Evidence-Based Relationship Factors in the Diagnosis & Treatment of Mood and Psychotic Disorders

Dear Colleagues,

Mood and psychotic disorders are common types of mental disorders and one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. They lead to cognitive and social functioning impairments, negative impact on the quality of life, and higher suicidality and mortality rates. All this entails high costs for patients, families and the society. Currently, pharmacotherapy represents the most widely used treatment option, but growing evidence suggests that although it is effective in the treatment of acute episodes, medication alone does not help many patients achieve functional recovery. Psychotherapies, especially in combination with pharmacotherapy, are effective in producing behavioral and lifestyle changes essential for relapse prevention, long-term maintenance and promoting positive function (vs. symptom reduction) in people with mood or psychotic disorders, yet there is still much to improve in our understanding, management and treatment of these disorders from a psychological perspective. Waiting for progress in personalized psychiatric treatment approaches that could lead to precise biological interventions, implementing evidence-based psychological assessment and treatment for mood and psychotic disorders is essential to reduce their burden at the individual, societal and public health levels. An efficient assessment process is essential because it leads to a more accurate diagnosis, better treatment matching, increased patient engagement, and enhanced outcomes. However, to be fully effective evidence-based assessment should be ‘humanized’ because both diagnostic and psychotherapeutic processes take place within the scope of the patient–clinician relationship. The technical and relational components of the latter are constantly and reciprocally interacting and the relationship accounts for process and outcome variance in and of itself.

This special issue of the Journal of Clinical Medicine (JCM) focuses on the current state of knowledge on the role of the relationship elements in the care of (child, adolescent and adult) patients with mood or psychotic disorders and their families.  New research papers and reviews are welcome to this issue.  Papers dealing with methodological aspects of an evidence-based approach to assessment and either pharmacological, psychotherapeutic or combined treatment are also welcome.

Our goal with this Special Issue is to bring the perspectives and methods of psychology, including your work, to a new audience, with the open access amplifying the ability for the information to be shared rapidly through new connections in the web of collaboration and science.

Dr. Alberto Stefana
Dr. Anna Van Meter
Prof. Dr. Eric A. Youngstrom
Prof. Dr. Eduard Vieta
Guest Editors

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• mood disorder
• depression
• bipolar disorder
• psychotic disorder
• schizophrenia
• diagnostic relationship
• therapeutic relationship