Internet and Psychiatry

Behnken MP, Le YC, Temple JR, Berenson AB.
Iowa State University, United States.
Addict Behav. 2009 Dec 21.

Although sexual assault victimization has been shown to predict suicidality, little is known about the mechanisms linking these two factors. Using cross-sectional data (N=6364) from the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, binge drinking significantly mediated the relationship between forced sexual intercourse and suicide for Hispanic (n=1915) and Caucasian (n=2928) adolescent females, but not for African American adolescent females (n=1521).

Sellman D, Connor J, Robinson G, Jackson R.
Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
N Z Med J. 2009 Sep 25;122(1303):97-101.

Doctors have been promoting alcohol as a health tonic for a very long time. The last 30 years has seen the accumulation of a considerable medical literature investigating the potential role of alcohol use as a protection against coronary heart disease. When viewed through the lens of two major early reviews in the mid-1980s, Sir Richard Doll's contributions of the mid-1990s, two large meta-analyses of 10 years ago and two most recent overviews, the health-giving properties of alcohol use become increasingly debatable.

Mahfoud Y, Talih F, Streem D, Budur K.
Dr. Mahfoud is an Addiction Psychiatry Fellow from the Department of Psychiatry, University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio.
Psychiatry (Edgmont). 2009 Sep;6(9):38-42.

Substance abuse is a major public health problem with high morbidity and mortality. Comorbid disorders are suspected to cause a high relapse rate. Subjects with sleep disorders tend to self medicate with alcohol and tranquilizers to promote sleep or abuse stimulants to stay awake during the day. Substance abuse can, in turn, cause sleep disturbances, which can result in relapse. No studies have systematically studied the prevalence of various sleep disorders in these subjects.

Sher L, Oquendo MA, Richardson-Vejlgaard R, Makhija NM, Posner K, Mann JJ, Stanley BH.
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
J Psychiatr Res. 2009 Jul;43(10):901-5.

Acute alcohol use is an important risk factor for attempted and completed suicide. We evaluated the effect of acute alcohol intake on the lethality of suicide attempts to test the hypothesis that acute alcohol intoxication is associated with more lethal suicide attempts. This retrospective study included 317 suicide attempters enrolled in mood disorders protocols. Demographic and clinical parameters were assessed. The use of alcohol at the time of the most lethal suicide attempt was determined.

Acupuncture has been used for the treatment of alcohol and drug use disorders for many years. Recently, scientists from the Department of Neuropsychiatry, Hospital of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, reviewed studies of the use of acupuncture for the treatment of alcohol dependence.

Kuntsche E, Stewart SH.
Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Problems, Switzerland. J Health Psychol. 2009 May.

A structural equation model was estimated based on a Swiss national sample of 5649 12- to 18-year-olds to test whether individual drinking motives mediate the link between classmates' motives and individual alcohol use. Results showed that the social, enhancement, coping and conformity motives of individual students are associated with the corresponding motive dimension of other students in the class. No direct effect of the four classmates' motives on individual drinking, but an indirect effect via individual motives was observed. It appears that drinking motives within the adolescent social environment exert their influence on drinking by way of shaping individual motives.