Evidence indicates that clozapine is effective in the management of treatment-resistant schizophrenia and in affective psychoses. To examine whether affective components within the boundaries of the schizophrenia spectrum imply specific psychopathological characteristics of response to treatment, 60 patients with a treatment-resistant schizophrenia spectrum disorder who were treated with clozapine (75-600 mg/d) were evaluated in a naturalistic, open, follow-up study. The group comprised 41 patients with and 19 without bipolar features (43 men and 17 women, mean age 34.3 years). Patients were evaluated with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) during the first year of treatment. The results show a significant improvement in scores in both groups (P < 0.001) compared with the baseline evaluation. A higher percentage of responders was seen in the 'affective' group. No typical psychopathological characteristic or symptom cluster predicting the response to treatment was identified. During the study, 15 patients discontinued treatment: six for lack of efficacy, five for non-compliance and four for adverse events. The study confirms the efficacy of clozapine in the treatment of schizophrenia spectrum disorders, particularly in patients with bipolar features.

IntroductionOne of the characteristics of Karl Jaspers approach to clinical practice was the importance he gave to the subjective experience by the patient. Patient's self-observation is one of the most important sources of knowledge of the psychic life of the patient. The lack of awareness of illness is quite common in psychotic spectrum.AimThe aim of this paper was to examine and compare a group of patients diagnosed with psychosis disorder with another group with other mental disorders, in relation to their mental and emotional suffering,SampleThe sample was composed by 118 subjects with both sexes. It was divided into two groups: patients with a diagnosis of psychotic disorder and another one with other mental disorders.InstrumentInventory SCL-90-R, which evaluating a wide range of psychological and psychopathological symptoms was used.Statistics analysisTwo groups were compared with respect to perceived psychopathological symptoms.ResultsStatistically significant differences were observed between both groups. Patients with psychotic disorders showed lower scores in most clinical scales. It reflects less emotional suffering and psychological distress perceived in this group against the other. It could be related to the lack of awareness of illness by psychotic patient.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Background: Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is characterized by an excessive, obsessive concern with healthy eating generating psychological complications and even malnutrition at a caloric and proteinic level. Current evidence suggests that people with greater food knowledge are the most likely to be affected, placing nutrition students as a populational risk group. Since there are no nationwide studies dealing with orthorexia nervosa in this risk group, the present pilot study intends to identify risk factors for orthorexia nervosa in a sample of Nutrition and Dietetics students in Chile. Method: a descriptive cross-sectional pilot study was done on 90 Nutrition and Dietetics students at a specific school, representing 70% of its population. The ORTHO-11-ES instrument was applied to determine ON risk, along with consulting about attitudinal, physical-clinical and social variables. Association was determined in GraphPad PRISM 8.0®. This study was approved by the university Ethics Committee based on the Helsinki Declaration. Results: 23.3% of the studied population was at risk of suffering ON. Associated variables were being in the second year of their major (OR 2.22), coming from a charter school (OR 3.00) and cohabitation being limited to ≤1 person (OR 2.47). Curiously, declared physical activity limits are associated to the risk of suffering ON (Sedentary OR 2.42, Heavy OR 3.53), as well as time spent on the social network Instagram (<1 hour OR 2.77, >3 hours OR 1.80). Conclusions: There is an ON risk prevalence of 23.3% in the present pilot sample under study, indicating that years of study, cohabitation, secondary educational establishment, physical activity and Instagram use constitute associated factors for the studied condition. Some results vary from international evidence, describing a dual nature in the variables for Instagram time and declared physical activity for ON risk. This study needs replication in more representative samples and longitudinal character with control groups which can confirm the studied elements as ON risk factors.