https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(03)12705-5.pdf

Efficacy and safety of electroconvulsive therapy in depressive disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(11)60858-1.pdf

The health of prisoners

Despite significant advances in the field of social neuroscience, much remains to be understood regarding the development and maintenance of social skills across the life span. Few comprehensive models exist that integrate multidisciplinary perspectives and explain the multitude of factors that influence the emergence and expression of social skills. Here, a developmental biopsychosocial model (SOCIAL) is offered that incorporates the biological underpinnings and socio-cognitive skills that underlie social function (attention/executive function, communication, socio-emotional skills), as well as the internal and external (environmental) factors that mediate these skills. The components of the model are discussed in the context of the social brain network and are supported by evidence from 3 conditions known to affect social functioning (autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, and traumatic brain injury). This integrative model is intended to provide a theoretical structure for understanding the origins of social dysfunction and the factors that influence the emergence of social skills through childhood and adolescence in both healthy and clinical populations.

SOCIAL: an integrative framework for the development of social skills.

This study analyzed the efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in depression by means a meta-analytic review of randomized controlled trials that compared ECT with simulated ECT or placebo or antidepressant drugs and by a complementary meta-analytic review of nonrandomized controlled trials that compared ECT with antidepressants drugs. The review revealed a significant superiority of ECT in all comparisons: ECT versus simulated ECT, ECT versus placebo, ECT versus antidepressants in general, ECT versus TCAs and ECT versus MAOIs. The nonrandomized controlled trials also revealed a significant statistical difference in favor of ECT when confronted with antidepressants drugs. Data analyzed suggest that ECT is a valid therapeutic tool for treatment of depression, including severe and resistant forms.

Efficacy of ECT in depression: a meta-analytic review.

The number of children experiencing parental imprisonment is increasing in Western industrialized countries. Parental imprisonment is a risk factor for child antisocial behavior, offending, mental health problems, drug abuse, school failure, and unemployment. However, very little is known about whether parental imprisonment causes these problems. Parental imprisonment might cause adverse child outcomes because of the trauma of parent‐child separation, stigma, or social and economic strain. Children may have worse reactions to parental imprisonment if their mother is imprisoned or if parents are imprisoned for longer periods of time or in more punitive social contexts. Children should be protected from harmful effects of parental imprisonment by using family‐friendly prison practices, financial assistance, parenting programs, and sentences that are less stigmatizing for offenders and their families.

/pdf/the-effects-of-parental-imprisonment-on-children-1lr7ngt2pl.pdf

The Effects of Parental Imprisonment on Children

Background: The plight of those with mental health problems and the possible role of prisons in "warehousing" these individuals has received considerable media and political attention. Prisoners are generally excluded from community-based surveys and to date no studies have compared prisoners to the community.Objective: The objective was to examine whether excess psychiatric morbidity exists in prisoners compared to the general community after adjusting for demographics.Method: Prison data were obtained from a consecutive sample of reception prisoners admitted into the state's correctional system in 2001 (n=916). Community data were obtained from the 1997 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (n=8168). Mental health diagnoses were obtained using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and a number of other screening measures. Weighting was used in calculating the 12-month prevalence estimates to control for demographic differences between the two samples. Logistic regression a...

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/j.1440-1614.2006.01785.x

Mental disorders in Australian prisoners: A comparison with a community sample.

Double-blind controlled trial of electroconvulsive therapy (e.c.t.) and simulated e.c.t. in depressive illness

It is frequently observed in the literature that mental illness is associated with criminal offending; however, co-morbidity between personality disorders, substance use disorders and other mental illnesses complicates our understanding of this relationship. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of co-morbid substance use disorder, personality disorder and mental illness on the rate of re-offending. Data on 12-month psychiatric morbidity for N = 1264 prisoners who took part in the 2001 Mental Health Survey in NSW, Australia was linked to five years of re-offending data. Risk of re-offending related to psychiatric disorders was assessed using Cox regression. Controlling for sex, indigenous status, age, prior court appearances, sampling frame and psychiatric disorders, participants with a personality disorder had a 26% increase in hazard of re-offending, and those with a substance use disorder a 33% increase in hazard of re-offending. Anxiety disorders, mood disorders and psychotic symptoms did n...

The impact of personality disorders, substance use and other mental illness on re-offending

Recent trends in psychiatric hospitals have re-established the need for semi-secure, well-staffed acute wards. Such a ward is described and 400 consecutive admissions over a 34-month period reviewed. Using 13 beds all the acute patients requiring security and intensive treatment are managed from a total catchment area of 600,000. A wide range of referral agencies and diagnostic categories are encountered. Staff in the general psychiatric hospital where the ward is situated are satisfied with the service. A small group of chronically-disturbed patients require separate facilities.

Assessment of a secure/intensive care/forensic ward

BACKGROUND:
Illicit drug misuse by people with mental disorder in the community has been associated with increased risk of violence but not tested among inpatients.
AIMS:
To evaluate screening for illicit drugs and determine the period prevalence of use in one high security hospital.
METHOD:
A records study six and 18 months after introduction of random ward urine testing was followed by a true random prospective study. A random sub-sample of these tests was checked in the laboratory.
RESULTS:
In the first period there were few tests and patchy recording; during the second, both improved, but testing was not random. In the third period there were 217 tests (65% of those requested) in 33 days; 116 tests requested were not carried out, of which 42 were due to patient refusals. Correlations between dipstick and laboratory results, and research and central recording of tests were high. The rate of drug detection was no higher with true randomization. The hospital's central record was confirmed as a reliable and valid research tool with respect to illicit substances. In the year 2000 the central record showed 12 definite cases of illicit substance use in 153,887 patient days, but some for test refusals.
CONCLUSIONS:
Random, reliable urine drug testing can be implemented, with generally good cooperation between patients and staff. Contrary to popular belief, in this setting there was little misuse. Further research might test whether current extensive preventive measures are cost effective. The methodology might be applied in less controlled settings to test inpatient violence and substance misuse associations.

John Basson

Papers

Mental disorders in Australian prisoners: A comparison with a community sample.

Double-blind controlled trial of electroconvulsive therapy (e.c.t.) and simulated e.c.t. in depressive illness

The impact of personality disorders, substance use and other mental illness on re-offending

Assessment of a secure/intensive care/forensic ward

Substance misuse in a high security hospital: period prevalence and an evaluation of screening.