PRILV studies the behaviors and underlying energies of individuals to formulate methods to generate world peace.
Seena Fazel, Achim Wolf, Zheng Chang, Henrik Larsson, Guy M Goodwin, Paul Lichtenstein
Background
Depression increases the risk of a range of adverse outcomes including suicide, premature mortality, and self-harm, but associations with violent crime remain uncertain. We aimed to determine the risks of violent crime in patients with depression and to investigate the association between depressive symptoms and violent crime in a cohort of twins.
Methods
We conducted two studies. The first was a total population study in Sweden of patients with outpatient diagnoses of depressive disorders (n=47158) between 2001 and 2009 and no lifetime inpatient episodes.Patients were age and sex matched to general population controls (n=898 454) and risk of violent crime was calculated. Additionally,
we compared the odds of violent crime in unaffected half-siblings (n=15 534) and full siblings (n=33 516) of patients with the general population controls. In sensitivity analyses, we examined the contribution of substance abuse, sociodemographic factors, and previous criminality. In the second study, we studied a general population sample of twins (n=23 020) with continuous measures of depressive symptoms for risk of violent crime.
Findings
During a mean follow-up period of 3·2 years, 641 (3·7%) of the depressed men and 152 (0·5%) of the depressed women violently offended after diagnosis. After adjustment for sociodemographic confounders, the odds ratio of violent crime was 3·0 (95% CI 2·8–3·3) compared with the general population controls. The odds of violent crime in half-siblings (adjusted odds ratio 1·2 [95% CI 1·1–1·4]) and full siblings (1·5, 95% CI 1·3–1·6) were significantly increased, showing some familial confounding of the association between depression and violence. However, the odds increase remained significant in individuals with depression after adjustment for familial
confounding, and in those without substance abuse comorbidity or a previous violent conviction (all p<0·0001). In the twin study, during the mean follow-up time of 5·4 years, 88 violent crimes were recorded. Depressive symptoms were associated with increased risk of violent crime and a sensitivity analysis identified little difference in risk estimate when all crimes (violent and non-violent) was the outcome.
Interpretation
Risk of violent crime was increased in individuals with depression after adjustment for familial,
sociodemographic and individual factors in two longitudinal studies. Clinical guidelines should consider recommending violence risk assessment in certain subgroups with depression.
Funding Wellcome Trust and the Swedish Research Council.
Copyright © Fazel et al. Open Access article distributed under the terms of CC BY.
OBJECTIVE: Major depressive disorder is associated with elevated mortality rates that increase with the severity of depression. The authors hypothesized that patients with psychotic depression would have higher mortality rates than patients with nonpsychotic depression.
METHOD: Survival analytic techniques were used to compare the vital status of 61 patients with psychotic major depression with that of 59 patients with nonpsychotic major depression up to 15 years after hospital admission. Medical status was assessed with the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale. Dexamethasone suppression test (DST) data were available for 101 patients.
RESULTS: The mortality rate for subjects with psychotic depression was significantly greater than that for those with nonpsychotic depression, with 41% versus 20%, respectively, dying within 15 years after hospital admission. A proportional hazards model with age and medical status entered as covariates confirmed a significantly higher mortality rate in patients with psychotic depression (hazards ratio=2.31). A positive DST result was associated with psychotic depression but was not related to vital status.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with psychotic depression have a two-fold greater risk of death than do patients with severe, nonpsychotic major depression.
Hong Jin Jeon, MD
Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in South Korea, which is the highest rate among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries. The World Health Organization worldwide initiative for the prevention of suicide reported that there are at least 20 suicide attempts for every suicide committed. The lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts in South Korea was 15.2%, 3.3%, and 3.2% (single 2.1% and multiple 1.1%), respectively. Suicide attempts showed a significant association with mental disorders, especially major depressive disorder in a Korea-based community study. Brain neuroimaging studies showed prefrontal localized hypofunction and impaired serotonergic responsivity in those attempting suicide, which are also typical findings in patients with depression. Postmortem studies have reported that approximately 60% of suicide victims suffered from major depressive disorder and other mood disorders. Family studies have suggested a genetic linkage between suicide and depression. In conclusion, suicide and suicidal behaviors are significantly associated with depression. Suicide is a medical condition which is treatable and preventable, and suicide rates can be reduced through early diagnosis and treatment for depression. Regular surveys for suicide and depression an essential tool for establishing a national policy for suicide prevention.
Aki Takahashi,1,2,3,* Meghan E. Flanigan,2 Bruce S. McEwen,3 and Scott J. Russo2Author information Article notes
Social stress can lead to the development of psychological problems ranging from exaggerated anxiety and depression to antisocial and violence-related behaviors. Increasing evidence suggests that the immune system is involved in responses to social stress in adulthood. For example, human studies show that individuals with high aggression traits display heightened inflammatory cytokine levels and dysregulated immune responses such as slower wound healing. Similar findings have been observed in patients with depression, and comorbidity of depression and aggression was correlated with stronger immune dysregulation. Therefore, dysregulation of the immune system may be one of the mediators of social stress that produces aggression and/or depression. Similar to humans, aggressive animals also show increased levels of several proinflammatory cytokines, however, unlike humans these animals are more protected from infectious organisms and have faster wound healing than animals with low aggression. On the other hand, subordinate animals that receive repeated social defeat stress have been shown to develop escalated and dysregulated immune responses such as glucocorticoid insensitivity in monocytes. In this review we synthesize the current evidence in humans, non-human primates, and rodents to show a role for the immune system in responses to social stress leading to psychiatric problems such as aggression or depression. We argue that while depression and aggression represent two fundamentally different behavioral and physiological responses to social stress, it is possible that some overlapped, as well as distinct, pattern of immune signaling may underlie both of them. We also argue the necessity of studying animal models of maladaptive aggression induced by social stress (i.e., social isolation) for understanding neuro-immune mechanism of aggression, which may be relevant to human aggression.
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has issued a statement expressing his profound concern over the rise in violence against Asians, and people of Asian descent, during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Compounding the general scourge of racism unleashed by COVID-19, in the United States last week, an outpouring of fear and anger grew following the shooting to death of six women of Asian descent in and around Atlanta by a lone gunman, which left eight dead overall.
The coalition “Stop AAPI Hate”, which documents and addresses anti-Asian hate and discrimination amid the pandemic across the US, released data last month reporting that there were more than 2,800 first-hand accounts of hate crimes having taken place between late March and the end of last year, across 47 states and Washington DC.
Just over seven per cent of these incidents involved Asian Americans over 60 years old.
The hashtag #StopAsianHate has spread widely across social media, drawing support from many public figures both inside and outside the community.
President Joe Biden condemned anti-Asian racism, during a solidarity visit to Atlanta in the wake of Tuesday’s attack, noting that hate crimes had risen, and urged Congress to pass a hate-crimes bill introduced earlier this month, by two Asian-American legislators.
“The world has witnessed horrific deadly attacks, verbal and physical harassment, bullying in schools, workplace discrimination, incitement to hatred in the media and on social media platforms, and incendiary language by those in positions of power”, said the UN chief, in a statement issued through his Spokesperson.
In some countries, Asian women have been specifically targeted for attack, adding misogyny to the toxic mix of hatred”, he continued. “Thousands of incidents across the past year have perpetuated a centuries-long history of intolerance, stereotyping, scapegoating, exploitation and abuse.”
The reported spike in anti-Asian hate crimes surfaced early in the pandemic, with the first major outbreak being recorded in China.
The UN chief expressed his full support for all victims and families of those targeted, and “stands in solidarity with all those who face racism and other assaults on their human rights”, the statement concluded.
“This moment of challenge for all must be a time to uphold dignity for all”, he said.
“Huge numbers” of violent hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and intersex people take place around the world, and official statistics are “probably just the tip of the iceberg.”
That’s according to Charles Radcliffe of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), speaking the day after what the UN Secretary-General described as a “horrific attack” on a LGBT nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Authorities in the US said on Monday that 49 people had died and 53 were injured during the shooting rampage by a gunman identified as Omar Mateen, a US citizen, of Afghan descent.
Charles Radcliffe told Matthew Wells that the attack bore all the signs of a premeditated hate-crime.
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