Influence of the typology and timing of childhood trauma in psychoticism

PURPOSE

Child maltreatment (CM) is associated with psychosis; however little is known about the frequency, type, and timing of abuse in the personality pathology domain of psychoticism (PSY) in the DSM-5. The purpose of this study was to analyze childhood trauma typology and frequency according to gender and to identify sensitive periods of susceptibility to CM in women with high PSY.

METHODS

The Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology Exposure (MACE) scale was used to evaluate the frequency, severity and timing of each type of maltreatment. The full sample consisted of 83 participants with different psychiatric diagnoses. Psychoticism was assessed with the DSM-5 Personality Inventory (PID-5). To identify the differences in CM exposure between the PSY+ (high psychoticism) and PSY- (low psychoticism) groups, the Mann-Whitney U test, the chi square test and random forest (RF) test were used.

RESULTS

Comparing PSY + and PSY-, revealed gender differences in the impact of abuse, with highly frequent and severe types of abuse, in women. In women, PSY + and PSY-, were differentiated especially in non-verbal emotional abuse, peer physical bullying and parental verbal abuse. Several periods with a major peak at age seven followed by peaks at age 17 and 12 years old were identified.

CONCLUSION

Increased exposure to CM occurs in women with PSY+. A sensitivity to CM exposure during early childhood and late adolescence could be a risk factor for psychoticism in women.

[Education care in patients with psychiatric disorders in France: Psychoeducation or therapeutic patient education?]

CONTEXT

Psychoeducation and therapeutic patient education can be effectively included in treatments for patients with psychiatric disorders. These two effective educational therapies have the common purpose of improving disorder-related morbidity, compliance with treatment and patients' quality of life. While they have different methods of application, both teach patients to play an active role in their own care. However, it is still critical to combine them for care of patients with psychiatric and addiction disorders in a manner that allows for specificity. To do this, the differences between psychoeducation and therapeutic patient education must be considered, and their potential for the management of patients with psychiatric and addiction disorders must be determined.

METHODS

In our article, we review the literature concerning therapeutic education programs for patients and discuss the literature based on the experiences of psychiatrists trained in these therapies.

RESULTS

Despite rather nonrestrictive guidelines, and after reviewing numerous studies, we found that psychoeducation seems to be rarely used in psychiatry. The use of therapeutic patient education programs for psychiatric patients has doubled in four years but still accounts for less than 4% of validated programs in France. Only 154 programs were developed in 1175 public psychiatric facilities in 2016. Therapeutic patient education has a legal framework and recommendations, which make it suitable for inclusion in care and in the training of care providers. The rigor in the development of therapeutic patient education programs and the requirement for training and financial support reinforce the need for their establishment in healthcare institutions. As such, they could help to modify professional practices and the culture of care in mental health fields.

CONCLUSION

There is a place for therapeutic patient education in psychiatry as it provides a real benefit for patients. It could modify care practices and costs, and is suitable for patients with psychiatric or addiction disorders by helping them play an active role in their care, thereby improving treatment outcomes and quality of life.

Phencyclidine-induced disruption of oscillatory activity in prefrontal cortex: Effects of antipsychotic drugs and receptor ligands

The non-competitive NMDA receptor (NMDA-R) antagonist phencyclidine (PCP) markedly disrupts thalamocortical activity, increasing excitatory neuron discharge and reducing low frequency oscillations (LFO, <4Hz) that temporarily group neuronal discharge. These actions are mainly driven by PCP interaction with NMDA-R in GABAergic neurons of the thalamic reticular nucleus and likely underlie PCP psychotomimetic activity. Here we report that classical (haloperidol, chlorpromazine, perphenazine) and atypical (clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, ziprasidone, aripripazole) antipsychotic drugs--but not the antidepressant citalopram--countered PCP-evoked fall of LFO in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of anesthetized rats. PCP reduces LFO by breaking the physiological balance between excitatory and inhibitory transmission. Next, we examined the role of different neurotransmitter receptors to reverse PCP actions. D2-R and D1-R blockade may account for classical antipsychotic action since raclopride and SCH-23390 partially reversed PCP effects. Atypical antipsychotic reversal may additionally involve 5-HT1A-R activation (but not 5-HT2A-R blockade) since 8-OH-DPAT and BAYx3702 (but not M100907) fully countered PCP effects. Blockade of histamine H1-R (pyrilamine) and α1-adrenoceptors (prazosin) was without effect. However, the enhancement of GABAA-R-mediated neurotransmission (using muscimol, diazepam or valproate) and the reduction of excitatory neurotransmission (using the mGluR2/3 agonist LY379268 and the preferential kainite/AMPA antagonist CNQX--but not the preferential AMPA/kainate antagonist NBQX) partially or totally countered PCP effects. Overall, these results shed new light on the neurobiological mechanisms used by antipsychotic drugs to reverse NMDA-R antagonist actions and suggest that agents restoring the physiological excitatory/inhibitory balance altered by PCP may be new targets in antipsychotic drug development.