A synopsis of recent papers published in psychiatric journals in the Russian Federation.

Abstract Four influential papers that have appeared recently in the main psychiatric journals from Russia are summarized. The first paper examines socio-demographic profile and clinical manifestations and data of people with mental disorders attending the private psychiatric clinics. It was seen that about 50% of private mental health settings’ patients had never consulted a public psychiatric service before seeking help at private psychiatric clinics. Private mental health services have proven their effectiveness in the treatment of non-psychotic disorders and intervention in early onset psychoses. The second paper describes neuropsychological and evolutionary approaches in understanding the comorbidity between depressive and anxiety disorders. It suggests that if anxiety disorder manifests as the first diagnosis, it is more likely that the person will have depression than vice versa. The next article concludes that there is a specific vulnerability of different groups of somatically ill patients to particular mental disorders: cancer is mainly associated with dissociative disorders and asthenia; patients with cardiac disorders are more likely to have comorbid anxiety disorders, hypochondriasis and severe depression. Patients with dermatological illnesses are more likely to have obsessive–compulsive disorder, delusional disorder and mild depression. The last paper discusses some social–psychological and neuro-immunological parameters of people with “dangerous” professions. Using mathematical method, the authors created a model that can decrease the negative influence of work-related extreme factors.