Primer ensayo clínico empleando la estimulación cerebral profunda en pacientes con esquizofrenia resistente / Deep brain stimulation in treatment resistant schizophrenia: A pilot randomized cross-over clinical trial

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Gambling disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: A frequent but understudied comorbidity.

Background and aims Epidemiological data have suggested that the prevalence of co-occurring personality disorders is particularly high in people with gambling disorder (GD). Among the personality disorders, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) appears to be the most common problem. The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical presentation of GD with and without co-occurring OCPD. Methods We studied 25 subjects with current GD and lifetime diagnosis of OCPD. They were matched for age and gender with 25 individuals with current GD but no lifetime diagnosis of any personality disorder. Results Subjects with GD and OCPD demonstrated (a) lower severity of gambling symptoms, (b) slower progression from recreational gambling to full-blown GD, (c) preferred individual forms of betting, (d) identified more triggers to gambling (specially the availability of money and stress); and (e) reported less negative impact on relational problems due to GD. Conclusions Our research provides further insight on GD co-occurring with OCPD, such as increasing social support and improvement of coping skills, especially to deal with financial difficulties and stress. Our findings may lead to more customized and effective therapeutic approaches to this frequent comorbidity.

[Koro syndrome : when culture interacts with psychopathology]. / Le syndrome de Koro : quand la culture interagit avec la psychopathologie.

Koro syndrome is a psychiatric disorder specific to certain Asian cultures. It is characterized by acute and intense anxiety with fear of a retraction of the penis into the body and resultant death. We report the case of a 43-year-old Moroccan male presenting with persistent anxiety associated with avoidance behaviors and a chronic belief that his genitalia may shrink or disappear and lead to his death. This impacted his professional and family functioning. The diagnosis of culture-bound syndrome was considered although the presenting syndrome was chronic and sporadic. The Moroccan culture, which attributes a great importance to the male sex, would explain this syndrome.

Le syndrome de Koro est un trouble psychiatrique spécifique à certaines cultures asiatiques. Il est caractérisé par la survenue brutale d'une anxiété intense associée à la peur d'une rétraction du pénis dans le corps qui peut mener à la mort. Nous rapportons le cas d'un patient marocain âgé de 43 ans, qui présente une anxiété persistante avec des conduites d'évitement associées à une chronique croyance que ses organes génitaux pourraient se rétrécir ou disparaître et conduire à sa mort, ce qui a impacté son fonctionnement professionnel et familial. Le diagnostic d'un trouble lié aux concepts culturels semble le plus probable, en se référant à la culture marocaine qui attribue une grande importance au sexe masculin, même s'il s'agit d'un cas chronique et sporadique.

¿Tenemos algo más que aportar en el tratamiento de la tricotilomanía? / What else could we add to the treatment of trichotillomania?

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Discusión de «‘My heart belongs to Daddy’: algunas reflexiones sobre la diferencia entre generaciones como organizador de la estructura triangular de la mente de Gabriel Sapisochin» / Discussion: «’My heart belongs to Daddy’: some reflections on the difference of generations as organizar of the triangular structure of the mind. Gabriel Sapisochin»

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Emotional and cognitive variables associated with contamination-related obsessive-compulsive symptoms

Different variables have been associated with the development/ maintenance of contamination-related obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), although the relevance of these factors has not been clearly established. The present study aimed to analyze the relevance and specificity of these variables. Forty-five women with high scores on obsessive-compulsive contamination symptoms (n = 16) or checking symptoms (n = 15), or non-clinical scores (n = 14) participated in a behavioral approach/avoidance task (BAT) with a contamination-OCD stimulus. Vulnerability variables and participants’ emotional, cognitive, physiological and behavioral responses to the BAT were appraised. Results show that fear of illness was a relevant vulnerability variable specific to contamination participants (p = .001; η2 p = .291). Contamination participants responded with significantly higher subjective disgust (p =.001; η2 p = .269), anxiety (p = .001; η2 p = .297), urge to wash (p < .001; η2 p = 370), threat from emotion (p < .001; η2 p = .338) and contamination severity (p = .002; η2 p = .260) appraisals, and with lower behavioral approach (p = .008; η2 p = .208) than the other two groups. Moreover, contamination participants showed lower heart rate acceleration (p = .046; η2 p = .170) and higher contamination likelihood appraisals (p < .001; η2 p = .342) than the non-clinical group. Urge to wash was predicted by state disgust (R2 change = .346) and threat from emotion (R2 change = .088). These responses were predicted by general anxiety sensitivity (R2 change = .161), disgust propensity (R2 change = .255) and fear of illness (R2 change = .116), but not by other vulnerability variables such as dysfunctional beliefs about thoughts (Responsibility and Overestimation of threat) or disgust sensitivity. State disgust, threat from disgust, anxiety sensitivity and fear of illness were found to be the most relevant variables in contamination symptoms (AU)

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El impacto emocional de la enfermedad dermatológica / The Emotional Impact of Skin Diseases

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Radically Open-Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Disorders of Over-Control: Signaling Matters.

Radically Open-Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT) is a transdiagnostic treatment designed to address a spectrum of difficult-to-treat disorders sharing similar phenotypic and genotypic features associated with maladaptive over-control-such as anorexia nervosa, chronic depression, and obsessive compulsive personality disorder. Over-control has been linked to social isolation, aloof and distant relationships, cognitive rigidity, high detailedfocused processing, risk aversion, strong needs for structure, inhibited emotional expression, and hyper-perfectionism. While resting on the dialectical underpinnings of standard DBT, the therapeutic strategies, core skills, and theoretical perspectives in RO-DBT often substantially differ. For example, RO-DBT contends that emotional loneliness secondary to low openness and social-signaling deficits represents the core problem of over-control, not emotion dysregulation. RO-DBT also significantly differs from other treatment approaches, most notably by linking the communicative functions of emotional expression to the formation of close social bonds and via skills targeting social-signaling and changing neurophysiological arousal. The aim of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the core theoretical principles and unique treatment strategies underlying RO-DBT.

Attachment insecurity and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder among inpatients with serious mental illness.

BACKGROUND: Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is characterized by traits such as extreme rigidity, perfectionism, and controlling behavior, all of which have a negative impact on interpersonal functioning. Attachment theory provides a useful framework to elucidate the interpersonal dysfunction characteristic of OCPD; yet, there is a dearth of attachment research on OCPD in the context of severe mental illness. METHODS: Attachment security and personality disorders were assessed in adult inpatients with severe mental illness. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was used to match OCPD and control subjects on age, gender, number of psychiatric disorders, and number of criteria endorsed for borderline personality disorder. RESULTS: Consistent with hypotheses, the OCPD group (n=61) showed greater attachment avoidance than controls (n=61), and the avoidance was manifested in a predominance of the most insecure attachment style, fearful attachment. Correlations between attachment anxiety/avoidance with specific OCPD diagnostic criteria revealed that attachment avoidance was correlated with four of eight OCPD criteria across the full sample. Within the subset of OCPD patients, attachment avoidance was significantly correlated with OCPD criterion 3 (is excessively devoted to work and productivity to the exclusion of leisure activities and friendships). LIMITATIONS: The use of self-report measure of attachment and the high burden of illness in the SMI population may not generalize to interview based assessment or outpatients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Findings attest to the severity of impairment in interpersonal functioning and attachment avoidance, in particular, is characteristic of OCPD patients. These results suggest that viable treatment targets include interpersonal functioning along with more classical features of OCPD such as perfectionism and obsessiveness in task performance.

The role of alexithymia in the development of functional motor symptoms (conversion disorder).

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms leading to the development of functional motor symptoms (FMS) are of pathophysiological and clinical relevance, yet are poorly understood. AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether impaired emotional processing at the cognitive level (alexithymia) is present in patients affected by FMS. We conducted a cross-sectional study in a population of patients with FMS and in two control groups (patients with organic movement disorders (OMD) and healthy volunteers). METHODS: 55 patients with FMS, 33 patients affected by OMD and 34 healthy volunteers were recruited. The assessment included the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes' Test and the Structured Clinical Interview for Personality Disorders. RESULTS: Alexithymia was present in 34.5% of patients with FMS, 9.1% with OMD and 5.9% of the healthy volunteers, which was significantly higher in the FMS group (χ(2) (2)=14.129, p<0.001), even after controlling for the severity of symptoms of depression. Group differences in mean scores were observed on both the difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings dimensions of the TAS-20, whereas the externally orientated thinking subscale score was similar across the three groups. Regarding personality disorder, χ(2) analysis showed a significantly higher prominence of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) in the FMS group (χ(2) (2)=16.217, p<0.001) and 71.4% of those with OCPD also reached threshold criteria for alexithymia. CONCLUSIONS: Because alexithymia is a mental state denoting the inability to identify emotions at a cognitive level, one hypothesis is that some patients misattribute autonomic symptoms of anxiety, for example, tremor, paraesthesiae, paralysis, to that of a physical illness. Further work is required to understand the contribution of OCPD to the development of FMS.

Comorbilidad entre trastorno obsesivo-compulsivo y esquizofrenia: prevalencia, teorías explicativas y estatus nosológico / Comorbidity between obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia: Prevalence, explanatory theories, and nosological status

En el presente estudio teórico se revisan los principales hallazgos e investigaciones sobre la comorbilidad entre trastorno obsesivo-compulsivo (TOC) y esquizofrenia. Por una parte, se señala que la alta prevalencia de esta comorbilidad obedece tanto a factores de riesgo comunes (correlatos neuroanatómicos y neuropsicológicos) como a una relación causal entre ambas patologías mentales, precediendo generalmente el TOC a la psicosis. Por otro lado, se sostiene el estatus nosológico independiente de esta comorbilidad sobre la base de diversos criterios externos (sintomatología negativa, humor depresivo, disfuncionalidad psicosocial, correlatos neurobiológicos y neuropsicológicos), los cuales diferencian esta entidad clínica mixta de la esquizofrenia y el TOC por separado. Dichas conclusiones son discutidas considerando la falta de reconocimiento nosológico del denominado "trastorno esquizo-obsesivo"

This theoretical study reviews the main findings and research on comorbidity between obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia. On the one hand, it is argued that high prevalence of comorbidity implies common risk factors (neuroanatomical and neuropsychological correlates) and a causal relationship between these mental illnesses, OCD usually preceding schizophrenia. On the other hand, independent nosological status of this "comorbidity" is supported on the basis of several external criteria (negative symptomatology, depressed mood, psychosocial impairment, neurobiological and neuropsychological correlates), which distinguish this mixed clinical entity from OCD and schizophrenia separately. These conclusions are discussed, considering the lack of recognition of "schizo-obsessive disorder" within the current diagnosis reference manuals

Association between personality traits and DSM-IV diagnosis of insomnia in peri- and postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the role of personality factors in the development of DSM-IV insomnia coincident with perimenopause. METHODS: Perimenopausal women (35 women with DSM-IV insomnia and 28 women with self-reported normal sleep) underwent clinical assessments and completed menopause-related questionnaires, the NEO Five Factor Inventory and the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality. Logistic regressions determined whether personality factors and hot flash-related interference were associated with an insomnia diagnosis concurrent with the menopausal transition. RESULTS: Women with insomnia reported higher neuroticism, lower agreeableness, and lower conscientiousness than controls on the NEO Five Factor Inventory. Moreover, women with insomnia were more likely to meet DSM-IV criteria for cluster C personality disorders, particularly obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, on the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality. Women with insomnia were more likely to have had a past depressive episode and a history of severe premenstrual symptoms. Findings from regressions revealed that higher neuroticism and greater interference from hot flashes were associated with insomnia classification even after controlling for history of depression, suggesting that sensitivity to hot flashes and a greater degree of neuroticism are independent contributors toward establishing which women are most likely to have sleep problems during perimenopause. CONCLUSIONS: Findings show the relevance of personality factors, particularly neuroticism and obsessive-compulsive personality, to a woman's experience of insomnia as she goes through the menopausal transition.

A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of a large clinical cohort of children with Tourette syndrome.

There is evidence that cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical pathways are involved in the pathophysiology of Tourette syndrome. During the performance of neuropsychological tests in subjects with Tourette syndrome there are suggestions for increased activity in the sensimotor cortex, supplementary motor areas, and frontal cortex. To replicate findings, the authors examined 22 medication-naive children with Tourette syndrome only, 17 medication-naive children with Tourette syndrome and comorbidity, and 39 healthy controls with functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). There were no differences in activation in brain regions between the children with Tourette syndrome (divided according to the presence of comorbidity) and healthy controls after correction for the confounders age, sex, and intelligence. Activation in the cingulated gyrus, temporal gyrus, and medial frontal gyrus was correlated significantly with obsessive-compulsive disorder score. The authors did not find significant correlations between activation patterns and age, sex, duration of disease, intelligence, severity of tics, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) score.

Comorbid obsessive-compulsive personality disorder in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): a marker of severity.

INTRODUCTION: Comorbid obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is well-described in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It remains unclear, however, whether OCPD in OCD represents a distinct subtype of OCD or whether it is simply a marker of severity in OCD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The aim of this study was to compare a large sample of OCD subjects (n=403) with and without OCPD on a range of demographic, clinical and genetic characteristics to evaluate whether comorbid OCPD in OCD represents a distinct subtype of OCD, or is a marker of severity. RESULTS: Our findings suggest that OCD with and without OCPD are similar in terms of gender distribution and age at onset of OC symptoms. Compared to OCD-OCPD (n=267, 66%), those with OCD+OCPD (n=136, 34%) are more likely to present with the OC symptom dimensions which reflect the diagnostic criteria for OCPD (e.g., hoarding), and have significantly greater OCD severity, comorbidity, functional impairment, and poorer insight. Furthermore there are no differences in distribution of gene variants, or response to treatment in the two groups. CONCLUSION: The majority of our findings suggest that in OCD, patients with OCPD do not have a highly distinctive phenomenological or genetic profile, but rather that OCPD represents a marker of severity.

Personality disorders as risk factors for eating disorders: clinical implications.

Personality disorders are oftentimes comorbid with eating disorders. According to a review of the literature, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is the most common Axis II disorder in eating-disordered individuals with restrictive eating behavior, whereas borderline personality disorder is the most common Axis II disorder in those with impulsive eating pathology. Because personality disorders developmentally precede eating disorders and the characteristics of the personality disorder oftentimes mirror the style of eating pathology (eg, highly controlled personality styles and highly controlled eating patterns; impulsive personality styles and impulsive eating pathology), it is reasonable to assume that personality disorders influence subsequent eating pathology. Therefore, it is likely that personality disorders function, to some degree, as risk factors for the development of specific types of eating disorders. The authors discuss the clinical implications of these relationships.

Comorbidity of obsessive-compulsive disorder with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: Does it imply a specific subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder?

The present study examined whether the comorbidity of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) constitute a specific subtype of OCD. The study sample consisted of 146 consecutive outpatients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of OCD. Diagnoses were established using MINI, IPDE, YBOCS and YBOCS-SC. OCD patients with comorbid OCPD were compared with OCD patients without OCPD on various sociodemographic and clinical variables. Almost one third of the OCD subjects met criteria for comorbid OCPD. OCD+OCPD patients had a significantly earlier age at onset of initial OC symptoms, earlier age at onset of OCD and more obsessions and compulsions than pure obsessions compared to the patients with OCDOCPD. OCD+OCPD patients also had a higher rate of comorbidity with avoidant personality disorder and showed more impairment in global functioning. There were not differences between the two sub-groups on severity of OCD symptoms and also on type of OCD onset. Our results indicate that the comorbidity of OCD with OCPD is associated with a number of specific clinical characteristics of OCD. These findings in conjunction with of current clinical, family and genetic studies provide some initial evidence that OCD comorbid with OCPD constitute a specific subtype of OCD.

«Wanted». Guión de un delirio / «Wanted». Screenplay of a delusion

El trabajo delirante aboca, en el caso presentado, a la escritura del guión, de la película paranoica de nuestro paciente (AU)

In this case delusionary process reminds of our pacient's paranoid movie script writing (AU)

PANDAS con clínica tipo corea-like y patología autoinmune asociada: presentación de un caso / Pandas with a Chorea- Like clincial presentation and associated autoimmune pathology: a case report

Resumen. Introducción. El trastorno conocido como enfermedad neuropsiquiátrica de etiología autoinmune asociada a estreptococo (PANDAS) consiste en una sintomatología de inicio brusco, con presentación clínica de tipo obsesivo-compulsivo y/o trastornos del movimiento tipo tics, de inicio prepuberal, que suele evolucionar de forma episódica y para el que se postula el tratamiento antibiótico como primera elección. Se revisan y resumen los hallazgos más relevantes de la bibliografía publicada hasta el momento sobre esta entidad clínica. Caso clínico. Niña de 10 años y 6 meses de edad con criterios diagnósticos de PANDAS, con presentación clínica de inicio brusco, de características coreicas y sintomatología ansiosa de tipo obsesivo-compulsivo. La mejoría clínica es muy marcada tras la administración de penicilina oral durante 10 días. Hay antecedentes familiares de enfermedad autoinmune con anticuerpos antifosfolípidos a títulos muy altos. Conclusión. El cuadro evoluciona posteriormente con recaídas, aparece una diabetes probablemente secundaria a la administración de corticoides y se detectan títulos elevados de anti-glutámico descarboxilasa (anti-GAD), fenómenos que son revisados según la hipótesis de un mecanismo de tipo autoinmune en función de los diferentes hallazgos clínicos y de laboratorio de esta paciente (AU)

Summary. Introduction. The disorder known as ‘PANDAS syndrome’ (paediatric autoimmune neuro-psychiatric disorders associated with Streptococci) consists in an abrupt onset of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and/or movement disorders, a pre-puberal onset, and an episodic course. Antibiotic therapy has been postulated as a first choice therapeutic option. A summarised review of main literature on this topic is presented. Case report. A girl, 10 years and 6 months old, with a dramatic clinical onset of a chorea-like and obsessive-compulsive symptomathology with a remarkable improvement after 10 days penicillin p.o. intake. She has a positive family history of autoimmune disorders, with elevated anti-phospholipidic antibodies. Conclusion. The implications of the case follow-up with many relapses, the development of a diabetes after corticoid therapy and the elevated anti glutamic dexcarboxilasa (anti-GAD) are discussed regarding a common underlying autoimmune mechanism (AU)