About my research

Alessandra Costanza is a Senior Researcher (PrivatDozent, PD) at the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva (UNIGE) and Senior Lecturer at the University of Italian Switzerland. She also serves as Chef-de-clinique at the University Hospital of Geneva (HUG). She studied at the University of Tel Aviv, Israel and University of Houston, Texas, USA. She received an MD at the University of Torino in 1999, a Postgraduate Diploma in Neurology at the University of Torino, a Master's degree in Psycho-Pharmachology at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milano in 2006, and later a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Geneva (Switzerland). Her achieved the Italian Scientific Habilitation (as Associate Professor) in 2022. She has authored and co-authored over 80 indexed scientific publications and textbook chapters. Very interested in the correlations between neurology and psychiatry, as well as those between psychiatry and existential issues, she collaborates with numerous Italian and international universities. Her main field of research concerns suicidology.

All Stories

  1. Article
    Immunomodulatory Effects of Clozapine: More Than Just a Side Effect in Schizophrenia
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra CostanzaProfessor Daniele Saverino Professor Domenico De Berardis
  2. Article
    Global trends in youth suicide from 1990 to 2020: an analysis of data from the WHO mortality database
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  3. Article
    Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder as an Epiphenomenon of Comorbid Bipolar Disorder? An Updated Systematic Review
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra CostanzaM.D., resident in Psychiatry Renato de Filippis
  4. Article
    A Prospective Multicenter Longitudinal Analysis of Suicidal Ideation among Long-COVID-19 Patients
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  5. Article
    The Role of Emotion Dysregulation in Understanding Suicide Risk: A Systematic Review of the Literature
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  6. Article
    Evening Chronotype and Suicide: Exploring Neuroinflammation and Psychopathological Dimensions as Possible Bridging Factors—A Narrative Review
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  7. Article
    Evening-Chronotype and Suicide: Exploring Neuroinflammation and Psychopathological Dimensions as Possible Bridging Factors. A Narrative Review.
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  8. Article
    Effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation on cocaine addiction: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  9. Article
    Mechanical Restraint in Inpatient Psychiatric Unit: Prevalence and Associated Clinical Variables
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  10. Article
    Chronotype and Cardiometabolic Parameters in Patients with Bipolar Disorder: Preliminary Findings
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  11. Article
    Effectiveness of physical barriers to prevent suicide by jumping from high-risk bridges: A scoping review and lessons from a northern Italian province (Preprint)
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  12. Article
    Demoralization and Suicidal Ideation in Chronic Pain Patients
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  13. Article
    COVID-19 Impact on the Italian Community-based System of Mental Health Care: Reflections and Lessons Learned for the Future
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  14. Article
    Sociodemographic and Clinical Correlates Associated with the Frequent Service Users in an Italian Psychiatric Emergency Department
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  15. Article
    When to discharge and when to voluntary or compulsory hospitalize? Factors associated with treatment decision after self-harm
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  16. Article
    C-Reactive Protein as a Potential Peripheral Biomarker for High-Lethality Suicide Attempts
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  17. Article
    Possible Contribution of Meaning in Life in Patients With Chronic Pain and Suicidal Ideation: Observational Study
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  18. Article
    Effect of Housing Quality on the Mental Health of University Students during the COVID-19 Lockdown
    Andrea BrambillaPD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  19. Article
    COVID-19 Related Fears of Patients Admitted to a Psychiatric Emergency Department during and Post-Lockdown in Switzerland: Preliminary Findings to Look Ahead for Tailored Preventive Mental Health Strategies
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  20. Article
    “Hard to Say, Hard to Understand, Hard to Live”: Possible Associations between Neurologic Language Impairments and Suicide Risk
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  21. Article
    Possible Contribution of Meaning in Life in Patients With Chronic Pain and Suicidal Ideation: Observational Study (Preprint)
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  22. Article
    Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine Use and Suicide Risk: Hypotheses for Confluent Etiopathogenetic Mechanisms?
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  23. Article
    Efficacy and Safety of Lurasidone in Children and Adolescents: Recommendations for Clinical Management and Future Research
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  24. Article
    Antibiomania: a case report of clarithromycin and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid induced manic episodes separately
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  25. Article
    Hopelessness and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Any Role for Mediating Variables?
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  26. Article
    Meaning in Life Among Patients With Chronic Pain and Suicidal Ideation: Mixed Methods Study
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  27. Article
    Meaning in Life Among Patients With Chronic Pain and Suicidal Ideation: Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  28. Article
    Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Psychiatric Admissions to a Large Swiss Emergency Department: An Observational Study
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  29. Article
    Severe Suicidality in Athletes with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: A Case Series and Overview on Putative Ethiopathogenetic Mechanisms
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  30. Article
    Suicidality in Patients with Brain Tumors: A Brief Literature Review with Clinical Exemplar
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  31. Article
    Urgent hyperbaric oxygen therapy for suicidal carbon monoxide poisoning: from a preliminary survey to a proposal for an integrated somatic-psychiatric protocol
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  32. Article
    The Role of Demoralization and Meaning in Life (DEMIL) in Influencing Suicidal Ideation Among Patients Affected by Chronic Pain: Protocol of a Single-Center, Observational, Case-Control Study
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  33. Article
    Matters on suicide and neurological diseases
    Prof. Maurizio PompiliPD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  34. Article
    The Role of Demoralization and Meaning in Life (DEMIL) in Influencing Suicidal Ideation Among Patients Affected by Chronic Pain: Protocol of a Single-Center, Observational, Case-Control Study (Preprint)
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  35. Article
    <p>Meaning in Life and Demoralization Constructs in Light of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide: A Trans-Theoretical Hypothesis for a Cross-Sectional Study</p>
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  36. Article
    COVID-19 Lockdown: Housing Built Environment’s Effects on Mental Health
    Andrea BrambillaPD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  37. Article
    Oral mucositis induced by risperidone: rare side effect of a frequently prescribed medication
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  38. Article
    Mental health and cystic fibrosis: Time to move from secondary prevention to predictive medicine
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  39. Article
    Who Consult an Adult Psychiatric Emergency Department? Pertinence of Admissions and Opportunities for Telepsychiatry
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  40. Article
    Demoralization and Its Relationship with Depression and Hopelessness in Suicidal Patients Attending an Emergency Department
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  41. Article
    Impulsivity and Impulsivity-Related Endophenotypes in Suicidal Patients with Substance Use Disorders: an Exploratory Study
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  42. Article
    Putting Codman's lesson to work: measuring and improving the quality of Italian mental health care
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  43. Article
    The Meaning in Life in Suicidal Patients: The Presence and the Search for Constructs. A Systematic Review
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  44. Article
    The implementation and first insights of the French-speaking Swiss programme for monitoring self-harm
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  45. Article
    The dimensionality of suicidal ideation and its clinical implications
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  46. Article
    The Function of Personality in Suicidal Ideation from the Perspective of the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  47. Article
    The application of the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide to a sample of Swiss patients attending a psychiatric emergency department for a non-lethal suicidal event
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  48. Article
    Neurobiology of suicide: do biomarkers exist?
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  49. Article
    Microvascular Burden and Alzheimer-Type Lesions Across the Age Spectrum
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  50. Article
    Review: Contact sport-related chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the elderly: clinical expression and structural substrates
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  51. Article
    Radiotherapy and chemotherapy of brain metastases
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza
  52. Article
    Second-line treatment with carboplatin for recurrent or progressive oligodendroglial tumors after PCV (procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine) chemotherapy
    PD (Privatdozent) Alessandra Costanza