Autism is one of disorders from the autism spectrum, besides Asperger syndrome, atypical autism and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified. They are classified as mental disorders as being manifested by a wide range of cognitive, emotional and neurobehavioural abnormalities. Key categorical characteristics of the disorder are clear impairments of the development of the child?s socialisation, understanding and production of verbal and non-verbal communication and restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour. Demarcation boundaries are not clear, neither within the very group of the disorders from the autistic spectrum, nor with respect to the autistic behavioural features in the general population. For this reason, the term spectrum points out the significance of the dimensional assessment of autistic disorders, which will most likely be the basis of the new diagnostic classification of the disorders belonging to the current group of pervasive developmental disorders in the new DSM-V classification. The understanding, as well as the prevalence of the autistic spectrum disorders has changed drastically in the last four decades. From the previous 4 per 10,000 people, today?s prevalence estimates range from 0.6 to around 1%, and the increase of prevalence cannot be explained solely by better recognition on the part of experts and parents or by wider diagnostic criteria. The general conclusion is that the autistic spectrum disorders are no longer rare conditions and that the approach aimed at acknowledging the warning that this is an urgent public health problem is completely justified.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience significantly higher prevalence of other mental disorders, which amplifies their need for overall support. The outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) resulted in restrictions and limited access to different services with great challenge for families and children with ASD. We used an electronic SurveyMonkey questionnaire to examine the experiences of 114 caregivers of children with ASD. We compared: (a) level of support by the child's school, changes in child behavior, and priority needs for families of ASD and ASD with comorbidities (ASD+) children, during pandemic, and (b) developmental history and diagnosis for ASD and ASD+ children before the pandemic. Our research shows significant behavioral difficulties in the population with ASD and ASD+ that arose in the field of altered living conditions and overall functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistically significant results comparing ASD to ASD+ children we found in area of getting additional help and support before the outbreak of the pandemic (47.1% vs 16.0%, p=0.002), as well as in worsening of sleep problems, statistically significant more common in children with ASD+ (ASD+ 47.7% vs. ASD 25.7%, p=0.046). Our findings can contribute to the faster development and implementation of protocols for dealing with situations such as pandemics, related to the vulnerable population of children with ASD and their caregivers.

Background: Serbia's first fatal school shooting on 3 May 2023, followed by a subsequent mass murder, resulted in widespread societal distress. Objective: This study aimed to assess the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses of parents of school-aged children who were neither directly nor indirectly exposed to the events. It also examined parental perceptions of children's safety at school, access to information and psychological support, attitudes toward proposed preventive measures, and trust in institutional capacity to prevent future incidents. Methods: A total of 1,996 parents and caregivers were recruited through a stratified survey-delivery method, with the Ministry of Education distributing the survey to schools, which then forwarded it to parents. The pilot study commenced 60 days after the Belgrade school shooting at “Vladislav Ribnikar” Elementary School, and the confirmatory phase began 12 months later. Parents of children directly or indirectly involved in the shooting were excluded. Results: Of the 1,927 parents who participated, over 98% reported no direct or indirect exposure to the shooting. Nevertheless, 69% expressed concern about their children's safety at school. More than half (56%) attributed responsibility to the underage perpetrator, and 65.7% supported lowering the age of criminal responsibility, most commonly to 12 years. Although 46% perceived psychological support as accessible, actual utilization was minimal (3.8% among children; 2.9% among parents). Parents predominantly favored strict enforcement of child protection laws over security or mental health–based preventive measures. Institutional trust was low, with 60.6% reporting minimal confidence in authorities' ability to prevent similar events. Conclusions: The findings indicate that Serbia's first mass school shooting had broad community-level effects, including heightened parental safety concerns, low institutional trust, and minimal use of psychological services. These results highlight the need for transparent communication, strengthened institutional trust, and integrated prevention strategies that include accessible psychosocial support.

Objective: Study examined parental perceptions of their own and children’s mental health and behavioural responses among parents who were not directly or indirectly exposed to the 2023 school shooting in Serbia. Methods: The study sample included 1,927 parents. The questionnaire assessed pre-event child mental health characteristics and support utilisation, parental threat perception, emotional distress, functional disruption of daily routines, observed child emotional and behavioural changes, help-seeking behaviour, and perceived access to mental health support. Results: Prior to the shooting, 11.7% of children had a psychiatric diagnosis. Following the shooting, 85.2% of parents reported moderate-to-high concern for child safety, 38.7% reported marked difficulty sending children back to school, and 48.0% reported difficulty controlling intrusive thoughts about child victimization. Most parents observed no emotional or behavioural changes in their children; this finding should be interpreted as an absence of parent-observed changes rather than clinically defined resilience, given the reliance on parental report alone. However, children with pre-existing difficulties showed significantly higher rates of post-event worsening. Mothers reported greater distress and impairment than fathers across all domains. Post-event utilisation of formal mental health services was low (3.8% for children, 2.9% for self). Conclusion: Findings suggest that mass school shootings may be associated with substantial parental distress and functional disruption even without direct or indirect exposure. The gap between epidemiological estimates and low pre-event diagnosis rates raises concern about possible under-recognition of child mental health needs. Low help-seeking highlights the importance of accessible, non-stigmatising psychosocial support, particularly school-based psychoeducation, rather than formal clinical treatment alone. Findings should be interpreted in light of methodological limitations.

The postpartum period is considered a period of increased risk of developing bipolar affective disorder (BDII) type II. According to the available data, postpartum BDII is a highly neglected area of observation, with negative consequences for mothers, offspring, and the family as a whole. The paper describes the case of a patient with symptoms of a depressive episode of atypical features following childbirth. The patient had one mild postpartum depression episode and multiple previously detected hypomania-like episodes. Postpartum depression and bipolar affective disorder were detected in the family history. Escitalopram 20 mg in combination with Lamotrigine 200 mg was prescribed. There were no detected side effects to the prescribed therapeutic dose, and there have been no relapses so far. During pregnancy and postpartum, women should be screened for BDII. Based on the experience from the presented case, the combination of escitalopram and lamotrigine has shown promising results and complies with all recommended BDII treatment guidelines.