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.

OVERVIEW The GRA Marketing Internship Program is offered to students who are interested in gaining valuable work experience through efforts in marketing, membership, sales, and events. Interns work directly to assist the Director of Marketing and Communications on various tasks relating to upcoming GRA events. During this internship, students will work a minimum of 10 hours a week and a maximum of 20 hours a week. Students are encouraged to earn credit for their internship, however this is a paid internship. Students interested in obtaining credit for their internship must consult their academic advisor or the intern coordinator at their academic unit.

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.

Suicide in the geriatric population is a significant problem. Increasing age, living alone, having a psychiatric illness and medical comorbidities have been identified as risk factors for suicide among the elderly population. The elderly population in South East Asia is rapidly growing and the number of elderly people with mental illness and/or medical comorbidities is also increasing. The factors and attributes of suicide may vary from region to region due to socio-cultural and geographic diversities. Understanding these factors may help in planning suicide prevention strategies for the elderly population. There is a dearth of studies assessing the demography, risk factors for, and prevention of suicide among the elderly population in South East Asia. We tried to observe and explain the challenging paradigms to excerpt attributes and the context of geriatric suicide. It is observed in this review that lack of social integration or interaction along with some psychiatric disorders leads to suicidal ideation and completed suicide in the elderly. South East Asia has unique characteristics in several aspects like religious and cultural diversity, poverty, unemployment, demographic structure of the region, migration, natural disasters and calamities, political environment, poor policy implementation, and easy access to suicide means (e.g. pesticides). Primary care physicians, specialized mental health support, gate-keeper training, means restriction, raising awareness, supportive family environment, and dedicated call centers could be potential areas for suicide prevention among the elderly people of the region.  Further studies are warranted to formulate effective suicide prevention strategies.

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Suicide in the geriatric population of South East Asia - contexts and attributes

Dhat syndrome refers to a culture-bound syndrome of Southeast Asia, where patients present with anxiety and depressive and somatic symptoms, which they attribute to semen loss. Common presentation of these patients is the passage of semen-like substance in urine. Retrograde ejaculation may cause spermaturia, and patients with firmly held cultural myths related to sexuality may develop features of Dhat syndrome. Here, a patient with obsessive–compulsive disorder on treatment with fluoxetine developed retrograde ejaculation and subsequently features of Dhat syndrome.

Treatment-emergent dhat syndrome in a young male with Obsessive–Compulsive disorder: An alarm for medication nonadherence

Comments on "High frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of dorsomedial prefrontal cortex for negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia: A double-blind, randomized controlled trial"

TO THE EDITOR Alprazolam is a well known benzodiazepine in management of anxiety. It has rapid onset of action and strong abuse potential. It produces sedation and compromises the motor as well as cognitive performance. The abuse potential associated with alprazolam is due to its rapid onset of behavioural effects. Due to its abuse potential, it is recommended as a second line agent in management of anxiety disorders. Several genetic mechanisms are involved in differential expression of behavior in chronic drug users, which may possibly explain the unusual or paradoxical behavioural manifestations. A 40 year old male, from a rural background, a nonqualified health professional had consulted in psychiatry outpatients department for quitting alprazolam that he was taking in higher dose (up to 50 tablets of 0.5 mg alprazolam/day). Eight years back, he was prescribed alprazolam 0.5 mg/day by a general physician for management of his anxiety and disturbed sleep, which he was using regularly without further consultation. Initially, anxiety symptoms relieved and he was able to do his chores and job well, but later, increasingly more number of tablets were required to alleviate anxiety and carry out his daily activities unhindered. He had started taking alprazolam in a higher dose (more than 5 mg/day) in past seven years and during this period after taking 1-2 tablets of alprazolam (0.5 mg), he used to experience light headedness, sedation and slurring of speech; that were controlled only on increasing the number of tablets. After consumption of 5-6 tablets together, he used to feel composed, confident, relaxed and could concentrate on desired jobs. His motor performance (walking smoothly, writing without tremor) would also improve with such high doses. He had many unsuccessful attempts to quit alprazolam (resulting in withdrawal seizures) in the past years. Over past few months, he himself started reducing the number of tablets of alprazolam and at the time of consultation he was taking 20 alprazolam (0.5 mg) tablets every day. There is no history of any other substance use, any other psychiatric illnesses or medical illness. This case highlights a unique dose dependant response of alprazolam in a person who was dependant to it. Alprazolam is known to produce sedation in a dose dependant manner. Higher dose of alprazolam is known to cause more sedation and impairment of cognitive functioning in healthy human volunteers. Evidences also favour the dose dependent decline in psychomotor performance, anxiolysis and decreased intensity of fear-evoked startle response. However, another study revealed that benzodiazepines have no effect on the fear evoked startle response. Paradoxical arousal and enhanced psychomotor performance was reported with higher dose of alprazolam in our patient, which is not reported in literature.

An Unusual, Paradoxical Arousal with Alprazolam in a Dependant User.

Cold diodes play a crucial role in various operational aspects of the superconducting magnet of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners. The forward and reverse characteristics and failure modes are studied for two types of high-power rectifier diode to find their suitability for application at 4.2 K in a whole-body 1.5 T superconducting MRI magnet system. The diodes are characterized at various temperatures (300 K, 77 K and 4.2 K) in the current range up to 600 A. The turn-on voltage of the diodes at 4.2 K is found to be increased by 7–12 times that of room temperature. The diodes show negative differential resistance (NDR) beyond 1 A of forward current at 4.2 K. The forward voltage stabilizes in the range of 1.22–1.24 V after attaining the turn-on voltage in the range of 5–8 V. The significance of NDR is analysed for the MRI magnet. The long-term stability of the forward voltage is studied at 77 K with 550 A of forward current. Two modes of diode failure are also studied to foresee any failure during the operation of the magnet.

Sujita Kumar Kar

Papers

Suicide in the geriatric population of South East Asia - contexts and attributes

Treatment-emergent dhat syndrome in a young male with Obsessive–Compulsive disorder: An alarm for medication nonadherence

Comments on "High frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of dorsomedial prefrontal cortex for negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia: A double-blind, randomized controlled trial"

An Unusual, Paradoxical Arousal with Alprazolam in a Dependant User.

High-power cold diodes for the protection of a 1.5 T superconducting MRI magnet system