THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTACHMENT AND SERUM OXYTOCIN AND HEAT SHOCK PROTEIN-70 LEVELS IN ADOLESCENTS OF PARENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA AND BIPOLAR DISORDER.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate serum heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and oxytocin levels, attachment and perceived social support levels in adolescents with parental bipolar disorder (BD) and Schizophrenia (SCZ). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study included 9 adolescents with SCZ parents, 30 adolescents with BD parents and 31 healthy adolescents. Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), Relationship Scale Questionnaire-Adolescent Form (RSQ-A) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were administered to all participants. In addition, serum HSP-70 and oxytocin levels were evaluated. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of attachment style, psychiatric symptoms and perceived social support. Serum HSP-70 levels were found to be lower in adolescents whose parents had BD. Serum oxytocin levels of the SCZ group were significantly lower than those of the BD group. CONCLUSIONS: HSP-70 level was found to be lower in adolescents with BD parents. Oxytocin level was found to be lower in adolescents with SCZ parents. These findings suggest that HSP-70 and oxytocin may be a marker of early life stress in adolescents with parental psychopathology. However, studies are needed to evaluate the relationship between attachment, oxytocin and HSP-70 in adolescents exposed to parental psychopathology in early life.

The association between Internet addiction and dissociation among Turkish college students.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate Internet use patterns and Internet addiction among young adult university students and to examine the correlation between excessive Internet use and dissociative symptoms. METHODS: The study was conducted among 1034 students, aged between 18 and 27 years. Internet Addiction Scale, Dissociative Experiences Scale, and a sociodemographic query form were used in the collection of data. Pearson correlation analysis, the t test, and χ(2) test were used for data analysis. RESULTS: According to the Internet Addiction Scale, 9.7% of the study sample was addicted to the Internet. The Pearson correlation analysis results revealed a significant positive correlation between dissociative experiences and Internet addiction (r = 0.220; P < .001) and weekly Internet use (r = 0.227; P < .001). Levels of Internet addiction were significantly higher among male students than female students (P < .001). The Internet use pattern also differed significantly between sexes. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of this study, Internet addiction is a relatively frequent phenomenon among young adult college students in Turkey. Excessive Internet use is associated with higher levels of dissociative symptoms.

Mean platelet volume in patients with major depression: effect of escitalopram treatment.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between major depression and increased platelet activity has been previously indicated by several studies. The aims of this study were to examine mean platelet volume (MPV), which is an indicator of platelet activity, in patients with depression and investigate whether escitalopram treatment would affect MPV. METHODS: Fifteen patients (11 women and 4 men) meeting the criteria for a current episode of major depressive disorder were recruited to the study and 17 physically and mentally healthy comparison subjects (11 women and 6 men). Mean platelet volume and platelet count of the controls and patients were measured upon entry to the study. After 8 weeks of open-label treatment with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram (10-20 mg/d), the patients with depression were readmitted and the measurements were repeated. RESULTS: At baseline, in comparison with the control group, the group with depression exhibited greater platelet activity as detected by increased MPV. After escitalopram treatment, the patients with depression exhibited significant reduction in MPV. There was also a significant decline in platelet count. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, normalization of platelet activation is associated with escitalopram treatment for patients with depression. This finding may provide evidence for the use of escitalopram in patients with major depression and comorbid ischemic heart disease.

Childhood trauma and dissociation in women with pseudoseizure-type conversion disorder.

BACKGROUND: Conversion disorder is thought to be associated with psychological factors because of the presence of conflict and other stressors prior to the condition. AIM: The aim of this study is to compare adult patients with pseudoseizure-type conversion disorder with healthy control group in terms of childhood trauma, dissociative disorder and family history of psychiatric disorders. METHOD: 56 female patients were admitted to the general psychiatry hospital outpatient clinic between January and July 2005. All patients had a negative experience about their families just before having the conversion. Diagnosis was made according to the DSM-IV criteria. A control group consisting of similar patient demographics of the disease group has been selected. Socio-demographic information forms, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and Dissociation Questionnaire (DIS-Q), were completed on the patients. RESULTS: CTQ total (t=12.12, P<0.001) and subscales, emotional abuse and emotional neglect (EA-EN) (t=12.74, P<0.001), physical abuse (PA) (t=10.05, P<0.001), and sexual abuse (SA) (t=7.69, P<0.001) were significantly high in the conversion group. DIS-Q mean points were statistically higher in the conversion group (t=11.05, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that pseudoseizures (conversion disorder) should be included within dissociative disorders in DSM system as in ICD. It is usually uncommon for the patient to tell about childhood trauma without being specially questioned about this issue. Thus, it would be helpful to uncover these experiences by using related scales in conversion disorder patients.

Evaluation of dexamethasone suppression test in fibromyalgia patients with or without depression.

OBJECTIVE: While in most healthy persons dexamethasone administration suppresses cortisol synthesis from the adrenal cortex, such suppression is not usually observed in patients with depression. We set out to investigate whether the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) reveals any neurobiological relationship between fibromyalgia (FM) and depression related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. METHOD: To discover a relationship between depression and FM we performed the DST in 20 FM patients with depression, 26 FM patients without depression and 20 healthy subjects serving as a control group. RESULTS: Compared with the control group the cortisol level was found to be significantly higher in response to the DST in FM patients with depression (p = 0.03; z: -2.165), but not in those without depression (p = 0.153; z: -1.429). The cortisol level was not found to be statistically significant when patients with FM without depression were compared with the control group (p = 0.249; z: -1.152). In 7 FM patients with depression the DST failed to suppress cortisol; this was statistically significant compared with FM patients without depression (p = 0.014) and the control group(p = 0.008). Among FM patients without depression cortisol was not suppressed in one case. Cortisol was suppressed in all the controls. There was no statistically significant difference in cortisol suppression between FM patients without depression and the control group (p = 1.00). CONCLUSION: Our findings show that the DST reveals no neurobiological relationship between FM and depression related to the HPA axis.

The relationship between internet addiction and body mass index in Turkish adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to investigate Internet use patterns and Internet addiction among adolescents and to examine the correlation between Internet addiction and eating attitudes and body mass index (BMI). The study was conducted among 1,938 students, aged between 14 and 18 years. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT), and a sociodemographic query form were used to collect data. According to the IAT, 12.4% of the study sample met the criteria for Internet addiction. A significant positive correlation between BMI and the IAT (r=0.307; p<0.01) and weekly Internet use (r=0.215; p<0.01) was found. Nine students with Internet addiction (3.8%) and 90 with average Internet use (5.3%) were found to have a possible eating disorder (p>0.05). No relationship was found between the EAT and the IAT and duration of weekly Internet use. Linear regression analysis revealed a significant independent association of the IAT with BMI (r=0.235; p<0.001). These results indicate an association between Internet addiction and BMI. Further studies are needed to describe the causality of this association.

Evaluation of psychometric properties of the internet addiction scale in a sample of Turkish high school students.

The Internet Addiction Scale (IAS) is a self-report instrument based on the seven substance dependence criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and two additional criteria recommended by Griffiths. The IAS was administered to 300 high school students along with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Submissive Acts Scale (SAS). For test-retest reliability, the IAS was administered a second time 7 days after the first administration. An interitem reliability reduced the initial scale from 31 to 27 items (with Cronbach's alpha of 0.94). The factor analysis suggests the existence mainly of one factor in the IAS. Correlation analyses indicated that BDI and SAS were significantly correlated positively with the IAS. One-week test-retest correlation for the IAS was highly significant. According to these results, the psychometric properties of the IAS are promising.

Effect of escitalopram on white blood cells in patients with major depression.

BACKGROUND: Immunological dysfunctions in the course of depression are recently intensively investigated. Pharmacotherapy of depression is speculated to affect immune response. In this study, our objective was to investigate whether escitalopram treatment would affect white blood cells in patients with major depression. METHODS: Fifteen patients (11 women and 4 men), meeting the criteria for a current episode of major depressive disorder, were participated. White blood cell (WBC), neutrophil (NEUT), lymphocyte (LYMPH), monocyte (MONO), eosinophyl (EO), and basophyl (BASO) levels were measured at the entry to the study. After 8 weeks of open-label treatment with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram (10-20 mg/d), the patients were readmitted and the measurements were repeated. RESULTS: At the end of the study, LYMPH was found to be significantly decreased compared to the baseline value after 8 weeks treatment with escitalopram (p < 0.001). There was not a significant change in WBC, NEUT, MONO, EO, and BASO parameters. CONCLUSIONS: The present study has shown that escitalopram increased LYMPH in patients with major depression according to these results, the possible treatment of depression with escitalopram must be carried out with caution, in patients with immunological disturbances. KEYWORDS: Escitalopram; Major depression; White blood cells.

Lithium intoxication related multiple temporary ecg changes: A case report.

Lithium is a widely used mood stabilizer, which may cause cardiac side effects. In this article, we present the case of a 39-year-old woman who had presented with pre-syncope and developed multiple ECG abnormalities that are caused by lithium intoxication and are disappeared after hemodialysis.

Paradoxical therapy in conversion reaction.

Paradoxical therapy consists of suggesting that the patient intentionally engages in the unwanted behaviour such as performing compulsive ritual or wanting a conversion attack. In this study, the subjects were selected by the emergency unit psychiatrist from patients who were admitted to the emergency unit with pseudoseizure. The diagnoses was based on DSM-IV criteria. Paradoxical intention was applied to half of the 30 patients with conversion disorders; the other half were treated with diazepam in order to examine the efficiency of the paradoxical intention versus diazepam. In both groups the differences of the anxiety scores at the beginning of the study were found to be insignificant (z=1.08, p=0.28). Of the 15 patients who completed paradoxical intention treatment, 14 (93.3%) responded favorably to paradoxical intention. On the other hand of 15 patients who completed diazepam therapy, 9 (60%) responded well to therapy and 6 patients carried on their conversion symptoms at the end of 6 weeks. Paradoxical intention-treated patients appeared to have greater improvements in anxiety scores (z=2.43, p<0.015) and conversion symptoms (t=2.27, p=0.034) than the diazepam-treated patients. The results of the present study are encouraging in that paradoxical intention can be effective in the treatment of conversion disorder.