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Assessment of a cognitive style was made according to Rosenberg Scale, Hopelessness Scale HS-20 and Automatique Thoughts Questionnaire ATQ 30, assessment of the amount of received supportaccording to Cohen's ISEL. Results: The presented study revealed that, in both groups of patients, a thinking style is disturbed and that there is a link between a cognitive style and the perception of the level of received support. The link was stronger in the group of patients with unipolar affective disorder. In both groups correlations concerning the emotional support were the highest. Conclusions: The most important therapeutic implication of the obtained results is confirmation or emphasis of the existence, in the therapy of affective disorders, a common field for cognitive-behavioral therapy and psycho-social interventions. According to shown correlations an improvement in functioning on one field may positively influence other.

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Methods: e-STAR is a secure, web-based, international, longterm observational study of schizophrenia patients who commence a new antipsychotic drug. PS was applied to adjust for baseline differences in patients who received RLAI or oral (atypical or conventional) antipsychotics to compare all-cause discontinuation rates, hospitalisation parameters, and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). Results: Data from 1,332 (83%) patients who initiated RLAI and 268 (17%) who initiated a new oral antipsychotic are available. Significant raw baseline differences existed for hospitalisation parameters, unemployment and time since diagnosis, each being more prevalent in the RLAI group. Nevertheless, a significantly greater proportion of patients remained on RLAI at 12 months (84%) than on oral antipsychotics (60.4%) (p<0.0001); this benefit persisted after application of PS. The mean number of days hospitalised at 12 months was 14.3 days lower in the RLAI group (12.9 days, n¼433) than in the oral antipsychotic group (27.2 days, n¼62) increasing to 19.1 days, significantly in favour of RLAI, when PS was applied (p<0.01 vs oral). The probability of being in hospital was lower in RLAI patients (OR 0.69) and decreased further after PS (OR 0.57)(p¼0.075). GAF scores improved more in the RLAI group than the oral group at 12 months, with and without PS, but not significantly. Conclusions: Although patients initiating RLAI were more severely ill, they had fewer hospitalisations and were less likely than oral antipsychotic patients to discontinue treatment.

Background: Psychotropic drugs including some of the new generation of antidepressants and antipsychotics can have important effects on the cardiovascular system including changes in blood pressure and effects on the QTc interval. It is good practice to check ECG and blood pressure (BP) before the administration of certain psychotropic agents. It has been suggested that Psychiatrists should be able to interpret ECG's. Aims and Method: The aim of our study was to assess the facilities available in the Psychiatric clinic to check blood pressure and arrange ECG's. We were also interested to find out whether psychiatrists were confident in interpreting ECG's and clarify any associated training requirements. So, we carried out an anonymous postal survey of 260 consultant psychiatrists in the North West of England. Data were analysed with the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 13 for windows. Results: 132 consultants returned the completed questionnaires giving a response rate of 50.7%. A majority of respondents (59%) felt that it was difficult to arrange for ECG in the clinic and worryingly an even higher percentage (61.4%) lacked facilities to check blood pressure. Only a small minority (12.9%) felt confident about identifying QT prolongation on ECG. An overwhelming percentage of respondents (81.8%) respondents felt that doctors working in psychiatry should have regular training in interpreting ECG's. Conclusions: This survey highlights the lack of facilities in mental health clinics to check blood pressure and arrange simple medical procedures like ECG. It also highlights the need for regular ECG training for psychiatrists