Melike Nebioğlu

Comorbid personality disorders in subjects with bipolar I disorder

Objective. The purpose of this study was to present the frequencies of personality disorders in a sample of bipolar I patients and to investigate whether the presence of comorbid personality disorders affect the course of bipolar illness. Methods: Seventy euthymic bipolar I patients were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID II). Bipolar patients with comorbid personality disorder were compared with those of without personality disorder comorbidity on demographic and clinical variables. Results: Forty bipolar I patients (57%) had at least one comorbid personality disorder. The most common personality disorder cluster was cluster C (36%), followed by cluster B (17%) and cluster A (17%) personality disorders. The most prevalent personality disorder in the whole group was obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (21%). Patients with comorbid personality disorders had an earlier age of onset than those of without comorbidity. Conclusion: Although the rates of comorbid personality disorders are high in bipolar I patients, the presence of comorbidity has no relevant impact on the course of bipolar I patients except for earlier age of onset of bipolar I disorder.

The prevalence of comorbid anxiety disorders in outpatients with schizophrenia

Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of lifetime anxiety disorders in patients with schizophrenia in Sanliurfa, Turkey, and to assess the association between comorbidity and several demographic and clinical variables. Methods. Eighty-two outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia were recruited for the study. They were assessed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV axis I Disorders-Clinician Version (SCID-I-CV), Anxiety Disorder Module, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), and the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF). Results. Fifty-five (67.1%) were diagnosed with at least one lifetime comorbid anxiety disorder. The most common anxiety disorder was obsessive-compulsive disorder (39.0%), followed by social phobia (13.4%). We found patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia with comorbid anxiety disorders had shorter duration of illness than those without such comorbid conditions. Atypical antipsychotics were more commonly prescribed to treat these patients. Conclusion. As comorbidity of anxiety disorders is relatively prevalent among patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, special attention to this issue should be paid when interviewing these patients.

Suicide attempt by subcutaneous injection of cyanide: a case report -

Suicide attempt by subcutaneous injection of cyanide: a case report Cyanide is a powerful poison which cause inhibition of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase system. Cyanide poisining can present in a wide variety of forms such as inhalation, ingestion or injection. Dermal exposure is rare, very few case reports have been reported about cyanide. In this paper, we present an uncommon case of a suicide attempt with cyanide injection. A 91 year old man with a history of depression admitted to the emergency department after injected cyanide to himself subcutaneously. He was diagnosed with depressive disorder and hospitalized after psychiatric assessment. The psychiatric history of this patient suggests that depression in elderly can give way to serious suicides attempts. Psychiatrists interested in treatment of elderly depressed patients should do careful monitoring about suicide.