Effect of locosamide as an add-on therapy in the management of dissociative disorders.

The role of lacosamide (LCM) as add on treatment modality in dissociative disorders (DD) is of interest. It was a randomized control trial in which 300 patients diagnosed with dissociative disorders having treatment for the dissociative disorders were included. They were divided into two groups. Group one consisted of intervention group in which LCM was also administered along with conventional psychiatric medication for different dissociative disorders. Group two consisted of control group where the patients of dissociative disorders were found to have conventional medication. There was analysis of improvements in recovery of symptoms and quality of life. There was statistically significant increase in excellent, very good, good and fair quality of life and decrease in poor and satisfactory quality of life in intervention group after drug intervention. It was observed that symptoms of the patients improved in 50.67% cases in intervention group and 10.67% cases in control group. There was greater improvement in recovery of symptoms and quality of life in patients of DD in which LCM was administered as add on medication.

Resilience related to novel coronavirus among doctors and undergraduate medical students-A study from India.

BACKGROUND: There are no studies pertaining to resilience related to novel coronavirus focusing primarily on doctors and undergraduate medical students in India. The objectives of this survey were to assess the resilience and its various domains that are needed for dealing with novel coronavirus among doctors, interns, and undergraduate students and to see its correlation with various sociodemographic factors. MATERIALS AND METHOD: An online cross-sectional survey was done among doctors and undergraduate medical students during the first COVID-19 wave from May 19, 2020 to June 8, 2020. A total of 434 responses were recorded during the study period. All the recorded full responses were considered for data analysis. Snowball sampling was used for this study. Resilience was assessed using three items, which were taken from the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). RESULT: Out of 434 responses, 51.7% (224/433) of the respondents were non-resilient. The presence of the elderly at home was significantly associated with poor resilience (P = 0.02). Resilience was not significantly associated with other socio-demographic factors. Younger respondents (P = 0.019) and females (P =0.0004) were of the opinion that they recovered late from stressful events. Elderly respondents (P = 0.003) and those with chronic illness (P = 0.008) reported that it is hard for them to snap back if something bad happens (P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: More than half of the doctors and undergraduate medical students were found to be non-resilient, underscoring the urgent need to take steps to improve the resilience of this group of frontline workers.

Screening for depressive disorders in outpatients with mild to moderate psoriasis: a study from North India.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis and depressive disorders commonly occur together. Depressive disorders have an impact on the quality of life and the outcome of psoriasis. AIMS: The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of using a modification of the Hindi translation of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) as a verbal, clinician administered, short screening questionnaire for detecting depressive disorders. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and four out-patients with psoriasis were recruited in the study. In the first stage of the study, socio-demographic data, Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) score, and Dermatological Quality of Life (DLQI) score were recorded. The modified questionnaire was administered by the dermatologist. In the second stage, psychiatric diagnoses were confirmed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. RESULTS: The prevalence of depressive disorders was 39.4%. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis showed that the questionnaire had a good discriminant ability in detecting depressive disorders (area under curve: 0.81, SE = 0.04, 95% confidence interval = 0.72-0.89). LIMITATIONS: The sample size is small and more studies are needed with the screening questions in different languages to validate the findings of the study. CONCLUSION: The questionnaire can be a useful screening instrument for detecting depressive disorders in patients with psoriasis.

Refractory delirium tremens: a case report and brief review.

Delirium tremens is a common presentation in tertiary care hospitals. Severe and/or refractory delirium tremens is not as common, is potentially lethal, and requires intensive management. Usually delirium tremens responds to management with standard doses of benzodiazepines. Limited literature is available, however, for the management of refractory delirium tremens. We describe a case of refractory delirium tremens in which the patient was successfully managed with a combination of high doses of lorazapam, midazolam, and phenytoin.

Clozapine-induced stuttering: a case report and analysis of similar case reports in the literature.

There is limited literature reporting clozapine-associated stuttering. In this case report, we present a case of a young male who developed stuttering with clozapine, which improved with dose reduction. Computer-assisted searches on clozapine-induced stuttering yielded 16 cases, and analysis of these case reports suggests that stuttering may be linked to seizures or movement disorders, but other putative mechanisms may be at work, which need further research.