Future Challenges for the Diagnosis and Management of Affective Disorders

This Special Issue presents preclinical and clinical research aimed at reframing the diagnosis and treatment of affective disorders beyond classical neurobiological models. It includes a meta-analysis comparing single- versus two-dose psilocybin administration in major depressive disorder, clarifying its efficacy and dose-dependency. Another study uses network analysis of exposome scores to link environmental exposure with multidimensional psychopathology in non-clinical samples, while the effects of light pollution on affective health highlight chronobiological disruption in mood disorder etiology.

Diagnostic and clinical dimensions are explored through research on polarity at bipolar disorder onset, mapping temperamental correlates and long-term trajectories. Biomarker studies report elevated mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels associated with suicidal ideation in major depressive disorder and evaluate BDNF’s validity in bipolar disorder. Perinatal and familial aspects are explored in a structural equation modeling study showing how attachment-related coping mediates postpartum depressive symptoms and which develops a protocol for a randomized clinical trial for a psychoeducational family intervention in major depressive disorder. Together, these contributions outline a multidimensional landscape integrating environmental, temperamental, biological, and psychosocial determinants.