International psychiatry : bulletin of the Board of International Affairs of the Royal College of Psychiatrists最新文献

A cross-sectional survey of children aged 5-11 years attending 22 primary schools was carried out in Karachi, Pakistan. In the first (screening) phase, broad morbidity rates were measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). A total of 968 parents and 793 teachers participated. In the second phase, 100 children were selected for a diagnostic interview using the Kiddie Schedule of Affective Disorders & Schizophrenia for School-Age Children. A weighted rate of 17% (95% CI 6.2-28.3%) was found for common child psychiatric disorders, with a preponderance of behavioural disorders, followed by anxiety and mood disorders. The feasibility study established methods and preliminary rates of child psychiatric disorders, which appear higher than in other countries. School surveys could be an important source of data in low-income countries and form the basis for interventions in the absence of specialist services.

The Argentinean Congreso de la Nacion (National Congress, or Parliament) approved in November 2010 a new Mental Health Law (MHL) (Law 26657, 'Salud Publica. Derecho a la Proteccion de la Salud Mental' [Public Health. The Right to Protect Mental Health]). Although it is not the first law concerning mental health - as several of the provinces and the autonomous city of Buenos Aires (Argentina's capital) have enacted their own - the MHL establishes principles for human rights and the protection of patients, and aims to develop approaches in mental health that are compatible with the most advanced views and legislation from high-income countries. In this paper we report on the most important aspects of the MHL. We highlight areas that represent a change for Argentina, such as the new arrangements for both informal and compulsory admission to hospital.

The recent financial crisis in Greece has affected the mental health of the population as well as mental health service provision and planning. These new adverse circumstances call for the profession's swift response. In this paper we make evidence-based suggestions for urgent, as well as longer-term, mental health reform. We consider psychiatric prevention and mental health promotion to be the central principles to abide by in the long term. We also offer suggestions for important current issues, including the devolution and coordination of decision-making, the further development of community psychiatry and the implementation of sectorisation, support for service user involvement, the reform of psychiatric education and the creative integration of mental health service provision with Greek culture. We conclude that enhanced participation of the profession in decision-making and service planning can result in cost-effective, evidence-based reform.

Reception order (RO) by a magistrate is a mode of involuntary admission provided under the Indian Mental Health Act of 1987. To the best of our knowledge there has been no evaluation of this provision in clinical practice. The present paper is a descriptive study through retrospective case-note review of patients admitted by way of RO to a tertiary care hospital in Goa. Compared with those admitted voluntarily, those admitted by RO tended to be single, middle aged (40-60 years old) and non-Goan; on average they had a significantly longer hospital stay than voluntarily admitted patients. Non-affective psychosis and substance use disorders were the more common diagnoses. While admissions by RO serve a useful role in bringing patients who are not under proper care into the mental healthcare system, they do not address the issue of aftercare.