[Perceptions of radicalisation and psychiatry in the relationship between mental health care and the security domain]. / Percepties over radicalisering en psychiatrie in de relatie tussen ggz en veiligheidsdomein.

BACKGROUND: The literature suggests that intersectoral collaboration is important to prevent attacks by radicalised persons with mental health issues, but it is not clear what this collaboration entails. AIM: To provide insight in how perceptions of radicalisation and mental health issues differ between mental health care and the security domain, and how this affects intersectoral collaboration. METHOD: Qualitative data were obtained through focus group discussions and interviews with professionals and training staff from mental health care and the security domain. RESULTS: The focus in mental health was on treatment of patients, while safety dominated in the security domain. Collaboration was hampered by too little understanding of, and for, each other's domain. The separation of radicalisation with mental health issues into prosecution or mental health care impaired an integrated approach. Privacy rules were experienced as a significant barrier for collaboration. CONCLUSION: Intersectoral collaboration works effectively if participants maintain their professional standards and only share information that is necessary and justified to make an effective plan. Many identified obstacles are more general in nature, and not confined to specific cases of radicalisation with mental health issues. Dutch Care and Safety Houses offer a sound base for intersectoral collaboration. Future professionals from different domains ought to be familiarized with each other's (im)possibilities, tasks, and roles.

[Are conspiracy theorists psychotic? A comparison between conspiracy theories and paranoid delusions]. / Zijn complotdenkers psychotisch? Een vergelijking tussen complottheorieën en paranoïde wanen.

BACKGROUND: Conspiracy theories are popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conspiratorial thinking is characterised by the strong conviction that a certain situation that one sees as unjust is the result of a deliberate conspiracy of a group of people with bad intentions. Conspiratorial thinking appears to have many similarities with paranoid delusions. AIM: To explore the nature, consequences, and social-psychological dimensions of conspiratorial thinking, and describe similarities and differences with paranoid delusions. METHOD: Critically assessing relevant literature about conspiratorial thinking and paranoid delusions. RESULTS: Conspiratorial thinking meets epistemic, existential, and social needs. It provides clarity in uncertain times and connection with an in-group of like-minded people. Both conspiratorial thinking and paranoid delusions involve an unjust, persistent, and sometimes bizarre conviction. Unlike conspiracy theorists, people with a paranoid delusion are almost always the only target of the presumed conspiracy, and they usually stand alone in their conviction. Furthermore, conspiracy theories are not based as much on unusual experiences of their inner self, reality, or interpersonal contacts. CONCLUSIONS Conspirational thinking is common in uncertain circumstances. It gives grip, certainty, moral superiority and social support. Extreme conspirational thinking seems to fit current psychiatric definitions of paranoid delusions, but there are also important differences. To make a distinction with regard to conspiratorial thinking, deepening of conventional definitions of delusions is required. Instead of the strong focus on the erroneous content of delusions, more attention should be given to the underlying idiosyncratic, changed way of experiencing reality.

[Delayed diagnosis of Huntington's disease in a psychiatric setting]. / Vertraagde diagnose van de ziekte van Huntington in een psychiatrische setting.

Huntington's disease (hd) is characterised by a triad of neuropsychiatric symptoms, motor disturbances and cognitive decline. If initial symptoms are of neuropsychiatric nature they maybe misinterpreted, which can lead to delayed diagnosis. Three examples of delayed hd diagnosis in a psychiatric setting are discussed.

[Mandatory insurance for human test-subjects participating in medical trials is in fact rarely mandatory]. / De verplichte proefpersonenverzekering bij medisch-wetenschappelijk onderzoek is lang niet altijd verplicht.

BACKGROUND: The law on medical research with humans enables researchers to request exemption from the 'mandatory' insurance for such test-subjects. Because this type of insurance is expensive, some research projects are abandoned at an early stage. AIM: To argue that exemption from 'mandatory' test-subject insurance is very rarely requested and granted. METHOD: We discuss the problems involved, using an example from clinical practice and the literature. RESULTS: The second evaluation report concerning the law on medical research mentions that very few requests are made with regards to exemptions from this type of test-subject insurance. In fact, not only researchers but also medical-ethical committees seem to be unclear about the rules and procedures for requesting and granting exemptions. As a result, there is always a real danger that medical-ethical committees make arbitrary decisions and withhold exemptions. CONCLUSION: More use needs to be made of the opportunities that the law provides for requesting exemptions from test-subject insurance.

[The God image in relation to autistic traits and religious denomination]. / Het godsbeeld in relatie tot autistische trekken en kerkelijke achtergrond.

BACKGROUND: Estimates of the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) range from 0.6 to 1.0 per cent of the general population. Among the characteristic traits of ASD are qualitative impairments in social reciprocity and in abstract imagination. Not surprisingly, these traits can affect the personal religion of ASD patients, in the same manner as religious background does. AIM: To determine to what extent the religiousness of religious patients is associated with autistic traits and religious background. METHOD: Dutch adults attending a Protestant mental healthcare institution as outpatients were asked to complete the 'Questionnaire God Image' (QGI) and the 'Autism Quotient' (AQNL). In this cross-sectional study various aspects of the God image were related to autistic traits and religious background. RESULTS: The more that respondents reported autistic traits, the greater was their fear of God and the less positive were their feelings. Respondents who were strict Calvinists experienced greater fear of God than did other respondents. CONCLUSION: Treatment of religious patients with asd needs to take into account these patients' greater fear of God and their less positive feelings. Those patients who had had a strict Calvinist upbringing had a more pronounced fear of God.