Sarah El Halabi

There is an increasing movement toward international collaboration and global discussion in mental health. If provided with the right opportunities, early career psychiatrists (ECPs) and researchers in mental health can contribute meaningfully to this discussion. However, they often experience multiple barriers when attempting to add their voices via academic publications. We represent a diverse group of ECPs and researchers from all six World Health Organization regions. In this piece, we discuss these barriers, grounded in our first‐hand experiences, and put forth a series of recommendations. The most potentially beneficial and immediate way forward is ensuring a much‐needed mentorship and support, particularly for low‐ and middle‐income countries. In this regard, international organizations, especially those with a particular focus on education, such as the Section on Education in Psychiatry of the World Psychiatric Association, can play a pivotal role.

The general lack of awareness of mental health in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly within its Arab countries, accounts for limited mental health services and stigmatization of psychiatric conditions in the region. Suicide is a drastic consequence of mental health neglect. Suicidal attempts are one form of presentation to emergency departments (ED) in healthcare centers across the Arab countries in the MENA region. We collected data from various research studies in the region to narrate such presentations. This epidemiological country-by-country summary includes the characteristics of suicidal attempts in the Arab region, with a focus on methods, causes, and management of cases. The summary demonstrates that suicidal attempts in this part of the world share sociocultural and logistic grounds. The prominent archetypes of suicidal attempts are middle-aged Arab women ingesting poisonous substances secondary to familial or interpersonal stressors. We also link...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was recently declared a pandemic by the WHO. This outbreak threatens not only physical health but also has significant repercussions on mental health. In recent world history, major infectious outbreaks were associated with severe mental health sequelae, including suicide. In this study,we systematically review the literature on suicidal outcomes during major international respiratory outbreaks, including COVID-19. We reviewed descriptive and analytic articles addressing suicide during major international respiratory outbreaks. We searched PubMed, Medline, Embase, Scopus, and PsycInfo databases and then utilized an independent method for study selection by a pair of reviewers. Two reviewers completed data abstraction and conducted a narrative summary of the findings. Our search generated 2,153 articles. Nine studies (three descriptive, five analytical, and one with mixed methodology) were eligible. The included studies were heterogeneous, divergent in methods, and with a low degree of evidence. Deducing an association between pandemics, suicide, and suicide-related outcomes remains thus poorly supported. Future research with better methodological characteristics, the use of longitudinal studies, and a focus on suicide as the primary outcome would allow for an in-depth understanding and formulation of the scope of this problem.

poor insight was made according to DSM-5. He was started on fluoxetine 20 mg/day, which was given under his mother’s supervision. After 15 days of treatment, the mother reported improvement in reassurance-seeking behavior, and after one month of treatment, the patient reported improvement in the repetitive doubts. In three months, he was found to sustain the improvement and had improvement in socio-occupational functioning. Also, his Y-BOCS score decreased to 6, and his BABS score reduced to zero with good insight. There were no adverse effects reported. After recovery, he was thankful and attributed the symptoms to stress after reading and watching videos about dog bites.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on mental health has remained immense and global in all senses. Various types of induced psychiatric disorders, both new episodes and exacerbation of the preexisiting ones has been reported - starting from adjustment disorder to full psychotic illnesses. Various clinical symptoms, including systematized delusions, affective symptoms and self harm ideas has been mentioned needing upto prolonged admission and in patient care. Various etiopathogenetic models, incluing direct neural infection to cytokine storms or unmasking of the hidden vulnerabilities has been proposed however this needs further research. Traditional antipsychotic pharmacological agents has been proven to work well though special attention to pharmacological interactions is needed with caution for co morbid conditions and chance of side effects. We collaborated in worldwide Task Force of early career psychiatrists and prepared the definition of our point of view.