BACKGROUND Eating disorder is culture related, and the clinical symptoms are different between eastern and western patients. So the validity of feeding and eating disorders in the upcoming ICD-11 guide for Chinese patients is unclear. AIMS To explore the latent class structure of Chinese patients with eating disorder and the cross-cultural validity of the eating disorder section of the new IC...

BACKGROUND Patients with a double diagnosis of alcohol dependence and phobic disorders are a common phenomenon in both alcohol and anxiety disorder clinics. If we are to provide optimum treatment we need to know more about the clinical characteristics of this group of comorbid patients. OBJECTIVE To answer the following questions. (1). What are the clinical characteristics of treatment-seekin...

BACKGROUND Somatoform disorders such as neurasthenia and chronic fatigue syndrome are characterized by a combination of prolonged mental and physical fatigue. This study aimed to investigate the heritability of somatic distress and determine whether this dimension is aetiologically distinct from measures of depression and anxiety. METHOD Measures of anxiety, depression, phobic anxiety, somati...

Anxiety disorders are complex and common psychiatric illnesses associated with considerable morbidity and social cost. We have studied the molecular basis of the cooccurrence of panic and phobic disorders with joint laxity. We have identified an interstitial duplication of human chromosome 15q24-26 (named DUP25), which is significantly associated with panic/agoraphobia/social phobia/joint laxit...

Theories of the origin and maintenance of fears and phobias have had a profound influence on the kinds of treatments employed in the phobic disorders. In view of this influence, the present review considers the considerable controversy surrounding the major etiological models. First, the various forms of the associative learning account are examined. It is argued that each of these approaches h...

A duplication of part of chromosome 15q, apparently inherited in a non-Mendelian fashion, has been found to be strongly associated with phobic disorders. This unusual genetic mechanism may partly explain the heritability of phobias and other complex traits.

BACKGROUND Phobic disorders are highly prevalent and constitute a considerable burden for patients and society. As patients wait for face-to-face psychotherapy for phobic disorders in outpatient clinics, this time can be used for guided self-help interventions. The aim of this study is to investigate a five week internet-based guided self-help programme of exposure therapy in terms of clinical ...