Open Journal of Psychiatry and Allied Sciences最新文献

The impact of gut microbiota in mental health has been one of the most exciting and probably one of the most discussed topics of psychiatric research in the last decade. The gut microbiota may play an important role in the development of neuropsychiatric diseases, according to a growing body of research. Gut microbiota is a key regulator of gut-brain axis and may shape our brain physiology; thus, any change in its composition may change our behaviour due to altered psychiatric conditions. Relationship of gut microbiota with different mental illnesses is discussed in this article.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected people globally by causing psychological, social, and economic chaos. The Assam Police, India started telephone helplines to address the psychological issues.

Aims: To evaluate the sociodemographic profile of the distress callers, their psychosocial concerns, the interventions provided by the service provider, and whether the service users were satisfied with the intervention(s) or not.

Method: It was a cross-sectional study done during the period of lockdown (7-24 April 2020). All the callers who called the helpline were screened for anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts (when required), and the psychosocial issues which they were facing were explored. They were provided the psychological intervention(s) at the appropriate time, and they were asked to rate their experience at the end.

Results: A total of 239 callers used the tele-counselling services. The majority of callers were male (79.1%). Most of the callers were between 19-35 years of age group (66.5%), married (52.5%), and graduates (31%). Two-thirds of the callers called to seek guidance for their own issues and one-third for their relatives or friends. Callers had anxiety (46%), depressive disorder (8.3%), and depressive symptoms not qualifying for depressive disorder (14%), and suicidal thoughts (5.44%). The commonest intervention provided to the callers was supportive (77.8%), followed by psychoeducation (30.5%), cognitive behaviour therapy (24.7%), relaxation (23.6%) and behaviour therapy (13.4%). Most of the callers utilised more than one type of therapy. Overall, most of the callers were satisfied and appreciated the tele-counselling services.

Conclusion: The findings could help in formulating psychological interventions to improve the mental health of vulnerable groups in the post-COVID-19 period to reduce psychiatric morbidity and mortality.

An editorial on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and the initiatives of an activist for the community with those of the Society for Mental Health in LAMIC (SoMHiL) as well as the Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS®).

This is a narrative of the thoughts of a first-line healthcare worker, and the psychological overview of the same while working in isolation ward and being in quarantine during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

This editorial highlights the origin of telemedicine in India, and discusses the present and explores the possibilities in the future in the context of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

This editorial highlights the pertinent issue of intentionally or unintentionally using other sources without proper citation in scientific literature and how the journal stringently tries to follow zero tolerance towards such practice with the active cooperation of the authors, reviewers, and editors.

Background: The theory of attachment is important to understand a lot of human behaviour. Styles of attachment could be important predictors in developing dependence on alcoholism. Insecure attachment patterns could be significant risk factors for future alcohol use.

Methods: Participants for this study consist of fathers with alcohol dependence syndrome (ADS) from treatment centres and fathers from the community with no dependency on alcohol, and their sons (n=200). The Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), socioeconomic status scale were administered, and attachment styles were derived by the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ). We hypothesised a prior concept reflecting theoretical predictions for the association between attachment styles and alcohol in both the generations.

Results: Statistics on SPSS-16 was used to test our hypotheses. As predicted, fathers with ADS had insecure attachments styles in comparison to the control group. Substance abuse/dependence and treatment participation were at an all-time low for the secure group.

Conclusion: The findings from this study identify attachment styles as an influential factor in understanding the divergence between alcohol dependence in treatment seekers. The findings further imply that differential treatment may need to be provided taking into account one's attachment representation to promote successful recovery. It also highlights the need to develop secure ties in children of alcoholic parents to protect them from use of substances as a coping and a learned mechanism. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are highlighted and implications for diagnosis and treatment are discussed.