Articles

H.G. Ruhé, J. Booij, H.C. van Weert, J.B. Reitsma, E.J. Franssen, M.C. Michel, A. Schene

summary
background In cases where patients with unipolar depression do not respond to a standard dose of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (ssris), treatment guidelines often recommend a higher dose. A systematic review of the literature reve...

Review article

Pharmacological treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia; research and practice

V.C.R. Jiawan, J. Arends, C.J. Slooff, H. Knegtering

summary
background Negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia predict a worse social outcome. The treatment options for negative symptoms are extremely limited. Various treatment strategies have been studied in which several types of medicati...

Essay

Normal or pathological? – The view of Georges Canguilhem (1904-1995)

B. Verhoeff

summary

The distinction between normality and pathology is discussed on the basis of the views expressed in the work of the medical doctor and philosopher, Georges Canguilhem (1904-1995). Canguilhem shows that the distinction cannot be made at a bi...

Commentary

A valuable vision on pathology

Clients using the youth mental health services in The Hague are not an ethnic reflection of the youth of that city; bias not by social economic status but by ethnic origin

A.E. Boon, A.M. de Haan, S.B.B. de Boer

summary
background Young people who are born outside the Netherlands (or have at least one parent born outside the Netherlands) make less use of the mental health services than one might expect.
aim To find out whether the under-use of these service...

Commentary

Less use of mental health services by youth of non-Dutch origin – beyond a statistical correlation

The problem of careless respondents in surveys

H. Merckelbach, T. Giesbrecht, M. Jelicic, T. Smeets

summary
background A substantial proportion of psychiatric research is based on surveys that rely on self-report scales. Little is known about careless respondents in such surveys.
aim To explore to what extent careless respondents may bias the out...

Commentary

Careless respondents in surveys and the contribution of research to the progress in health care

Onderhoudsbehandeling bij bipolaire stoornis: valproïnezuur, lithium of beide?

S.R.T. Veerman, P.F.J. Schulte

Letter to the editor

Reaction on ‘Apathy’

D.J. Vinkers, R.C. van der Mast

Editorial

Last neuro-psychiatrist erased

A multi-centre study of the reliability, validity and sensitivity to change of the HONOS65+ in psychiatry for older persons

M.J. Aartsen, A.K. Spitsbaard, C. van Baarsen, A.D.F. Dhondt, M. Mascini, A. Nefs, A. Snoeijers, M. van Diest, R. Wilting

background Within the mental health care services for older persons there is a growing need for insight into and evaluation of the results of clinical treatment. The Health of the Nations Outcome Scales 65+ (honos65+) is a promising instrument for...

Review article

Fitness to drive in psychiatric patients; a review of the literature and consequences for daily practice

M.M. de Wolf

background A question that often arises in daily practice is whether a psychiatric patient should be considered as still fit to drive.
aim To describe the Dutch regulations concerning psychiatric patients’ fitness to drive and to evaluate the scien...

Review article

The therapeutic value of physical exercise for people with schizophrenia

D. Vancampfort, J. Knapen, M. Probst, R. Van Winkel, J. Peuskens, K. Maurissen, H. Demunter, M. De Hert

background Only about 25% of people with schizophrenia follow the public health recommendations for a minimum of 150 minutes per week of moderate physical exercise. In their leisure time people diagnosed with schizophrenia take considerably less e...

Essay

Is it acceptable to use placebos in depression research?

Y. Meesters, M.J. Ruiter, W.A. Nolen

The use of placebos in an investigation into the efficacy of a new type of treatment for winter depression was not approved by a medical ethics committee because some test subjects receiving placebos might thereby be deprived of an effective treat...

Case report

Melancholia, psychomotor disturbance or depressed mood?

A. Dols, D. Rhebergen, P. Eikelenboom, M.L. Stek

Melancholia is a historical concept according to which the clinical condition is characterised by gloom, apprehension and psychomotor disturbance, vital symptoms and psychotic phenomena. The condition needs to be accurately diagnosed if treatment ...

Case report

Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) as a treatment for phantom limb pain

C.E. Flik, C. de Roos

A 68-year-old man, who had had phantom limb pain in his leg and foot for 27 years, was referred for emdr treatment. This case study shows that after 10 sessions of emdr the pain intensity had diminished from 10 to 1 (on a scale of 10). Further ses...

Abstract

Voorspellende waarde van familiale voorgeschiedenis voor ziekte-ernst bij depressie, angst, alcohol- en drugsafhankelijkheid