Objectives: Lorazepam and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are effective treatments for catatonia. However, systematic data on these treatments in catatonia are limited. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the clinical and treatment-related characteristics of patients with catatonia who underwent lorazepam and/or ECT. Methods: Between January 2012 and December 2016, we received 60 patients with catatonia hospitalized in the Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine Clinic of Psychiatry. Lorazepam and/or ECT were used in the patients' treatment schedule. Treatment results were evaluated using the Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale and Clinical Global Impression-Improvement. Results: Thirty-five patients (58.3%) in the sample were in their first catatonic episode. The most common comorbidity was mood disorder (n = 34, 56.7%), whereas the most frequent catatonic sign was mutism (n = 43, 71.7%). Moreover, 31 patients (51.7%) had some form of medical comorbidity. Cerebral abnormalities were detected in computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging in 22 patients (36.7%). Furthermore, 95% of the patients (n = 57) fully recovered after administration of the treatment. Conclusions: Lorazepam is a reasonable initial choice in the treatment of catatonia, with rapid consideration for ECT if there is no rapid response to lorazepam.

Lymphocyte,methamphetamine,neutrophil,platelet,substance

Objective: Substance use and addiction are an increasing problem worldwide. Knowledge of the frequency and features of substance use contribute to ascertaining the addiction trends in a country, region or city, taking precautions for drug use, establishing policies on treatment and rehabilitation, and determining patient needs. Methods: The files of individuals who were hospitalized in the Gaziantep Alcohol and Substance Addictions Treatment Center (AMATEM) Clinic between 01.01.2019 and 31.12.2019 were examined retrospectively. The SPSS 22.0 program was used in statistical analyses of patient data. Results: This study included 694 patients, where 670 of whom were male (96.5%) and 24 were female (3.5%). Considering the diagnoses of the patients, opioid use disorder and amphetamine/methamphetamine use disorder were the most common diagnoses at 47.1% and 13%, respectively. A statistically significant difference was found between the diagnostic groups in terms of age, educational status, occupation, whether there was any suicide attempts, and treatment outcomes (p value for all <0.05). Conclusions: Our study is the first study conducted in the Gaziantep AMATEM Clinic, which is the only inpatient drug and alcohol center in the Southeastern Anatolia region. Our findings showed that alcohol/substance use is a dynamic problem that negatively affects many areas of life including work and education life, and family and social relationships.

We investigated the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in terms of stress, anxiety, depression, sleep quality and affecting factors on healthcare workers (HWs) without secondary trauma thus far in the period between the first cases in Turkey and the arrival of the first case in ahospital. This descriptive cross-sectional study included 169 HWs. We used Impact of Event Scale (IES-R), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for assessment. The mean age of HWs was 33.9±6.9 years and 56.2% were males. Of the HWs; 20.7% were nurses, 33.7% doctors and 45.6% staff members. IES-R classified the HWs as follows: 15.4% of them were affected mildly, 4.7% moderately and 9.5% of them were affected severely. 42.6% of HWs had apoor sleep quality. This study shows that how HWs were affected when the outbreak had not yet reached the hospital in which they work. In total, 29.6% of the HWs were psychologically affected by mild to severe levels from the outbreak in this period. The most prevalent psychological impact was poor sleep quality. Psychological impact on HWs may have begun before the outbreak reached the hospitals; therefore, necessary measures should be taken as early as possible.

Background The primary stress factor for families in the pre-transplant period is reported as the waiting time for suitable organs, leading to anxiety, despair, and distress. Objective We investigated the psychosocial factors, anxiety and depression, in the parents of children who are candidates for liver transplantation. Methods Thirty-five pediatric liver transplantation candidates and their 38 parents, from February to August 2014, were included. Participants were evaluated using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI). Results We found that a significant number of parents (n=25, 65.7%) were diagnosed with clinical psychiatric disease: 18.4% (n=7) with depression and 47.3% (n=18) with anxiety disorders. There was a significant difference in the examination scores of parents between genders (P <0.05). There was also a significant difference in CGI and HAM-D scores of parents relative to the history and presence of liver disease (P<0.05). Conclusion The rate of these disorders was high in relation to the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders in the community reported in the literature. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate psychosocial factors of parents of all transplant candidate children as a part of routine care so that the high-risk to family members and to enable early intervention.