Palliative Psychiatry for Patients with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness: A Survey on the Attitudes of Psychiatrists in India compared to Psychiatrists in Switzerland

Background Palliative psychiatry is a new approach for the care of patients with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). To assess the attitudes of psychiatrists in India towards palliative psychiatry for patients with SPMI and to compare these to the attitudes of psychiatrists in Switzerland. Methods In an online survey, data from 206 psychiatrists in India were collected and compared with data from a previous survey among 457 psychiatrists in Switzerland. Results Psychiatrists in India generally considered it very important to prevent suicide in SPMI patients (97.6%). At the same time, they considered it very important to reduce suffering (98.1%) and to ensure functionality in everyday life (95.6%). They agreed that palliative psychiatry is important for providing optimal care to SPMI patients without life-limiting illness (79.6%) and considered palliative psychiatry as indicated for patients with SPMI (78.2%). By contrast, curing the illness was considered very important by only 39.8 % of respondents. Relative to psychiatrists in Switzerland, psychiatrists in India were significantly more concerned about preventing suicide and less willing to accept a reduction in life expectancy, even at the expense of quality of life in patients with severe and persistent schizophrenia and recurrent major depressive disorder. At the same time, they were significantly more likely to advocate palliative psychiatry. Conclusion Most of the participating psychiatrists in India agreed that palliative psychiatry can be indicated for patients with SPMI. The comparison with psychiatrists in Switzerland highlights the need to take account of cultural differences in future studies of this kind.

Evaluation of an Alternative Depression Therapy Using Bioresonance

Background: Bioresonance therapy is a holistic physical method used in the treatment of various diseases. Aim of the study: The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the effect of bioresonance therapy in patients with recurrent major depressive disorder and with mild or moderate depressive episodes, respectively, without any other pharmacological, psychological, or other type of treatment. Methods: We selected 40 patients diagnosed with recurrent depressive disorder and bioresonance therapy as the only treatment. Assessment of the level of depression was achieved by measuring the biorhythm with the bioresonance device and by applying the Hamilton Depression Inventory questionnaire, with 17 items, at the beginning and the end of five weeks of treatment. Results: We identified a statistically significant decrease in depression levels as quantified by the HAM-D 17 scale, between the initial and final phase of therapy (p = 0.0001). Conclusions: Our results suggest that bioresonance therapy can decrease the level of depression in patients with recurrent depressive disorder, with mild and moderate depressive episodes.

Bioresonance therapy may treat depression

The aim of the study was to evaluate if bioresonance therapy can offer quantifiable results in patients with recurrent major depressive disorder and with mild, moderate, or severe depressive episodes by decreasing the level of depression due to the application of bioresonance therapy as independently or complementary treatment. The study included 140 patients suffering from depression, divided into three groups. The first group (40 patients) received solely bioresonance therapy, the second group (40 patients) received pharmacological treatment with antidepressants combined with bioresonance therapy, and the third group (60 patients) received solely pharmacological treatment with antidepressants. The assessment of depression was made using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, with 17 items, at the beginning of the bioresonance treatment and the end of the five weeks of treatment, aiming to decrease the level of depression. The study identified the existence of a statistically significant difference for the treatment methods applied to the analyzed groups (p=0.0001), and we found that the therapy accelerates the healing process in patients with depressive disorders. Improvement was observed for the analyzed groups, with a decrease of the mean values between the initial and final phase of the level of depression, of delta for Hamilton score of 3.1, 3.8 and 2.3, respectively. We concluded that the bioresonance therapy could be useful in the treatment of recurrent major depressive disorder with moderate depressive episodes independently or as a complementary therapy to antidepressants.

Correction to: Metabolic features of recurrent major depressive disorder in remission, and the risk of future recurrence

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01239-4