Autoimmune encephalitis associated with autoantibodies against the N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor (NMDAR) often presents with behavioural change. Our objective was to describe in detail the psychiatric presentation and pathways to care in order to aid the early diagnosis of NMDAR encephalitis.

Sera and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with suspected NMDAR encephalitis were tested on HEK 293 cells transfected with the NR1 subunit of the NMDAR. Clinical information was obtained from the referring psychiatrists and neurologists and by review of the clinical records.

Samples from 15 patients (13 female, 2 male, mean age 24 years, range 5–56 years) tested anti‐NMDAR positive. Twelve of the 15 patients (80%) presented with prominent psychiatric symptoms and 8 were initially referred to a psychiatric service. The most prominent initial psychiatric symptoms were anxiety in seven (47%), behavioural change (often bizarre) in six (40%) and agitation in five (33%). All patients developed psychiatric symptoms in the first 6 weeks of illness. Thirteen patients received psychotropic medications: antipsychotics in 12 and benzodiazepines in 11. Treating physicians considered the psychotropic medication not effective in 11 patients resulting in many drug switches. At nadir, all patients were in a very poor condition. However, eight patients (53%) recovered (almost) completely. Outcome tended to be better in patients who had received early immunotherapy or tumour removal.

Autoimmune encephalitis and anti‐NMDAR testing in serum and CSF should be considered in patients, especially young females, presenting with atypical psychiatric phenomena. Early diagnosis and treatment will likely improve the prognosis of NMDAR encephalitis.

It was aimed to evaluate the relationship between proinflammatory cytokine levels and conversion disorder both commonly known as stress regulated.

Baseline proinflammatory cytokine levels–[Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α), Interleukin‐1 beta (IL‐1β), Interleukin‐6 (IL‐6)]–were evaluated with enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay in 35 conversion disorder patients and 30 healthy controls. Possible changes in proinflammatory cytokine levels were evaluated again, after their acute phase in conversion disorder patients.

Statistically significant decreased serum TNF‐α levels were obtained in acute phase of conversion disorder. Those levels increased after acute conversion phase. There were no statistically significant difference observed between groups in serum IL‐1β and (IL‐6) levels.

Stress associated with conversion disorder may suppress immune function in acute conversion phase and may have diagnostic and therapeutic value.

A large body of research that has investigated substance dependence and working memory (WM) resources, yet no prior study has used a comprehensive test battery to examine the impact of chronic drug dependence on WM as a multi‐component system.

This study examined the efficiency of several WM components in participants who were chronic drug dependents. In addition, the functioning of the four WM components was compared among dependents of various types of drugs.

In total, 128 chronic drug dependents participated in this study. Their average age was 38.48 years, and they were classified into four drug‐dependence groups. Chronic drug dependents were compared with a 36‐participant control group that had a mean age of 37.6 years. A WM test battery that comprised eight tests and that assessed each of four WM components was administered to each participant.

Compared with the control group, all four groups of drug dependents had significantly poorer test performance on all of the WM tasks. Among the four groups of drug users, the polydrug group had the poorest performance scores on each of the eight tasks, and the performance scores of the marijuana group were the least affected. Finally, the forward digit span task and the logical memory tasks were less sensitive than other tasks when differentiating between marijuana users and the normal participants.

The four components of WM are impaired among chronic drug dependents. These results have implications for the development of tools, classification methods and therapeutic strategies for drug dependents.

Altered cardiac autonomic function has been proposed in schizophrenia, but the results are mixed. Therefore, analyses with larger sample sizes and better methodology are needed.

To examine whether acute schizophrenia is associated with cardiac autonomic dysfunction, 314 unmedicated patients with acute schizophrenia and 409 healthy volunteers, aged 18–65 years, were recruited for a case–control analysis. The severity of schizophrenia symptoms was assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Cardiac autonomic function was evaluated by measuring heart rate variability (HRV) parameters during the supine–standing–supine test. Frequency-domain indices of HRV were obtained.

Unmedicated patients with acute schizophrenia consistently exhibited reduced mean RR interval and HRV levels in a supine rest and standing position compared with healthy volunteers. The severity of psychopathology, in particular positive symptoms, was negatively correlated with cardiac vagal control.

These data suggest that acute schizophrenia is accompanied by cardiac autonomic dysregulation. In view of the higher risk for cardiac complications in these patients, one might also consider the antipsychotic treatment in favour of improving cardiac autonomic modulation. Further studies using larger patient groups and controlled therapeutics may better understand the influence of antipsychotic treatment on cardiac autonomic regulation in schizophrenia.

To investigate gender differences in psychiatric comorbidity patients diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as adults.

Interviews about current ADHD symptoms and psychiatric comorbidity on axis I and II (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV axis I and axis II) were conducted in a clinical cohort of 168 patients (78 women, 90 men). Independent information on childhood and current symptoms was collected from parents, partners and patient files.

The lifetime prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity on axis I reached 92%, and current comorbidity, including autism spectrum disorders and Tourette's syndrome, was 47%. Women had a higher lifetime prevalence of mood and eating disorders compared with men, where substance-use disorders were more frequent. Ten per cent of patients fulfilled diagnostic criteria for a personality disorder. When excluding the general diagnostic criteria, 46% of the patients endorsed the specific criteria for at least one personality disorder. Gender differences were identified with predominance of histrionic personality traits in women and conduct disorder in men.

Patients diagnosed with ADHD as adults display an extremely high lifetime axis I comorbidity with a gender-specific pattern similar to the general population. No gender differences were identified with regard to personality disorders; however, an increased prevalence of deviant personality traits was confirmed. This study stresses the importance of evaluating comorbidity among patients diagnosed with ADHD as adults to secure optimal treatment.

The impact of depression and anxiety on heart rate variability (HRV) is not clear in adolescents. We hypothesised that HRV investigation in adolescents may early prevent the mental diseases occurrence.

Three hundred and thirty‐three seventh grade students participated in this study programme. HRV instrumental analysis and spectral with scale of depression were measured respectively.

It showed that among the participants, the depression score of female was higher than male. The population with lower depression score present with lower high frequency and higher low frequency/high frequency ratio but not statistically significant. Oppositely, participants with higher depression score were increased with heart rate and present with lower standard deviation of heart rate. However, it is also not statistically significant.

This study supported the positive relation between HRV and depression, especially in the female gender. Therefore, HRV in depression may be beneficial in the detection and prevention of mental disorder development, even suicide behaviour in teenagers.

Delirium syndrome is common in the hospitalised population. However, data on its aetiological factors are scarce. Clinical observations suggest a relationship between delirium occurrence and seasons. The aim of study was to determine whether a seasonal variation exists in the occurrence of delirium events in‐hospital patients.

The study included all admissions to the medical units of the Hospital of Ferrara, Italy, between January 2002 and December 2010. On the basis of date admission, cases have been analysed for seasonal variation (four 3‐month intervals by seasons) by means of conventional statistics. Moreover, cases categorised into twelve 1‐month intervals were also analysed by means of a validated chronobiologic inferential method (single cosinor) to search for cyclic variability.

During the analysed period, the hospital database contained 74 379 records referring to 42 625 subjects (52.7% females). Delirium diagnoses were 1300 (1.7% of total sample), 668 of whom in females (51.4%) and 632 in males (48.6%). Events of delirium were more frequent in winter and autumn (26.6 and 26.5%, respectively) than in spring (23.5%) and summer (23.4%). Chronobiological analysis yielded a significant peak of delirium events in January, when considering both the total raw number of cases and the percent of admissions.

The study seems to indicate in patients hospitalised in medical units, a higher rate of occurrence of delirium in autumn‐winter, similar to that reported for acute medical diseases. The role of possible underlying favouring or triggering factors deserves further research.

Propranolol, the first discovered b-adrenergic receptor antagonist, has been prescribed by physicians in various fields for more than three decades. It has been applied for treating psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, mania and anxiety disorders, as well as for controlling withdrawal symptoms or other side effects.

We describe the case of an 11-year-old boy with bipolar-I disorder comorbid with panic disorder who developed manic symptoms with a single dose of 10 mg of propranolol.

Although depression is a better-known side effect of b-adrenergic antagonists, clinicians should take mania as a rare side effect into consideration as well.

Trichotillomania (TTM) is a psychiatric syndrome characterised by the inability to control repetitive hair pulling. Psychiatric data reveal that TTM is not usually prevalent among all family members of patients, and so far only one case of familial TTM has been reported.

In this study, we report a case of familial TTM that afflicted four sisters and discuss the importance of genetic factors in this disorder.

This report suggests that, similar to many other psychiatric disorders, TTM can be detected in other family members and that genetic factors not only have a significant role in the development of such disorders but also in determination of the disorder subtype. This report also shows that the comorbidities in one member of the family might predict the existence of comorbidities in other members. On the basis of response to medication.

the authors suggest that a genetic disorder like polymorphism in serotonin receptors or dopamine can cause such a disorder.