Serum-antibodies against an organ specific CNS antigen as well as against serotonin and gangliosides (Gm 1) were analysed by ELISA in 34 patients with schizophrenia, ten patients with schizoaffective psychosis and 13 patients with major depressive disorder. Sixty-two patients with various rheumatic disorders and 32 blood donors were included in the study as controls. Sixty-two percent of the 13 patients with major depressive disorder had antibodies to serotonin and 69% to gangliosides, whereas antibody positive sera was only found in 38% of the 34 patients with schizophrenia. The same antibodies were found in only 6% (antibodies to serotonin) and 13% (antibodies to gangliosides) of the 32 blood donors and in a similar frequency in patients with schizoaffective psychosis. Organ specific antibodies to CNS-antigen could not be detected in the psychiatric patient group at any significant level. It is speculated that auto-immune reactions towards a serotonin receptor may be involved in the etiopathogenesis of major depressive disorder.

Social skill training is aimed at not only preventing rehospitalization of chronic psychiatric patients by maintaining them in the community, but also to help patients have a good quality of life. We address the question of how social skill training could improve the quality of life of chronic mentally ill patients. A theoretical model, including environmental as well as individual considerations, indicates which psychological factors could be both targets of social skill training interventions and determinatives of patients subjective quality of life. The clinical and research implications of this theoretical model are discussed.

The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of 62 patients, who were consecutively admitted to medical or surgical departments in a general hospital in Barcelona, as a result of attempting suicide by jumping from buildings were investigated. All patients met DSM III criteria for at least one psychiatric diagnosis. The most frequent diagnosis was schizophrenia (40%), followed by depression (24%). The attempts made by depressed patients tended to be more lethal. Most of the schizophrenics presented active psychotic symptoms at the time of attempting suicide.

This study presents the principal component analysis of Zuckerman’s Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS form IV - 72 items). The results of the analysis of the French form support the existence of the four distinct dimensions of sensation seeking identified by Zuckerman, and replicated in a large number of studies. On the basis of this structure, an abbreviated form of the scale (40 items) has been constructed. It ressembles Zuckerman’s SSS form V. Attention is drawn to items that do not load significantly on the expected factor. The shorter form should be more useful in following-up research on sensation seeking in psychopathology.

Chronically stressed adult male Balb C mice were submitted to the tail suspension test. Chronic immobilization stress (6 h/d for 14 consecutive days) induced a significant reduction in immobility time when compared to non-stressed controls. Pretreatment with LY 53857, a serotonin 5HT2 antagonist, and IPS 339, a selective beta-2 adrenoceptor blocker, reversed immobility time to the levels of non-stressed controls. Chronic administration of corticosterone (100 mg/kg for 7 d) did not modify immobility time as compared to saline treated controls. It is suggested that both serotonergic and adrenergic pathways in the brain may participate in the stress-induced changes occurring in the tail suspension test response and that corticosterone does not appear to play a role in this process.

Three cases of akathisia-induced impulsive suicide attempts are reported. In all three cases the patients admitted that the suicidal ideas occurred suddently. The suicidal attempts may be a result of neuroleptic – induced akathisia as they disappeared as soon as the akathisia was treated.

In an open prospective study, the antidepressive effects of the selective and reversible MAO-A inhibitor, brofaromine, were investigated in nine endogenous depressed patients, who had failed to respond to cyclic antidepressants. In three patients a clinically relevant improvement was observed, although for the total group, no statistically significant treatment effect could be demonstrated. In two subjects, postural hypotension and sleep disturbances occurred temporarily.