Multidisciplinary contributions towards an evolutive interpretation of bipolar disorders: could it be the pathological drift of a potentially adaptive condition?

This paper tries to summarize the results of studies from different areas of knowledge supporting the idea that temperamental traits, such as "reckless/hyper-exploratory" attitudes, commonly believed to be associated with psychopathology, surprisingly turn out as adaptive under specific stress conditions. In particular, this paper analyzes an ethologic line of research on primates suggesting models for a sociobiological interpretation of mood disorders in humans; a study that found high frequencies of a genetic variance associated with bipolar disorder in people without bipolar disorder but with hyperactivity/novelty-seeking traits; the outcomes of socio-anthropological-historical surveys on the evolution of mood disorders in Western countries in the last centuries; surveys on changing societies in Africa and African migrants in Sardinia; and studies that found higher frequencies of mania and subthreshold mania among Sardinian immigrants in Latin American megacities. Although it is not unequivocally accepted that the prevalence of mood disorders has increased, it would be logical to suppose that a nonadaptive condition should have disappeared over time; mood disorders, on the contrary, persist and their prevalence might have even increased. This new interpretation could lead to counter discrimination and stigma towards people suffering from the disorder and would be a central point in psychosocial treatments in addition to pharmacological therapy. Our aim is to hypothesize that bipolar disorder, strongly characterized by these traits, may be the result of the interaction between genetic characteristics, not necessarily pathological, and specific environmental conditions rather than a mere product of an aberrant genetic profile. If mood disorders were mere nonadaptive conditions, they would have disappeared over time; however, their prevalence paradoxically persists if not even increases over time. The hypothesis that bipolar disorder may result from the interaction between genetic characteristics, not necessarily pathological, and specific environmental factors seems more credible than considering bipolar disorder as a mere product of an aberrant genetic profile.

Family burden related to mental and physical disorders in the world: results from the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) surveys

Objective: To assess prevalence and correlates of family caregiver burdens associated with mental and physical conditions worldwide. Methods: Cross-sectional community surveys asked 43,732 adults residing in 19 countries of the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys about chronic physical and mental health conditions of first-degree relatives and associated objective (time, financial) and subjective (distress, embarrassment) burdens. Magnitudes and associations of burden are examined by kinship status and family health problem; population-level estimates are provided. Results: Among the 18.9-40.3% of respondents in high, upper-middle, and low/lower-middle income countries with first-degree relatives having serious health problems, 39.0-39.6% reported burden. Among those, 22.9-31.1% devoted time, 10.6-18.8% had financial burden, 23.3-27.1% reported psychological distress, and 6.0-17.2% embarrassment. Mean caregiving hours/week was 12.9-16.5 (83.7-147.9 hours/week/100 people aged 18+). Mean financial burden was 15.1% of median family income in high, 32.2% in upper-middle, and 44.1% in low/lower-middle income countries. A higher burden was reported by women than men, and for care of parents, spouses, and children than siblings. Conclusions: The uncompensated labor of family caregivers is associated with substantial objective and subjective burden worldwide. Given the growing public health importance of the family caregiving system, it is vital to develop effective interventions that support family caregivers. .

Is the outcome of schizophrenia really better in developing countries?

O fato de que a esquizofrenia possui um melhor prognóstico em sociedades não industrializadas tornou-se um axioma na psiquiatria internacional; as evidências mais comumente citadas provêm de três estudos trans-nacionais da Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS). Ainda que um conjunto de fatores socioculturais tenha sido considerado como contribuinte para o curso da esquizofrenia em diferentes ambientes, possuímos poucas evidências de países de baixa renda que demonstrem claramente a influência benéfica dessas variáveis. Neste artigo, sugerimos que o achado de melhores desfechos em países em desenvolvimento necessita ser reexaminado por cinco razões: falhas fundamentais nos estudos da Organização Mundial da Saúde; a falta de evidências sobre os fatores socioculturais específicos que contribuem aparentemente para os melhores desfechos; as crescentes evidências incidentais que descrevem o abuso dos direitos humanos das pessoas portadoras de esquizofrenia nos países em desenvolvimento; novas evidências de coortes em países em desenvolvimento descrevendo um quadro muito mais sombrio do que se pensava originalmente; e as rápidas transformações sociais e econômicas estão enfraquecendo os sistemas de atenção familiares para pessoas com esquizofrenia nos países em desenvolvimento. Afirmamos que o estudo do curso de longo prazo desse transtorno mental é fundamental e acreditamos que é tempo de explorar completa e sistematicamente a variação transcultural no curso e no desfecho da esquizofrenia.