OBJECTIVE Recent studies have suggested that cannabis use is a risk factor for developing schizophrenia. We tested the hypothesis that cannabis use increases the likelihood of psychosis-like experiences in non-clinical participants who scored highly on a measure of schizotypy. METHOD The psychological effects of cannabis were assessed in 137 healthy individuals (76% female, mean age 22 years)...

Background. Methamphetamine-induced psychosis (MIP) in Iran has turned into a serious issue in terms of health and treatment, lacking any obvious treatment methods for its resistant cases. Aims of Case Report. In the present study, a number of two cases of treatment of MIP with clozapine, which were resistant to the treatment with other antipsychotics, have been reported. Both cases completely ...

BACKGROUND The treatment of choice for cycloid psychosis has traditionally been electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but there is a lack of studies on its effectiveness. AIMS The primary aim of this register study was to determine the rates of remission and response after ECT for cycloid psychosis. The secondary aim was to examine possible predictors of outcome. METHODS Data were obtained from ...

For centuries, Anglo-Saxon common law tradition has tended to limit voluntary intoxication as a defense on both mens rea (so-called diminished capacity defenses) and insanity. A new decision by the Supreme Court of Canada has clarified for Canadian jurisdictions whether voluntary substance-induced psychosis is a mental disorder for the purposes of determining insanity. In the United States, the...

The dopamine hypothesis has been the major pathophysiological theory of psychosis in recent decades. Molecular imaging studies have provided in vivo evidence of increased dopamine synaptic availability and increased presynaptic dopamine synthesis in the striata of people with psychotic illnesses. These studies support the predictions of the dopamine hypothesis, but it remains to be determined w...

3, 4, Methylenedioxymetamphetamine (M.D.M.A., Ecstasy) is a modified amphetamine with stimulant and hallucinogenic properties. Ecstasy has been increasingly abused in Dublin in recent years. It is commonly perceived by users as a safe drug. We report a case of prolonged psychosis following brief recreational use of Ecstasy.

The recovery model of schizophrenia is central to the devlopment of community services for patients with schizophrenia. However often when applying the recovery model of psychosis, often formal identification of cognitive imparements is not carried out, nor are interventions to improve cognitive functioning offered in a targeted way. Here we discuss how these issues relate to each other and arg...

BACKGROUND Schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and psychotic bipolar disorder overlap with regard to symptoms, structural and functional brain abnormalities, and genetic risk factors. Neurobiological pathways connecting genes to clinical phenotypes across the spectrum from schizophrenia to psychotic bipolar disorder remain largely unknown. METHODS We examined the relationship between str...

The relationship between a history of substance use disorder and the early course of psychotic illness was examined in 96 subjects with schizophrenia and 106 subjects with affective psychosis followed in the Suffolk County Mental Health Project, a longitudinal study of first-admission psychosis. Subjects received a structured diagnostic interview and clinical ratings at baseline assessment and ...

Genetic and environmental factors are associated with psychosis risk, but the latter present more tangible markers for prevention. We conducted a theoretical exercise to estimate the proportion of psychotic illnesses that could be prevented if we could identify and remove all factors that lead to increased incidence associated with ethnic minority status and urbanicity. Measures of impact by po...