Group Dialectical-Behavior Therapy Skills Training for Conversion Disorder With Seizures.

Neuroimaging evidence suggests deficits in affective regulation in conversion disorder (CD). Dialectical-behavior therapy skills training (DBT-ST) was developed to target emotion dysregulation. This study was aimed to test the feasibility of stand-alone DBT-ST for CD using Linehan's manual for borderline personality disorder. In a prospective naturalistic design, 19 adult outpatients diagnosed with video EEG-confirmed seizure type CD were recruited and received weekly group DBT. Seventeen out of 19 subjects finished an average of 20.5 weeks of treatment. The mean seizure rate decreased by 66%. Cessation of seizures occurred in 35% of the sample. Completion rates reached 90%.

Key Considerations for Incorporating Conversational AI in Psychotherapy.

Conversational artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way mental health care is delivered. By gathering diagnostic information, facilitating treatment, and reviewing clinician behavior, conversational AI is poised to impact traditional approaches to delivering psychotherapy. While this transition is not disconnected from existing professional services, specific formulations of clinician-AI collaboration and migration paths between forms remain vague. In this viewpoint, we introduce four approaches to AI-human integration in mental health service delivery. To inform future research and policy, these four approaches are addressed through four dimensions of impact: access to care, quality, clinician-patient relationship, and patient self-disclosure and sharing. Although many research questions are yet to be investigated, we view safety, trust, and oversight as crucial first steps. If conversational AI isn't safe it should not be used, and if it isn't trusted, it won't be. In order to assess safety, trust, interfaces, procedures, and system level workflows, oversight and collaboration is needed between AI systems, patients, clinicians, and administrators.

Double-blind treatment with oral morphine in treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often responds inadequately to serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs). A case series reported substantial response to once-weekly oral morphine. We conducted a placebo-controlled, double-blind trial to investigate whether once-weekly oral morphine is effective in SRI-resistant OCD. METHOD: Subjects with DSM-IV-defined OCD for > or =3 years who had failed > or =2 adequate SRI trials and had a Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) score of > or =20 were recruited. Current medications were continued. Subjects were randomly assigned to random-order, 2-week blocks of once-weekly morphine, lorazepam, and placebo. Week 2 dosage was increased, decreased, or maintained depending on response and side effects. RESULTS: We enrolled 23 subjects, who had failed 2 to 6 SRI trials. The median screening Y-BOCS score was 29. The median Y-BOCS score after morphine (highest dose) was 25 (median decrease = 13%). Seven subjects (30%) were responders (Y-BOCS decreases > or =25%). The median Y-BOCS score after lorazepam (highest dose) was 27 (median decrease = 6%). Four subjects (17%) responded to lorazepam; 1 was a morphine responder. The median Y-BOCS score after placebo (highest dose) was 27 (median decrease = 7%), and no subject responded. Responses differed significantly among the 3 conditions (Friedman 2-way analysis of variance, chir(2) = 13.92, df = 2, p = .01). Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank tests (T = 56.5, p = .05) showed significance for morphine versus placebo but not lorazepam versus placebo. CONCLUSION: Our results support the hypothesis that once-weekly oral morphine can reduce symptoms in some treatment-resistant OCD patients. The mechanism of action is unknown. Further studies of mu-agonists and glutamate antagonists are warranted.

Citalopram treatment of compulsive shopping: an open-label study.

BACKGROUND: Compulsive shopping, a DSM-IV impulse-control disorder not otherwise specified, is characterized by preoccupation with shopping and inability to resist buying unneeded items, with resulting marked distress, social or occupational impairment, and financial and/or familial problems. Because an open-label trial suggested that fluovaxamine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), is effective for this disorder, we tested the effectiveness of the SSRI citalopram. METHOD: We enrolled adults meeting formal diagnostic criteria (as defined by McElroy and colleagues) in a 12-week open-label trial. We excluded subjects with obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, substance abuse or dependence, or psychotic disorders. Citalopram treatment was begun at 20 mg/day and increased every 2 weeks by 20 mg/day, absent marked response and limiting side effects, to 60 mg/day. At endpoint, all subjects were asked to give written informed consent for follow-up telephone interviews at 3-month intervals for 12 months. RESULTS: We enrolled 24 subjects, 22 women and 2 men, whose mean +/- SD age was 43.7 +/- 8.1 years; most had been shopping compulsively for 2 decades or more. Citalopram (mean +/- SD endpoint dose = 35.4 +/- 21.4 mg/day) produced rapid, marked, sustained improvements on both the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale-Shopping Version and the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement (CGI-I) scale in subjects with and without comorbid conditions. Seventeen subjects (71%) were responders, achieving ratings of much or very much improved on the CGI-I, including 2 of the 3 subjects who discontinued for adverse events (sedation or agitation). During a 6-month follow-up period, those continuing citalopram therapy were less likely to relapse than those discontinuing the medication. CONCLUSION: Citalopram appears to be a safe and effective treatment for compulsive shopping. Acute and long-term, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of citalopram and other SSRIs for the treatment of this disorder are indicated.

Citalopram for compulsive shopping disorder: an open-label study followed by double-blind discontinuation.

BACKGROUND: Open-label trials suggested that fluvoxamine and citalopram may be effective for compulsive shopping disorder, but 2 double-blind fluvoxamine trials failed to confirm this. To test the hypothesis that citalopram is a safe, effective treatment for this disorder, we conducted a 7-week, open-label trial followed by a 9-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled discontinuation trial. METHOD: From Jan. 2001 to Jan. 2002, we enrolled adult outpatients meeting diagnostic criteria suggested in a prior study for compulsive shopping disorder and having a score of >/= 17 on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale-Shopping Version (YBOCS-SV). Open-label citalopram was started at 20 mg/day and increased, absent marked response and limiting side effects, to 60 mg/day. Responders (subjects rated "much improved" or "very much improved" on the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scale [CGI-I] and having a >/= 50% decrease in YBOCS-SV score) were randomized to double-blind citalopram treatment at the week 7 dose or placebo for 9 weeks. RESULTS: We enrolled 24 subjects (23 women and 1 man). Mean +/- SD YBOCS-SV scores decreased significantly from 24.3 +/- 4.6 at baseline to 8.2 +/- 8.1 at week 7 (Wilcoxon signed rank: z = 4.20, p <.001). Fifteen of 24 subjects (63%) met the responder criteria. Three subjects (13%) discontinued for adverse events (1 each for headache, rash, and insomnia). Of the 15 responders who entered the double-blind treatment phase, 5 of 8 (63%) randomized to placebo relapsed (YBOCS-SV score >/= 17 and "minimally improved" or less on the CGI-I) compared with none of 7 randomized to continue taking citalopram (Fisher exact test p =.019). CONCLUSION: Citalopram appears to be a safe and effective treatment for compulsive shopping disorder. Further trials of citalopram and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are warranted.

Current status of the utilization of antiepileptic treatments in mood, anxiety and aggression: drugs and devices.

Interventions that have been utilized to control seizures in people with epilepsy have been employed by the psychiatric community to treat a variety of disorders. The purpose of this review will be to give an overview of the most prominent uses of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and devices like the Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) in the treatment of psychiatric disease states. By far, the most prevalent use of these interventions is in the treatment of mood disorders. AEDs have become a mainstay in the effective treatment of Bipolar Affective Disorder (BAD). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of valproic acid for acute mania, and lamotrigine for BAD maintenance therapy. AEDs are also effectively employed in the treatment of anxiety and aggressive disorders. Finally, VNS and TMS are emerging as possibly useful tools in the treatment of more refractory depressive illness.