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The objective of this study is to investigate a possible correlation between anxiety status and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels among healthcare professionals who provide medical care directly to COVID-19-positive patients during the recent pandemic. Fifty-two healthcare professionals (nurses, midwives, and residents) who provide medical care directly to COVID-19-positive patients in inpatient clinics or intensive care units were enrolled in this study. Serum AMH levels were analyzed to reflect ovarian reserve. The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S and STAI-T, respectively) were completed by participants to assess their anxiety status. A linear regression model with participant age as the constant variable was applied to analyze the relationship between inventory scale scores and AMH levels. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The mean AMH value was significantly lower for the participants in the moderate/severe anxiety group compared to the minimal/mild anxiety group (p = 0.007). A linear regression analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between AMH levels and both BAI (B = -0.030, standard error = 0.010, p = 0.004) and STAI-S and STAI-T scores when age was controlled (both p = 0.003). The severity of anxiety experienced during the recent COVID-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals, who provide medical care directly to COVID-19-positive patients, is found to be related to low AMH levels.

Objective: Bipolar disorder and unipolar depressive disorder are complex phenotypes. There appear to be phenotypical, mechanistic, and therapeutic differences between bipolar depression (BD) and unipolar depression (UD). There is a need for understanding the underlying biological variation between these clinical entities. The role of oxidative processes underlying bipolar disorder and depression has been demonstrated. Thiol-disulfide homeostasis (TDH) is a recent oxidative stress marker. In this study, we aimed to inspect patients with bipolar depression and unipolar depression in terms of thiol-disulfide balance and to compare them with healthy controls.Methods: Patients admitted to the outpatient clinic of Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital and diagnosed either as a depressive episode with bipolar disorder (n = 37) or unipolar depression (n = 24) according to DSM-5 criteria, along with healthy controls (HC) (n = 50), were included in the study. Native thiol, total thiol, and disulfide levels were compared across the groups.Results: In comparison to HC, both BD and UD groups had higher disulfide levels, disulfide/native thiol ratio, and disulfide/total thiol ratio. No significant differences between BD and UD were detected in terms of disulfide level, disulfide/native thiol ratio, and disulfide/total thiol ratio.Conclusion: Increased levels of disulfide, native thiol, and disulfide/total thiol ratios compared to healthy controls in both UD and BD groups may be indicative of the presence of oxidative damage in these two clinical conditions. To clarify the role of oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of depressive disorders and investigate TDH, longitudinal studies in patients with medication-free UD and BD are required.

Amaç: Bu araştırmanın amacı, yatarak tedavi gören erkek alkol bağımlılarında tedavi motivasyonu, bağımlılık özellikleri, aşerme ve mizaç özellikleri arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemektir.Gereç ve Yöntem: Ankara Numune Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Alkol-Madde Araştırma, Tedavi ve Eğitim Merkezi’nde (AMATEM) yatarak tedavi gören DSM-IV-TR’ye göre alkol bağımlılığı tanısı almış erkek hastalar çalışmaya dahil edilmiştir. Hastalar, sosyodemografik veri formunun yanı sıra, Penn Alkol Aşerme Ölçeği (PAAÖ), Bağımlılık Profil İndeksi (BAPİ), Değişime Hazır Olma ve Tedavi İsteği Ölçeği (SOCRATES), Memphis, Pisa, Paris ve San Diego - Self Mizaç Değerlendirme Ölçeği (TEMPS-A) kullanılarak değerlendirildi.Bulgular: Çalışmaya 85 erkek hasta dahil edildi. Çalışma kapsamındaki hastaların ortalama yaşı 46.36 ± 9.66’ydı. Katılımcıların ortalama alkol kullanma süreleri ise 23.32 ± 10.33 yıldı. Çalışmanın sonuçlarına göre BAPİ toplam puanı ve PAÖÖ toplam puanı arasında pozitif korelasyon hesaplanmıştır.Sonuç: Bağımlılık şiddetinin artmasıyla aşerme şiddetinin artması bağımlılık şiddeti yüksek olan hastalarda aşerme konusunda daha dikkatli olmak gerektiğini düşündürebilir. Baskın mizaç özelliğine sahip olup olmamanın aşerme, motivasyon ve bağımlılık şiddeti ile olan ilişkisi çalışmamızda saptanmamıştır., Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the treatment motivation, addiction characteristics, craving and temperament traits in male patients with alcohol addiction having inpatient treatment.Materials and Methods: Male patients diagnosed with alcohol addiction according to DSM-IV-TR having inpatient treatment at Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment and Training Center (AMATEM) were included in the study. The patients were evaluated by sociodemographic data form, Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS), Addiction Profile Index (API), The Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES), Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A).Results: 85 male patients were included in the study. The mean age of the participants was 46.36 ± 9.66. The mean of the years of using alcohol was 23.32 ± 10.33. A positive correlation was found between API total score and PACS total score according to the study. Conclusion: Increasing craving severity aligned with increasing addiction severity may suggest that patients with high addiction severity should be given more care in terms of craving. The relationship between having a dominant temperament and craving, motivation and severity of addiction could not be determined in our study.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic affects mental health as well as physical health. Many studies have shown that the pandemic has negative effects on the mental health of individuals. Determining the factors that play a role in the psychological resilience and burnout levels of healthcare workers, who are at the forefront of the pandemic, will play an important role in preventive and therapeutic planning in pandemic management. Our aim is to evaluate the anxiety-burnout levels and psychological resilience levels in healthcare workers and the factors affecting them. Method:Sociodemographic data form, State-Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI), Connor-Davidson Psychological Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and Maslach Burnout Inventory, were created in Google Documents and applied to the Healthcare workers via mail and message groups and social media groups. A total of 257 people were included in the study.Results: In our study, high trait anxiety scores and increased working were associated with increased levels of burnout. Doctors and nurses showed more signs of burnout than auxiliary assistant staff. The emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment were higher in females. Psychological resilience could predict personal accomplishment sub-dimension and total scores of MBI.Conclusions: Healthcare workers are at risk for burnout. Working conditions should be regulated and psychosocial support programs should be established for healthcare workers who are at the forefront in pandemic.

Objective The whole world is still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic. Inflammation response, thought to be associated with severe illness and death, is an important research topic in COVID-19. Inflammation is also an essential condition explored in psychiatric illnesses. Our knowledge about the relationship between the inflammation response and psychiatric comorbidities in patients with COVID-19 is very limited. In this study, the relationship between anxiety and depression levels and inflammation response of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in the hospital was examined.Methods 175 patients were included in the study. Sociodemographic Data Form, Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory were applied to the patients. To evaluate the inflammation responses, blood sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, ferritin, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and IL-6 levels were examined.Results In our study, no relationship was found between anxiety and depression levels and inflammatory responses in patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of COVID-19. Anxiety and depression levels of women were higher than men, and NLR, ferritin, IL-6 levels were found to be lower than men. Anxiety levels increase with age. There is a positive correlation between NLR and ferritin levels and duration of hospitalization.Conclusion Our study examining the relationship of psychiatric comorbidities with the inflammation response and our increasing literature knowledge, together with studies evaluating the mental effects of COVID-19, suggest that determining the relationship between inflammation responses and psychiatric comorbidities in COVID-19, whose pathophysiology has not been clarified yet, maybe an essential step in interventions on the course of the disease.

Purpose This study explored how patients with schizophrenia were provided with social support and treatment compliance during the pandemic. Design and Methods A total of 396 patients with schizophrenia and their relatives were interviewed by telephone calls. Findings Multiple antipsychotic use and depot antipsychotics were not superior in preventing relapse. A total of 70.2% of the patients wanted to meet with their psychiatrist online but only 7.1% of them were reached online. A total of 59% of patients were able to take their medication thanks to the extension of their drug prescriptions. Practice Implications Active inclusion of telepsychiatry applications in clinical practice is necessary for patients with schizophrenia. Government policies developed for treatment compliance seem important.

OBJECTIVE: Cannabis (C) and synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are commonly used substances. Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic differences predict that SCs involve a greater risk of dependence than C. Dissociative symptoms and suicidality are also frequent in treatment-seeking substance users, however, there is not enough data about the dissociative effects of C and SCs. The present study aimed to examine SC users in terms of demographic features and severity of dissociative symptoms in comparison to C users. It was also aimed to explore the relationships between dissociation and suicide attempts. METHODS: The study was performed at the Alcohol and Substance Research, Treatment, and Training Centre of Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Turkey. 84 patients with C or SC use disorder included in the study and all the participants were administered a sociodemographic data form assessing also substance use features and suicide attempts and Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). The patients were separated into three groups as only C users (CU), only SC users (SCU) and both C and SC users (C&SCU) and also categorized as DES score

Objective: Mood stabilizers and antipsychotic drugs are known to have adverse effects on sexual function. However, patients often refrain from speaking about sexual complaints that may cause dose reduction and discontinuation of the drug without medical supervision. In this study we aimed to evaluate sexual functions of patients with bipolar disorder in remission period, considering prolactin levels and medications. Method: We recruited 52 patients with bipolar disorder in remission according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Prolactin levels were measured in all patients. The Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS) was used to assess sexual dysfunction. Results: Mean prolactin levels were 24.71 ± 4.25 and 19.96 ± 5.52 ng/ml respectively for females and males. Patients taking mood stabilizer (MS) and mood stabilizer plus antipsychotic (AP) treatment had different prolactin levels (p

Many hypotheses have been proposed for the development of schizophrenia, including the one proposing that exogenous and endogenous factors are linked to inflammatory processes. There is strong evidence about the immunological and inflammatory dysfunction in schizophrenia. In this study, we aimed to measure serum 15-deoxy-delta(12,14)-prostaglandin J (15d-PGJ), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma(PPAR gamma), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Forty-four patients and 39 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Serum PGE2, 15d-PGJ, PPAR gamma and CRP levels were measured in both the groups. Demographic data forms were filled out for the patient group, and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale and Calgary Depression scale were used to assess patients' clinical status. Serum PGE2, 15d-PGJ and PPAR gamma levels were found to be significantly lower in patients with schizophrenia than in healthy controls. There was no significant relationship between the serum PGE2, 15d-PGJ and PPAR gamma levels and CRP levels.In this study, the evidence of systemic inflammatory conditions in patients with schizophrenia was found. The duration of the disease has been found to be the only variable that independently affects all three biomarker levels in the patients with schizophrenia.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate how quality of life and the perception of pain are affected by patients with alcohol dependence and their relatives compared with healthy controls. Methods: Fifty patients with alcohol dependence, 50 first-degree relatives of patients with alcohol dependence, and 50 healthy controls were included. Participants were evaluated with a questionnaire form of sociodemographic characteristics, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Bref-Turkish form (WHOQOL-BREF-TR). They were then given a noxious stimulus using a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) device. After that, pain threshold, pain tolerance, and visual analog scale (VAS) scores of the participants were measured. Results: Patients' quality of life was poorer than the relative and control groups. The age of first alcohol use was found to be positively associated with quality of life. Pain tolerance was found to be higher in the patients than in the controls. We found no relationship between pain perception and characteristics of addiction. Conclusions: In this study, pain tolerance was found to be higher in patients with alcohol dependence, and the characteristics of addiction did not seem to affect pain perception.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine how internalized stigma differs in opioid use disorder (OUD) based on sociodemographic and clinical variables, and to what extent internalized stigma is related to treatment motivation, perceived social support, depression, and anxiety levels. METHODS: One hundred forty-five individuals with OUD included. Sociodemographic and clinical data form, the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (ISMI), Treatment Motivation Questionnaire (TMQ), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory were utilized in the study to collect data. Bivariate and partial correlation coefficients between variables were computed. ISMI and TMQ scores were compared between patients with depressive symptoms and patients without depressive symptoms by using t-test and Mann Whitney U test. RESULTS: Internalized stigma was high among male patients with heroin use disorder. There was a positive correlation between internalized stigma score and treatment motivation, depression, and anxiety levels. On the other hand, there was a negative correlation between internalized stigma score and multidimensional perceived social support. CONCLUSION: Internalized stigma occupies an important place in the treatment of OUD, which occurs with frequent relapses and which is hard to treat. Not only application for treatment but also adherence to treatment and treatment motivation at maintenance phase bestow a complicated relationship with depression and anxiety. In the struggle against internalized stigma, it plays a vital role to mobilize people's social support systems, to educate families on the issue and to get in touch with support units exclusive to heroin users.

Objective: Heroin addicts have increased oxidative stress which can disturb thiol/disulfide (SH/SS) homeostasis, causing disulfide formation. No study has determined the serum thiol amount and blood disulfide amount in heroin addicts. The aim of the study was to investigate dynamic SH/SS homeostasis in heroin addicts. Methods: Serum SH/SS statuses of 31 heroin addicts and 31 healthy controls were compared to determine the changes in SH/SS homeostasis in heroin addicts. Blood serum native thiol and total thiol (ToSH) levels were measured and the disulfide bond amount was calculated as the half value of the difference between native thiol and ToSH levels. For comparison t-test was used. Results: SH and ToSH levels were significantly lower (p

Introduction The aim of this study was to compare the serum brain derived neurotropic factor (BNDF) levels of patients with schizophrenia who had never received an antipsychotic treatment with those of a control group. Also, to analyze the relationship between the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) scores and BDNF levels of the patients during the period they were drug-naive. Materials and methods The sample of the study comprised patients who presentedto the Psychiatry Clinic and were admitted after a distinctive schizophrenia diagnosis was made in accordance with the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) diagnosis classification and who were not using and never had any antipsychotic medicine. A total of 160 participants were included in the study, 80 of whom had schizophrenia patients and 80 constituted the age- and sex-matched healthy control group. Before the start of the treatment, the serum samples to be checked for the BDNF levels were collected from the patients. Results The difference between the average BDNF levels of the groups were statistically significant (t = -5.25; p˂.001). An analysis as to whether there was a relation between the BDNF levels and the drug-naive duration indicated no correlations. An examination of the relationship between PANSS scores and BDNF levels of the patients yielded no correlations. Discussion Serum BDNF levels seem to be one of the indicators of schizophrenia and its progress; nevertheless, we still do not have sufficient information about this neurotropic factor. In light of our study, the neurodevelopmental changes that occur at disease onset of the illness prominently affect the progress of the illness, which highlights the importance of the treatment in the early stages.

Murat Beyazyüz,1 Yakup Albayrak,2 Elmas Beyazyüz,3 Cüneyt Ünsal,2 Erol Göka31Department of Psychiatry, Gölbasi Hasvak State Hospital, Ankara, 2Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Namik Kemal University, Tekirdağ, 3Department of Psychiatry, Ankara Numune Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, TurkeyBackground: Many studies have investigated the relationship between blood levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate ester (DHEA-S), cortisol, progesterone, and testosterone and the onset, prognosis, symptom severity, and treatment response of schizophrenia. In the present study, we assessed potential differences in blood levels of neurosteroids between drug-naïve first-episode patients with schizophrenia (FES), and drug-free patients with schizophrenia who were not in the first episode but were in a phase of acute exacerbation (DFP).Materials and methods: The present study included 32 male FES, 28 male DFP, and 24 male healthy controls (HC). Groups were compared in terms of blood levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol, testosterone, progesterone, and DHEA-S.Results: Blood levels of ACTH, cortisol, testosterone, and progesterone were similar among the groups. The mean value of serum DHEA-S was significantly different among the groups (P

WOS: 000387949200002, Objective: In this study, it is aimed to determine the prevalence of depression rate, socio-demographic factors related to depression and to determine the relationship between depression in schizophrenia with positive and negative symptoms, insight and antipsychotics drugs' side effects in patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Method: Randomly selected 120 schizophrenia patients are examined regarding socio-demographic characteristics, obtained positive and negative symptoms, depression in schizophrenia, extrapyramidal symptoms, and insight scale scores. Results: Depression rate in schizophrenia is found as 42.5%. Depression is related to low socioeconomic status, family history of psychosis and affective disorders, patients' suicide history and run-in period. Also, hallucinations and delusions sub-scales, flattening, alogia, apathy and attention sub-scales, Parkinsonism sub-scale and insight levels are found directly related to depression. Conclusions: Examining related sociodemographic factors can aid in determining depression and depression may accompany all the phases of schizophrenia. Therefore, it can be one of the basic indications of schizophrenia.