bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Life events, social interaction and psychiatric symptoms in general practice: a pilot study
Authors: Davies M. H. , Rose S. , Cross K. W.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Thirty-two adult females who consulted a general practitioner with psychiatric training were assessed by questionnaires on first attendance and at follow-up 6 months later. Major life events and the degree of social support were of importance. Failure to improve was associated with major negative life events; in the absence of such events, improvement seemed likely to occur given a high degree of social Support; major positive events appeared to be associated with improvement, regardless of the degree of social interaction. These factors, and the initial and final GHQ scores, are inter-related in a complex manner and it is suggested that these findings merit further investigation on a larger sample of patients.
The effects of the community environment on chronic psychiatric patients
Authors: Goldstein Jill M. , Caton Carol L. M.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The question of where to place the chronically mentally disabled in the community is essential in this era of brief hospitalization practices. This report examines the effects of the social conditions of the environment on the length of stay in the community for a sample of 119 multiple admission schizophrenics in New York City. Patients returned to a variety of family and non-family living arrangements in poor and depressed areas of the city. The relationship between characteristics of the living arrangements and the patients' clinical functioning and rate of rehospitalization was examined. The findings show that there is no significant differential effect of the type of living arrangement on rehospitalization or clinical functioning, and that these factors did not contribute significantly to the prediction of successful adjustment. However, the socio-emotional characteristics of the environment - i.e. social support and interpersonal stress - together are stronger predictors of outcome than are available out-patient treatment programmes. The findings emphasize the importance of environmental variables as factors independent of the effect of treatment on rehospitalization.
Common errors in data analysis: the apparent error rate of classification rules
Authors: Hand D. J.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Classification and diagnosis are concepts of fundamental importance in medicine. Yet all too frequently in published papers the only measure of performance of a classification rule is the optimistic apparent error rate. This is defined, some real examples are given illustrating how poor it is as an estimate of true future performance, and alternative measures are suggested.
The patterns of mental disorder in Jewish and non-Jewish admissions to a district general hospital psychiatric unit: is manic-depressive illness a typically Jewish disorder?
Authors: Cooklin Ruth S. , Ravindran A. , Carney M. W. P.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

This is a preliminary investigation of admissions to a district general hospital psychiatric unit over a two-year period, in which patterns of psychiatric diagnoses in Jewish and non-Jewish patients were compared. Among the Jews there were significantly more patients with affective psychoses and fewer with schizophrenia than among the non-Jews. The methodological problems arising in such a study and some possible aetiological factors are discussed.
Improvement in central monoamine metabolism in adult coeliac patients starting a gluten-free diet
Authors: Hallert Claes , Sedvall Göran
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Adult coeliac patients taking a gluten-free diet for one year showed an increase of 33% in the concentrations in CSF of major monoamine metabolites (5-HIAA, HVA and MOPEG). Tryptophan in CSF rose by 10%. There was concomitant morphological improvement in the jejunal mucosa, and the results would seem to indicate that the reduced central monoamine metabolism in untreated adult coeliacs is not primarily genetically determined but is probably related to the poor intestinal absorption.
Electrolyte and other physiological abnormalities in patients with bulimia
Authors: Mitchell James E. , Pyle Richard L. , Eckert Elke D. , Hatsukami Dorothy , Lentz Richard
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

The frequencies of various forms of eating-related behaviour (such as vomiting and laxative abuse) are reported for a series of non-anorectic bulimia patients seen for evaluation in an eating disorders clinic. The results of serum electrolyte, glucose and other screening tests in these patients are presented. Electrolyte abnormalities were found in 82 of the 168 patients (48·8%) who were diagnosed as having either bulimia or atypical eating disorder. The most common abnormality was metabolic alkalosis (27·4%); hypochloremia (23·8%) and hypokalemia (13·7%) were also commonly seen. No significant blood sugar abnormalities were encountered. An elevated serum amylase level was found to be associated with frequent binge-eating and vomiting behaviour. The pathophysiology of electrolyte abnormalities in this patient group is briefly reviewed.
Speed of recall in relation to affective tone and intensity of experience
Authors: Master Din , Lishman W. A. , Smith Alan
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

The relative memorability of pleasant and unpleasant personal experiences was investigated by measuring their speed of recall. In keeping with most previous work, pleasant material was found to be more readily accessible than unpleasant material. In addition, the retrieval rates of both classes of material were found to be influenced by the intensity of affect associated with the memory.
Reliability, validity and the structure of the General Health Questionnaire in a Chinese context
Authors: Chan David W. , Chan Tims S. C.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

The 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the 24-item Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ), and a Chinese version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were administered to 225 English-speaking Chinese. The GHQ was found to have high internal consistency as a scale and to assess 5 dimensions of psychopathology: anxiety, inadequate coping, depression, insomnia, and social dysfunctioning. As a brief screening instrument, it correlated 0·49 with the SRQ. In the ‘case–non-case’ classification, it yielded a concordance rate of above 75% with the SRQ. Using the MMPI modal profiles derived from classification research as criterion measures, sensitivity, specificity and correct classification rates were above 70%. Implications for future research with the GHQ are discussed.
Mental hospital and general hospital psychiatric units: a comparison of services within the same geographic area
Authors: Malla Ashok K. , Norman Ross M. G.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

A comparison was made between the characteristics of patients admitted to the only psychiatric hospital in Newfoundland, Canada, and those admitted to general hospital psychiatric units within the same area. Patients were compared on demographic characteristics, diagnosis, incidence of violence and suicidal attempts, treatment, length of stay and previous admissions. The results suggest that patients admitted to the mental hospital are more likely to be single, male, of lower socio-economic status and to suffer from more chronic conditions. There is also a higher incidence of violence among patients admitted to the mental hospital. These findings have implications for the types of changes that will be required in general hospital units if the role of mental hospitals continues to decline.
A note on ‘Smoking, personality and reasons for smoking’
Authors: Eysenck H. J.
Published: July 2009

In their recent paper on smoking and personality, McManus & Weeks (1982) administered the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and questionnaires regarding smoking to 100 subjects, and calculated correlations between the personality traits measured (psychoticism, extraversion, neuroticism, and lie scale scores) and smoking. Contrary to expectation, there was no correlation with extraversion (E), only slight correlation with neuroticism, but a significant correlation with psychoticism (P). They argue that the lack of correlation with E is due to the changed contents of the scale, which has been changed from earlier versions, such as the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), by the omission of some impulsiveness items. They quote a paper by Rocklin & Revelle (1981) which argues in a similar vein.
Correlates of cerebral event-related slow potentials and psychopathology
Authors: Bachneff S. A. , Engelsmann F.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The study explored associations between the cerebral event-related slow potentials (ERSP) and psychiatric symptoms and syndromes as reflected by the Present State Examination (PSE) in 36 randomly selected psychiatric in-patients. Independent raters measured the readiness potential (RP), contingent negative variation (CNV) and post-imperative negative variation (PINV) in terms of their amplitude and duration. The 360 individual PSE items were grouped into units of analysis (UA) and further collapsed into groups of units of analysis (GUA). Canonical correlations were computed between two sets of variables (psychological and electrophysiological). Kendall's rank-order correlation was used as the main statistical approach. Some psychotic signs were associated with increased PINV amplitude. Obsessive thoughts, ideas of reference and verbal hallucinations correlated with longer PINV duration. Hopelessness and suicidal thoughts (affect-laden thoughts) as well as first-rank Schneiderian symptoms (FRS) were negatively correlated with CNV amplitude. The results support the hypothesis that CNV and PINV, alone or in combination, can be used to indicate the presence or absence of identifiable psychiatric symptoms and syndromes. The implications of electrophysiological correlates of psychopathology for psychiatric nosology and for the validity of psychiatric symptoms and syndromes were discussed
Life events, relatives' Expressed Emotion and maintenance neuroleptics in schizophrenic relapse
Authors: Leff Julian , Kuipers Liz , Berkowitz Ruth , Vaughn Christine , Sturgeon David
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Data from two studies, one naturalistic and the other a controlled trial, were analysed to clarify the relationships between independent life events, Expressed Emotion of a key relative, maintenance neuroleptics and the relapse of schizophrenia. It was found that patients in the community who are unprotected by medication are vulnerable either to acute stress in the form of life events or to chronic stress in the form of living with a high Expressed Emotion relative. Patients on regular medication are protected against one or other stress, but are very likely to relapse if the two forms of stress occur together. A model of schizophrenic susceptibility to environmental stress is constructed to incorporate these observations.
Hostile emotion and obsessional neurosis
Authors: Millar David G.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The literature on the place of hostile emotion in obsessional neurosis is reviewed. In the main study 11 obsessional neurotic and 11 depressive patients matched for severity of illness were given questionnaires to measure experienced hostility and anger, and a repertory grid of standard form. The obsessional group showed a qualitatively distinct correlational pattern of measured aspects of hostility–anger, including a high correlation between outwardly directed aspects of hostility and anger; this pattern was replicated in a validation study. In contrast, the obsessional group was not differentiated by a negative cognitive set. Treatment implications for obsessional neurosis are briefly discussed.
A comparison of characteristics in the families of patients with anorexia nervosa and normal controls
Authors: Garfinkel Paul E. , Garner David M. , Rose Julia , Darby Padraig L. , Brandes J. S. , O'Hanlon Jacinta , Walsh Noel
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The present study compared families of patients with anorexia nervosa with families of non-anorexic adolescent daughters of a similar social class. All anorexics and adolescent comparison girls and their parents were studied using a variety of psychometric measures. Body size estimation and physical anhedonia were also measured. Family characteristics were assessed using the Family Assessment Measure (FAM). Contrary to the hypotheses, no abnormalities were found in terms of parental attitudes to weight control or dieting. The mothers of anorexics displayed no increase in psychopathology on any of the measures. The fathers scored very similarly to controls but with higher degrees of conscientiousness. Neither fathers nor mothers displayed abnormalities of their own body size estimates or body satisfaction. On the FAM the anorexic families reported an increased pathology on several sub-scales. It is not possible to say whether these disturbances are part of the pathogenesis or are sequelae to the illness.
The epidemiology of abnormal homicide and murder followed by suicide
Authors: Coid Jeremy
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

A comparison of the homicide rate of mentally abnormal offenders and murderers who subsequently commit suicide, from a range of different populations, shows a uniform consistency when compared with the overall rates. ‘Laws’ are proposed which govern the rates within these subgroups in comparison with the population as a whole and which determine fluctuations. Qualitatively different psychiatric and sociological factors are thought to account for these findings and require further elucidation.
Early parental death and adult depression
Authors: Roy Alec
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

In a matched controlled clinical study of 300 neurotic depressives collected over 6 years, 13% had experienced parental death before 17 years of age compared with 10·7% of the controls; this difference was not significant. There were no significant differences between the two groups when maternal or paternal death was examined separately either before 11 or 17 years of age. Thus the experience of parental death as a child is not in itself a risk factor for neurotic depression as seen in psychiatric patients.
Children born to mentally retarded women: a 1–21 year follow-up study of 41 cases
Authors: Gillberg Christopher , Geijer-Karlsson Marianne
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Fifteen mentally retarded Swedish women, judged to be a representative sample, gave birth to 41 children. These children were followed up at the age of 1–21 years with regard to registrations in the Social Register, the Board for Provisions and Services to the Mentally Retarded and the files of the Child and Youth Psychiatric Departments. One child had died, and of the remaining 40 85% had or had exhibited severe psychosocial problems according to register data. The implications of the findings are discussed.
‘Smoking, personality and reasons for smoking’: a reply to Eysenck
Authors: McManus I. C.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

A study is reported in which smokers are shown to have higher psychoticism scores than non-smokers. This result is discussed in the context of the comments made by Eysenck (1983) on an earlier paper of ours (McManus & Weeks, 1982).
Diagnosis and classification of mental disorders and alcohol- and drug-related problems: a research agenda for the 1980s
Authors:   WHO/ADAMHA Project Steering Committee
Published: July 2009

The development and promotion of a ‘common language’ in the mental health field is a lasting objective of the World Health Organization. In the 1960s, experts from 35 countries participated in the WHO programme on the standardization of psychiatric diagnosis, classification and statistics which reviewed the state of the field and resulted in the glossary of mental disorders, first produced as a companion to ICD-8 and later incorporated, with modifications, in Chapter V of ICD-9.
Ego-psychopathology: the concept and its empirical evaluation
Authors: Scharfetter Christian
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

A phenomenological construct of ego-consciousness, subdivided into 5 aspects (vitality, activity, consistency, demarcation, identity) may help for systematic overview of the schizophrenic syndrome. Its construction and empirical evaluation, and the data of 260 schizophrenic probands are presented. The therapeutic implications of the model are elaborated in body-oriented treatment, especially of acute and severely ill cases.
An evaluation of the Feighner criteria for schizophrenia and affective disorders using long-term outcome data
Authors: Tsuang Ming T. , Woolson Robert F. , Simpson John C.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Schizophrenia and affective disorders selected according to the Feighner criteria can be differentiated on the basis of 40-year outcome. Within schizophrenia the presence of disorganized thoughts at the index admission was associated with poor outcome, whereas better outcome was associated with the presence of delusions or hallucinations. Within the affective disorders, bipolar patients with grandiose delusions or ideas showed a poor outcome; a better outcome was found in unipolar patients with complaints of fatiguability or tiredness at the time of the index admission.
Acute psychotic reactions in Caribbean-born patients
Authors: Littlewood Roland , Lipsedge Maurice
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

A prospective study of patients with religious delusions identified 24 West Indian and West African patients. Those who had none of Schneider's first-rank symptoms of schizophrenia (principally West Indians) differed from those who did by virtue of early religious commitment, life-long religious experiences, an acute admission precipitated by social events, a greater chance of having their diagnosis changed, less than 10 different PSE syndromes, the absence of ‘twentieth-century’ delusions, and the presentation of malevolent witchcraft as the sole explanation of the episode. It is suggested that this group can usefully be considered as demonstrating an acute psychotic reaction of the type previously described in Africa and the Caribbean.
The social and obstetric correlates of psychiatric admission in the puerperium
Authors: Kendell R. E. , Rennie D. , Clarke J. A. , Dean C.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Computer linkage of obstetric and psychiatric record systems made it possible to identify all women resident in the city of Edinburgh who had given birth to live or stillborn children in 1971–7 and to study (a) the distribution of psychiatric admissions relative to the time of childbirth and (b) the correlates of psychiatric admission in the first 90 days after childbirth. Having a first baby, being unmarried and undergoing Caesarian section were all associated with an increased risk of admission; twin births, perinatal death and maternal age were not. It is difficult to account for these and other established relationships purely in psychological or purely in somatic terms, suggesting that influences of both kinds are probably involved in the genesis of puerperal disorders.
Chlorosis – the ‘green sickness’
Authors: Starobinski Jean
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

The literature of the nineteenth century often referred to chiorosis. Some examples, taken from French sources, are mentioned. The illness was only given its name at the beginning of the seventeenth century, but the clinical picture of febris alba virginum had been known for a long time previously. The history of chiorosis is interesting because of the variety of explanations, including the psychological, it attracted before it came to be recognized as due to hypochromic anaemia or iron deficiency.
Choline uptake in patients with Alzheimer pre-senile dementia
Authors: Glen A. I. M. , Yates C. M. , Simpson J. , Christie J. E. , Shering A. , Whalley L. J. , Jellinek E. H.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Serum and CSF choline levels were measured in 12 patients with pre-senile Alzheimer's disease before and 1 hour after administration of 1·5 g choline chloride or 25 g lecithin granules. Serum choline levels were increased threefold and CSF choline levels by 72%. CSF choline levels in the untreated Alzheimer patients did not differ significantly from age-matched controls. In 35 neurological controls, CSF choline levels increased with age (γ = 0·64,P<0·001).

Choline influx into erythrocytes from 10 male and female Alzheimer patients did not differ significantly from 40 male and 43 female controls. Choline influx into erythrocytes was not related to age or sex, although the range was greater (P<0·05) in females than in males.

Our results indicate that there is no impairment of choline transport into CSF or erythrocytes in patients with pre-senile Alzheimer's disease.
Handedness and birth stress
Authors: McManus I. C.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

The relationship between left-handedness and birth complications was studied. No evidence of any association was found in either 2 retrospective studies, or 1 large prospective study.
Change of diagnosis to manic-depressive illness
Authors: Horgan David
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

In a cohort of patients with an operationally confirmed diagnosis of mania, half of the patients had received a previous diagnosis of schizophrenia, and over one third of the patients had received a diagnosis of personality disorder. Retrospective analysis of case-notes, using operational criteria based on DSM-III, found that manic-depressive illness was more likely to have been the correct previous diagnosis.
Factors affecting the consumption of psychotropic drugs
Authors: Murray J. , Dunn G. , Williams P. , Tarnopolsky A.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

This paper presents some results from a survey conducted in West London in 1977. The 2-week prevalence of psychotropic drug consumption was found to be 10·9 %, an almost identical figure to that obtained in an earlier survey conducted 8 years previously. The reasons for the absence of the expected rise in prevalence of consumption are discussed.

Consumption was found to be strongly associated with various measures of health, and there was a marked sex difference in drug consumption (females > males) which was independent of health.
Psychiatric disorder in a rural and an urban population: 1. Aetiology of depression
Authors: Brown George W. , Prudo Ray
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

An earlier survey of a random sample of women in Camberwell in South London has shown that the majority of new occurrences of depressive disorders were brought about by certain kinds of life event and ongoing difficulty (provoking agent) and that the risk was increased under these circumstances by the presence of certain other social factors (vulnerability factors). Working-class women were much more likely to develop depression because they experienced more of these factors. A new survey in a rural population in the Outer Hebrides has confirmed the importance of these factors in the genesis of depression, although provoking agents occurred much less frequently in this rural setting. However, integration into the traditional way of life, rather than a middle-class status, was related to a lower chance of developing depression, and this appears to be explained by the relationship of provoking agents and vulnerability factors to such integration in the Outer Hebrides, and to social class status in Camberwell.
Can the psychiatrist learn from the psycholinguist? Detecting coherence in the disordered speech of manics and schizophrenics
Authors: Wykes Til
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

In general, linguistic analyses have not proved useful to psychiatrists because of their complexity and their inability to differentiate between diagnostic groups. However, cohesion analyses of disordered speech seem to offer both a simple and potentially useful tool for clinical diagnosis. This study was designed to test whether psychiatrists can use the rudiments of this analysis in order to differentiate between two diagnostic groups, manics and schizophrenics.
Urinary free cortisol and clinical classification of depressive illness
Authors: Milln Philp , Bishop Margaret , Coppen Alec
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Urinary free cortisol was measured in 24 patients with primary depressive illness. The patients were classified according to their family history (Winokur's classification) and the Newcastle scale. There was a significant increase in urinary free cortisol (UFC) excretion in patients classified as endogenous on the Newcastle scale, but UFC excretion was normal in patients with neurotic depression. No significant relationship between urinary free cortisol and the Winokur classification was observed.
Dementia, deep white matter damage and hypertension: ‘Binswanger's disease’
Authors: Janota I.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

The clinical and neuropathological features are reported of 7 patients with organic intellectual impairment or dementia, hypertension and ischaemic destruction predominantly of the deep white matter of the cerebral hemispheres resembling that seen in infarction. The white matter changes have been dismissed as rare in the past, usually under the name of Binswanger's disease or subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy, and without much concern for hypertension. There are now indications that this sort of case may not be uncommon. It can be suspected in life on CT scans. The accuracy of assessment of the pathological substrate of organic dementia, and therefore the strategies of research and treatment, might well benefit from further clinicopathological studies.
A double-blind, placebo controlled, crossover trial of carbamazepine in overactive, severely mentally handicapped patients
Authors: Reid Andrew H. , Naylor Graham J. , Kay David S. G.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

A double-blind, placebo controlled, crossover trial of carbamazepine in 12 severely and profoundly mentally retarded, overactive adult patients is described. The trial lasted 7 months and those patients in whom overactivity was the dominant problem responded to some degree to carbamazepine with a reduction in overactivity. This was particularly so in patients in whom overactivity was accompanied by some elevation of mood. Patients in whom overactivity was part of a wider spectrum of multiple behaviour disorders showed a scatter of responses. There was no relationship between response to carbamazepine and the presence or absence of epilepsy. The trial identified a small group of mentally retarded patients in whom carbamazepine might be clinically useful.
Aircraft noise and mental health: II. Use of medicines and health care services
Authors: Watkins Gareth , Tarnopolsky Alex , Jenkins Linda M.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

A domiciliary survey (sample size circa 6000) was conducted in areas of different aircraft noise exposure affected by London (Heathrow) Airport. Respondents were urban dwellers aged 16+. Their use of medicines, general practitioner services, hospital facilities and community services were investigated in relation both to the level of aircraft noise and to the degree of annoyance it causes. None of the indicators showed higher uptake in the high noise areas. The relationships between health indicators, noise and annoyance were not uniform. In areas exposed to high noise the use of non-prescribed drugs was significantly higher among ‘very annoyed’ than among ‘less annoyed’ respondents. The uptake of psychotropic drugs, and the use of general practice and out-patient services, tended to increase with increasing annoyance both in high- and low-noise areas, but the differences were not in all cases statistically significant. Parallels were drawn between these results and those of earlier analyses of the same survey related to the prevalence of acute and chronic symptoms. Suggestions for the analysis and interpretation of health effects of noise are put forward.
Research in neurosis: a selective review 1. Causes and courses
Authors: Marks Isaac M.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Research in neurosis is reviewed from the standpoint of genetics, phylogenesis, physiology, epidemiology, and prognosis. Family and sociocultural variables are discussed, and experimental paradigms noted. Directions for further research are suggested in these areas, including perceptual and physiological reflex mechanisms triggered in neurosis and in normal people, cross-cultural longitudinal epidemiological studies of specific neurotic syndromes which are linked to family and social variables, factors governing illness behaviour, and field observations of family and marital pathology.
A method of rating behaviour characteristies for use in large scale surveys of mental handicap
Authors: Kushlick Albert , Blunden Roger , Cox Gillian
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Two scales are described which have been found useful in the measurement of relevant behaviour characteristics of mentally handicapped people in large scale surveys. One scale rates according to levels of continence, ambulance, and the presence of specified disruptive behaviours, while the other reflects speech, self-help, and literacy abilities. This information has been found useful in the planning and implementation of services for the mentally handicapped.
Reliability, validity, and clinical application of the visual analogue mood scale
Authors: Folstein Marshal F. , Luria Richard
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The reliability and validity of the Visual Analogue Mood Scale (VAMS) has been demonstrated in both a military and a private psychiatric hospital, inpatient population. The repeated and concurrent administration of the VAMS and the Digit-Symbol test identifies a mood-performance correlation which distinguishes patients with affective disorders, of manic or depressed type, from other psychiatric patients.
Plasma levels of luteinizing hormone and of immunoreactive oestrogens (oestradiol) in anorexia nervosa: response to clomiphene citrate
Authors: Beumont P. J. V. , Carr P. J. , Gelder M. G.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

In a study of 11 patients with anorexia nervosa, plasma levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and of oestrogens (oestradiol) were found to be low while the subjects were emaciated. After weight gain, hormone values rose and two patients spontaneously resumed menstruation. Clomiphene citrate was administered on one or more occasions to five patients, and bleeding was induced in the majority of those whose weight exceeded 80% of standard. In two of these patients an irregular cycle resumed for a brief period thereafter. Clomiphene appeared to be of limited practical value in the mangement of patients with anorexia nervosa, but the study provided some elucidation of the relationship between body weight and the menstrual disturbance in this condition.
HLA antigens and affective disorder: a family case report
Authors: Stein George , Holmes Jeremy , Bradford John W. , Kennedy Leslie
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

A family of 6 affectively ill siblings is described. Two suffered from bipolar illnesses, 2 from recurrent unipolar illness, and the remainder showed alcoholism, depression and schizo-affective disorder. HLA typing revealed that all the tested members shared the antigens A3 and B7. Because only ill members were available for testing, there was insufficient information in the family to draw any definite conclusion as to whether these antigens were linked to the illness. However, the observation is of some interest in the light of other recent reports which have suggested that these 2 antigens are associated with affective disorder.
The predisposition to hallucinate
Authors: Richardson Alan , Divyo Prem
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

It is argued that people who are predisposed to mistake a vivid imagination image for a genuine percept (i.e. hallucinators) should show an impaired ability to make clear perceptual–conceptual distinctions (i.e. boundary confusion) and should lack familiarity with internal sources of information. A test of these hypotheses was undertaken by comparing a group of ‘alcoholic’ hallucinators with a group of ‘alcoholic’ non-hallucinators. Some support is claimed for the ‘boundary confusion’ hypothesis but not for the ‘lack of familiarity’ hypothesis. Specifically, it was found that hallucinators performed significantly worse than non-hallucinators on the Embedded Figures Test (a measure of perceptual boundary confusion) and on the Intersensory Time Judgement Test (a measure of conceptual boundary confusion). These results are discussed in relation to other aspects of the predisposition to hallucinate. Some specific research needs are described.
Biological component of the NIMH Clinical Research Branch Collaborative Program on the psychobiology of depression: II. Methodology and data analysis
Authors: Secunda Steven , Koslow Stephen H. , Redmond D. Eugene , Garver David , Ramsey T. Alan , Croughan Jack , Kocsis James , Hanin Israel , Lieberman Kenneth , Casper Regina
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

A preceding paper has reviewed the history, background, and rationale for this collaborative effort exploring the biologic basis of the affective disorders. This paper details the ‘flow’ of a subject through the experimental protocol, the instrumentation used to obtain the clinical and behavioural data, and the biologic methodologies employed in the analysis of the body fluids. Data management and analysis techniques developed for this study are also examined.
Psychiatric research and primary care in Britain – past, present and future
Authors: Shepherd Michael
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

A brief review of post-war developments indicates the course of research into psychiatric morbidity at the level of primary care in the United Kingdom. The theoretical and practical importance of such work has now been demonstrated and some major lines of future enquiry are outlined.
Plasma vanadium concentration in manic-depressive illness
Authors: Dick David A. T. , Naylor Graham J. , Dick Elizabeth G.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

133 samples of plasma taken from 9 normal control and 8 manic-depressive subjects were analysed for vanadium by atomic absorption spectrometry. Mean plasma vanadium concentrations were 0·15 μM in normal control, 0·34 μM in manic and 0·28 μM in depressed subjects, and 0·23 μM in manic-depressive subjects after recovery. The differences between normal subjects and manic and recovered subjects were statistically significant. Significant negative correlations were found between plasma vanadium concentration and the ratio of Na–K–Mg ATPase to Mg–ATPase in 2 manic-depressive subjects, but not in normal subjects. The results suggest that vanadium may be a cause of the variations in Na–K–Mg ATPase and sodium pump activity which are associated with manic-depressive illness.
Non-MAOI antidepressant drugs and cognitive functions: a review
Authors: Thompson P. J. , Trimble M. R.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Little is known about the effects of non-MAOI antidepressants on cognitive functions, despite their wide application to ambulant patients. Evidence from studies involving healthy volunteers suggests that differences exist between drugs, with imipramine, amitriptyline and mianserin being associated with the most marked detrimental effects. However, these findings have generally not been supported by the few studies using clinical populations, for which improvements in cognitive functions are often recorded following treatment. The reasons for this discrepancy are discussed, and the need for further research suggested.
Psychological concomitants of cancer: current state of research
Authors: Greer S. , Silberfarb Peter M.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

An increasing interest in the psychological concomitants of neoplastic diseases has led to a burgeoning literature in recent years. The present review identifies five major areas of psychiatric research, documents the current state of knowledge, and indicates fruitful avenues for further study.
The appreciation of imagery by schizophrenics: an interpretation of Goldstein's impairment of the abstract attitude
Authors: Cutting J. , Ryan K.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Three experiments are reported in which schizophrenics are compared with other psychiatric patients on (i) the imagery value of words in their speech, (ii) their memory for words differing in imagery value, and (iii) their ability to distinguish the imagery value of two words. The study was designed to evaluate a neglected interpretation of Goldstein's ideas that schizophrenics are more concrete, in that their ‘action is determined by momentary sense impressions’. The results gave no support for this interpretation and it is suggested that an abnormal way of categorizing the world is more likely to be a useful way of formulating Goldstein's ideas.
An efficacy study of electroconvulsive therapy and antidepressants in the treatment of primary depression
Authors: Homan Sharon , Lachenbruch Peter A. , Winokur George , Clayton Paula
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

At discharge, a significantly larger percentage of unipolar patients treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) respond with marked improvement as compared with those receiving antidepressants or other treatment. No treatment appears to be more efficacious in the bipolar group. In studying the covariables related to the length of time between hospitalizations, we found that the type of treatment is not important for the unipolar patient, whereas a combination of ECT and antidepressants lengthens the time to rehospitalization of the bipolar patient. Previous hospitalization is an important predictor variable for all patients.
Strategies of research on economic instability and health
Authors: Kasl Stanislav V.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Recent research on unemployment and health has depended heavily on macro-social and ecological data analyses. In order to redress this imbalance, the report summarizes the methods and results of a prospective study of a permanent factory shutdown, thereby illustrating and dissecting some of the strengths and weaknesses of the micro-epidemiological level of analysis. This leads to a broader analysis of research strategy questions which consider macro and micro approaches and variations on the two.
Impact of treatment intervention on the relationship between dimensions of clinical psychopathology, social dysfunction and burden on the family of psychiatric patients
Authors: Pai Shaila , Kapur R. L.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

The interdependence of the three areas of patient improvement assessments used in a comparative study has been studied. The three dimensions are clinical psychopathology, social dysfunction and burden on family. A high correlation has been found between these dimensions. The differential effect of two modalities of treatment delivery on the interdependence of these three dimensions is discussed.
Hierarchy of classes of personal illness
Authors: Foulds G. A. , Bedford A.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

A hierarchy of classes of personal illness model is proposed and was assessed using a new self-report measure, the Delusions-Symptoms-States Inventory (DSSI). Of 480 psychiatric patients 93.3% had symptom patterns conforming to the model. It was additionally found that single syndrome patterns, within a particular class, occurred significantly more often in those not classifiable in any higher class. Finally, the relationship between each possible pair of the 12 syndromes was examined. Some of the implications of the model and the data are discussed in terms of the development, remission, assessment, and treatment of personal illness.
Factors influencing the occurrence of schizophrenia-like psychosis in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy
Authors: Taylor David C.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

From a series of 255 patients who had undergone temporal lobectomy for the relief of intractable psychomotor epilepsy, all 47 patients with ‘alien tissue’ (small tumours, hamartomas, focal dysplasia) in the resected temporal lobe were contrasted with a group of 41 patients who showed mesial temporal sclerosis in their resected lobe. Five per cent of the mesial temporal sclerosis group and 23% of the alien tissue group were psychotic. A marked interaction occurred between psychosis and ‘left handedness’. In the alien tissue group, females, especially left-handed females, were the most likely to have developed a schizophrenia-like psychosis.
Tricyclic antidepressants and tryptophan in unipolar depression
Authors: Shaw David M. , Macsweeney David A. , Hewland Robyn , Johnson Anthony L.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Depressed patients (unipolar) were given one of the following combinations in an attempt to test aspects of the ‘amine hypothesis’ and to find a preferential therapy: (1) clomipramine; (2) clomipramine and tryptophan; (3) desipramine and clomipramine, and (4) desipramine and tryptophan. Treatment (2) should have given optimal potentiation of 5-HT neurones and (3) and (4) should have acted similarly on both serotoninergic and adrenergic pathways. In no group was there any evidence of accelerated recovery, indicating that the process of conversion to normal mood may be more complex than suggested by most versions of the amine hypothesis.
Urinary excretion of the sulphate and glucuronide of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol in a manic-depressive patient
Authors: Bond P. A. , Dimitrakoudi Maria , Howlett D. R. , Jenner F. A.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The sulphate and glucuronide conjugates of 4-OH-3-methoxyphenylethyleneglycol (MOPEG) and 4-OH-3-methoxymandelic acid (VMA) have been serially studied in the urine of a manic-depressive patient before and after a therapeutic response to lithium carbonate. Excretion of both conjugates correlates with changes in mood. Some reasons to suggest that the sulphate might be a more useful measure of brain activity are stated.
Survey of incapacity associated with mental handicap at Rampton and Moss Side Special Hospitals: a comparison with the 1970 National Survey
Authors: Parker Elizabeth
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The results of a survey carried out at Rampton and Moss Side Special Hospitals into physical and behavioural incapacity associated with mental handicap are described and compared with the findings of the 1970 National Survey. The Special Hospital patients were found to be less mentally handicapped than similar patients in subnormality hospitals in the National Health Service. The prevalence of physical incapacity associated with mental handicap was also lower in the Special Hospitals but the Special Hospital patients were assessed as more behaviourally disordered. In both surveys the incapacities present were concentrated in the severely mentally handicapped patients. In the Special Hospitals survey the women, when compared with the men, were found to be more behaviourally disordered and to suffer from a greater degree of multiple severe incapacity. All the differences found between the two surveys are consistent with the statutory criteria for admission to a Special Hospital.
Nostalgia: a ‘forgotten’ psychological disorder
Authors: Rosen George
Published: July 2009

Nostalgia, a psychopathological condition affecting individuals who are uprooted, whose social contacts are fragmented, who are isolated and who feel totally frustrated and alienated, was first described in the 17th century and was a problem of considerable interest to physicians in the 18th and 19th centuries. by the 20th century it seemed to have disappeared, but reappeared under other labels.
Value of family background and clinical features as predictors of long-term outcome in anorexia nervosa: four-year follow-up study of 41 patients
Authors: Morgan H. G. , Russell G. F. M.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

This is a prognostic study on 41 patients with anorexia nervosa (including three males) who satisfied defined diagnostic criteria. The patients had all been admitted to a metabolic unit where the mainstay of treatment was nursing care aimed at rapid restoration of body weight. A follow-up was conducted after a minimum lapse of four years after each patient's discharge from hospital. The outcome of the patient's illness was expressed in terms of an ‘average outcome score’ and a ‘general outcome’. The series included a relatively high proportion of patients with a long illness who had received previous psychiatric treatment. Their families tended to come from higher social classes; a disturbed relationship with the patient was frequent. Premorbid disturbances in personality development were also common. The immediate response to treatment was excellent, with the majority of the patients returning to a normal weight, but relapses after discharge were common and readmissions were necessary in half the patients. At follow-up, the patients fell into the following defined categories: ‘good’ (39%), ‘intermediate’ (27%), ‘poor’ (29%), died (5%). Most of the patients who failed to recover continued to display the clinical features characteristic of anorexia nervosa. Among predictors of an unfavourable outcome were found a relatively late age of onset, a longer duration of illness, previous admissions to psychiatric hospitals, a disturbed relationship between the patient and other members of the family, and premorbid personality difficulties. It is suggested that the long-term outcome found in a series will depend more on factors influencing patient referral according to the severity of their illness, rather than on the method of treatment itself. The illness may last several years before eventual improvement or recovery, and a follow-up study must be extended over at least four years to be meaningful. An accurate prediction of eventual outcome is almost impossible, but late recoveries justify an optimistic outlook and continued therapeutic endeavour.
Mental health care in the community: an evaluative study
Authors: Cooper B. , Harwin B. G. , Depla C. , Shepherd Michael
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

A study was designed to assess the therapeutic value of attaching a social worker to a metropolitan group practice in the management of chronic neurotic illness. The psychiatric and social status of a group of patients before treatment and after one year was compared with the status of a control group treated more conventionally over the same period. The results indicate that the experimental service conferred some benefit on the patient population.
Factors associated with attempted suicide among hospitalized depressed patients
Authors: Crook Thomas , Raskin Allen , Davis David
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

An attempt was made to identify background, sociodemographic and clinical variables which are associated with attempted suicide in depression. Within a sample of 308 depressed psychiatric inpatients, suicide attempters were younger than non-attempters and were identified by a pattern of chronic interpersonal maladjustment reflected clinically in withdrawal from social contact and the display of hostility or irritability toward others.
Correlates of placebo reaction in an outpatient population
Authors: Shapiro Arthur K. , Struening Elmer L. , Barten Harvey , Shapiro Elaine
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Variable s describing 113 outpatients of a mental health clinic were derived from a Placebo Test, the MMPI, a Symptom Check List, measures of response style, and a questionnaire containing historical and demographic information. Two highly reliable scales, the Placebo Effect Scale (PES) and the Side Effect Scale (SES) were derived from the Placebo Test and served as dependent variables. PES scores were inversely related to reporting symptoms and unrelated to measures of response style. SES scores were directly related to reporting symptoms and with several measures of response style. There was a curvilinear relationship between placebo response and reporting side-effects. Implications of results for further research are presented.
Changes in serum tryptophan and albumin binding of tryptophan in chlorpromazine-treated chronic schizophrenics on withdrawal and restoration of drug therapy
Authors: Bender D. A. , Pigache R. M. , Gruzelier J. , Hammond N.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Withdrawal of drug from a group of chlorpromazine-treated chronic male schizophrenics led to a significant rise in the initially low serum tryptophan concentration, and a rise in the fraction freely diffusible. These changes, which would be expected to lead to an increase in tryptophan influx into the brain, and hence to an increase in cerebral serotonin synthesis, could be related to the clinical effects of drug withdrawal.