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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 February 2015

Teruhisa Komori

Late life depression is often associated with a poor response to antidepressants; therefore an alternative strategy for therapy is required. Although several studies have reported…

Abstract

Late life depression is often associated with a poor response to antidepressants; therefore an alternative strategy for therapy is required. Although several studies have reported that phosphatidylserine (PS) may be effective for late life depression and that omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA have also proven beneficial for many higher mental functions, including depression, no concrete conclusion has been reached. This study was performed to clarify the effect of PS and omega-3 fatty acid-containing supplement for late life depression by not only clinical evaluation but also salivary cortisol levels. Eighteen elderly subjects with major depression were selected for the study. In all, insufficient improvement had been obtained by antidepressant therapy for at least 6 months. The exclusion criteria from prior brain magnetic resonance images (MRI) included the presence of structural MRI findings compatible with stroke or other gross brain lesions or malformations, but not white matter hypersensitivities. They took a supplement containing PS 100 mg, DHA 119 mg and EPA 70 mg three times a day for 12 weeks. The effects of the supplement were assessed using the 17-item Hamilton depression scale (HAMD17) and the basal levels and circadian rhythm of salivary cortisol. The study adopted them as indices because: salivary cortisol levels are high in patients with depression, their circadian rhythm related to salivary cortisol is often irregular, and these symptoms are alleviated as depression improves. The mean HAM-D17 in all subjects taking the supplement was significantly improved after 12 weeks of taking the supplement. These subjects were divided into 10 non-responders and 8 responders. The basal levels and circadian rhythm of salivary cortisol were normalized in the responders while not in non-responders. PS and omega-3 fatty acids, or other elements of the supplement, may be effective for late life depression, associated with the correction of basal levels and circadian rhythm of salivary cortisol.

Details

Mental Illness, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2036-7465

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 July 2021

Jan Pringle, Ruth Jepson, Alison Dawson, Louise McCabe and Alison Bowes

One limitation of research that assesses the effectiveness of physical activity interventions for people with dementia is that most do not describe the intervention in sufficient…

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Abstract

Purpose

One limitation of research that assesses the effectiveness of physical activity interventions for people with dementia is that most do not describe the intervention in sufficient detail to ascertain a theoretical basis or mechanism of action that determines the effective components. This paper aims to identify studies which evaluate the mechanisms of action of physical activity interventions for people with dementia, to further inform effective intervention development.

Design/methodology/approach

Papers were screened for evidence of evaluation of specific forms of physical activity, using pre-defined inclusion criteria. Analysis was conducted to ascertain if mechanisms of action were corroborated by data within and between studies.

Findings

The authors identified 26 studies with a measured mechanism of action; these related to the effects of physical activity on either neurological structure or endocrinal markers, including hormones. Physical activity had potential to reduce hippocampal atrophy, increase neural recruitment, activate the noradrenergic system and improve anti-inflammatory responses. While individual studies were hampered by small sample sizes, the body of evidence indicated that physical activity may have potential to delay cognitive decline.

Practical implications

Mechanisms of action in relation to dementia and physical activity are likely to be multifaceted, and physical activity may be protective against progression in the early stages of cognitive decline. Physical activity may be of greatest benefit if incorporated into on-going lifestyle, rather than engaged in for short periods, and combined with social interaction.

Originality/value

This paper is unique in its focus on the mechanisms of action of physical activity interventions for people with dementia.

Details

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-7794

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 March 2019

Pasquale Caponnetto, Roberta Auditore, Marilena Maglia, Stefano Pipitone and Lucio Inguscio

Schizophrenia is a serious psychiatric disorder characterized by positive symptoms, negative symptoms and neurocognitive deficits. The aim of this study was to estimate…

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a serious psychiatric disorder characterized by positive symptoms, negative symptoms and neurocognitive deficits. The aim of this study was to estimate relationships between wellness, yoga and quality of life in patients affected by schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Participants were 30 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia in care at the Rehabilitative Psychiatry and Research Villa Chiara Clinic in Mascalucia (Catania, Italy), after that randomly assigned to two groups. The first group followed the experimental treatment with sets of yoga exercises conducted by a yoga trainer and a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist expert in yoga, while a second control group was treated with usual care. The results revealed a significant difference, before and after treatment, between the experimental group and the control group in quality of life.

Details

Mental Illness, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2036-7465

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 January 2010

Costa Vakalopoulos

Although first rank symptoms focus on positive symptoms of psychosis they are shared by a number of psychiatric conditions. The difficulty in differentiating bipolar disorder from…

Abstract

Although first rank symptoms focus on positive symptoms of psychosis they are shared by a number of psychiatric conditions. The difficulty in differentiating bipolar disorder from schizophrenia with affective features has led to a third category of patients often loosely labeled as schizoaffective. Research in schizophrenia has attempted to render the presence or absence of negative symptoms and their relation to etiology and prognosis more explicit. A dichotomous population is a recurring theme in experimental paradigms. Thus, schizophrenia is defined as process or reactive, deficit or non-deficit and by the presence or absence of affective symptoms. Laboratory tests confirm the clinical impression showing conflicting responses to dexamethasone suppression and clearly defined differences in autonomic responsiveness, but their patho-physiological significance eludes mainstream theory. Added to this is the difficulty in agreeing to what exactly constitutes useful clinical features differentiating, for example, negative symptoms of a true deficit syndrome from features of depression. Two recent papers proposed that the general and specific cognitive features of schizophrenia and major depression result from a monoamine-cholinergic imbalance, the former due to a relative muscarinic receptor hypofunction and the latter, in contrast, to a muscarinic hypersensitivity exacerbated by monoamine depletion. Further development of these ideas will provide pharmacological principles for what is currently an incomplete and largely, descriptive nosology of psychosis. It will propose a dimensional view of affective and negative symptoms based on relative muscarinic integrity and is supported by several exciting intracellular signaling and gene expression studies. Bipolar disorder manifests both muscarinic and dopaminergic hypersensitivity. The greater the imbalance between these two receptor signaling systems, the more the clinical picture will resemble schizophrenia with bizarre, incongruent delusions and increasingly disorganized thought. The capacity for affective expression, by definition a non-deficit syndrome, will remain contingent on the degree of preservation of muscarinic signaling, which itself may be unstable and vary between trait and state examinations. At the extreme end of muscarinic impairment, a deficit schizophrenia subpopulation is proposed with a primary and fixed muscarinic receptor hypofunction.

The genomic profile of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia overlap and both have a common dopaminergic intracellular signaling which is hypersensitive to various stressors. It is proposed that the concomitant muscarinic receptor upregulation differentiates the syndromes, being marked in bipolar disorder and rather less so in schizophrenia. From a behavioral point of view non-deficit syndromes and bipolar disorder appear most proximate and could be reclassified as a spectrum of affective psychosis or schizoaffective disorders. Because of a profound malfunction of the muscarinic receptor, the deficit subgroup cannot express a comparable stress response. None -theless, a convergent principle of psychotic features across psychiatric disorders is a relative monoaminergic-muscarinic imbalance in signal transduction.

Details

Mental Illness, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2036-7465

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 July 2012

J. Anke M. van Eekelen, Justine A. Ellis, Craig E. Pennell, Richard Saffery, Eugen Mattes, Jeff Craig and Craig A. Olsson

Genetic risk for depressive disorders is poorly understood despite consistent suggestions of a high heritable component. Most genetic studies have focused on risk associated with…

Abstract

Genetic risk for depressive disorders is poorly understood despite consistent suggestions of a high heritable component. Most genetic studies have focused on risk associated with single variants, a strategy which has so far only yielded small (often non-replicable) risks for depressive disorders. In this paper we argue that more substantial risks are likely to emerge from genetic variants acting in synergy within and across larger neurobiological systems (polygenic risk factors). We show how knowledge of major integrated neurobiological systems provides a robust basis for defining and testing theoretically defensible polygenic risk factors. We do this by describing the architecture of the overall stress response. Maladaptation via impaired stress responsiveness is central to the aetiology of depression and anxiety and provides a framework for a systems biology approach to candidate gene selection. We propose principles for identifying genes and gene networks within the neurosystems involved in the stress response and for defining polygenic risk factors based on the neurobiology of stress-related behaviour. We conclude that knowledge of the neurobiology of the stress response system is likely to play a central role in future efforts to improve genetic prediction of depression and related disorders.

Details

Mental Illness, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2036-7465

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2077-5504

Open Access

Abstract

Details

The Social, Cultural and Environmental Costs of Hyper-Connectivity: Sleeping Through the Revolution
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-976-2

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 December 2020

Paula M. Di Nota, Bryce E. Stoliker, Adam D. Vaughan, Judith P. Andersen and Gregory S. Anderson

The purpose of this study isto synthesize recent empirical research investigating memory of stressful critical incidents (both simulated and occurring in the field) among law…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study isto synthesize recent empirical research investigating memory of stressful critical incidents (both simulated and occurring in the field) among law enforcement officers.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used the approach of systematic state-of-the-art review.

Findings

In total, 20 studies of police and military officers show reduced detail and accuracy of high- versus low-stress incidents, especially for peripheral versus target information. Decrements in memory performance were mediated by the extent of physiological stress responses. Delayed recall accuracy was improved among officers that engaged in immediate post-incident rehearsal, including independent debriefing or reviewing body-worn camera footage.

Research limitations/implications

Most studies were not found through systematic database searches, highlighting a need for broader indexing and/or open access publishing to make research more accessible.

Practical implications

By understanding how stress physiology enhances or interferes with memory encoding, consolidation and recall, evidence-based practices surrounding post-incident evidence gathering are recommended.

Social implications

The current review addresses common public misconceptions of enhanced cognitive performance among police relative to the average citizen.

Originality/value

The current work draws from scientific knowledge about the pervasive influence of stress physiology on memory to inform existing practices surrounding post-incident evidence gathering among police.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 44 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 March 2023

Carol D. Ryff

The purpose of this article is to examine synergies between a eudaimonic model of psychological well-being (Ryff, 1989) and mental health practice. The model grew out of clinical…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to examine synergies between a eudaimonic model of psychological well-being (Ryff, 1989) and mental health practice. The model grew out of clinical, developmental, existential and humanistic perspectives that emphasized psychological strengths and capacities, in contrast to the focus on emotional distress and dysfunction in clinical psychology.

Design/methodology/approach

Conceptual foundations of the eudaimonic approach are described, along with the six components positive functioning that are used to measure well-being. These qualities may be important in facilitating the recovery experiences, which are of interest in Mental Health and Social Inclusion.

Findings

Four categories of empirical evidence about eudaimonia are reviewed: how it changes with aging, how it matters for health, what are its biological and neurological underpinnings and whether it can be promoted. Major contemporary forces against eudaimonia are also considered, including ever-widening inequality, the enduring pandemic and world-wide strife. In contrast, encounters with the arts and nature are put forth as forces for eudaimonia. The relevance of these ideas for mental health research and practice is considered.

Practical implications

Enormous suffering defines our contemporary world. Such realities call for greater attention to factors that undermine as well as nurture the realization of human potential, the core of eudaimonic well-being.

Originality/value

Mental health is often defined as the absence of mental illness. The novelty of the eudaimonic approach is to define mental health as the presence of well-being, assessed with different components of positive functioning.

Details

Mental Health and Social Inclusion, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-8308

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 May 2018

Teruhisa Komori, Mutsumi Kageyama, Yuko Tamura, Yuki Tateishi and Takashi Iwasa

In order to be able to use the aroma hand massage as a skill that can be done by a nurse who does not have a special aromatherapy technique, we examine anti-stress effects of…

Abstract

In order to be able to use the aroma hand massage as a skill that can be done by a nurse who does not have a special aromatherapy technique, we examine anti-stress effects of simplified aroma hand massage for healthy subjects. We evaluated the anti-stress action of aroma hand massage and the different components of the procedure in 20 healthy women in their twenties. We used autonomic nervous function measured via electrocardiogram as an index of stress. After conducting a baseline electrocardiogram, we induced stress in the participants by asking them to spend 30 minutes completing Kraepelin's arithmetic test. We then administered various treatments and examined the anti-stress effects. Kraepelin's test significantly increased sympathetic nervous function and significantly reduced parasympathetic nervous function. Compared with massage without essential oil or aroma inhalation, aroma hand massage significantly increased parasympathetic nervous function and significantly decreased sympathetic nervous function. The effect of the aroma hand massage persisted when the procedure was simplified. The anti-stress action of the aroma hand massage indicates that it might have beneficial application as a nursing technique. There are several limitations in this study; ambiguities of low component/high component ratio of heart rate variability and bias by small subjects groups of the same women.

Details

Mental Illness, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2036-7465

Keywords

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