Background
During the COVID-19 pandemic general medical complications have received the most attention, whereas only few studies address the potential direct effect on mental health of SARS-CoV-2 and the neurotropic potential. Furthermore, the indirect effects of the pandemic on general mental health are of increasing concern, particularly since the SARS-CoV-1 epidemic (2002–2003) was associated with psychiatric complications.

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COVID-19 pandemic and mental health consequences: Systematic review of the current evidence.

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Role of WHO.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused enormous psychological impact worldwide. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on the psychological and mental impact of COVID-19 among healthcare workers, the general population, and patients with higher COVID-19 risk published between 1 Nov 2019 to 25 May 2020. We conducted literature research using Embase, PubMed, Google scholar and WHO COVID-19 databases. Among the initial search of 9207 studies, 62 studies with 162,639 participants from 17 countries were included in the review. The pooled prevalence of anxiety and depression was 33% (95% confidence interval: 28%-38%) and 28% (23%-32%), respectively. The prevalence of anxiety and depression was the highest among patients with pre-existing conditions and COVID-19 infection (56% [39%-73%] and 55% [48%-62%]), and it was similar between healthcare workers and the general public. Studies from China, Italy, Turkey, Spain and Iran reported higher-than-pooled prevalence among healthcare workers and the general public. Common risk factors included being women, being nurses, having lower socioeconomic status, having high risks of contracting COVID-19, and social isolation. Protective factors included having sufficient medical resources, up-to-date and accurate information, and taking precautionary measures. In conclusion, psychological interventions targeting high-risk populations with heavy psychological distress are in urgent need.

The psychological and mental impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on medical staff and general public - A systematic review and meta-analysis.

How mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown has brought about a sense of fear and anxiety around the globe. This phenomenon has led to short term as well as long term psychosocial and mental health implications for children and adolescents. The quality and magnitude of impact on minors is determined by many vulnerability factors like developmental age, educational status, pre-existing mental health condition, being economically underprivileged or being quarantined due to infection or fear of infection. Aims This paper is aimed at narratively reviewing various articles related to mental-health aspects of children and adolescents impacted by COVID-19 pandemic and enforcement of nationwide or regional lockdowns to prevent further spread of infection. Methodology We conducted a review and collected articles and advisories on mental health aspects of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. We selected articles and thematically organized them. We put up their major findings under the thematic areas of impact on young children, school and college going students, children and adolescents with mental health challenges, economically underprivileged children, impact due to quarantine and separation from parents and the advisories of international organizations. We have also provided recommendations to the above. Conclusion There is a pressing need for planning longitudinal and developmental studies, and implementing evidence based elaborative plan of action to cater to the psycho social and mental health needs of the vulnerable children and adolescents during pandemic as well as post pandemic. There is a need to ameliorate children and adolescents’ access to mental health support services geared towards providing measures for developing healthy coping mechanisms during the current crisis. For this innovative child and adolescent mental health policies policies with direct and digital collaborative networks of psychiatrists, psychologists, paediatricians, and community volunteers are deemed necessary.

Impact of COVID-19 and lockdown on mental health of children and adolescents: A narrative review with recommendations.

This review attempts to link cognitive training with neuroplasticity in schizophrenia evaluating the research evidences. Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that often follows a chronic course and affects multiple domains of functioning. Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia are one of the commonest causes of the functional impairments. Alterations in neuroplasticity in schizophrenia may be directly linked to the cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. The cognitive deficits in schizophrenia can be improved with specific cognitive remediation techniques. Over the past few decades, much emphasis has been given in targeting the cognitive deficits to improve the functional outcomes in schizophrenia. Cognitive remediation techniques have been effective in improving various domains of cognition as well as having a neuroplastic effect. The neuroplastic effect of cognitive remediation has been further augmented after addition of certain augmenting procedures (example: transcranial direct current stimulation) in schizophrenia as found in recent researches.

Neuroplasticity and Cognitive Training in Schizophrenia

\nPurpose\nThis paper aims to evaluate the adherence of media reports of suicide published in vernacular language newspapers against the World Health Organization guidelines.\n\n\nDesign/methodology/approach\nThe authors performed a content analysis of all suicide-related news reports published in the seven most widely circulated vernacular newspapers of Maharashtra. News reports published from April 2020 to May 2020 were included.\n\n\nFindings\nAmong the 355 retrieved suicide reports, 39.2% reports were placed at a prominent position of the newspaper, 92.8% mentioned the name of a person, 93.8% mentioned the method of suicide, while 56.0% reported monocausal explanations for suicide. In contrast, 20.8% of news reports acknowledged a link with mental health disorders, while 0.3% news reports provided information about suicide prevention programs, and 0.8% mentioned suicide-related statistics.\n\n\nOriginality/value\nTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to report content analysis of suicide reports from Maharashtra state, which is one of the most developed states in India and has high rates of youth and farmer suicides.\n

Quality of newspaper reporting of suicidal behavior in Maharashtra, India

Role of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in management of obsessive-compulsive disorder in patients of schizophrenia.

has an inverse relationship with the same. The core symptom of DDD is a deliberate lack of attention to the experiences and subjective feeling of unreality in self and environment.6 Mindfulness, on the other hand, is a process of regulating attention to increase awareness and relatedness to one’s own experiences. With this in mind, we opted for mindfulness in our patient and pondered whether it can be used as a targeted intervention for the core symptoms of DDD, and thus opted for the same alongside 25 mg of Tab Paroxetine in our patient, who showed remarkable improvement.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/02537176221084875

Multimodal Augmentation Approach with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Management of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder with Depression and Comorbid Seizure Disorder: A Case Report

Introduction: Recently concluded the National Mental Health Survey found the prevalence of tobacco use disorder to be 20.9% in adults (male = 32.8% and female = 9.8%). The burden of tobacco use disorder is higher in patients with mental illnesses, which significantly affects the treatment outcome. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of tobacco use in psychiatry in-patients of a tertiary care hospital in North India and to compare sociodemographic and clinical parameters between tobacco users and nonusers. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, observational study conducted on psychiatric in-patients of a tertiary care hospital in North India. Retrospective chart review of patients with age ≥ 15 years was done. Data were extracted in a semi-structured pro forma. Comparison of sociodemographic and clinical parameters between tobacco users and nonusers was done using an appropriate statistical tool. Results: The study sample consisted of 303 psychiatric in-patients, of which 121 (39.9%) of patients were tobacco users (males = 58.85% and females = 7.21%). Among tobacco users, 52% were primarily suffering from severe mental disorders, 29% from common mental disorders. Tobacco users had a higher number of psychiatric comorbidities and comorbid other substance use disorders than tobacco nonusers. Comorbid alcohol use (38%) and cannabis use (34%) were also high in the tobacco user group. Those using tobacco were significantly less adherent to treatment.Conclusion: Tobacco use is seen in 2/5th of the psychiatric in-patients. High psychiatric comorbidity and poor treatment adherence are more common among tobacco users.

Sujita Kumar Kar

Papers

Neuroplasticity and Cognitive Training in Schizophrenia

Quality of newspaper reporting of suicidal behavior in Maharashtra, India

Role of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in management of obsessive-compulsive disorder in patients of schizophrenia.

Multimodal Augmentation Approach with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Management of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder with Depression and Comorbid Seizure Disorder: A Case Report

Clinical correlates of tobacco use among hospitalized psychiatric patients