Insight in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) relative to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and psychotic disorders: Revisiting this issue in light of DSM-5.

INTRODUCTION: In DSM-5, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) was reclassified under the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs), but little is known about the nature of BDD beliefs. This study aimed to compare level of insight in BDD and consider related implications for DSM-5 classification. METHOD: Participants were 27 BDD, 19 obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and 20 psychosis (SZ) participants as well as 42 non-clinical controls (NC), who completed the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale (BABS) and Peters Delusions Inventory (PDI). RESULTS: For total (and most individual) BABS items, BDD and SZ participants scored significantly higher than OCD and NC participants. On the PDI, there were significant group differences in number of questions endorsed, with clinical groups scoring significantly higher than the NC group on dimensions of distress and preoccupation, but not conviction. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest appearance-related concerns in BDD somewhat resemble delusions seen in psychosis (and not OCD), and convey important nosological and therapeutic implications.

Australian Psychiatrists' Support for Psychiatric Advance Directives: Responses to a Hypothetical Vignette.

This study examines whether Australian psychiatrists would support requests in a psychiatric advance directive (PAD) and the reasons underlying their decisions in response to a hypothetical vignette. An online survey was completed by 143 psychiatrists. Fewer than 3 out of 10 psychiatrists supported the patient to create a PAD which requested cessation of pharmacotherapy (27%) or remaining out of hospital and not being subject to an involuntary treatment order (24%) should their depression condition deteriorate. A thematic analysis showed that patient autonomy was the strongest theme among those who supported the patient to create a PAD, whereas the clinical profile of and risk to the patient and the professional or ethical imperative of the psychiatrist were strongest among those who were unsure about supporting the patient or who did not support the patient. These findings provide a challenge about how to fulfil obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006).

A phenomenological investigation of overvalued ideas and delusions in clinical and subclinical anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder characterised by distorted cognitions about body weight and shape; but little is known about the phenomenological characteristics of these beliefs. In this study, multidimensional and insight-based measurements were used to compare beliefs about body weight and shape in AN to body image dissatisfaction in the general population, and delusional beliefs in schizophrenia. Twenty participants with clinical and sub-clinical AN, 27 participants with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, and 23 healthy controls completed the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale and the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scale in relation to a dominant belief regarding body weight/shape (or body dissatisfaction in healthy controls) or a current delusion. All groups completed the Peters Delusions Inventory to assess the prevalence of a range of delusion-like beliefs. Participants with clinical and subclinical AN experienced significantly higher preoccupation and distress for their belief in comparison to both participants with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder rating a delusional belief and the healthy controls rating a belief of body dissatisfaction. Both clinical groups were comparable on ratings of belief conviction and disruption. The data raise questions regarding the current frameworks that are used to describe beliefs in AN.