Mohammadreza Shalbafan

Iran University of Medical Sciences · Psychiatry

This study addresses the challenge of differentiating between bipolar disorder II (BD II) and borderline personality disorder (BPD), which is complicated by overlapping symptoms. To overcome this, a multimodal machine learning approach was employed, incorporating both electroencephalography (EEG) patterns and cognitive abnormalities for enhanced cl...

Background The effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model is a widely used theoretical model to measure stress in the workplace. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between ERI and three common mental disorders: major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Method...

Introduction Self-stigma towards neurotic disorders is one the main barriers in help seeking and treatment behaviors and hugely impacts the patients’ quality of life. Insight is one of the factors affecting the internalized stigma. Therefore, the aim of this study is to find the relationship between self-stigma and insight among neurotic patients....

Background The mental health of medical residents, challenged by their intensive training, is of utmost concern. In light of reported suicides among Iranian medical residents in 2021, this study investigates the factors behind suicidal ideation among medical residents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tehran. Methods This study conducted a cross-sec...

Introduction As the incidence of mental disorders continues to rise, and pharmacy staff can significantly affect the willingness of patients with mental disorders to seek help; we aimed to evaluate the stigmatizing attitude of the pharmacy staff toward these patients in Iran. Methods We conducted this cross-sectional study between April 2020 and D...

Background Mental disorders are accountable for 16% of global disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Therefore, accessible, cost-effective interventions are needed to help provide preventive and therapeutic options. As directors and screenwriters can reach a great audience, they can use their platform to either promote stigma or educate the public...

In this opinion piece that brings the wisdom and experience of a multinational group of adult and addiction psychiatrists, we highlight the different sources of stigma faced by individuals with SUDs and how it impacts treatment-seeking and related outcomes. More importantly, we provide recommendations for holistic interventions to address stigma to...

Introduction Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are widely used for the treatment of various mental disorders. Sexual dysfunction is one of the most common side effects of SSRIs, and often leads to poor adherence and treatment discontinuation. While several strategies have been employed to manage SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction, drug h...

In this opinion letter, we provide a condensed overview of the available literature concerning the intersection of OCD and culture and emphasize the need to customize interventions by factoring in this pertinent aspect.

In summary, despite notable advancements in the deinstitutionalization movement and the incorporation of mental health care into mainstream healthcare systems, the the enduring impact of stigma continues to shape the placement and structure of psychiatric facilities. It is crucial to acknowledge and actively address these persistent stigmatizing in...

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fourth most common mental disorder, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the cornerstone of its pharmacological treatment. About 40-60% of the cases are treatment-refractory, and this makes searching for second-line treatment necessary. 5-Hydroxytryptamine-3 (5-HT3) antagonists are among...

Background Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms, are among the serious mental health challenges that Health Care Workers (HCWs) faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. As these symptoms reduce the mental well-being and effectiveness of HCWs which are followed by poor health outcomes for patients, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analy...

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the cornerstone of psychopharmacology. However, they cause side effects such as sexual dysfunction, leading to the discontinuation of treatment. We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of drug holidays for women experiencing sexual dysfunction Induced by SSRIs other than fluoxetine. This s...

Background: As 40-60% of the patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) do not adequately respond to the first-line treatment, finding an effective second-line treatment is required. Our aim was to assess the efficacy and safety of agomelatine (a selective melatonin receptor agonist and a 5-hydroxytryptamine (HT)2 C antagonist) augmentation...

Background Stigma towards psychiatric patients, negatively affects their adherence to treatment, prolongs the course of disease, and reduces rehabilitation success. The attitudes of health care providers have a substantial effect on the treatment seeking and the outcome of psychiatric patients. Aims To investigate the effect of a stigma reduction...

Objectives: Reboxetine is a potent and selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor that was effective in combination with citalopram for resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This study aims to assess its effectiveness and tolerability in combination with fluoxetine in treating OCD. Methods: In this 2-center, placebo-controlled, and dou...

Introduction: Mental disorders are a significant global burden, with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) being widely used for treatment. However, SSRIs are associated with various side effects, including sexual dysfunction. Common and persistent, these side effects often lead to poor adherence and treatment discontinuation. While sever...

Background: Mental disorders are accountable for 16% of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) worldwide. Therefore, accessible, cost-effective interventions are needed to help provide preventive and therapeutic options. As directors and screenwriters can reach a great audience, they can use their job to either promote stigma or educate the public...

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been considered a psychiatric disorder, the effective pharmacological treatments for which have not been well established. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the efficacy of memantine (10 mg/day) in reducing BPD severity and cognitive impairment. Methods: The BPD patients diagnosed by psycho...

Background: Training and practice in neuropsychiatry varies across the world. However, little is known about the experiences and opinions of early career psychiatrists (ECPs) across different countries regarding neuropsychiatry. Aims and method: To investigate neuropsychiatry training experiences, practices and opinions among ECPs across differe...

Background: This study was conducted to understand and compare the Iranian students’ attitudes toward patients with mental illnesses in different college majors. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, information about students’ attitudes toward patients with mental illnesses was gathered through “The social distancing” and “The dangerousness” que...

The World Psychiatry Exchange Program in Iran is an academic experience we are delighted to share. As two participating early career psychiatrists, a local psychiatry faculty member manager, and the lead founder and international coordinator of the programme, we focus in this article on the unfolding of this new learning experience, the difficultie...

Aim: The main aim of this study was to investigate the additional effects of L-theanine, an amino acid in tea and an analog of glutamate with neuroprotective and anti-depressant properties, on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms in combination with fluvoxamine. Methods: Patients from either sex aged between 18-60 years diagnosed with OC...

Background: As 40-60% of the patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) do not adequately respond to the first-line treatment, finding an effective second-line treatment is required. Our aim was to assess the efficacy and safety of agomelatine (a selective melatonin receptor agonist and a 5-hydroxytryptamine (HT)2C antagonist) augmentation o...

Background: obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fourth most common mental disorder, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the cornerstone of its pharmacological treatment. About 40-60% of the cases are treatment-refractory, and this makes searching for second-line treatment necessary. 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 (5-HT3) antagonis...

Abstract Background Child maltreatment has been a major worldwide problem and has remained a persistent public health challenge in all countries. Physicians have a significant role in the prevention and intervention of child maltreatment. An educated physician that can effectively identify and report child maltreatment can fill one of the most sign...

Introduction Nearly 40% of patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) have been found to experience cognitive impairment in at least one domain. Cognitive impairment associated with MDD is disproportionately represented in patients that have not fully returned to psychosocial functioning. As awareness regarding cognitive dysfunction in MDD patie...

Background Due to the growing prevalence of suicide, assessing people's attitudes toward suicide is necessary. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Predicaments Questionnaire (PQ), measuring social attitudes toward suicide. Methods This psychometrics study evaluated face validity, content...

Background Borderline personality disorder is a major mental illness characterized by sustained relationship instability, impulsive behavior, and intense affects. Adherence is a complex behavior, from minor refusals to abandonment of treatment, which can be affected by various factors. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the factors a...

Abstract Background Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by disturbing and unwanted thoughts as well as repetitive and time-consuming behaviors that interfere with performance. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) has shown to have beneficial effects on reducing OCD symptoms as the first line of treatment. Moreover, Virtual Reality (VR)...

Background: For many people who work in the nursing profession, a large part of their work involves emotional (psychological) and physical stress. The work environment of psychiatric hospitals imposes a high level of stress to staff due to dealing with patients with psychiatric disorders. Moreover, there is a negative attitude in the society toward...

Objectives This study aims to investigate the attitude towards medication, medication adherence, and quality of life (QoL) in outpatients with neurotic disorders referred for the first time to the psychiatric clinic of Tehran Psychiatric Institute in Iran. Methods In this study, participants were adult outpatients with neurotic disorders referred t...

Background: Medications currently recommended for the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) usually relieve the severity of symptoms by as much as 20-30%, and satisfactory treatment is obtained in 40-60% of patients with OCD. Nevertheless, the remaining symptoms continue to impair the patients' function. Therefore, it is necessary to in...

Objective: Clients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) often engage in high-risk sexual behaviors. Online sexual platforms convey abusive and harmful themes, especially for this group of sexually impulsive patients. We hypothesized a correlation between their online sexual activities and the severity of BPD symptoms. Method: Fifty clients w...

Introduction Nearly 40% of patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) have been found to experience cognitive impairment in at least one domain. Cognitive impairment associated with MDD is disproportionately represented in patients that have not fully returned to psychosocial functioning. As awareness regarding cognitive dysfunction in MDD patie...

Introduction Stigmatizing attitude toward patients with severe mental disorders is one of the main obstacles of improving the mental health of societies. Media plays an important role in how the public views mental health issues. Thus, we have performed this study to investigate the Iranian theater artists' mental health status, and their view towa...

Background: Although various pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments are available for the chronic low back pain (CLBP), there is no consensus on the best optimal treatment for this condition. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of co-administration of pregabalin and agomelatine versus pregabalin with placebo to treat CLBP. Met...

Background: Literature has suggested that major depressive disorder (MDD) is accompanied by higher concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers, which could sabotage response to conventional treatments. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of adalimumab adjunct to sertraline in adults with MDD and increased levels of systemic...

The Article Abstract is not available.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has captured the mental health discussion worldwide. Examining countries' representation in this discussion could prove instrumental in identifying potential gaps in terms of ensuring a truly global conversation in times of global crisis. Methods We collected mental health and COVID-19-related journal articles publ...

Introduction The stigma of mental illness has a negative impact on the diagnosis and treatment of these disorders. Considering the high prevalence of mental illness, the attitude of medical specialists toward mental disorders, who are front liners in diagnosing and treating these patients, is critical. Therefore, we examined the attitude of Iranian...

The most important practical concerns in addiction medicine are the non-substance addiction and related addictive behaviors among individuals with substance use disorder. On the other hand, technological advances, and easy access have increased the frequency of online sexual activities (OSAs) as one of these behaviors. This study aimed to compare t...

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric trainees and early career psychiatrists in Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, the authors used a 24-item questionnaire inquiring about the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, their views on the impact of the COVID-...

Grief is the physical or mental suffering experienced after a major loss, usually the death of a loved one. It is a universal experience, but sociocultural factors, such as cultural or ethnic identity and religious beliefs predict and shape the expression of grief. The circumstances under which people are experiencing grief during the coronavirus o...

Background: Child maltreatment or abuse has been a worldwide major problem and has remained a persistent public health challenge in all countries. Physicians have a significant role in the prevention and intervention of child maltreatment. An educated physician that can effectively identify and report child maltreatment, can fill one of the largest...

Background: Child maltreatment or abuse has been a worldwide major problem and has remained a persistent public health challenge in all countries. Physicians have a significant role in the prevention and intervention of child maltreatment. An educated physician that can effectively identify and report child maltreatment, can fill one of the largest...

Objectives The sudden COVID-19 crisis required a determined effort on the part of the healthcare workers (HCWs) and excessive workload increased the risk of depressive and anxious symptoms in frontliners. The aim of the study was to assess anxiety and depression levels among HCWs during times of pandemic and its potential aggravating factors. Mate...

Background Sildenafil citrate is a commonly used medication for the management of erectile dysfunction. Previous studies have described some neuropsychiatric side effects of this medication. So far, however, there has been little discussion about sildenafil-induced psychosis. Case presentation We here present the case of a 32-year-old Iranian male...

Introduction The importance of stigma toward patients with mental illness in medical students as future physicians cannot be overemphasized. There is currently no formal training to reduce stigma toward mental illness in medical students in their educational curriculums in Iran like most other low and middle income countries. Therefore, aiming to p...

Objective We aimed to evaluate depression, anxiety and stress in university students of a large university in Tehran. Iranians witnessed an extraordinary combination of natural and man-made disasters last year; the last of which was the outbreak of COVID-19. Participants: 234 students from Iran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: We designed a...

Healthcare workers have faced an unprecedented workload in overstretched health facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we describe various initiatives to support them. Psychological, financial and peer support, accommodation and meal services, proper personal protective equipment, applause and gratitude in the community, spiritual and religio...

Background Cilostazol, a phosphodiesterase-3 inhibitor, has been reported to improve depressive-like behavior in experimental studies of depression. We investigated the safety and efficacy of cilostazol combination therapy with sertraline in treating patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) in a 6-week, parallel, randomized controlled trial....

Background Medications currently recommended for the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) usually decrease the severity of the symptoms by 20–30%; however, 40–60% of OCD patients do not achieve a satisfactory response. Our main objective was to investigate the effectiveness of memantine, a non-competitive N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) rec...

Suicide is the second leading cause of death between the ages of 15 and 29. Most suicides are related to mental illnesses. Suicide is considered a response to predicaments. Due to the growing prevalence of suicide, assessing people's attitudes toward suicide is necessary. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Per...

Wikipedia is one of the most important sources of information in cyberspace that can be edited by individuals. About 80% of internet users in developed countries use the Internet to search for mental health information, which generally includes symptoms, illnesses, and treatment. Existing studies report varying degrees of mental health quality of c...

Background Borderline personality disorder is a major mental illness characterized by a sustained relationship instability, impulsive behavior and intense affects. Adherence is a complex behavior, from minor refusals of treatment to inappropriate use of health services or even abandonment of treatment, which can be affected by various factors. Ther...

Background Borderline personality disorder is a major mental illness characterized by a sustained relationship instability, impulsive behavior and intense affects. Adherence is a complex behavior, from minor refusals of treatment to inappropriate use of health services or even abandonment of treatment, which can be affected by various factors. Ther...

Background: Borderline personality disorder is a major mental illness characterized by a sustained relationship instability, impulsive behavior and intense affects. Adherence is a complex behavior, from minor refusals of treatment to inappropriate use of health services or even abandonment of treatment, which can be affected by various factors. The...

Background Borderline personality disorder is a major mental illness characterized by sustained relationship instability, impulsive behavior, and intense affects. Adherence is a complex behavior, from minor refusals of treatment to abandonment of treatment, which can be affected by various factors. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate...

Background: Medications currently recommended for the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) usually relieve the severity of symptoms by as much as 20–30%, and satisfactory treatment is obtained in 40–60% of patients with OCD. Nevertheless, the remaining symptoms continue to impair the patients’ function. Therefore, it is necessary to inv...

Objective: Recently, rational polypharmacy approaches have been proposed, regardless of the lower risk and cost of monotherapy. Considering monotherapy as first-line treatment and polypharmacy as rational treatment, a balanced attitude toward polypharmacy is recommended. However, the high prevalence of polypharmacy led the Japanese government to e...

Background Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is among the most disabling neuropsychiatric conditions characterized by the presence of repetitive intrusive thoughts, impulses, or images (obsessions) and/or ritualized mental or physical acts (compulsions). Serotonergic medications, particularly Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), are t...

Introduction Migration of medical professionals has been rapidly increasing in the past decades and it strongly affects origin and destination countries. Objectives We aimed to explore the extent and the reasons of migration among psychiatric trainees and early career psychiatrists in Iran. Methods Our semi-structured 61-items questionnaire inqui...

Introduction Serotonergic system hyperactivity at 5-HT2A receptors on glutamate neurons in the cerebral cortex is one of the pathways that is theoretically linked to psychosis. In addition to neurotransmitter dysfunction, volumetric studies have revealed the loss of cortical gray matter and ventricular enlargement in patients with schizophrenia, al...

Every health care system requires an adequate health care workforce, service delivery, financial support, and information technology. During the COVID-19 pandemic, global health systems were ill prepared to address the rising prevalence of mental health problems, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), thereby increasing treatment g...

Purpose of the Study: Inflammatory processes in the brain play an important role in etiopathogenesis of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Cyclooxygenase inhibitors such as celecoxib reduce the production of proinflammatory cytokines. This triple-blind study aimed to investigate the efficacy of the addition of Celecoxib to selective serotonin reu...

Background: Medications currently recommended for the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) usually decrease the severity of the symptoms by 20–30%, and 40–60% of OCD patients do not achieve satisfactory treatment. In this study, the main objective was to investigate the effectiveness of memantine, which is a non-competitive N-Methyl-D-a...