Evaluating the Relationship Between Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Psychological Resilience in a Sample of Turkoman Refugees in Turkey.

Turkey has witnessed an increase in migration of people belonging to neighboring countries due to civil war. Traumatic life events experienced by refugees bring along mental problems. Their psychological resilience enables them to cope with these difficulties. In this study, 101 Iraqi Turkoman refugees who migrated to Turkey following the increasing civil war events in their country were evaluated psychologically. Sociodemographic data form Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) and Clinician-Administered Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Scale (CAPS) were used for psychological evaluation. The prevalence of lifetime post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among the refugees was 25.7%. There was no significant difference between the psychological resilience of the patients who developed PTSD and those who did not (p = 0.709). As the severity of trauma decreased, psychological resilience increased in the people who developed PTSD (p = 0.001, r = -0.622). Considering the psychological resilience of refugees, the area with the highest resilience is access to social resources, while the area with the lowest is the planned future. It was observed that the basic needs of refugees after migration could not be met clearly compared to the ones before migration. It was noteworthy that in cases diagnosed with PTSD, CAPS scores increased (p = 0.011, r: 0.251) and resilience decreased (p < 0.001, r: -0.376) as the inability to reach basic needs increased. Our study is very important in terms of defining how refugees are mentally affected after settling in another country and what determines their psychological resilience.

Multiple antipsychotics use in patients with schizophrenia: Why do we use it, what are the results from patient follow-ups?

In this study, the rates of antipsychotic polypharmacy, factors affecting combined drug use, the relationship between antipsychotic polypharmacy as it relates to duration of hospitalization and re-hospitalization, and treatment compliance were evaluated in schizophrenia patients. The study data was obtained between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017 by examining the files of all patients who were hospitalized in Ondokuz Mayis University Faculty of Medicine Hospital, Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Ankara Gulhane Training and Research Hospital psychiatric services. The inpatients' drug prescriptions at discharge and after one-year outpatient follow-up, as well as treatment compliance and re-hospitalization, were examined. The mean duration of illness was 109.3 ± 109.7 months, and the mean duration of hospitalization was 24.6 ± 19.1 days. For a total of 599 patients, multiple antipsychotic medication was used in 21.2% of hospitalizations. 11.2% of patients using single antipsychotic and 14.2% of patients using multiple antipsychotics were re-hospitalized within one year (X 2 :0.830, p:0.362). Disease duration (Z:-3.654, p < 0.001) and duration of hospitalization (Z:-3.333, p < 0.001) were found to be longer in multiple antipsychotic users. 37.8% of the patients used a depot antipsychotic. There was no significant difference between depot antipsychotic use and oral antipsychotic use as it related re-hospitalization rates. As a conclusion, multiple antipsychotic use has reduced in Turkey. Contrary to popular belief, the use of multiple antipsychotics does not shorten, but rather may prolongs hospitalization, and it has no effect in reducing re-hospitalization. Drug combinations are generally used together with a depot treatment, clozapine treatment is preferred less frequently in combinations, clinicians have proven effectiveness of the drug combination they prefer, and they should give priority to the treatments recommended in treatment guidelines.