Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki
October 12, 2023
Orestis Giotakos
1 citation
Intentionality—the directedness or aboutness of mental states—is central to philosophy of mind. The brain's seeking system, reward circuits, and homeostatic systems may together form a broad intentional system whose behavior is nonlinear and chaotic. The cusp catastrophe model, previously used for health behaviors, explains how small changes in proximal risk can trigger sudden severe psychopathology when distal risk is high, and how hysteresis keeps neural networks active after triggering events fade. In psychosis, intentionality fails through nonlinear, multifactor fluctuations: intentional objects may be inappropriate or absent. Relapse may result from a fragile intentional system rather than a new stressor. Understanding these disruptions can improve management by focusing on resilience and breaking hysteresis cycles.
Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki
July 2, 2025
Dimitrios Sakellion, Shokhrukh Sultanov, Dilmurad Irgashev et al.
Hypnosis is an externally induced alteration in consciousness through suggestion, and hypnotherapy uses it as a psychological treatment for pain relief, habit modification, and various mental and physical health conditions. The method described involves muscle relaxation, suggestion, and sensory deprivation, with rapid induction of catalepsy by moving the person's limbs to stimulate the kinesthetic system. Hypnotizability varies with personal characteristics, and contraindications include psychosis, especially schizophrenia with delusions of influence, and prominent histrionic traits. Electroencephalogram changes during hypnotic catalepsy show increased delta rhythm power, increased theta rhythm amplitude and index in temporal leads, and significant hemispheric asymmetry, indicating a state distinct from sleep and wakefulness.
Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki
October 8, 2024
Petros Fotiadis, Eleni Tsalkitzi, Dimos Dimellis et al.
Esketamine, a fast-acting antidepressant that blocks NMDA receptors in the brain, increases glutamate release and restores synaptic function in mood-regulating regions. In a case series of five Greek adults with treatment-resistant depression, intranasal esketamine was given under medical supervision alongside an oral antidepressant for seven to twelve months. Depressive symptoms, measured with several scales at baseline, end of treatment, and one year later, showed significant improvement that was maintained at follow-up. Side effects were mild and tolerable; only the two patients with comorbid personality disorder reported significant side effects. The results suggest esketamine can stably reduce depressive symptoms even after treatment ends.
Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki
January 1, 2019
K Laios, P Lytsikas-Sarlis, K Manes et al.
Drug use in ancient times falls into two categories: therapeutic prescriptions by physicians and recreational or ritualistic abuse. Ancient Greek medical texts describe plants such as black and white hellebore, mandrake, henbane, opium poppy, and frankincense used to treat psychiatric and somatic disorders. Drugs were prepared by drying, grinding, squeezing, or boiling plant roots into juices, oils, or extracts, sometimes mixed with wine. Physicians like Hippocrates and Galen used these substances for their analgesic, hypnotic, and anticonvulsant properties, including as anesthetics for surgery. Outside medicine, psychotropic and hallucinatory effects were central to mythology and public rituals, leading to the concept of magic potions referenced by Theophrastus.