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The complex interaction between the gut flora and central nervous systems made probiotics one promising natural candidate for the management and treatment of depression. Hence, the purpose of this paper was to assess the knowledge, patterns of consumption and attitudes of patients with depression toward probiotics.

In this cross-sectional study, and through simple random sampling, 200 adults who were diagnosed with various depressive symptoms were selected. A link to a self-reported survey was sent to them with the aim of collecting sociodemographic data, assessing participants’ attitudes and knowledge toward probiotic consumption, and measuring their depression status via the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).

A total of 164 participants (82%) provided usable responses. Approximately 55% of participants had moderate depression (PHQ-9). Participants (22.6%) tend to comply with their psychiatrists’ advice regarding probiotics more than other health specialists’ advice (p = 0.04). Only 59 (36%) had knowledge about probiotics and believed that probiotics should be consumed regularly and not only after an antibiotic course. However, many tended to follow marketing tricks and were willing to buy the most expensive and advertised probiotic products. Participants showed some differences in their attitude and knowledge toward probiotics according to symptoms severity; however, the differences were insignificant (p = 0.88).

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is believed to be the first investigation assessing the probiotics’ knowledge, patterns of consumption and attitude of patients with various depression symptoms in Bahrain. The findings of this study may help improve the well-being of depressive patients by addressing the probiotic knowledge gap among them, expand the market of probiotics and enrich nutritional psychiatry literature.

Using a seven-day cycle menu and commissary items at a rural county jail, this study aims to describe provisions of micronutrients known to be associated with mental health disorders and if they meet dietary guidelines.

The nutritional content of a seven-day cycle menu and four available commissary food packs were evaluated using NutritionCalc® Plus software (McGraw-Hill Education version 5.0.19) and compared to Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI).

Menu mean values of Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C and zinc met DRI recommendations. However, Vitamin D (for men and women), magnesium (for men only) and omega-3s (for men only) did not meet the DRI recommendations.

As deficits of Vitamin D, magnesium and omega-3s are known to exacerbate bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression, small changes to food would increase the offerings and potential intake of nutrients that may improve mental health.

This study aims to identify the dietary patterns of two groups of subjects (with and without COVID-19), and to assess the relationship of findings with the prognosis of COVID-19 and metabolic risk parameters.

This study included 100 individuals in the age range of 19–65 years. The medical history, and data on biochemical, hematological and inflammatory indicators were retrieved from the files. A questionnaire for the 24-h food record and the food intake frequency was administered in face-to-face interviews, and dietary patterns of subjects were assessed.

In individuals with COVID-19, the hip circumference, the waist-hip ratio and the body fat percentage were significantly higher (p < 0.05), and the muscle mass percentage was significantly lower (p < 0.05). Mediterranean diet adherence screener (MEDAS), dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) and healthy eating ındex-2015 (HEI-2015) scores were low in the two groups. A linear correlation of DASH scores was found with the muscle mass percentage (p = 0.046) and a significant inverse correlation of with the body fat percentage (p = 0.006). HEI-2015 scores were significantly and negatively correlated with body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference and neck circumference (p < 0.05). Every one-unit increase in MEDAS, DASH and HEI-2015 scores caused reductions in C-reactive protein levels at different magnitudes. Troponin-I was significantly and negatively correlated with fruit intake (p = 0.044), a component of a Mediterranean diet and with HEI-2015 total scores (p = 0.032).

The limitation of this study includes the small sample size and the lack of dietary interventions. Another limitation is the use of the food recall method for the assessment of dietary patterns. This way assessments were performed based on participants’ memory and statements.

Following a healthy diet pattern can help reduce the metabolic risks of COVİD-19 disease.

Despite these limitations, this study is valuable because, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first study demonstrating the association of dietary patterns with disease prognosis and metabolic risks concerning COVID-19. This study suggests that dietary patterns during the COVID-19 process may be associated with several metabolic risks and inflammatory biomarkers.

The purpose of this study is to determine the mental health status and risk factors for the mental health of first-year university students on a health sciences campus.

This is a descriptive study. The research was conducted with first-year students in the health sciences, dentistry and medical faculties of a state university (n = 770). The data were collected with a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Risk Behavior of Young Adults Survey, the Bergen Insomnia Scale, General Health Questionnaire-28 and the Mental Health Improvement Scale. Body mass ındex was calculated.

Among the students, 53.7% experienced feelings of hopelessness in the last year and 1% had attempted suicide. The percentage of students found to be at risk in terms of mental health was 41.9%; 39.4% reported that they suffered from insomnia. It was found that those who had been subjected to bullying, felt hopelessness, had suicidal thoughts, planned to commit suicide and students who experienced sleeping problems were more at risk in terms of psychological issues (p < 0.01). Insomnia (β: 3.341) and smoking (β: 2.226) were identified as the strongest risk factors for mental health in first-year health sciences students (p < 0.005).

The results of the research offer an opportunity to get to know the characteristics of first-year university students who are at risk for mental health. It offers the opportunity to closely monitor and protect the mental health of students starting from the first grade.

In this study, it was determined that approximately half of the first-year university students were in the risk group in terms of mental health. Female gender, having a chronic illness, smoking a day or more in the past 30 days, not doing any physical activity, having a weak BMI, being bullied in the past 12 months, being cyberbullied in the past 12 months and having insomnia have been identified as risk factors that negatively affect mental health.

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate health conditions prior to and at least two months after the start of consuming raw fermented milk (RFM) products.

One-Item health score, 1-item immunity score, immune status (ISQ), mood, bowel and skin conditions were rated for the period prior and post switching to RFM products. A linear mixed model was used to evaluate the post to prior RFM health and mood scores, taking into account gender, location of living and health group. Data from 390 participants (mean age of 54 years old) were included for the analysis, of which 277 (45 per cent) were allocated to the poor health group. Participants were allocated to the poor health group if they reported being immune depressed or suffering from a chronic disease prior to RFM; otherwise, they were allocated to the normal health group.

The highest intake of RFM was from RF kefir. Post RFM, people consumed around 1 glass (200 ml) of RF kefir per day. After switching to RFM, significant improvements on health and mood scores were reported. The strongest improvements after switching to RFM consumption were seen in subjects from the poor health group. With the exception of skin score, all measured health items significantly improved (p < 0.001). Health, immunity, bowel and mood scores increased with around 20 per cent in the poor health group and around 8 per cent in the normal health group. Women had more health complaints prior to RFM and had stronger health improvement post RFM compared to men. Bowel and mood scores were overall lower in women than in men. Living location had no significant impact on RFM-related health changes. This consumer survey suggests that positive health and mood changes are associated with the consumption of RFM products.

The consumption of RFM products improved the self-reported health status of adults. Immune-depressed people or people suffering from a chronic disease prior to RFM reported the strongest impact on their health, immunity, bowel and mood scores post switching RFM consumption compared to people with a normal health.

Purpose – This chapter has two central purposes. The first is to suggest that western, as well as non-western, illness categories are culture bound. The second is to elucidate the diagnostic and treatment implications associated with adopting a reductionistic diagnostic approach, including for psychiatric as well as nonpsychiatric illnesses.

Approach – A comparative approach is used to highlight the differences between American psychiatry's diagnostic system (i.e., DSM) and French child psychiatry's diagnostic system (CFTMEA). The analysis begins by identifying the overarching differences between the systems, then analyzes the differences between their respective versions of the Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder diagnostic category, and ends by tracing the diagnostic and treatment implications of those differences.

Findings – This analysis reveals that the systems differ in three significant ways: (1) theoretical orientation (biological vs. psychodynamic), (2) the view that symptoms should be counted as opposed to understood, and (3) the presence of symptom checklists versus their absence. Additionally, these differences encourage American clinicians to both administer the ADHD diagnosis to a greater number of symptomatic children and to treat these children with psychiatric medications.

Contributions to the field – The analysis makes three contributions to the field: (1) the comparative analysis highlights the limitations of the DSM's ADHD definition; (2) it strengthens the case for seeing western diagnostic categories in general, and the DSM categories in particular, as cultural artifacts; (3) it elucidates the profound relationship between diagnostic systems and both diagnostic rates and treatment practices.

Suicide behaviour rates vary significantly between countries due to a range of cultural, behavioural and health‐related factors. Gender and age‐related factors also appear to be impor tant key determinants of vulnerability to suicide ideation and suicide completion. The homeless population is par ticularly at risk, due to multiple complex issues that relate to social exclusion, alcohol, drug, mental health and nutritional issues. Studying homeless people is problematic due to access, the transitory nature of their contact with statutary services, problems of self‐repor t and recall in people ‐ some of whom have mental health and cognitive issues. There is an increasing interest from practitioners and academic researchers in spiritual factors that appear to modulate the responses of an individual to the internal and external threats that underlie the motivation to end his or her life. Effective approaches to suicide prevention and crisis management require a good understanding of the interplay between this complex set of biological, psychological and social domains. These will be explored in the final section of this review. This paper, therefore, aims to provide a non‐systematic review of the existing literature published in academic journals and relvant ‘grey literature’ and focuses on themes in the literature that will hopefully inform both policy and practice.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the nutritional status and certain anthropometric characteristics in school-age children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and healthy controls.

A total of 200 children (ages eight to 11), half with ADHD and the other half healthy, participated in the study. A three-day food consumption record was taken and evaluated based on energy and macro-micro nutrient requirements. Weight, height, waist, hip, mid-upper arm circumferences and hand grip strength were measured.

Energy, protein, fat, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, carbohydrate, niacin and zinc intakes were found significantly lower than healthy controls for female participants and all nutrient intakes were found significantly lower than healthy controls for male participants (p<0.05). Children with ADHD had lower anthropometric measures (p>0.05).

The study sample size was too small to make results general and subtypes of ADHD and medication types were disregarded during the data collection process which limited the interpretation of the study results.

There are only a few researches about nutritional status of children with ADHD in Turkey. In this study, the authors found that children with ADHD have inadequate and unbalanced diet. Because of this result it is important to evaluate and monitor the nutritional status and habits of children diagnosed with ADHD for a healthy growth and development.

Purpose – The DSM-III reflected American psychiatry's shift from a dynamic approach to a descriptive diagnostic approach. This chapter seeks to elucidate the implications of this shift for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

Methodology/approach – To shed light on this issue I analyze the diagnosis and treatment implications of this shift for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

Findings – The transition to the diagnostic approach has had three consequences for the handling of ADD, and later Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): first, it increased the number of children diagnosed with the disorder; second, it encouraged clinicians to treat the disorder with psychostimulants; and third, it expanded the pool of clinicians who could prescribe stimulants.

Contribution to the field – Beyond illuminating the specific cases of ADD and ADHD, this analysis contributes to the medicalization literature by demonstrating that there is more to be studied than merely the expansion or contraction of diagnostic categories. Researchers also have to analyze the implicit assumptions within the diagnostic definitions, which have implications for the prevalence and treatment of illness.

This paper aims to examine student exercise physiologists (EPs) and student dietitians’ confidence regarding working with people with severe mental illness (SMI) pre- and post-practicum in a mental health service.

This single-arm, quality improvement project included students completing practicum within a lifestyle programme embedded in mental health services. Student EPs completed 100 h of practicum across 15 weeks as part requirement for their Bachelor of Exercise Physiology degree and student dietitians completed six weeks full-time (40 h/week) for the part requirement of their Master of Nutrition and Dietetics. Students completed the Dietetic Confidence Scale (terminology was adapted for student EPs) pre- and post-practicum.

In total, 27 student EPs and 13 student dietitians completed placement and returned pre- and post-practicum questionnaires. Pre-practicum confidence scores were 90.8 ± 17.1 and 86.9 ± 18.9 out of a possible 140 points for student EPs and student dietitians, respectively. Confidence scores increased substantially post-practicum for both student EPs [mean difference (MD) = 29.3 ± 18.8, p < 0.001, d = 1.56] and dietitian students (MD = 26.1 ± 15.9, p = 0.002, d = 1.64). There were significant improvements in confidence across all domains of the confidence questionnaire for both EPs and dietitian students.

There is a research gap in understanding the confidence levels of student EPs’ and student dietitians’ when working with people with mental illness and the impact that undertaking a practicum in a mental health setting may play. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore student EP and student dietitian confidence in working with people with SMI pre- and post-practicum in a mental health setting.