Grand opening of the Child- and Adolescent Research Center in Stockholm

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Ribbon cutting.
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Professors NIls Lindefors and David Mataix-Cols assessing the neurodevelopment of a random toddler.

Today the Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) Research Center in Stockholm at Gävlegatan 22 had its grand opening. It is so nice to see the rise of CAP research at Karolinska Institutet!

Ny artikel: Om patologiskt samlande i Läkartidningen

Volen Ivanov och Christian Rück skriver i veckans nummer av Läkartidningen om patologisk samlande (hoarding). Att samla på saker är ett allmänmänskligt fenomen; studier har visat att 70 procent av barn och 30 procent av vuxna har en samling.
Men ibland kan samlandet ta sig orimliga proportioner och gå över gränsen till det sjukliga. Patologiskt samlande är svårigheter att göra sig av med saker på grund av ett upplevt behov att behålla dem och obehag förknippat med att göra sig av med dem. Symtomen resulterar i att hemmet blir stökigt och överhopat. Tillståndet är svårbehandlat, men vissa lovande resultat finns med läkemedelsbehandling och psykologisk behandling. Troligtvis krävs samordnade insatser från sjukvård, socialtjänst, bostadsbolag etc. Läs mer här.

delano_input_nr01_sp01.PDF, page 1 @ Preflight ( Omslag34_13.ind

New publication: Why does CBT make someone change?

In a new study that is just out in the Journal of  Consulting and Clinical Psychology, researchers led by Brjánn Ljótsson studied how different possible mechanisms of CBT contributed to its efficacy in Irritable Bowel Syndrome. We used parallel process growth mediational analyses (!) to study weekly ratings of gastrointestinal symptom-specific anxiety (GSA) and stress reactivity. Results  showed that only GSA displayed a pattern consistent with a causal model in which change in process preceded and contributed to symptom change.

Ljótsson B, Hesser H, Andersson E, Lindfors P, Hursti T, Rück C, Lindefors N, Andersson G, Hedman E. Mechanisms of Change in an Exposure-Based Treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2013 Jun 10. [Epub ahead of print]

Proud first author Brjánn Ljótsson
Proud first author Brjánn Ljótsson

New publication in JAMA Psychiatry just out on Family Clustering in OCD

A new paper is out using Swedish multigenerational register data showing that the risk for OCD among relatives of OCD probands increased proportionally to the degree of genetic relatedness. Also, partners of people diagnosed with OCD were more likely to have OCD.

David Mataix-Cols, PhD; Marcus Boman, BSc; Benedetta Monzani, MSc; Christian Rück, MD; Eva Serlachius, MD; Niklas Långström, MD; Paul Lichtenstein, PhD. Population-Based, Multigenerational Family Clustering Study of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. JAMA Psychiatry. 2013;():1-9.

http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1689532

Opening cermony for our new freezer

Blue heart = OK.
Blue heart = OK.
Alexandra Tylec, Monica Hellberg and Nils Lindefors.
Alexandra Tylec, Monica Hellberg and Nils Lindefors.

Our new Thermo Scientific Formas 88000 series freezer entered service yesterday with Prof Nils Lindefors cutting the red ribbon. The freezer now contains DNA of about 1500 individuals treated with internetbased-CBT and to a lesser extent RNA and plasma.

The Bror Gadelius memorial fund awards Erik Andersson grant

Erik Andersson has been awarded a grant from the Bror Gadelius memorial fund for our D-cycloserine study in OCD. Who was Bror Gadelius? Well, for someone working on a thesis on OCD like Erik Andersson it is interesting to know that Bror Gadelius, once a leading Swedish psychiatrist born in 1862 wrote his thesis on obsessions (Om Tvångstankar och dermed beslägtade fenomen) in 1896. Gadelius became a professor at Karolinska Institutet in 1903 and worked hard to reform mental health care including bringing psychiatric wards to the main hospitals instead of more remote asylums.

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