Intelligence Quotient Outcome Following Epilepsy Surgery in Pediatric Age – A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

There is a deep-rooted correlation between refractory epilepsy in pediatric age and intelligence development. However, little is known about whether surgical procedures used in pediatric epilepsy treatment can affect Intelligence Quotient (IQ) or not. Factors that might influence postoperative IQ are also a matter of study in several articles. To tackle these issues, a systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted with the terms “epilepsy”, “epileptic”, “surgery”, “surgical”, “Wechsler Scale” and “intelligence tests” in PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE and Clinical Trials.gov. A descriptive data synthesis was carried out to address each of the objectives and then a metaanalysis using a random effects model was conducted. A meta-regression was performed to ascertain possible factors that could influence postoperative IQ. The meta-analysis of the studies included found a mean difference between postoperative and preoperative full-scale IQ values of 1.014 standardized points (p < 0.001). Among all the articles regarding curative surgeries, only three reported an overall significant improvement in IQ after surgery. Regarding palliative procedures, both studies with anterior corpus callosotomy reported a significant improvement in full-scale IQ values two years after surgery. The meta-regression performed did not find any predictors of change in full-scale IQ.

Teen Suicide Attempt: The Subjective Experience of the Family

This study aimed to understand the impact of a teenage child’s suicide attempt at a family level, based on the subjective experience of the family as a whole. A qualitative study based on an hour and a half interview with the entire family was performed within two weeks of the suicide attempt. Ten adolescents hospitalized in a psychiatric unit of a Health Service of the Metropolitan Region, in Chile, and their families, were interviewed. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using the Grounded Theory methodology. Three major categories emerge from the analysis: Process Vision, Family Dynamics and Hospitalization Experience. Families perceive a before and after of the suicide attempt in the subsequent evolution of the family system. Changes occur in the way they ‘read’ the experiences and signs prior to the suicide attempt, in the understanding of what happened, and in the transformations of the relational dynamics as a consequence. Family resilience will depend on their history and how they have learned to cope with difficulties. Although one of the most recurrent reports regarding the suicide attempt refers to the traumatic component that it had in all the family members, they also state that this event has meant great learning as a family and an opportunity to grow, to get to know each other better and help each other. The benefits for the family of having a safe space to talk about how they feel and elaborate on what happened, without fear of being judged, has been highlighted. This enhance the need to incorporate the family as a whole when we think about an adolescent suicide attempt, both in understanding the phenomenon and in intervention and treatment.

Escalated Suicidal Rate of the Undergraduate Students of Bangladesh - Social Impact and Recommendations to Overcome

Suicide has become one of the leading causes of deaths all over the world. It is considered as a global public health problem and a deviant behavior. People of different ages are committing suicide every day around the world for different reasons. University students, who are supposed to be the future of a country, are also accepting this path of deaths. Bangladeshi undergraduate students are also becoming the victims of suicide every day. In recent times, suicide ideation among the university undergraduate students is increasing. This article reveals the prevalence of suicide among the university undergraduate students and the factors associated with suicide ideation among the university undergraduate students of Bangladesh. It also focuses on the impact of these suicides on the family and society. To overcome this grave situation, some precautionary steps have been recommended at the end of this article. Keywords: Behavioral health; Mental disorder; Psychology; Public health; Suicide

Nonmental Healthcare Professionals’ Attitudes Toward Mental Health Services in Asir Region, KSA

Objectives: Most patients who visit other clinics are surprised when they referred to psychiatric clinics, which may be related to the social stigma of mental illness or nonmental health professionals’ (NMHPs) negative attitude toward psychiatric illness. The study aimed to assess attitudes toward mental health services among NMHPs in Asir region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and to correlate the results with different variables. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among NMHPs (n=358) in Asir region of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia by using an electronic questionnaire through WhatsApp application. Results: Young age, female gender, single marital status, did not ever had known or shared in giving care to a mentally ill person, work experience less than 10 years, nursing specialty, and holding diploma degree represented the significant statistical correlation with negative attitudes toward mental health services scale (p-value = <0.001; 0.01; 0.003; 0.02; <0.001; 0.02 and <0.001, respectively). Conclusion: This study demonstrates positive attitude toward mental health services among NMHPs. There is need for better educational measures and more training courses at the undergraduate level of NMHPs in order to improve such attitude. Future research could investigate the outcomes of these measures and courses.

Accidental Trihexyphenidyl Intoxication in a Seven-Year-Old Child: A Case Report from Senegal

Trihexyphenidyl or Artane® /Parkinane® is an anti-cholinergic drug belonging to the antimuscarinic class. It is used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and widely in psychiatry for the management of extrapyramidal side effects of neuroleptics. Its overdose leads to a central and peripheral anticholinergic syndrome. We report here the case of a seven-year-old Senegalese boy who developed signs of intoxication due to accidental ingestion of a high dose of trihexyphenidyl and recovered completely after administration of parenteral antipyretic, gastric lavage and supportive care in a paediatric setting.

Assessment of the Risk Factors of MDD Recurrence Based on Deep Learning Approaches

Objective: Explore the risk factors related to the recurrence of MDD and provide a basis for the prevention and control of MDD. Methods: Patients with MDD were extracted from two large, multi-center clinical datasets. The inpatients and outpatients between January 2000 and December 2015 were collected. Eligible patients were 18-90 years-old and had a diagnosis of MDD. The MDD were identified based on the MDD-related ICD-9- CM diagnosis codes; and MDD-related ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes. Eventually, 140,497 patients were qualified for further analysis, including 69.2% female patients. Among of 140,497, 20, 078 patients (14.3%) had no comorbidities. Logistic regression, SVM, and LSTM were employed to predict the key risk factors associated with MDD recurrence. Results: The MDD patients with married /life partners had a lower prevalence rate (9.2%) of MDD recurrence than the patients with single marital status (11.8%). The primary MDD patients had a higher MDD recurrent rate (11.7%) than secondary MDD patients (10.5%). Primary MDD was associated with MDD recurrence (OR 2.49, 95% CI 1.53-3.96) via logistic regression analysis. Insomnia, anxiety and single marital status were also top-ranked risk factors for the MDD recurrence. The prediction accuracy of logistic regression, SVM and LSTM were 0.736, 0.791 and 0.834, respectively. Conclusions: Building statistical models by mining existing EHR data can explore the risk factors associated with MDD recurrence. Our results indicated that primary MDD, never married, anxiety symptoms, and insomnia were risk factors for MDD recurrence. The prediction accuracy of the LSTM model was higher than the other two approaches.

The Value of Collaboration between Psychiatrists and Exorcist Priests

The article presents the issues of cooperation between psychiatrists and exorcist priests, taking into account the psychiatrist, exorcist priest, patient, and the unusual disease of possession, paying particular attention to when and why the cooperation is essential. And it is necessary mainly in difficult cases of possession. Possession does not only exist as another mental illness; possession is a parapsychological disease, an unusual disease in which supernatural phenomena occur, and is therefore more than a patient’s conviction that he or she will be subjected to demons. Possession is the real seizure of the possessed body by an evil spirit. Possession needs a specific diagnosis and treatment, by a unique specialist, which is an exorcist priest. For the work of exorcist priests, it is very important the cooperation with psychiatrists, who recognize and treat cases of pseudo-possessions and mental illnesses that may coexist with possessions. The article also points out when psychiatrists should refer patients to an exorcist priest. The golden rule turns out to be to give the psychiatrist what belongs to psychiatrists, and to the exorcist priest what belongs to exorcists.

Theoretical Viewpoints and Mental Health Implications of Constructing and Deconstructing Narrative Identity

Considering the prevailing mental health issues among adolescents and the overall clinical population due to their incoherent personal narratives, there is a growing need for mental health professionals to integrate narrative therapy in their theoretical orientation and practical application. Therefore, the author of this paper focuses on various theoretical viewpoints toward constructing and deconstructing narrative identities along with the emphasis on mental health implications. This paper also presents a variety of counseling strategies that can be useful in different clinical settings to help clients in changing their personal narrative for the purpose of promoting mental health well-being.

A Global Pandemic: How Different Nations Coped with COVID-19 Phobia

Aim: This study examined the impact of coping on COVID-19 Phobia (C19P) among individuals from different nations including a cluster of European countries, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the United States of America (USA) by using quantitative measures (C19P-S; Brief COPE) and a demographic questionnaire. Method: The research participants were recruited via disseminating an electronic survey on Facebook Messenger. We used the sample of 812 participants from our previous study that focused on resilience toward C19P. Result: Most coping styles correlated statistically significantly with the level of C19P at different domains including psychological, psychosomatic, economic, and social factors. At least two nations out of the five had statistically different scores for all 14 coping styles (p <0.05). The coping styles including selfdistraction, use of emotional support, use of instrumental support, behavioral disengagement, humor, religion, and self-blame were statistically significantly affected by age (p <0.05).

Mental-Health Impact of Quarantine Measures during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To explore, among residents of Dammam and Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, the impact of quarantining as a result of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection on depression, anxiety, and stress levels. Methods: A cross-sectional study of all patients with COVID-19 in Dammam and Al-Khobar was conducted in July 5–18, 2020. Of the 395 patients targeted, 283 responded (response rate: 72%). Results: The participants’ mean age (± standard deviation) was 31.3 (± 10.7) years; 46% were women. Loss of smell (26.5%), headache (25.4%), cough (25.1%), loss of taste (22.6%), and loss of motion (22.6%) were common symptoms. The main source of COVID-19 infection was family gatherings (38.2% of cases). Overall, 47% of the sample showed depression, 37% showed anxiety, and 29% showed depression and anxiety. Approximately 50% of those with depression, anxiety, and/or stress developed symptoms after infection; of these, 90% experienced stress. For 75% of those with depression, anxiety, and/or stress, quarantining did not exacerbate these symptoms. Depression was high among women, with diabetes mellitus, headache, loss of motion, body aches, lack of appetite, fatigue, shortness of breath, and loss of smell and taste showing significant associations in this regard. Anxiety was only significantly associated with fatigue. Conclusion: Loss of smell and taste, fatigue, and headache indicate a risk of developing depression, anxiety, and/or stress. Early mental-health interventions are necessary to prevent patients entering COVID-19 quarantine from experiencing long-term symptoms.