Treatment Needs and Service Delivery for Patients with Dual Disorders During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From the WADD Survey.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a great challenge for the existing health systems. The restrictions imposed across countries on the movement of people and the realignment of health care services in response to the pandemic are likely to negatively affect the health status and delivery of mental health services to persons with dual disorders (PWDD). Methods: An online survey was conducted among mental health professionals involved in providing care to PWDD to better understand the problems encountered and identify potential solutions in providing continued treatment for PWDD during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The findings confirmed significant disruption in the delivery of treatment services for PWDD during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dissatisfaction with personal protective equipment, inadequate COVID-19 testing services at treatment facility, and lack of guidelines on providing continued treatment services to PWDD by national authorities or professional bodies were identified as the likely reasons for this disruption. Conclusions: These concerns in turn need to be addressed by the policy-makers, hospital management staff, and other stakeholders. Specifically, there should be a focus on developing and disseminating guidelines to assist mental health professionals in setting-up and providing continued treatment services to PWDD via tele-psychiatry and other novel digital strategies.

Partial Agonists and Dual Disorders: Focus on Dual Schizophrenia.

Dual disorder is a term applied to patients with an addictive disorder and other mental disorder. Epidemiological studies have established that dual disorders are an expectation rather than an exception. They are difficult to diagnose and treat and constitute a huge burden for both patients and their relatives and society. Current treatments are a combination of those needed to treat the addictive disorder with those focused on the co-occurring psychiatric disorder. Focusing specifically on schizophrenia, growing scientific evidence supports the existence of a shared vulnerability for substance use in these patients and those at risk. Various antipsychotics have been found to be useful in the treatment of psychotic symptoms and disorders; however, few effective treatments have been identified until now for substance use disorders in patients with dual schizophrenia. Partial agonism stands as a new pharmacological option available in recent years. Molecules with this kind of action may act as functional agonists or as antagonists, depending on the surrounding levels of the neurotransmitter. Studies have found their efficacy in schizophrenia, addiction, anxiety and depression. Certain partial agonist antipsychotics seem to have a role in the treatment of dual schizophrenia. That could be the case with cariprazine. Because of its higher affinity for dopaminergic D3 receptors compared to D2, a potential to prevent relapse to addiction, added to its antipsychotic efficacy, has been suggested. Here we briefly review current advances and future directions and introduce some personal insights into the role of partial agonists in co-occurring schizophrenia and substance use.

Sleep Quality and Sleep Disturbance Perception in Dual Disorder Patients.

BACKGROUND: Sleep problems are particularly frequent in psychiatric disorders, but their bidirectional intersection is poorly clarified. An especial link between substance use and sleep seems to exist. While dual disorder patients are certainly at higher risk of experiencing sleep problems, very limited research is available today. METHODS: Forty-seven dual disorder hospitalized patients were included in this first study. A complete psychiatric evaluation was performed, and sleep habits, patterns and potential disorders were evaluated with specific sleep scales, as well as anxiety. RESULTS: The global prevalence of insomnia symptoms was considerably higher compared with the general population. Different abuse patterns as a function of concurrent psychiatric diagnosis were found, with no significant gender differences. The association between the investigated sleep parameters and any specific substance of abuse was minor. The addict behavior started in more than half of the patients prior to the main psychiatric diagnosis and close to the beginning of sleep problems. Men had a higher prevalence of insomnia symptoms, together with a higher incidence of anxiety. Overall, subjective daytime functioning was not altered as a consequence of poor sleep. CONCLUSION: Dual disorder patients face significant sleep disturbances, with low sleep quality. The role of sleep in addiction and dual disorders deserves greater research.

Precision Psychiatry and Dual Disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Addiction co-occurs with distinct pathological personality traits, other psychiatric disorders or symptoms and cognitive impairment, which are known as dual disorders or co-occurring disorders. This symptomatic high concurrency suggests that both conditions are in some ways causally linked. Research is ongoing to identify distinctive neurobehavioral mechanisms and endophenotypes that predispose individuals to compulsive drug use and other mental disorders. Research is also providing new revelations about the diverse effects of substances on individuals, including differences according to sex. Today we know that the same substance may give rise to different behavioral, affective, cognitive, and sensory effects across different individuals. METHODS: This state-of the art review tends to address the concept of precision psychiatry and dual disorders. The PubMed database was searched for the last 15 years to identify those articles that reported neurobiological perspectives on dual disorders, addiction and other mental disorders, precision medicine, and precision psychiatry. RESULTS: There has been considerable progress made in recent years in relation to the study of addiction and dual disorders. The concept of dual disorders attempts to capture not only the persistence of substance use and substance seeking but also the evident vulnerability of specific subpopulations to switch from controlled to compulsive drug use. Precision medicine is focused on identifying this individual vulnerability to illness as much as the individual response to treatment. Psychiatry is fully committed to this goal. Regarding addiction, essential precision medicine advances will be possible if concerted efforts are made in the discovery of biological variations and environmental factors that contribute to individual vulnerability to addictive disorders and dual disorders, together with the identification of moderators of treatment response. CONCLUSIONS: Here we survey the discoveries, future research directions, and translational relevance of the concept of precision psychiatry for dual disorders. The review may offer new perspectives on this issue and highlight a new way to see and to think about dual disorders.

[Impulsivity, sensation seeking and aggressiveness in patients with bipolar I and II disorder]. / Impulsividad, búsqueda de sensaciones y agresividad en pacientes bipolares tipo I y II.

OBJECTIVE: Although impulsivity may seem to be strongly linked to bipolar disorder, few studies have directly measured this phenomenon. To determine its implications for the prognosis of this illness, we studied the relationship between impulsivity and other aspects that are probably related, such as sensation seeking and aggressiveness, and different clinical variables of bipolar disorder. METHOD: Sixty-nine (type I, n=42; type II, n=27) outpatients from a unit specifically for bipolar patients in remission completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS), the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI) and the Bipolar Eating Disorder Scale (BEDS). Sociodemographic and clinical data were obtained. RESULTS: Type II bipolar patients scored significantly higher on the BIS and the BDHI physical aggression subscale. Patients with predominant depressive polarity also obtained significantly higher global scores on the BDHI. No differences were found relating to prior suicide attempts or psychiatric admissions. Smoking patients scored significantly higher on the BIS non-planning subscale and the SSS disinhibition subscale. LIMITATIONS: As patients with substance use disorder (SUD) were excluded, the sample of this study may represents a subgroup of patients with bipolar disorder with probably low levels of impulsivity. CONCLUSIONS: Impulsivity and aggressiveness are relevant aspects of bipolar disorders that could significantly increase comorbidity, especially in type II bipolar patients. Adequate diagnosis and treatment are, therefore, important factors in improving the clinical course of this illness.

[Efficacy and safety of gabapentin in Borderline Personality Disorder: a six-month, open-label study]. / Eficacia y seguridad de Gabapentina en el Trastorno Límite de Personalidad: estudio abierto de seis meses de duración.

Anticonvulsants are showing to be helpful in the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder and are widely used in clinical settings, although few studies have been published and their role in different borderline patients is not completely outlined. Gabapentin pharmacologic profile and its documented efficacy in anxiety disorders and drug abuse withdrawal were the basis for this open label multicenter six-month follow-up trial in borderline patients not enough responsive to previous therapies. DSM-IV Borderline Personality diagnosis was confirmed by the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines-Revised. Outcome measures were changes in scores on Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Barratt Impulsivity Scale and Clinical Global Impression Scale of Severity and Improvement. A global improvement, especially in anxious and depressive symptomatology, was observed; no adverse events were reported. Gabapentin showed to be efficacious and safe in Borderline Personality Disorder's treatment.