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There is an increased interest in exploring the use of sensory rooms in psychiatric inpatient care. Sensory rooms can provide stimulation via sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste in a demand-free environment that is controlled by the patient. The rooms may reduce patients' distress and agitation, as well as rates of seclusion and restraint. Successful implementation of sensory rooms is influenced by the attitudes and approach of staff. This paper presents a study of the experiences of 126 staff members who worked with sensory rooms in a Swedish inpatient psychiatry setting. A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used. Data were collected by a web based self-report 12-item questionnaire that included both open- and closed-ended questions. Our findings strengthen the results of previous research in this area in many ways. Content analyses revealed three main categories: hopes and concerns, focusing on patients' self-care, and the room as a sanctuary. Although staff initially described both negative and positive expectations of sensory rooms, after working with the rooms, there was a strong emphasis on more positive experiences, such as letting go of control and observing an increase in patients' self-confidence, emotional self-care and well-being. Our findings support the important principals of person-centred nursing and recovery-oriented mental health and the ability of staff to implement these principles by working with sensory rooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food allergy (FA) is recognized as a growing public health burden affecting 5%‐10% of children worldwide. Several unique features specific to FA elicit high levels of emotional distress and anxiety in patients and caregivers, the first among all the possibility of a life‐threatening reaction. Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent in patients with chronic disease, but remain undertreated despite significant negative consequences on patient health. This review aimed to offer a comprehensive overview of literature data on FA and anxiety of the last two decades. A review of the medical and psychological literature from the year 2000 (MEDLINE, PubMed and PsycINFO) was done using the keywords "anxiety" and "food allergy." Clinical implications for disease management, various manifestations in different target groups, proper interventions and possible explanations on the nature of the association between FA and anxiety have been discussed, as well as limitations and further research directions. The relationship between FA and anxiety is attributed to FA‐specific fears and anxiety, rather than a general propensity towards anxiety. Some anxiety—short‐lived and related to key events–is to be expected and may even be helpful if it sustains allergen avoidance and preparedness to emergency. However, some data reported that increased anxiety did not improve adherence. Rather, high levels of anxiety have been demonstrated counterproductive and related to maladaptive coping. Further research is needed to elucidate the association between FA and anxiety, especially to understand biopsychosocial directions of the underlying mechanisms and to build proper, effective, standardized protocols of intervention. Clinicians must be aware of the association between FA and anxiety, understand their role in recognizing maladaptive anxiety and encouraging to seek psychological support when needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The death of an infant during a pregnancy is profoundly traumatic, both for the parents and for the involved healthcare professionals. Most research focuses on the impact of antenatal stillbirth with very little research examining the specific impact an intrapartum fetal death has on obstetricians. The aim of this study was to provide an in-depth qualitative exploration of the attitudes and responses that Irish obstetricians have following direct involvement with an intrapartum fetal death.Material and Methods: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were used. Interpretative phenomenology was used for data analysis. The setting was a tertiary university maternity unit in Ireland with 8200 deliveries per year. Ten obstetricians were purposively sampled. The main outcome measures were the attitudes and responses of Irish obstetricians following exposure to an intrapartum death.Results: Obstetricians were profoundly and negatively affected by a personal involvement with an intrapartum death. Analysis of the data revealed two superordinate themes; the doctor as a person, and supporting each other. The doctor as person was characterized by two subordinate themes; emotional impact and frustration. Supporting each other was also characterized by two subordinate themes; an unmet need and incidental support and what might work.Conclusions: Obstetric doctors who are directly involved in an intrapartum death are the second victims of this event and this is something that needs to be acknowledged by the public, by the healthcare system, by the media and by the doctors themselves. The development of effective emotional support interventions for all obstetricians is extremely important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive homeostasis is 'the transient expansion or contraction of the homeostatic range for any given physiological parameter in response to exposure to sub-toxic, non-damaging, signalling molecules or events, or the removal or cessation of such molecules or events' (Davies, 2016). Adaptive homeostasis enables biological systems to make continuous short-term adjustments for optimal functioning despite ever-changing internal and external environments. Initiation of adaptation in response to an appropriate signal allows organisms to successfully cope with much greater, normally toxic, stresses. These short-term responses are initiated following effective signals, including hypoxia, cold shock, heat shock, oxidative stress, exercise-induced adaptation, caloric restriction, osmotic stress, mechanical stress, immune response, and even emotional stress. There is now substantial literature detailing a decline in adaptive homeostasis that, unfortunately, appears to manifest with ageing, especially in the last third of the lifespan. In this review, we present the hypothesis that one hallmark of the ageing process is a significant decline in adaptive homeostasis capacity. We discuss the mechanistic importance of diminished capacity for short-term (reversible) adaptive responses (both biochemical and signal transduction/gene expression-based) to changing internal and external conditions, for short-term survival and for lifespan and healthspan. Studies of cultured mammalian cells, worms, flies, rodents, simians, apes, and even humans, all indicate declining adaptive homeostasis as a potential contributor to age-dependent senescence, increased risk of disease, and even mortality. Emerging work points to Nrf2-Keap1 signal transduction pathway inhibitors, including Bach1 and c-Myc, both of whose tissue concentrations increase with age, as possible major causes for age-dependent loss of adaptive homeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress- and drug-related cues are major factors contributing to high rates of relapse in addictive disorders. Brain imaging studies have begun to identify neural correlates of stress and drug cue-induced craving states. Findings indicate considerable overlap in neural circuits involved in processing stress and drug cues with activity in the corticostriatal limbic circuitry underlying both affective and reward processing. More recent efforts have begun to identify the relationships between neural activity during stress and drug cue exposure and drug relapse outcomes. Findings suggest medial prefrontal, anterior and posterior cingulate, striatal and posterior insula regions to be associated with relapse outcomes. Altered function in these brain regions is associated with stress-induced and drug cue-induced craving states and an increased susceptibility to relapse. Such alterations can serve as markers to identify relapse propensity and a more severe course of addiction. Efficacy of pharmacological and behavioral treatments that specifically target stress and cue-induced craving and arousal responses may also be assessed via alterations in these brain correlates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the author's learnings from the "Society, Stress, and Health" international conference held in Moscow, Russia from June 26 to July 1, 1995. Difficulties in interrelationships between society, health and stress in countries undergoing rapid transition; Stress of rapid socio-cultural changes and constant internal military conflicts; Factors affecting major stresses in Russia.