The Turkish adaptation and psychometric characteristics of the COVID-19 Traumatic Stress Scale.

The study aimed to adapt and validate the COVID-19 Traumatic Stress Scale in Turkish. The scale consisted of three dimensions: "threat/fear of infection and death," "economic hardship," and "disturbed routines/isolation." The Turkish version (COVID-19 Traumatic Scale-TR) was tested on a convenience sample of 432 online participants. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the three dimensions of the COVID-19 Traumatic Stress Scale, but with item 9 removed, resulting in an 11-item scale. Cronbach's α score for the 11-item scale was 0.85. The scale may be important to test the impact of COVID-19 on different psychosocial domains, including economic impact and isolation, in Turkey.

Levetiracetam induced hypomania: a case report.

Levetiracetam (LEV) is a newer second-generation antiepileptic drug that is found to be effective in tonic-clonic seizures, partial onset seizures, and myoclonic seizures. Among antiepileptic drugs, LEV is usually known for fewer adverse drug reactions. Psychiatric disorders after the administration of LEV have been reported in the literature. There are many case reports on LEV-induced psychosis, but there are only three case reports of mania induced by LEV use. In this report, we present a case with no history of psychiatric disorder who had a hypomania episode after receiving LEV for epilepsy treatment. The development of manic symptoms with LEV therapy is unusual. Clinicians should consider monitoring patients closely for treatment-related psychological symptoms and psychotic symptoms, including the possibility of mania.

Femicide: Psychosocial Characteristics of the Perpetrators in Turkey.

Female homicides are widely prevalent in Turkey with rising trend. The aim of this study is to identify gender role attitudes, childhood trauma histories, and individual characteristics of men who have been involved in the femicide, and to compare them with men who do not exercise violence against women. Participants completed a Sociodemographic and Clinical Information form, Semistructured Interview form, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Case group was not significantly different than the control group in terms of any measured individual characteristics including childhood traumas, psychopathology, and gender attitudes. Our data indicate that only migration history may be linked to femicide. A unique psychopathology that could be related to being a femicide perpetrator was not identified. Migration and perception of gender roles stand out as factors that separate men who exercise violence from men who do not.

Psychiatric disorders comorbid with epilepsy in a prison sample.

PURPOSE: Epilepsy is an extremely widespread and serious neurological disease. Although comorbidities of psychiatric disorders are prevalent in epilepsy patients, quite often this coexistence could be overlooked. Studies in this area demonstrated that depression, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia are the most common psychiatric disorders accompanying epilepsy. Mental health problems are known to be more common in prisoners compared to general population. The present study aims to demonstrate the psychiatric comorbidities in prisoners diagnosed with epilepsy. METHOD: In this study, demographic data and the psychiatric comorbidity of 200 patients who were diagnosed with epilepsy by a neurologist at Ankara Penal Institution Campus State Hospital between January 2013 and January 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: The mean age of study population was 32.6±10.1years. 181 of these patients were male (90.5%). 81 of 200 patients (40.5%) had a comorbid psychiatric disorder. The most common comorbid psychiatric disorders were depression (18.5%), anxiety (11%), and personality disorders (11%), respectively. CONCLUSION: The most common psychiatric comorbid disorders among prisoners diagnosed with epilepsy were depression and anxiety as general population with epilepsy whereas some disorders, personality disorder, substance dependence and bipolar affective disorders, were found to be more common among prisoners compared to the general population with epilepsy. It is crucial to question psychiatric symptoms and comorbidities while evaluating the patients with epilepsy, especially among prisoners.

Paliperidone: another treatment option for delusional parasitosis.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with delusional parasitosis (DP) have a fixed belief of being infested by small pathogens. Typical and atypical antipsychotics are widely used for treating DP. There are limited controlled trials about the treatment of DP and the most useful antipsychotic agent is still unknown. Paliperidone treatment for DP will be demonstrated through two cases. One of these cases had previously used pimozide but had not responded to treatment. Both cases had remission from symptoms with paliperidone. There are only two case reports published about paliperidone treatment for DP. CONCLUSION: Paliperidone appears to have promise in the treatment of DP; however, more case reports and controlled trials are required.