A case of rapid stabilization using electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for a major depressive disordered (MDD) patient with life-threatening low body mass index (BMI) is reported. This case report focuses on a 55-year-old Malay housewife with underlying hyperthyroidism in a euthyroid state who presented with MDD with mood congruent psychotic features, which were precipitated by the death of her husband. Her BMI was only 11 kg/m2 due to severe anorexia, and she was highly suicidal. Peripheral total parenteral nutrition was started and ECT was commenced for rapid stabilization on top of tablet escitalopram 15 mg nocte. Full remission was achieved after nine ECTs and steady healthy weight gain was achieved throughout admission. The patient was discharged at BMI of 13 kg/m2 with good appetite. ECT was safe for very low BMI MDD patient.
Electroconvulsive Therapy ; Depressive Disorder, Major

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an interventional technique capable of highly effective neuromodulation in major depressive disorder (MDD), but its antidepressant mechanism remains unclear. By recording the resting-state electroencephalogram (RS-EEG) of 19 MDD patients before and after ECT, we analyzed the modulation effect of ECT on the resting-state brain functional network of MDD patients from multiple perspectives: estimating spontaneous EEG activity power spectral density (PSD) using Welch algorithm; constructing brain functional network based on imaginary part coherence (iCoh) and calculate functional connectivity; using minimum spanning tree theory to explore the topological characteristics of brain functional network. The results show that PSD, functional connectivity, and topology in multiple frequency bands were significantly changed after ECT in MDD patients. The results of this study reveal that ECT changes the brain activity of MDD patients, which provides an important reference in the clinical treatment and mechanism analysis of MDD.
Humans ; Depressive Disorder, Major/therapy* ; Electroconvulsive Therapy ; Brain ; Algorithms ; Electroencephalography

Major depressive disorder(MDD) is one of the most common diseases with serious health consequences such as increased morbidity, disability, and mortality. Electroconvulsive therapy(ECT) has been used as a treatment for mental disorder since the 1930s. A growing number of recent publications support the conclusions that ECT is an effective and safe treatment for depressed patients. Dosing strategies, frequency, safety, side effects and efficacy of ECT in MDD will be considered. ECT may be an alternative to treatment with antidepressants.
Antidepressive Agents ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Electroconvulsive Therapy ; Humans ; Mental Disorders

OBJECTIVE: Pharmacogenomic-based antidepressant treatment (PGATx) may result in more precise pharmacotherapy of major depressive disorder (MDD) with better drug therapy guidance. METHODS: An 8-week, randomized, single-blind clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of PGATx in 100 patients with MDD. All recruited patients were randomly allocated either to PGATx (n=52) or treatment as usual (TAU, n=48) groups. The primary endpoint was a change of total score of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HAMD-17) from baseline to end of treatment. Response rate (at least 50% reduction in HAMD-17 score from baseline), remission rate (HAMD-17 score ≥7 at the end of treatment) as well as the change of total score of Frequency, Intensity, and Burden of Side Effects Ratings (FIBSER) from baseline to end of treatment were also investigated. RESULTS: The mean change of HAMD-17 score was significantly different between two groups favoring PGATx by −4.1 point of difference (p=0.010) at the end of treatment. The mean change in the FIBSER score from baseline was significantly different between two treatment groups favoring PGATx by −2.5 point of difference (p=0.028). The response rate (71.7 % vs. 43.6%, p=0.014) were also significantly higher in PGATx than in TAU at the end of treatment, while the remission rate was numerically higher in PGATx than in TAU groups without statistical difference (45.5% vs. 25.6%, p=0.071). The reason for early drop-out associated with adverse events was also numerically higher in TAU (n=9, 50.0%) than in PGATx (n=4, 30.8%). CONCLUSION: The present study clearly demonstrate that PGATx may be a better treatment option in the treatment of MDD in terms of effectiveness and tolerability; however, study shortcomings may limit a generalization. Adequately-powered, well-designed, subsequent studies should be mandatory to prove its practicability and clinical utility for routine practice.
Antidepressive Agents ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder ; Depressive Disorder, Major* ; Drug Therapy ; Generalization (Psychology) ; Humans ; Precision Medicine

eatment alone. Most importantly, the addition of cognitive therapy to usual treatment appears to protect against future relapse in individuals known to be at high risk of repeated episodes of depression. In addition, subjects who received cognitive therapy showed significantly greater improvements in chronic depression than receiving antidepressant medication. Pooled data suggests that there is a significant relationship between the therapist's level of training or experience, the type of therapy used and patient outcome. Recent functional imaging studies examining brain changes following cognitive therapy report a variety of regional effects, but there is no consistent pattern across the few published studies. CONCLUSION: Cognitive therapy has proved beneficial in treating depressive patients. Despite empirical data supporting its efficacy, there are still problems in gaining access to cognitive therapy in clinical practice.
Brain ; Cognitive Therapy* ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder ; Depressive Disorder, Major* ; Humans ; Recurrence

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to test the possible association between cholecystokinin (CCK) promoter gene and panic disorder. METHODS: 267 patients with panic disorder and 82 healthy controls participated in this study. Genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction-based method. RESULTS: Genotype and allele distribution of CCK promoter -36C>T polymorphism patients with panic disorder was not significantly different from those of the controls. In addition, after excluding panic disorder patients with major depressive disorder, we did not find out the association of CCK-36C>T with the panic disorder without comorbidities. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that the CCK promoter -36C>T polymorphism may have not a potential role for susceptibility to panic disorder in the Korean population. Thus calls for consecutive studies in order to pile up the data with larger different ethnic background.
Alleles ; Cholecystokinin* ; Comorbidity ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Diagnosis* ; Drug Therapy* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Panic Disorder* ; Panic*

The authors performed this preliminary study to investigate the effect of softening E.C.T. and propofol was compared to pentothal for induction of anaesthesia for E.C.T on seizure duration. The results were follows ' 1) E.C.T. was performed in 60 psychiatric inpatients who were admitted during the study period. Of them 51.7% were diagnosed as schizophrenia, 21.6% as major depressive disorder, 16.7% as bipolar I disorder, manic and 10% of others. 2) Mean number of E.C.T. was 12.2 times a patient. 3) The most common target symptoms were persecutory delusion in schizophrenia, psychomotor retardation or agitation in major depressive disorder, and violent aggressive behavior in bipolar I disorder, manic. 4) Pre-ECT medication usually used were atropine 0.0093mg kg(-1), pentothal 2.76mg kg(-1) or propofol 1.42mg kg(-1). 5) The duration of seizure, as measured clinically, was reduced with propofol(20.5 sec) in comparison with pentothal(35.7 sec)(p<0.001). This suggest the possibility that additional treatment may be needed for the same clinical effect in psychiatric illness when propofol is used as the induction agent.
Atropine ; Bipolar Disorder ; Delusions ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Dihydroergotamine ; Electroconvulsive Therapy ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Propofol* ; Schizophrenia ; Seizures* ; Thiopental*

OBJECTIVES: The efficacy and safety of paroxetine in the treatment of depressive disorders are well known, however its efficacy and safety for the treatment of depression in patients with cancer has been poorly studied. This study therefore aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of paroxetine in treatment of depressed patients with hematological malignancy (HM). METHODS: Fifty-two patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) based on DSM-IV criteria along with comorbid HM were allotted to 8 weeks trial with a flexible-dose regime of paroxetine in combination with their chemotherapy or supportive pharmacotherapy. Treatment response was assessed at baseline, week 2, week 4, and week 8 with 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D17), Montgomery sberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and Clinical Global Impression-severity (CGI-S). Side effects were collected with the reported adverse events and laboratory test throughout the study period. RESULTS: 44.2% of 52 patients completed the eight weeks trial. Scores on the HAM-D17, MADRS, and CGI-s (last observation carried forward, LOCF) at baseline were significantly reduced with mean reduction of 30.5%, 32.8%, and 39.1%, respectively, after 8 weeks treatment with paroxetine. Forty-six patients (88.5%) reported at least one adverse event. The most common adverse event observed in this study was nausea and no serious adverse event was found. CONCLUSION: In this preliminary study, overall results showed paroxetine could be used for the treatment of depressed patients with HM, but more controlled study is needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of paroxetine in this area.
Depression* ; Depressive Disorder ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Drug Therapy ; Hematologic Neoplasms* ; Humans ; Nausea ; Paroxetine*

OBJECTIVE: Psychotherapeutic intervention combined with pharmacotherapy is helpful for achieving remission of depressive disorder. We developed and tested the effect of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)-based psychotherapy applied in a forest environment on major depressive disorder. METHODS: We performed 4 sessions during 4 weeks (3 hours/session) in patients with major depressive disorder during pharmacotherapy. For the forest group, sessions were performed in the forest; for the hospital group, sessions were performed in the hospital. The control group was treated with the usual outpatient management. RESULTS: A total of 63 patients completed the study: 23 in the forest group, 19 in the hospital group, and 21 in the control group. Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression (HRSD) scores of the forest group were significantly decreased after 4 sessions compared with controls. Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scales (MADRS) scores of the forest group were significantly decreased compared with both the hospital group and the controls. The remission rate (7 and below in HRSD) of the forest group was 61% (14/23), significantly higher than both the hospital group (21%, 4/19) and the controls (5%, 1/21). In heart rate variability (HRV) analysis, some measurements representing HRV and parasympathetic nerve tone were increased in the forest group after 4 sessions. The salivary cortisol levels of the forest group were significantly decreased. CONCLUSION: CBT-based psychotherapy applied in the forest environment was helpful in the achievement of depression remission, and its effect was superior to that of psychotherapy performed in the hospital and the usual outpatient management. A good environment such as a forest helps improve the effect of psychotherapeutic intervention because it includes various natural instruments and facilitators in the treatment of depression.
Achievement ; Cognitive Therapy ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Outpatients ; Psychotherapy ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVE: Psychotherapeutic intervention combined with pharmacotherapy is helpful for achieving remission of depressive disorder. We developed and tested the effect of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)-based psychotherapy applied in a forest environment on major depressive disorder. METHODS: We performed 4 sessions during 4 weeks (3 hours/session) in patients with major depressive disorder during pharmacotherapy. For the forest group, sessions were performed in the forest; for the hospital group, sessions were performed in the hospital. The control group was treated with the usual outpatient management. RESULTS: A total of 63 patients completed the study: 23 in the forest group, 19 in the hospital group, and 21 in the control group. Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression (HRSD) scores of the forest group were significantly decreased after 4 sessions compared with controls. Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scales (MADRS) scores of the forest group were significantly decreased compared with both the hospital group and the controls. The remission rate (7 and below in HRSD) of the forest group was 61% (14/23), significantly higher than both the hospital group (21%, 4/19) and the controls (5%, 1/21). In heart rate variability (HRV) analysis, some measurements representing HRV and parasympathetic nerve tone were increased in the forest group after 4 sessions. The salivary cortisol levels of the forest group were significantly decreased. CONCLUSION: CBT-based psychotherapy applied in the forest environment was helpful in the achievement of depression remission, and its effect was superior to that of psychotherapy performed in the hospital and the usual outpatient management. A good environment such as a forest helps improve the effect of psychotherapeutic intervention because it includes various natural instruments and facilitators in the treatment of depression.
Achievement ; Cognitive Therapy ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Outpatients ; Psychotherapy ; Weights and Measures