmospheric relaxation experiments can improve our understanding of extratropical anomalies and the potential predictability of extreme events such as the Thames 2013/14 floods. Seasonal hydrological forecasts differed from what was expected from the meteorology alone, and thus knowledge is gained by considering both components. In the densely populated Thames basin, considering the local hydrogeological context can provide an effective early alert of potential high-impact events, allowing for better preparedness.