76 BJPSYCH INTERNATIONAL VOLUME 12 NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2015 to link clinical neuropsychiatry with quantitative neuro biology. This does not mean that drugs are the only answer to treatment. Targeted psycho­ logical treatments such as cognitive–behavioural therapy can use the brain’s capacity for neuro­ plasticity to remedy or restore communications within neurocircuits in some psychiatric condi­ tions. Insel, T. R. & Bruce, N. C. (2015) Brain disorders? Precisely. Science, 348, 499. doi: 10.1126/science.aab2358 Brain grey matter and blood groups We know of some drugs such as lithium increas­ing brain grey matter but did you know that our own blood group, ABO type, has a major role to play? There is evidence that people with blood group AB have a higher incidence of cognitive deficits. This led researchers to examine possible differences in grey matter volumes between people with blood group O and those with other blood groups; none of the participants had cognitive impairment or neurodegeneration. They found that those with blood group O had larger volumes of grey matter in the posterior ventral portion of the cerebellum (areas responsible for sensori­ motor information) as well as in the temporal and limbic regions, including the left hippocampus. These findings point to a neuroprotective role for the blood group O alleles and suggest that blood group types are relevant to the development of the nervous system as well as the ageing process. De Marco, M. & Vepperi, A. (2015) ‘O’ blood type is associated with larger grey-matter volumes in the cerebellum. Brain Research Bulletin, 116, 1–6. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2015.05.005 Mental illness and creativity – is there a link? The connections between creativity and mental illness were made as far back as ancient Greece and Aristotle, and it has fascinated people for centuries. The authors of this study tried to examine this possible connection using scientific methods. They investigated whether common genetic variants that affect risk for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder also underlie advantageous cognitive traits. They used polygenic scores or cumu lative genetic profiles from across the genome and generated separate polygenic risk scores for schizo phrenia and bipolar disorder on non­ Icelandic populations. They then tested the ability of polygenic scores to predict the corresponding disease in 86 292 people in Iceland and looked for an association between these polygenic scores and creativity. Creativity was defined as individuals belonging to national artistic societies of actors, dancers, musicians, visual artists and writers. Both the schizophrenia and bipolar disorder polygenic risk scores were associated with creativity. The authors conclude that creativity may increase the risk of psychiatric disorder. Nevertheless, in the absence of other important pathogenic factors it is unlikely that our talented artists or writers will experience mental illness. Power, R. A., et al (2015) Polygenic scores for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder predict creativity. Nature Neuroscience (online). doi: 10.1038/nn.4040 Stranded and drowned in the Mediterranean – who cares? Almost daily we hear of boats full of people capsizing on the way to Europe. Italy and Greece are constantly on the alert, fishing out desperate people from overcrowded boats reach­ ing their waters. About 1500 people are thought to have perished in the Mediterranean between January and May 2015. The survivors face an uncertain future. European citizens are facing the biggest test of their humanity and sense of respon­ sibility to the rest of the world. Many European countries need to reflect on their colonial past and more recent involvement in Africa and the Middle East and ponder over how they became so affluent and powerful. With power comes responsibility. Unfortunately, globalisation has failed to decrease the gap between the rich and the poor in the world. It seems to serve the economic interests of the powerful, with no real benefit to those who are weak. Is this a matter for doctors to consider? Pandora welcomes readers’ views. A beautiful mind It is with great sadness that Pandora reports the death of the famous mathematician John Forbes Nash. His remarkable research has been applied to a number of important areas, including macro­ economics, arms control and political science. He shared the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994 and was on his way from a ceremony in Oslo, where he had been awarded the 2015 Abel Prize, accom­ panied by his wife, Alicia de Larde Nash, when their taxi crashed, killing them both, on 23 May. John Nash became more widely known by the film A Beautiful Mind, which was based on his life and which portrayed him battling with delusions and hallucinations. However, psychiatric treatment enabled him to continue his high­calibre work despite his illness (schizophrenia). His life shows both doctors and patients that mental illness, even one as serious as schizophrenia, can be controlled (he was treated with powerful anti psychotic drugs) and its presence should not be an end to one’s aspirations. BJPsych International’s blog http://www.bjpinternationalblog.org Now features: Reflection on MRCPsych examination in the UK Viviane Ngwompo There is no mental health without caregivers Jens Peter Dam Eckardt Jensen Child psychiatry in Iran Hadi Shaker Naeeni Absence of humanities in China’s training of psychiatrists Jie Li, Maosheng Ran and Cecilia Lai-Wan Chan My first 100 private outpatients in India – the experience of a psychiatrist trained in the UK Sundararajan Rajagopal Opportunities to improve prison mental healthcare Annie Bartlett and Gillian McGauley Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. 06 Apr 2021 at 02:24:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use. https://www.cambridge.org/core 77BJPSYCH INTERNATIONAL VOLUME 12 NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2015 Volume 12 Number 3 August 2015 BJPsych International (Print) ISSN 2056-4740 BJPsych International (Online) ISSN 2058-6264 Subscriptions BJPsych International is published four times a year. For subscriptions non-members of the College should contact: Publications Subscriptions Department, Maney Publishing, Suite 1C, Joseph’s Well, Hanover Walk, Leeds LS3 1AB, UK tel. +44 (0)113 243 2800; fax +44 (0)113 386 8178; email subscriptions@maney.co.uk For subscriptions in North America please contact: Maney Publishing North America, 875 Massachusetts Avenue, 7th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA tel. 866 297 5154 (toll free); fax 617 354 6875; email maney@maneyusa.com Annual subscription rates for print issues for 2015 (four issues, post free) are £35.00 (US$63.00). Single issues are £10.00 (US$18.00), post free. Design © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2015. For copyright enquiries, please contact the Director of Publications and Website, Royal College of Psychiatrists. All rights reserved. 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The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements for the American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Notice to contributors BJPsych International publishes articles dealing with mental health policy, promotion and legislation, the administration and management of mental health services, and training in psychiatry around the world. The journal aims to be a platform for work that is generally underrepresented in the literature, especially psychiatry in low- and middle-income countries. Manuscripts for publication must be submitted online at http://submit-ip.rcpsych.org (general enquiries may be addressed to ip@rcpsych.ac.uk). Manuscripts accepted for publication are copy-edited to improve readability and to ensure conformity with house style. Authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to contribute; our copy-editor will make any necessary corrections, in consultation with the authors. Contributions are accepted for publication on the condition that their substance has not been published or submitted elsewhere. Once a paper is accepted for publication, all its authors are required to disclose any potential conflict of interest. Completion of the form developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors for this purpose (http://www.icmje.org/ coi_disclosure.pdf) is mandatory. About our peer-review process All articles submitted are reviewed by a minimum of two peers to ensure that their content, length and structure are appropriate for the journal. Not all papers will be accepted for publication, but our peer-review process is intended to assist our authors in producing articles for worldwide dissemination. Wherever possible, our expert panel of assessors will help authors to improve their papers to maximise their impact when published. Contributions to the blog Readers are encouraged to contribute online at http://www.BJPsychInternationalblog.org Editor David Skuse Deputy Editor George Ikkos Founding Editor Hamid Ghodse Staff Jonica Thomas Andrew Morris (Head of Publications) Editorial board Senior Editorial Advisors Rachel Jenkins UK John Cox UK Associate Editors Michel Botbol (Europe) France Nick Bouras (Special Papers) UK Santosh Chaturvedi (Indian Subcontinent) India Manu Dhadhpale (Country Profiles) India David Jimenez (Media and South America) UK Kelly Lai (South-East Asia) Hong Kong Nasser Loza (Middle East) Egypt Daniel Maughan (Sustainability) UK Olufemi Olugbile (Africa) Nigeria Eleni Palazidou (Pandora’s Box) UK Dr Ian Soosay (Oceania) New Zealand Other members Katy Briffa UK Jorge Calderon Chile Rakesh Chadda India George Christodoulou Greece Anna Datta New Zealand Oluwole Famuyiwa UK Stephen Kisely Australia Marinos Kyriakopoulos UK Gholam Reza Mir-Sepassi Iran Hellme Najim UK David Ndetei Kenya Sean O’Domhnaill Ireland Sundararajan Rajagopal India Mohamed Omar Salem UAE Samuel Stein UK Mission of BJPsych International We address themes that have real practical relevance to supporting patients, with a particular, but not exclusive, focus on the needs of low- and middle-income countries as well as the mental health needs of the poor and socially excluded in more developed countries. Contributors who can provide examples of innovative practice, which could be emulated elsewhere at minimal cost, are especially welcome, as are papers on public mental health. Open access Online access to BJPsych International is unrestricted; use of its content is governed by an Open Access Licence Agreement. Blog http://www.BJPsychInternationalblog.org Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BJPsychInternational Twitter @ BJPsychInt Forthcoming international events 18–22 September 2016 International Association for Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions World Congress 2016 Calgary, Canada Website http://www.iacapap2016.org/ The International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP) hosts its World Congress every two years. The mission of the 2016 Congress is to bring together children’s mental health professionals to exchange and present scientific research and information for the betterment of child and adolescent mental health globally, nationally and regionally. In addition, the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry will hold its 36th annual conference jointly with IACAPAP 2016. The theme of the 2016 Congress is ‘Fighting Stigma, Promoting Resiliency and Positive Mental Health’. 18–22 November 2016 World Psychiatric Association International Congress Cape Town, South Africa Website http://www.wpacapetown2016.org.za The Congress theme, ‘Psychiatry: Integrative Care for the Community’, is intended to explore concepts, controversies and consequences of psychiatry’s responsibility and accountability to society in terms of the scope of practice and of what can be considered as psychiatry’s social contract. The key concepts will be: integration (how to integrate the developing scope of current psychiatric practice); environment (the more important questions on medicine and the medical profession being posed now, in the early 21st century, are about the best ways for doctors to contribute in a world which is changing exponentially); the scope of psychiatric practice; social contract (the series of reciprocal rights and duties, privileges and obligations); multiple stakeholders. BJPsych International Volume 12 Research Supplement, May 2015 The research Supplement is freely available online at http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/publications/journals/ipinfo1. aspx. It feature the following papers: Development of a psychiatric liaison service in Rawalpindi, Pakistan Ayesha Minhas, Keith G. Bender and Fareed A. Minhas The effect of aerobic exercise in the maintenance treatment of depression P. Majumder, I. Sharma, P. Vostanis and C. Bone Scaling up mental healthcare in the Republic of Niger: priorities for and barriers to service improvement Alison Hwong, Djibo Maiga Douma, Soumana Zamo and Julian Eaton Evaluation of undergraduate psychiatry teaching in Malawi Amy E. Lindsay and Stephen Byers Hospital doctors’ management of psychological problems at a Nigerian tertiary health institution Baba A. Issa, Abdullahi D. Yussuf, Olatunji A. Abiodun and Ganiyu T. Olanrewaju Mental health e-supervision for primary care doctors in Sudan using the WHO mhGAP Intervention Guide Anne Aboaja, Puja Myles and Peter Hughes The WHO mhGAP Intervention Guide for people with intellectual disability: the Sri Lankan experience Rohit Gumber, Shweta Gangavati, Sabyasachi Bhaumik, Sherva Cooray, Kiran Purandare, Jayan Mendis and Chamila Abeywickrema Acceptability and challenges of implementing the NICE guidelines for schizophrenia in Lagos, Nigeria Adeniran Okewole, Mobolaji Dada, Adefemi Adeoye, Kehinde Lawal and Taiwo Oduguwa Mental health research in the Arab world: an update Elie G. Karam and Lynn A. Itani Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. 06 Apr 2021 at 02:24:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use. https://www.cambridge.org/core