You say "schizophrenia" and I say "psychosis": Just tell me when I can come off this medication.

Individuals experiencing a first episode of psychosis are likely to respond well to treatment with antipsychotic medications. Of those treated for a first episode of schizophrenia, three out of four can expect to achieve remission. The question of how long antipsychotic medication should be continued has been a topic of heated debate in the field. Longitudinal studies of individuals diagnosed with a first episode of psychosis have reported that as many as 30% may be able to come off of medications without relapsing while treatment discontinuation studies have found that very few patients remain in remission off of medication. This paper reviews the literature on relapse rates following a first episode of schizophrenia and identifies factors that contribute to the discrepancies in the rates reported. These factors include sampling considerations, the distribution of psychiatric diagnoses, the duration of follow-up, the rate of medication discontinuation and the criteria used to define illness recurrence. We propose that individuals for whom the diagnosis of their first psychotic episode is determined with ongoing follow-up to be due to schizophrenia are at extremely high risk of relapse and should be advised to continue antipsychotic medication for the long-term. Those whose first episode of psychosis is determined to be due to other causes are also at high risk of illness recurrence off medications. Recommendations for maintenance treatment should be tailored to reflect the risk of relapse and sequelae of relapse associated with specific causes of first episode psychosis.

Effectiveness of online versus live multi-family psychoeducation group therapy for children and adolescents with mood or anxiety disorders: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: [1] To highlight the effectiveness of multi-family psychoeducation group therapy (MFPGT) in children with mood or anxiety disorders; [2] to measure change in knowledge and awareness of mood and anxiety disorders in families and children; and [3] to compare the relative effectiveness of online compared to live MFPGT. METHOD: Participants included families of children (12 years or younger) referred with a mood or anxiety disorder to the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Queen's University (n=16) who were on a waitlist to see a psychiatrist. Change was measured through questionnaires for all parents before and after the program. Using SPSS v22, comparisons between the online (n=6) and live (n=10) groups were made using the Mann-Whitney U test and within group comparisons were made using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. RESULTS: The online and live education groups showed similar overall improvements in knowledge acquisition and expressed emotion in participating families. However, statistical significance must be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size. CONCLUSIONS: Online MFPGT may be an effective way to increase knowledge, provide resources and support and build on skills thus giving individuals more control and confidence when dealing with a mood or anxiety disorder while on a waitlist. MFPGT showed equal efficacy in live and online groups, indicating that the online program has the potential to be a more convenient and accessible program for families. More research is needed with a greater sample size.

Vitamin D and depression: A case series.

INTRODUCTION: Over two-thirds of Canadians are deficient in vitamin D. Clinical overlap can compound diagnosis of depression in vitamin D deficient individuals. Citing high costs, the Ministry of Health has restricted routine vitamin D screening and hence is not feasible. OBJECTIVES: The current case series is an attempt to recognise the clinical overlap between depression and vitamin D deficiency in order to avoid unnecessary antidepressant prescriptions and to demonstrate the role of collaborative care in such patients. METHOD: After appropriate ethics approval 62 patients from an outpatient clinic were screened for the diagnosis of treatment resistant depression. Those who had predominant somatic complaints were further screened for organic factors and those with inadequate vitamin D levels were referred to family physicians for supplementation with vitamin D. RESULTS: More than 50% were detected deficient in vitamin D after our evaluation. They showed subjective improvement with vitamin D supplements. No modification of antidepressants was needed. CONCLUSION: Vitamin D deficiency should be suspected in depressed patients with prominent somatic symptoms and their treatment resistance should be reconsidered to avoid unnecessary exposure to mood stabilisers. Collaborating with primary care is advocated. LIMITATION: Co-prescription of an antidepressant is a confounder in our case series, and we propose more organised studies with objective rating scales.