Mental Health

Bipolar disorder affects 1% of adults in Singapore aged between 20 to 40 years. Associate Professor Chan Herng Nieng , Senior Consultant, Department of Psychiatry , Singapore General Hospital (SGH), a member of the SingHealth group, shares what are the causes of bipolar disorder and signs to watch out for. (iStock photo) It is normal for a person's mood to vary from day to day. But what if the person keeps experiencing extreme mood swings? He or she could be suffering from a bipolar disorder. "Those with bipolar disorder typically alternate between manic ("high") and depressive ("low") states. They may feel hyper energetic and euphoric one day, and sad and hopeless the next, without any external circumstances explaining the change," explains Assoc Prof Chan. Related article: Can depression cause IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)? What causes bipolar disorder? The risk of bipolar disorder is higher if a parent or sibling has the disorder. Dysf...

Abstract The aetiology of schizophrenia is multifactorial, and the identification of its risk factors are scarce and highly variable. A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the risk factors associated with schizophrenia among Malaysian sub-population. A total of 120 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia (SZ) and 180 non-schizophrenic (NS) individuals participated in a questionnaire-based survey. Data of complete questionnaire responses obtained from 91 SZ and 120 NS participants were used in statistical analyses. Stool samples were obtained from the participants and screened for gut parasites and fungi using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The median age were 46 years (interquartile range (IQR) 37 to 60 years) and 35 years (IQR 24 to 47.75 years) for SZ and NS respectively. Multivariable binary logistic regression showed that the factors associated with increased risk of SZ were age, sex, unemployment, presence of other...

Some research suggests ketamine may be useful for managing bipolar depression. As such, ketamine has shown promise as a potential experimental alternative treatment for bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder causes extreme changes in mood, energy, behavior, and activity. Its main features include manic episodes. These often involve heightened emotions, irritability, erratic behaviors, and actions that may have harmful effects. Other episodes cause very low mood, blankness, and a loss of hope. These are depressive episodes. Mixed episodes involve both manic and depressive features. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic, which means taking it makes people "detach" from their immediate environment and pain. This can cause hallucinations, and some individuals may use it as an illegal recreational drug. However, some doctors prescribe it off-label for depression that is not responding to other treatments. According to a 2022 review, current evidence supports using some forms of ketami...

1 Introduction Schizophrenia is a major psychiatric disorder that is characterized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition by the presence of positive (i.e., delusions, hallucinations), negative (i.e., blunted affect, social withdrawal, anhedonia), and disorganized (i.e., disorganized speech and behavior) symptoms (1). Very early-onset schizophrenia (VEOS) is a specific form of schizophrenia that manifests very early in life, typically before the age of 13 years (2, 3). The disorder shares diagnostic criteria with both adult-onset schizophrenia (AOS), which manifests after the age of 18 years, and early-onset schizophrenia (EOS), which is characterized by symptom onset between the ages of 13 and 18 years (2–6). Of note, some authors refer to VEOS as childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS). The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in the United States defines that COS is present when the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia are met prior to the ...