A questionnaire on ECT, tapping altitudes, opinions and usage, was mailed to all medical members of the Indian Psychiatric Society whose addresses were known; 263 (28.8%) responded. This paper, the first in a series that presents the results of the survey, provides demographic data on the respondents and covers issues relating to the administration of ECT. Specific issues discussed include the ECT personnel, location of the ECT facility, certain ECT prescription patterns, psychiatrist-patient interactions on suggestion of ECT, pre-ECT investigations, frequency of administration of ECT, use of regressive ECT and maintenance ECT, length of the ECT course across diagnoses, and use of psychotropic drugs in relation to the ECT course.

A very high prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among the persons attempting or committing suicide has been observed by several investigators (Barraclough et al, 1974; Beck et al, 1990; Drake et al, 1985). In a study of attempted suicide Morgan et al. (1975) reported neurotic depression in 52%, personality disorder in 29% functional psychosis in 12% and alcohol addiction in 10%. Silver et al. (1971) found 80% of the attempters having depressive features. Likewise, Barracloughf1974) found 93% of the suicide being mentally ill, depression accounting for 70%.

The Luria Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) was administered on a group of 40 schizophrenic patients, 30 brain damaged subjects and 30 normal controls. The data were analysed using SPSS software. Discriminant function analysis results suggested overall hit rate of 77%. On MANOVA all the clinical scales of the LNNB were found to discriminate significantly amongst the groups. The schizophrenic patients performed better than brain-damaged but had poor performance in comparison to normal controls. The findings indicated high discriminative accuracy and clinical effectiveness of the LNNB in Indian population.

Out of 17 schizophrenic and 14 manic patients diagnosed according to ICD-10, 11 and 9 patients respectively developed acute dystonia following a single intravenous injection of 40mg haloperidol. The results are not statistically significant (p>0.05) suggesting that monies and schizophrenics are equally vulnerable to develop neuroleptic - induced acute dystonia.

Tlie same team of workers surveyed a rural and an urban sample of the same tribe (Santal) by the same method. It was found that urbanization had little effect on the total mental morbidity. But stress-dependent disorders were commoner in the urban tribe.

The mental make up of assassins or assailants of V.I.P's. especially by persons of impaired mental capacity are of not only inherently interesting from a historical perspective but also of forensic psychiatric value. The attitude towards the care of the criminally mentally ill has been shaped by these incidents.

Consequent to the ICD-10, schizophrenic patients with illness duration of less than one month will now be diagnosed as acute and transient psychosis. On the basis of the hospital records of 891 first admission patients, the acute schizophrenic patients (n =253) were compared on demographic and clinical characteristics with the rest of the patients (n = 548) under 295 of the ICD-9 diagnosis. Logistic discriminant function analysis on 21 variables achieved 88% overall correct classification rate, 86% for short duration group and 89% for long duration group. Vie significance of the results is discussed.

Fourty four patients of DSM-HJ-R diagnosis of alcohol withdrawal syndrome were assessed on CIWA-A scale. Most common withdrawal symptoms were tremors, sweating, arvdety, agitation, headache and flushing. Mostly symptoms subsided within four days. However, in half of the patients the symptoms like tremors, tactile disturbances, anxiety and headache persisted even beyond eight days. Usefulness of CIWA-A in alcohol withdrawal assessment is discussed.

One hundred and fifteen cases of alcohol dependence syndrome admitted during a two year period in a zonal referral hospital were studied. Vie majority of the subject were between the age of 30 to 50 years and had more than 10 year's history of alcohol abuse. 19.26% of the subjects had to be invalided out of service. 66.09% remained under various categories of observation after the treatment. At the end of two year's follow-up only 12% of them had recovered completely. Preventive measures in the light of state policies are discussed.

A study was conducted on 30 wives of alcoholics using Orford-Guthrie's 'coping with drinking' questionnaire. Tlie commonest coping behaviour reported was discord, avoidance, indulgence and fearful withdrawal while marital breakdown, taking special action, assertion and sexual withdrawal were least frequent. There was no significant correlation between the coping behaviours and the variables like duration of marriage, duration of husband's alcoholism, socio-economic and educational status. Implications of these findings are discussed and a cross cultural comparison is made.

An epidemic psychogenic disorder called "Jhin-Jhini, which broke out in a village in West Bengal, is described. Tlie social anthropological perspective is explored.

With the recognition of the inadequacy of psychiatric services in India, maximinig health care delivery has become apriority. Tliere is therefore need to concentrate upon undergraduate psychiatric training as means to increase the availabe numbers of professionals equipped to treat psychiatric disorders (Channabasavanna, 1986). Towards this end the present M.B.B.S. Psychiatric Training Programme of Unit I Department of Psychiatiy Christian Medical College was evaluated, mainly with regard to gain in theoretical and clinical skills, but also with regard to change in attitude.

The authors compared the serum acetylcholinesterase level in the patients of brown sugar dependence and the normal volunteers. Significantly lower level of serum acetylcholinesterase was found in patients of brown sugar dependence.

Seventy two opiate dependent patients were admitted in de-addiction ward for detoxification. Twenty five patients (36.2%) left or were discharged prematurely and hence called non-completers. Demographic features, drug use characteristics and severity of withdrawal were found unrelated to the attrition.

To study the peripheral blood flow in patients with panic attacks during "Stress" conditions, nine patients with history of panic attacks were subjected to mental stress of arithmetic calculation and room-air voluntary hyperventilation. Finger Pulse Volume (FPV) was significantly altered during the period following mental activity in untreated patients when compared to controls and patients under treatment. There was also an increase in FPV in untreated patients at rest and during recovery after mental stress when compared to the treated patients.

Changes in Fingure-Pulse Volume (FPV) during CO2 inhalation were studied in patients diagnosed as having Anxiety disorder with history of panic attacks. Waxing and Waning of the FPV was observed in all the cases after CO2 inhalation, and this pattern was significantly intensified during panic attacks during the study. The significance and the mechanism underlying the same is discussed.

A lady who had repeated spontaneous pathological laughter after cerebral infarction is described. The role of right hemispheric damage in its causation is discussed.

Childhood sexual abuse may have a significant impact on psychological well being in later life. In this report, we describe 5 women who had a variety of psychological symptoms that were related to childhood sexual trauma. These factors were explored during psychotherapy. Persistent feeling of depression, anxiety and problems in socio-sexual functioning, were prominent. Therapy varied from counselling and ventilation, to prolonged dynamically oriented therapy.

A case is described of bilateral frontal lobe CT Scan abnormality associated with ECT in an adolescent. Possible causes and risk factors are discussed.