Substance abuse is common issue in youth and may influence youth's suicide thoughts or actions. It can lead to social isolation, low self-esteem, loss of work or school, estrangement from family and friends – all these may create a core of stresses that may lead to suicidal tendencies.Analysis addictive factors correlating with occurrence of suicidal thoughts and behaviours among adolescents at the age of 18–20.Study was based on authorial, previously validated questionnaire, included 16 questions about suicidal thoughts. Questionnaires were filled by adolescents (age 18–20) of 21 Secondary Schools in Katowice.From the group of 965 adolescents, 28.8% had suicidal thoughts. From all respondents: 31.3% smoked, 92.7% drunk alcohol, 16.0% used legal hights and 30.9% – drugs; 35.8% of smoking adolescents had suicidal thoughts. In group of non-smoked adolescents – 25.6%. There was statistical significant difference (P = 0.0012) between these groups. Among adolescents who drunk alcohol, 28.8% had suicidal thoughts. In the group of non –drinking alcohol adolescents – 27.9%. There was no statistical significant differences (P = 0.88233) between these groups. There were 43.7% adolescents with suicidal thoughts who used legal hights. In the group of non-users of legal hights, 26.0% adolescents had suicidal thoughts.Adolescents that are using examined stimulants are in the group risk of suicidal thoughts and autodestructive behaviours. Results show the need of psychiatric and psychotherapeutic support that is aiming to prevent suicides and autodestructive behaviours in this group. Screening questionnaires that are assessing the problem of addiction within the adolescent may help to identity persons with suicidal tendencies.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The aim of the study was to analyze the prevalence of suicidal tendencies among adolescents at the age of 18-20.

Modafinil belongs to a class of wakefulness promoting agents. It is widely used in the treatment of sleep disorders. Although narcolepsy is the main indication for its use, hypersomnia from obstructive sleep apnoea and shift work sleep disorder are also indications in some countries. Due to its efficacy in the treatment of hypersomnia, the drug has also been clinically assessed in patients with mental disorders to reduce the severity of symptoms such as fatigue, hypersomnolence and cognitive impairment. The aim of this paper is to present the potential clinical applications of modafinil in the treatment of selected mental disorders. The use of modafinil in depressive disorders to enhance the treatment applied may improve mood, anhedonia and apathy, fatigue, hypersomnolence and executive cognitive impairment. In severe episodes of bipolar depression, modafinil may improve depressive symptoms, fatigue, and hypersomnia. Despite the potential risk of manic symptoms during modafinil treatment, recent studies show no increased risk of switching from depressive to manic phase. In schizophrenia, there is no evidence for the beneficial effect of modafinil on the negative symptoms, but improvement in selected cognitive functions accompanied by exacerbation of psychotic symptoms was observed in some patients. Furthermore, modafinil is used as an alternative to standard therapy in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Despite lacking evidence for the efficacy of modafinil in cocaine addiction, an analysis of selected studies indicates a potential benefit in the form of maintained abstinence. Modafinil is well tolerated and safe in most cases. The risk of dependence is lower than with other psychostimulants.

Introduction: Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by loss of cognitive skills. The level of cognitive impairment may affect the degree of impulsiveness, which is defined as a constant willingness to take risks, unplanned activities, rapid decision-making. Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the correlation between the level of cognitive functioning and impulsivity. Methods: The total number of 32 patients (8 female and 15 male) were hospitalized for schizophrenia. They were examined with the Verbal Fluency Test , Trail Making Test (TMT A and B) and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11a). The results of the BIS-11a were converted to the BIS-11. Results: The mean age of the patients was 34.9 (± 8.75). The average time from the end of education-10 (± 8.4) years. A higher degree of correlation between abnormal responses in Verbal Fluency (parts measuring phonemic verbal fluency) and impulsiveness (r = 0.61, p = 0.04) was found. These correlation referred also to the impulsiveness resulting from the lack of planning (r = 0.67, p = 0.01) , attention impulsiveness (r = 0.46, p = 0.04) and motor impulsiveness (r = 0.48, p = 0.03). The correlation between TMT and BIS (r =-0.1 part, Part B r =-0.25) was not significant (p> 0.05). Conclusion: The above results are preliminary and the research project will be continued.

Until 2010, modafinil, which is a wakefulness promoting agent, was approved in Europe for a wider spectrum of indications, such as narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, obstructive sleep apnoea and shift work sleep disorder. Currently, it is registered by the European Medicines Agency only for the treatment of narcolepsy, and is used as an off-label therapy in other sleep disorders. This paper presents the efficacy of modafinil in selected sleep disorders. Modafinil remains first-choice treatment for narcolepsy. It reduces the frequency of bouts of inadvertent sleep and nap episodes, the duration and intensity of daytime hypersomnolence, and also significantly improves the quality of life of patients. However, it is associated with only a slight improvement in cataplexy and other symptoms. In idiopathic hypersomnia, modafinil reduces the frequency of naps and unintentional sleep episodes, as well as subjective sleepiness measured with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Furthermore, the drug is used to treat hypersomnia from obstructive sleep apnoea in the case of lack of improvement despite optimal positive airway pressure therapy. Modafinil is also approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of shift work sleep disorder. The drug has been shown to reduce the level of somnolence, but it has not been found to reduce unintentional sleep episodes, reported mistakes or accidents at work. Given the strong negative impact of hypersomnolence on performance at work and school, the risk of accidents and the quality of life, the risk-benefit assessment of modafinil often justifies its use in the treatment of hypersomnolence also outside the approved indications.