Comorbidities and Syndemics in the COVID-19 Age: Challenges and Opportunities for Bringing Separated Branches of Medicine Closer to Each Other.

The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a unique disaster has stressed the extreme importance of the three issues for medicine, society and humanity in general: comorbidity, pandemic and syndemic. There are many reasons why the study of comorbidities and syndemics of COVID-19 is of great importance for researchers, clinicians and health policy makers who are responsible for health care organization and funding in a bid to develop more effective and efficient prevention and treatment. Thinking about COVID-19 through a syndemics concept and taking biological, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions into account, physicians could be more effective in clinical practice and community-based interventions. The outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection is determined by the virus-host interaction, with pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 being related to the presence of comorbid diseases. The risk for severe COVID-19 clinical manifestations and death increases with age of patients and comorbidity. General mechanisms of multi-system dysfunction and multi-organ damage reported in COVID-19 are probably related to ubiquitous expression of ACE2 in many tissues and its important role in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) functioning. Physicians all over the world should be aware of COVID-19 related comorbidities, multisystem disorders and syndemics, as well as treatment and preventive strategies. COVID-19 age is a right time to reconsider the state of science and practice in comorbidity medicine field from the both epistemological and treatment perspective. Comorbidities and multimorbidities are indifferent to medical specializations, so the integrative and complementary medicine is an imperative in the both education and practice. Shifting the paradigm from vertical and mono-morbid interventions to comorbidity, multimorbidity and multi-system disease approaches enhances effectiveness and efficiency of human resources utilization. The aim of this review is to summarize the theoretical concepts and clinical experience and research regarding comorbidity in general, and specifically related to the COVID-19 pandemic, syndemics and infodemic.

SCIENCES, ARTS AND RELIGIONS: THE TRIAD IN ACTION FOR EMPATHIC CIVILIZATION IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA.

From historical or traditional perspective sciences at one side and arts and religions on the other side are strictly divided epistemology fields with no much mutual engagement and understanding. Digital revolution is changing significantly all fields of science, art and religion changing regimes and methods of knowledge and values production, communication and relationships. Big Data approach promises to provide the scientific Holy Grail, a single overarching theory or multiple theories and models that unify all the scientific disciplines from biology snd neuroscience to music and spirituality. Brain is place where biological, psychological, social and spiritual mechanisms meet each other and interact. Global empathic civilization seems to be a key to the very survival of humankind and life on our planet. Spiritually integrated sciences, arts and religions in creative dialogues and synergy as allies can significantly contribute to the healing of our broken world and promoting compassionate society and empathic civilization.

MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY OF IBN SINA (AVICENNA) - A UNIQUE SCIENTIFIC AND RELIGIOUS APPROACH.

Ibn Sina (Avicenna) is primarily known for his philosophy and medicine, but there is almost no scientific discipline in which this great man didn't leave a significant mark. This paper gives a brief overview of his contribution to medicine and psychology through which his unique scientific and religious approach to the study of the phenomena of human being can be best seen. Medical works of Ibn Sina represent a pinnacle of most important medical achievements of his time. These works contain synthesis of all Greek, Indian and Iranian medical schools, but also new breakthroughs achieved by Muslim scholars through their own experimentation and practice. Although he wrote many medical works, his most important one is El-Kanun fit-tib, which can be translated as The Canon of Medicine. It's made out of five books which systematically show everything known in the area of medicine up until that point in time. In it, Ibn Sina discusses, among other things, the structure of psychological apparatus of human being and the connection of psychological functions with the brain. He considered psychology to be very important for medicine, so in his psychological works he discusses, in great detail, the essence of human soul, consciousness, intellect and other psychological functions. He observed a man in his entirety, taking into consideration all aspects of his existence, paying special attention to spiritual knowledge and spiritual perfection, religiosity, and methods of achieving inner peace and well-being.

MUSIC, RELIGION AND HEALTH; A SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE ON THE ORIGIN OF OUR RELATIONSHIP TO MUSIC.

Why do we react emotionally to music? Does music appreciation have an adaptive value? What is the role of music in spiritual and healing practices? Music is a fascinating area of research for evolutionary theory, psychological development, and emotional perception and elicitation. It is a highly valued feature of all known living cultures and societies, pervading many aspects of daily and devotional life and playing many roles. The question that still lingers among music researchers however is why is this so. This paper will discuss the influence of music on our emotional life, psychological wellbeing, spiritual practices and finally on physiological processes present in our body. The aim is to examine the origin of our relationship to music through the mentioned perspectives and to attempt to link the various theoretical perspectives on this subject across two major domains; health and spirituality.

Meaning and the Sense of Meaning in Life from a Health Perspective.

A personalized and holistic approach to therapy is increasingly demanding answers to questions related to the meaning of life. Over the years, research has shown a direct link between the presence of meaning in life, health and recovery. It becomes impossible to ignore this connection as well as the issues of spirituality and religiosity that are immersed in the meaning of life. The article presents different definitions of meaning, the relationship of meaning in life and parts of meaning to quality of life, allostasis, stress, pathological conditions and recovery, and finally connecting the points between creative psychopharmacotherapy and meaning. A complementary approach to the meaning of life implies a desire for a clear, reliable understanding of three related but different dimensions: continuity (as opposed to fragmentation), purpose (as opposed to pointlessness), and value (as opposed to worthlessness). Creating personal meaning in life structures can provide a context for understanding and integrating stressful situations. Finding meaning means connecting, meaning are the expected connections and associations that human beings see in their world. In this aspect, the construction of meaning is a dimension that we impose on the world. Each person's ability is to decide what makes their life meaningful. The meaning of life is a changing cognitive-emotional framework, directly accessible to subjective assessment based on one's own needs and values. The art of living is to discover in though and painful life situations their true meaning, values and meaning of life, and thus health and disease. Creative psychopharmacotherapy can be used to help patients discover and explore the sensation of meaning, create a new meaning in life, a new life story, manifest their potential through recovery. Mental disorders present a chance to break with misplaced life goals and values and turn to authentic values through new forms of thinking, experiencing, behaving, and creating a successful life.

The Significance of Understanding Body Language in Depressed Patients within the Context of Creative Psychopharmacotherapy.

Since it is generally known that the human body is the best image of the human soul, this paper aims to explain how important body language is when diagnosing psychiatric diagnosis "depression". It is important to point out the importance of other alternative approaches in the treatment of depression when standard psychopharmacotherapy is not enough. Body language is a powerful form of non-verbal communication that provides important traces of intentions, emotions, and motivations in other people. In everyday life, we collect information about what people think and feel by their body posture, manners, and gestures. Evaluations of clinical depression are traditionally based on verbal information. However, non-verbal expressive behavior, related to reflexive feedback of a person, may reveal negative emotional or social processes that are not fully controlled by patients therapy, along with other artistic therapies (art therapy, drama therapy, and music therapy are other artistic therapies that are applied in Great Britain) offers an attractive opportunity for patients because it enables them to work on those issues that are placed on non-verbal and pre-verbal level. Creative psychofarmacotherapy is the concept that involves creativity as its main means. In this context, the importance of physical activity and body movements will be emphasized in the treatment of depression, when regular psychopharmacotherapy is not sufficient. To conclude, the patient has the right to actively take part in creating a therapeutic relationship and responsibly contributes to overcoming psychopathology. The importance of physical activities and body movements is emphasized in the treatment of depressive people. Studies have shown that the anti-depressive effect of physical activity is increased with simultaneous use of antidepressants, as well as that movement therapy and music therapy, together with regular pharmacotherapeutic methods, help with fast recovery and that they can be used in a creative approach to problem-solving.

Acceptance and Change as Dialectic of Recovery: Examples of Storytelling, Fairy Tale and Psychopharmacotherapy as Therapeutic Modalities.

"Narative medicine" promotes theraputic healing and recovery using fairy tales and traditional folk stories. Individuals are capable of shaping their lives through various narrative strategies and re-authoring alternative stories that are concerned with different aspects of acceptance and change. Psychotherapy through the eyes of stories and fairy tales can have two perspectives. Firstly, fairy tale acts like a weft around which the very story/script of the patient is formed, which in itself becomes the basis for interpreting the occurrence of a mental disorder. The second perspective is the perspective of healing or getting out of a "fairytale" story/script by changing an incoherent life narrative into an alternative coherent narrative (reframing). The aim of this pilot case studies approach was to use a narrative approach based on stories and fairy tales in order to promote psychological growth, meaning in life, resilience, self-realization and improved well-being and highlight the dialectic of recovery, an interplay of acceptance and change (reframing). With properly applied personalized narrative psychopharmacotherapy, the patient is capable of changing their beliefs in order to reach a new meaning of life, and thus to facilitate the lowering of symptomatology, its dissaperance and possibly even a cure, whatever that may mean for an individual. Considering its promising results, clinical implications and possible further applications are discussed.

Creative Person-Centered Psychopharmacotherapy in the Context of Prenatal Psychiatry - Dilemmas and Challenges.

The authors presented a psychopharmacotherapeutic approach to the treatment of women in the prenatal period that requires a personalized, person-centered treatment plan. Treatment should include care for the mental health of women of childbearing age, pregnancy planning, during the prenatal period, and then during the postpartum period. The authors highlighted creative psychopharmacotherapy which is the foundation of holistic and integrative treatment of mental disorders. They emphasize the significant role of the mother in the emotional development of the child, which begins while the child is still in the womb. Mothers who stop taking psychotropic drugs during pregnancy have an increased risk of recurrence of the mental disorder after childbirth because the mother's psychiatric illness is not a benign event and can cause significant morbidity for both the mother and her child, therefore, discontinuation or denial of medication during pregnancy is not always the safest option. For more serious disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe depression, medications may be needed during pregnancy and lactation, despite complex evidence based on the effects of psychotropic medications on the fetus and newborn. Perinatal mental health has become a significant focus of interest in recent years. The randomized controlled examinations provide evidence of the effectiveness of psychological and psychosocial interventions at the individual level. It is necessary to make a new conceptual shift in the approach to maintaining the mental health of pregnant women and newborns, and that is to optimize the mental health of pregnant women, and not simply reduce the symptoms of mental disorders from which they suffer before conception, during pregnancy and after childbirth. Dilemmas and challenges of psychopharmacotherapeutic treatment in the prenatal period are intensified by the knowledge that the psychological difficulties of mothers can significantly affect the integrity of the safe relationship between mother and child, which is essential for the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral development of the child. Often, these problems existed before pregnancy or occurred during pregnancy, and they are often the deterioration of the mental state due to discontinuation of pharmacotherapy during this period. The quality of the biopsychosocial milieu in the fetal period and childhood during the early neuroplastic development phase is one of the determinants of risk for diseases during the life cycle. For this reason, the mental health of pregnant women and mothers must be optimized. For many of these women, health is optimized with pharmacotherapy.

Principles of Hippocratic Medicine from the Perspective of Modern Medicine.

In this paper authors described some of the principles and theses of Hippocratic medicine. They emphasized that regardless existing controversial opinions as to whether Hippocrates stated some theses or not, and controversial views on some of his principles, he is often called the "father" of medicine, who laid the foundations in medicine as a science. Hippocrates gave recommendations on the doctor's behavior towards the patient, which is relevant up today. His holistic approach to medicine is becoming more and more relevant in the modern medicine. The application of the Hippocratic Oath today depends on the legislation of individual states, related to how legal solutions in some states are pro or contra to it. Authors opened and discussed his attitudes that mental illnesses are a sign of a diseased brain, his consideration the food as medicine and that the disease came from the intestines. Also issue of prognosis of the disease was opened and discussed as well as and Hippocrates's consideration of work and physical activity as the most appropriate medicine. Furthermore, authors considered importance of Hippocratic medicine related to Creative psychopharmacotherapy based on therapeutic communication and the creative satisfaction of needs in the therapeutic relationship with patients and in the recovery itself. Finally, an example of creatively use of the principle of Hippocratic medicine: "work as the most appropriate medicine" in therapeutic communication with patients through an ecological approach called "Ecopsychiatry", under the slogan presented in the media to the general public: "Cleansing nature improves your mental health" was described.

COVID-19 Infodemic and Public Trust from the Perspective of Public and Global Mental Health.

Crisis usually involves participants who trust and distrust each other, commonly in the same time. COVID-19 infodemic induced confidence crisis and distrust in authorities, science communities, governments and institutions can lead to harmful health behaviors and ill mental health and become a serious threat to public and global mental health as another kind of virus. Distrust mentality, conspiracy thinking and blame games may have detrimental effects not just on the individual level, but on the level of the whole groups, communities and global world. Public distrust and mistrust are related to the crisis in the domain of social and political relations, not only on the same country level, but also between different countries at regional or global level. Dynamics between public trust and mental health is a complex and bidirectional, ill mental health is causing and enhancing the inclination to confidence crisis, distrust, conspiracy theories and blame games and vice versa confidence crisis, distrust, conspiracy thinking and blame games are leading to ill mental health. It is important to have a holistic transdisciplinary integrative understanding of these dynamics and science-based treatment and prevention.

Spirituality, Religiosity and Nationalism from the Perspective of Public and Global Mental Health.

Despite the intensive globalization and an attractive idea of human cosmopolitism the world is still divided into rival nations and religions, with confronting ethics and many war conflicts across the globe producing and perpetuating huge mental health problems. Radicalism, malignant nationalism, pathological religiosity and violent extremism and terrorism are important issues from the public and global mental health perspective. Public and global mental health research can inform preventive strategies and interventions against malignant nationalism, pathological religiosity and violent extremism. Healthy spirituality, sound religiosity and normal nationalism may contribute significantly to public and global mental health and promotion of empathic civilization. The aim of this paper is to address, stress and support mutual understanding and creative cooperation between religions and nations in promotion of public and global mental health, research, patient care and education.

Resilience, Psychiatry and Religion from Public and Global Mental Health Perspective - Dialogue and Cooperation in the Search for Humanistic Self, Compassionate Society and Empathic Civilization.

Psychiatry has increasingly devoted its attention to the role of religion and spirituality in mental health and illness. All religions offer explanations for meaning and purpose of life, involving rationales for the reality of human suffering and traumas related to natural disasters, war, civil violence, torture, etc. In many countries different religious organizations have funded and operated mental health services as well as supported better understanding, empathy and compassion among cultures. A rapprochement between psychiatry and religion has been predicated on their overlapping goals to promote individual and community resilience, growth, and well-being. Due to progress in post-secular dialogue, psychiatry, religion and spiritual disciplines have the historical opportunity to shape the future of individual, public and global mental health as well as building compassionate society and empathic civilization.

Psychiatry and Religion: Opponents or Collaborators? The Power of Spirituality in Contemporary Psychiatry.

Religion and psychiatry have had complicated, sometimes neutral or friendly and cooperative, sometimes competitive and antagonistic relations over their long histories. Relations between psychiatry and religion are influenced by complex belief systems, each diverse and changing. Psychiatry has often ignored spiritual and religious dimension in health and illness while religions influenced the treatment of mental disorders directly by defining mental disorders as evil spirit possessions and prescribing exorcism as treatment. It has been a long way to prevail looking for natural over supra-natural explanations for mental disorders. Psychiatry and religion as social practices should be regarded as allies against pseudoscientific nonsense and superstitions. This alliance is based on the next evidence: 1. religious and spiritual well-being is an important component of mental health as well as of health in general; 2. research and empirical evidence reveals that healthy-minded and distorted or sick faith are quite distinct in the effects in the lives of the faithful; 3. psychiatrists are professionally expected to always respect and be sensitive to the spiritual and religious beliefs and practices of their patients; 4. religious and spiritual beliefs and practice is very important aspect of person-centered psychiatry. The enduring task for both psychiatry and religion is to enable human beings to live their lives with courage, sense, and optimism, to strive towards creating conditions of well-being and individual, public and global mental health as well as to dispel beliefs and patterns which trap people in lives of misery and mental disorders. Psychiatry and religion in creative dialogues as allies can significantly contribute to the healing of our broken world and promoting compassionate society and empathic civilization. When psychiatry and religion see each other as opponents or even enemies this is only because of their mutual misreading and pseudoscientific thinking.

Molecular Mechanisms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a Basis for Individualized and Personalized Therapy: Rationale, Design and Methods of the South Eastern Europe (SEE)-PTSD study.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a major health problem in South Eastern Europe (SEE). Available treatment options are not efficient enough and the course is often chronic. Little is known about molecular mediators and moderators of pathogenesis and therapy. Genetic and epigenetic variation may be one central molecular mechanism. We therefore established a consortium combining clinical expertise on PTSD from SEE countries Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sarajevo, Tuzla and Mostar), Kosovo (Prishtina) and Croatia (Zagreb) with genetic and epigenetic competence from Germany (Würzburg) in 2011 within the framework of the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst)-funded Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. After obtaining ethical votes and performing rater trainings as well as training in DNA extraction from EDTA blood between 2011 and 2013, we recruited 747 individuals who had experienced war-related trauma in the SEE conflicts between 1991 and 1999. 236 participants had current PTSD, 161 lifetime PTSD and 350 did not have and never had PTSD. Demographic and clinical data are currently merged together with genetic and epigenetic data in a single database to allow for a comprehensive analysis of the role of genetic and epigenetic variation in the pathogenesis and therapy of PTSD. Analyses will be done to a great degree by PhD students from participating SEE centers who in addition to participation in the project had an opportunity to take part in spring and summer schools of the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) funded Research Training Group (RTG) 1253 and thus meet PhD students from Germany and other countries We are confident that our project will not only contribute to a better understanding of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of PTSD as a basis for future individualized and personalized therapies, but also to the academic development of South Eastern Europe.

Person-centered medicine and good clinical practice: disease has to be cured, but the patient has to be healed.

Contemporary medicine has been in the process of a paradigm shift. Instead of relatively broad pathological entities, population-based risk assesments, and non-specific "one-size-fits-all" therapies, a new paradigm of predictive, individualized and personalized care and targeted therapy is rolling on the horizon. Person-centered medicine is a term with different meanings which competes in some way to other terms like medicine of the person, patient-centered medicine, personalized and individualzed medicine, integrative and holistic medicine. Clear definition of theoretical framework and clinical practice of person-centered medicine is urgent to prevent dangereous increasing confusion.

Spirituality and Its Relationship with Personality in Depressed People: Preliminary Findings.

The relationship between spirituality and personality in patients with depression is complex and not much explored. The aim of our study is to examine the interconnection between the spiritual quality of life (QoL) and Cloninger's psychobiological model of personality in patients with depression. The sample consisted of 85 consecutive outpatients treated for depression. The measurements used were: Beck Depression Inventory, WHO-Quality of Life-Spiritual, Religious, Personal Beliefs, and Temperament and Character Inventory. The results have shown that higher harm avoidance, lower self-directedness and lower cooperativeness are personality dimensions associated with depression. The spiritual QoL has showed to play a significant role in depression, just as it has proved to be a unique predictor of lower depressive symptoms, adjusted for personality dimensions. The spiritual QoL itself is predicted by personality dimensions, self-directedness and self-transcendence implying that spirituality is a broader construct than the character dimension. Our findings may contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of depression, spirituality and personality.

How to increase treatment effectiveness and efficiency in psychiatry: creative psychopharmacotherapy - part 2: creating favorable treatment context and fostering patients' creativity.

Any medical or psychosocial treatment has two components, one associated with the specific effects of the treatment itself, and the other related to the treatment context, individual perception, imagination, subjective meaning and psychobiological response. Psychopharmacotherapy is a context dependent practice because different contexts affect the meaning of biological variables in different ways. Creation of favorable treatment context as well as creative collaboration with patients and their families may significantly improve treatment outcome. Positive therapeutic context is fundamental for treatment success in psychiatry because it may significantly increase placebo and decrease nocebo responses. Creative approach to psychopharmacotherapy reflects a creative synergism between clinical pharmacology and positive psychology of creativity in the frame of transdisciplinary holistic, integrative and person-centered psychiatry.

Comorbidity and multimorbidity in medicine today: challenges and opportunities for bringing separated branches of medicine closer to each other.

Comorbidity and multimorbidity represent one of the greatest chalenge to academic medicine. Many disorders are often comorbidly expressed in diverse combinations. In clinical practice comorbidity and multimorbidity are underrecognized, underdiagnosed, underestimated and undertreated. So that one can speak about comorbidity and multimorbidity anosognosia. Comorbidities and multimorbidities are indifferent to medical specializations, so the integrative and complementary medicine is an imperative in the both education and practice. Shifting the paradigm from vertical/mono-morbid interventions to comorbidity and multimorbidity approaches enhances effectiveness and efficiency of human resources utilization. Comorbidity and multimorbidity studies have been expected to be an impetus to research on the validity of current diagnostic systems as well as on establishing more effective and efficient treatment including individualized and personalized pharmacotherapy.

Spiritual well-being, cortisol, and suicidality in Croatian war veterans suffering from PTSD.

We present our preliminary results of work that aims to observe the relationship between the cortisol level, the level of spiritual well-being, and suicidal tendencies in Croatian war veterans suffering from PTSD. The survey was conducted on 17 PTSD veterans who completed the Spiritual Well-Being Scale and the Beck Hopelessness Scale. The plasma cortisol level was obtained by venepuction at 8.00, 12.00, 13.00, 16.00, and 22.00 h. Results showed that veterans with higher spiritual well-being scores had lower cortisol levels, and evening cortisol levels showed significant correlation with suicidal risk. The results of the present study could be a stimulus for further investigation into spiritually based interventions, exploring their impact both on mental status and physical health.