Objectives: While treatment is known to improve drug and crime outcomes for opiate users, there is debate in the literature about the longitudinal effects of substance misuse and the comorbidity of mental health problems. We sought to describe and model anxiety and depression outcomes during opiate substance misuse treatment.

Methods: The first national, longitudinal treatment outcome study of 404 opiate users entering a new episode of inpatient or outpatient treatment and followed up at one and three years and assessed using the Maudsley Addiction Profile instrument.

Results: A total of 404 opiate users were recruited representing approximately 8.2% of all new treatments and 17% of all new methadone treatments at national level in Ireland in 2003. At three years 97% (n = 392) were followed-up. At one year, analysis revealed the odds of experiencing depression was between five and 15 times the odds for opiate users who also used cocaine than non cocaine using opiate users, but this had decreased at three years. At three years those who were drug free, that is, not in treatment and not using illicit drugs, were less likely to experience feeling hopeless about the future than those in treatment or those not in treatment and using, but they were also more likely to experience feeling tense. Those in treatment were more likely to feel lonely.

Conclusion: The concurrent misuse of cocaine and other substances during opiate treatment and the stage of the treatment pathway are associated with anxiety and depression among opiate users in treatment. These client factors need to be considered when implementing individualised treatment care plans.

Objectives: To develop and validate a new brief assessment tool for anger in clinical settings at the Cluain Mhuire Acute Day Hospital.

Methods: The Cluain Mhuire Clinical Anger Scale (CMCAS) was developed using mixed methods including content analysis of interviews with five clients and six clinicians and qualitative item analysis of nine existing assessment tools. An initial 16-item scale was completed by 112 clients of a psychiatric day hospital and a nonclinical comparison group (n = 76).

Results: Psychometric analysis found that the CMCAS consisted of one 12-item factor with good internal reliability (α = 0.82, n = 178) and good test-retest reliability (r = 0.93, n = 12) and converged with scores on STAXI-2. It distinguished between a sub-group referred for an anger management programme and matched groups from non-anger clinical and non-clinical samples (F(2) = 18.13; p < .01).

Conclusions: Findings suggest the CMCAS may be useful in clinical settings as a screening and assessment tool.

Objective: We examined the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) and Interpersonal Trust in Physician (ITP) in a forensic psychiatry hospital, where all patients were detained under mental health legislation for psychosis. We hypothesised that working alliance and trust are bilateral and can be measured.

Method: We adapted the WAI and ITP minimally so that patients rated both their treating psychiatrist and primary nurse. We also adapted them minimally so that clinicians could rate WAI and ITP with the patient. A total of 81 of 83 patients completed the assessments. The clinicians (seven consultant psychiatrists and 43 nurses) also completed a minimally altered version of the same questionnaires. All three (patient, nurse and psychiatrist) were blind to the ratings of the others.

Results: Cronbach's alpha was greater than 0.9 for both patient and clinician versions of the WAI and greater than 0.8 for the ITP. The WAI and ITP correlated with each other (Spearman r > 0.67 for patients, for psychiatrists and for nurses). Patients rated clinicians higher than clinicians rated patients. Ratings were higher in pre-discharge wards than in acute wards. Patients' ratings of WAI for their psychiatrist and nurse correlated r = 0.75, and patients rating of IPT for psychiatrist and nurse correlated 0.67. Psychiatrists correlated with nurses 0.38 for WAI, 0.53 for IPT. Psychiatrists and patients mutual ratings correlated r = 0.35 for WAI, 0.24 for IPT. Nurses and patients correlated r = 0.34 for WAI, 0.25 for IPT. All correlations were statistically significant. Mental state (PANSS) and global function (GAF) correlated with all ratings and confounded most patient-clinician correlations.

Conclusion: Working alliance and interpersonal trust can be measured reliably even in forensic settings. The extent to which they measure a mutual quality is unclear.

Objective: We describe use and effects of head shop powders among opiate dependant polydrug users and recreational drug users. These powders contain cathinones and were sold as bath salts or plant food via the internet or in head shops.

Method: As this is a relatively new phenomenon, a qualitative approach using three data sources, in-depth interviews, a focus group (containing 10 opiate users) and a head shop website containing 49 product reviews, was employed. Themes were identified.

Results: According to the study population, these powders mimic the effects of cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamines. These substances were snorted, ingested or injected by people and were not used as bath salts or plant food. The users' experience indicates that these powders have the potential for dependence, and exhibit side effects such as insomnia, anxiety and other mental health effects. The users report that the effects of the substances vary over time indicating that the chemical contents of the powders may change.

Conclusion: Though users' descriptions of effects varied, there were indications of health and dependency effects which were more severe and more common among problematic opiate users, who also experienced increased social vulnerability. In general the recreational drug users considered their side effects to be mild and worth the drug induced experience.

We report two cases of acute onset and rapid resolution of psychotic symptoms, the first following oral ingestion and the second following intravenous injection of some head shop products (HSPs). Both were associated with autonomic instability and negative results on urine toxicology screening using standard techniques. They highlight the potential dangers of managing such cases in acute stand-alone psychiatric units. Recent advance in characterising some HSPs by toxicology screening is also discussed.

‘Whack’ is a new psychoactive substance available until recently in ‘head shops’. It contains two active constituents, 4-fluorotropacocaine and desoxypipradrol. We present two case reports of subjects who developed acute psychotic states after using Whack. Both individuals displayed similar affective and anxiety symptoms in the presence of significant psychotic symptoms. Both required inpatient treatment but displayed a good treatment response to atypical antipsychotic agents. To our knowledge, this is the first published case series relating to this psychoactive substance.

Benzylpiperazine is a psychotropic compound that has been widely available until recently from licensed premises such as ‘head shops’. This report describes a case of a 48 year old man with schizophrenia who developed an acute delirium secondary to benzylpiperazine use, although he initially presented as a diagnostic conundrum. Investigation of his delirium unearthed a temporal meningioma which appears to be an incidental finding. This is the first documented case of delirium due to benzylpiperazine use. Benzylpiperazine has significant abuse potential and psychiatric complications. Its sale and possession have recently been made illegal in Ireland, which may limit its abuse in the future.

Objectives: Depression and vital exhaustion are associated with poor cardiovascular prognosis, but there is substantial overlap between these constructs. Factor analytic studies have been inconclusive, and may not be the optimal analytic strategy to assess dimensionality. We assessed whether exhaustion and depression formed a single, hierarchical dimension using a form of nonparametric item response theory.

Methods: Patients with acute coronary syndrome (n = 430) completed questionnaires assessing depression and vital exhaustion. Mokken scaling was used to assess dimensionality.

Results: Mokken scaling formed a strong unidimensional scale, ordered in a hierarchy reflecting prevalence: fatigue (common), depression (less common) and hopelessness (rare).

Conclusions: Depressive symptoms form a clear hierarchy in cardiac patients, from fatigue to hopelessness. Vital exhaustion may be considered a less severe form of depression. Use of hierarchical scales may allow clinicians to better determine clinical significance and target interventions.

Objectives: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is one of the most controversial psychiatric treatments of the modern era. Few studies have used validated scales to examine attitudes and knowledge regarding ECT in lay people. We examined attitudes, knowledge and experience of ECT using standardised questionnaires in Irish lay people, and compared the present results with the findings from a similar study reported over 25 years previously.

Methods: A total of 103 lay people were recruited from a variety of settings and completed a questionnaire. Data were analysed using independent samples t-tests, χ2 tests and Pearson correlations.

Results: Attitudes to ECT among Irish lay people are negative and knowledge of the treatment is poor. A significant correlation (r = 0.32) was found between knowledge and attitudes, with higher levels of knowledge associated with more positive attitudes. People with relatives who experienced ECT had a significantly higher ECT knowledge than the people without such relatives (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Results confirmed previous findings and revealed novel statistically significant factors that contributed to attitudes towards ECT. Further replications are required to examine the findings' robustness and the relationship between attitudes, knowledge and experience. Such research can help increase the understanding of ECT and remove the stigmatisation associated with ECT. Mental health education programmes should consider the relation between knowledge and attitudes to better inform programme focus and content.

Objectives: A patient's suicide is arguably the event of most concern to consultant psychiatrists. Given the rise in the rate of suicide in the Republic of Ireland, the impact it has should not be underestimated. The aims of the study were: to assess the effect a patient's suicide has on a consultant's personal and professional life; to identify what factors modulated or exacerbated their response to the suicide; and to highlight what was shown to be beneficial in coping with the aftermath.

Methods: Following a literature review, a questionnaire from a previous study was chosen. This was sent to 74 consultants working in the Munster province. It asked consultants to recall their ‘most distressing’ suicide and their response to it. The results were analysed using quantitative methodology. A further literature review was conducted on the issues raised.

Results: The questionnaire response rate was 67.5%. A total of 80% of consultants had a patient commit suicide under their care. In the case of 27.5%, consultants said that their personal lives had been affected by the suicide and 32.5% said that their professional lives had been affected. The majority of those affected were recently appointed consultants. Consultants' peers and team were significant sources of support, as were team meetings. A total of 57.5% of consultants said that their management of future suicidal patients had changed following the suicide.

Conclusions: A proportion of consultants experience negative effects in their lives as a consequence of patient suicide. However the support of consultant peers, the team and team meetings may help in the aftermath.

Objectives: A significant number of depressed individuals experience inadequate benefit from long-term antidepressant use. This paper investigates the hypothesis that in some individuals persistent use of antidepressants may be prodepressant.

Methods: Literature regarding the effect of long-term use of antidepressants was reviewed by searching PubMed and Ovid data bases with terms: antidepressant tachyphylaxis, treatment-resistant depression, chronic depression and antidepressant tolerance.

Results: Antidepressant treatment-resistant patients frequently had a positive initial response to antidepressants. When resistance appeared, initial increases in dose or medication changes usually resulted in transient improvement. Eventually, the episodic course of the original depressive illness was replaced with a continuous, unresponsive depressive syndrome. We propose the term tardive dysphoria to describe this phenomenon.

Conclusions: The phenomenon of antidepressantinduced depression, or tardive dysphoria, needs to be experimentally examined in blinded, randomised antidepressant discontinuation studies.

We report a case of a 33-year-old male patient with schizophrenia, who showed significant and persistent changes in psychotic and mood symptoms relating to his caffeine intake.

Tobacco smoking is a contributory factor in the death of 50% of individuals who are regular or heavy smokers (The Office of Tobacco Control Ireland defines a regular smoker as someone who smokes 11-20 per day and a heavy smoker as someone who smokes 21 or more cigarettes per day). The World Health Organisation (WHO) regards tobacco smoking as the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. In Ireland, approximately 750,000 people smoke tobacco regularly (23.5% of the population) with 7,000 Irish people dying annually from smoking-related causes. Although there are no exact figures for prevalence rates of smoking in individuals with mental illness in Ireland, international studies unequivocally state that the prevalence of smoking is significantly higher in those with mental illness, with greater nicotine intake and increased prevalence of nicotine dependence also reported. Furthermore people with mental illness experience greater withdrawal symptoms and have lower cessation rates when attempting to stop smoking compared to the general population.