ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Support groups can help to reach individuals with anxiety disorders who are not or are only partly obtaining health services. The present study is based on a program that involves peer helpers as animators of a self-treatment group (Zéro-ATAQ). Their perspective has been documented in order to identify the aspects of the program which can be improved. METHODS: Eleven peer helpers led the 12 sessions of the program, which was dispensed in four regions of Quebec for 32 persons having panic disorders with agoraphobia. The perspectives of ten peer animators were documented based on a semi-structured interview that took place at the end of the program, and a focus group that was held over six months later with peer animators from each of the groups. Their comments were transcribed and a thematic content analysis was conducted. RESULTS: All of the peer helper animators reported that they enjoyed participating in the program, that they appreciated being able to help others having an anxiety disorder, and that the program helped them in their role as animators of these types of activities. Nearly all of the peer helpers emphasized the importance of being able to count on the supervision of a professional when needed. CONCLUSION: This study revealed (1) the feasibility of implementing a program of this kind in partnership with peers, (2) the qualifications necessary to lead this type of program, (3) the requirements in terms of training and available material, and (4) the importance of supervision.
Subject(s)
Agoraphobia/therapy , Panic Disorder/therapy , Peer Group , Self-Help Groups , Female , Humans , Male , QuebecABSTRACT
Introduction In Quebec, mental disorders affect one in five people in their lifetime. Anxiety and depressive disorders are the main common or moderate mental health disorders. They affect both the individuals with the disorder and the people around them and have substantial economic impact. Psychotropic drugs are the treatment option most often proposed to patients presenting with moderate mental health disorders. Psychotherapy is nevertheless a treatment that should be given consideration.Physical and financial access to psychotherapy remains limited because only one third of professionals qualified to offer it practise in the public sector, and the coverage and reimbursement policy for this service is very restricted. In order to improve such coverage, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) mandated the Institut national d'excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS) to assess the evidence on the effectiveness of psychotherapy compared with those of pharmacotherapy for the treatment of adults with anxiety and depressive disorders.Methods An update of a review of recent and good quality literature was conducted through a review of systematic reviews dealing with psychotherapy compared to pharmacotherapy in the treatment of anxiety and depression in adults. The period covered included 2009 to 2013. The literature search strategy, modelled on that of the reference review, was applied to Medline, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science and health technology assessment agencies. Exploration of the grey literature focused on information available on the websites of various health assessment organizations.Results The level of scientific evidence overall was judged to be of moderate to high quality. In general, the data showed no significant difference between psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy in terms of symptoms reduction in patients with moderate anxiety or depressive disorders, indicating comparable effectiveness of these two modes of treatment. However, the benefits of psychotherapy lasted longer after the end of treatment than those of medication. Psychotherapy therefore offers better protection against relapse. Furthermore, the combination of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy is more effective than psychotherapy alone in severe or chronic cases.Conclusion Psychotherapy appears to be as effective as pharmacotherapy in the treatment of adult patients with moderate anxiety and/or depressive disorders. Moreover, the beneficial effects of psychotherapy last longer after the end of treatment with a lower likelihood of relapse.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: We have examined the genomic distribution of large rare autosomal deletions in a sample of 440 parent-parent-child trios from the Quebec founder population (QFP) which was recruited for a study of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: DNA isolated from blood was genotyped on Illumina Hap300 arrays. PennCNV combined with visual evaluation of images generated by the Beadstudio program was used to determine deletion boundary definition of sufficient precision to discern independent events, with near-perfect concordance between parent and child in about 98% of the 399 events detected in the offspring; the remaining 7 deletions were considered de novo. We defined several genomic regions of very high deletion frequency ('hotspots'), usually of 0.4-0.6 Mb in length where independent rare deletions were found at frequencies of up to 100 fold higher than the average for the genome as a whole. Five of the 7 de novo deletions were in these hotspots. The same hotspots were also observed in three other studies on members of the QFP, those with schizophrenia, with endometriosis and those from a longevity cohort. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Nine of the 13 hotspots carry one gene (7 of which are very long), while the rest contain no known genes. All nine genes have been implicated in disease. The patterns of exon deletions support the proposed roles for some of these genes in human disease, such as NRXN1 and PARKIN, and suggest limited roles or no role at all, for others, including MACROD2 and CTNNA3. Our results also offer an alternative interpretation for the observations of deletions in tumors which have been proposed as reflecting tumor-suppressive activity of genes in these hotspots.
