bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Catecholamine Metabolism and Body Weight in Anorexia Nervosa
Authors: Abraham Suzanne F. , Beumont P. J. V. , Cobbin Deirdre M.
Published: August 2008

Urinary MHPG (3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl-ethylene glycol) was measured in seven anorexia nervosa patients during a bed rest and refeeding programme. MHPG levels were positively related to increase in body weight.
Monoamines in Affective Illness: Is There a Place for 5HT?
Authors: Eccleston Donald
Published: August 2008

In a recent review of the structure and function of aminergic systems Iversen (1980) paid particular attention to the dopaminergic (DA) and noradrenergic neurones (NA) and only mentioned in passing those with 5HT as a transmitter. Although the original work on the low concentration of 5HIAA, the metabolite of 5HT, in CSF of depressed patients (Ashcroft et al, 1966) which brought serotonin to the attention of biological psychiatrists may not have stood the test of time, nevertheless, recent information on the behavioural consequences in animals of drugs and lesions which influence the output of the 5HT system suggests it plays a role in the development of pathological mood and behaviour in affective illness. This is reflected in the resurgence of clinical interest in antidepressant drugs designed to affect specifically the 5HT system and emphasizes the need to continue animal and clinical exploratory experiments on serotonergic function.
Influences on Maternal Overprotection
Authors: Parker Gordon , Lipscombe Penny
Published: August 2008

While maternal overprotection appears associated with several neurotic and psychotic disorders, little is known about determinants of such a parental characteristic. Several hypotheses have been tested in a large nonclinical sample. Maternal and cultural factors seemed of greater relevance than characteristics in the child. Overprotective mothers gave evidence of marked maternal preoccupations before having children, of showing a capacity to be overprotective after the active stage of mothering, and of having personality characteristics of high anxiety, obsessionality and a need to control. Maternal overprotection appears associated with low, rather than with high maternal care. This has important primary prevention and treatment implications.
The Diagnosis of Psychopathy by Forensic Specialists
Authors: Davies William , Feldman Philip
Published: August 2008

Thirty-four forensic specialists from the Prison Service and elsewhere rated 22 alleged signs of psychopathy in order of importance. Only two respondents did not view psychopathy as a clinical entity. The remainder recognized a large number of diagnostic signs, though with much disagreement about the exact importance of each.
Evaluation of Standardized Behavioural Treatment for Agoraphobic In-Patients Administered by Untrained Therapists
Authors: Benjamin Sidney , Kincey John
Published: August 2008

Using a standardized behavioural programme, nine in-patients with severe agoraphobia were treated by staff who had minimal training in the theory and practice of behaviour therapy. With one exception patients showed marked reduction in subjective fear and avoidance, both following treatment and at follow-up. The indications for such treatment are considered and compared with those for alternative behavioural approaches that have recently been advocated.
The Extended Munchausen Syndrome: A Family Case
Authors: Black Dorothy
Published: August 2008

The Munchausen syndrome was first described by a physician (Asher, 1951), the classical criteria being exaggerated symptoms, factitious physical signs, and the tendency to wander between hospitals (Bursten, 1965).
Study of HLA Antigens Among Japanese Schizophrenics
Authors: Asaka Akio , Okazaki Yuji , Namura Ikuro , Juji Takeo , Miyamoto Mitsuko , Ishikawa Bun-Noshin
Published: August 2008

HLA antigens were typed among 136 Japanese schizophrenics. Increased frequencies were seen in A9 (Aw24), A10 (A26) and Bw54, and decreased frequency in B40 antigens when compared to 187 Japanese controls. It is suggested that there may be an association between A9 (Aw24) and schizophrenia with a chronic-progressive course and also an association between A10 (A26) and hebephrenia.
Smoking Profiles of Patients Admitted for Neurosis
Authors: Salmons Paula , Sims Andrew
Published: August 2008

A detailed record of the smoking habits of 83 patients treated in hospital for neurosis was compared with national statistics derived from the General Household Survey and Statistics of Smoking in the United Kingdom, and with a control group of patients admitted for treatment of varicose veins. Neurotic patients were more likely to be smokers. They started to smoke at a younger age, smoked more cigarettes and were more likely to inhale deeply. It is concluded that neurotic patients have a greater exposure to the potentially toxic effects of cigarette smoking than non-neurotic individuals.
Physiological Characteristics of Tremor after Chronic Lithium Therapy
Authors: Tyrer Peter , Lee Ian , Trotter Carol
Published: August 2008

Twenty-three patients taking lithium carbonate alone in therapeutic dosage for a mean period of 43 months (range 6–108 months) and 23 control subjects matched for age and sex had the frequency and amplitude of postural tremor measured and extrapyramidal symptoms assessed by standard techniques. Patients on lithium had a significantly lower peak frequency of tremor than control subjects (P <0.05) and significantly greater extrapyramidal symptoms (P <0.01), indicating that tremor appearing after chronic lithium therapy is likely to be an extrapyramidal symptom. Such symptoms are common long-term adverse effects of lithium carbonate.
Suicide Pact in a Setting of Folie à Deux
Authors: Salih Mohamed Ali
Published: August 2008

A case of folie à deux affecting two women friends who presented as a suicide pact is described. The shared delusion was based on their life situation and experiences. Social intervention and obtaining employment led to marked attenuation of the delusion in both partners simultaneously and while in close contact. Review of the relevant literature revealed striking theoretical similarities between folie à deux and suicidal pacts suggesting the ease with which the former could become the foundation for the latter.
Formal Thought Disorder, the Type-Token Ratio, and Disturbed Voluntary Motor Movement in Schizophrenia
Authors: Manschreck Theo C. , Maher Brendan A. , Ader Deborah N.
Published: August 2008

Little work has been done to determine objective, reliable differences in formal characteristics of the actual utterances of thought-disordered and non-thought-disordered subjects. The type-token ratio (TTR), a quantitative measure of repetition in language, correlated highly with clinical judgments of thought disorder when spoken language was examined, and statistically differentiated thought-disordered from non-thought-disordered schizophrenics and psychiatric and normal controls. Elicited and spontaneous motor abnormalities were associated with reduced TTRs both in schizophrenics and in affective subjects with motor disturbance. The TTR is a reliable, objective indicator of language deviance and thought disorder, and strongly associated with motor disturbances.
Psycho-Demographic Study of Anxiety in Egypt: The Pse in its Arabic Version
Authors: Okasha A. , Ashour A.
Published: August 2008

This is the first attempt to study the socio-demographic aspects of anxiety disorders in Egypt and to apply the Arabic version of the PSE in evaluating the profiles of clusters and symptoms of anxiety in a sample of 120 patients with anxiety. There were significant differences in some presentations between males and females, between illiterate and educated groups, and between those exposed to mild and severe crowding. Structured interviews like PSE will help in transcultural comparisons of clinical psychiatric disorders.
Standardized Interviews in Psychiatry: Issues of Reliability
Authors: Sanson-Fisher R. W. , Martin C. J.
Published: August 2008

A review of studies which used standardized interviews as a means of data collection indicated that the issue of reliability was frequently neglected in the psychiatric literature. It is suggested that this may be due to a misinterpretation of the concept of reliability which is apparently perceived as a permanent feature of an interview instrument. The importance of reliability is discussed, and recommendations are made as to how a methodologically adequate assessment of reliability might be undertaken.
Psychoanalysis
Authors: Pines Malcolm
Published: August 2008

All choices are personal but some more personal than others. The task of selecting from the vast literature of psychoanalysis has felt like the task of the castaway on Desert Island Discs; should I include old faithfuls of long ago or replace them with the shining prizes of today? My selection will not be the same as that of any other psychoanalyst and reflects my position as a therapist who works with individuals, groups and institutions, and who tries both to clarify the different frames of reference appropriate to these areas, and to seek unifying common factors.
The Capital Costs of Alternative Residential Facilities for Mentally Handicapped People
Authors: Felce David
Published: August 2008

This paper examines the capital costs and accommodation provided in three different types of residential facility for mentally handicapped people—a large campus hospital, a small campus hospital and a network of individually-sited hospital units. The findings do not indicate any economy arising from increased size, or from centralization of facilities on a single site. These findings, together with the other research cited, have implications for the design of future residential services.
My Dosser
Authors: James William H.
Published: August 2008

I live in a basement flat in Central London. Three years ago I opened my front door and found a woman asleep outside. She seemed about 55-years-old. I had never seen her before. Since then she has used this area for sleeping purposes and has slowly acquired prescriptive rights over my doorstep and over the disused coke cellar adjacent to it (where she stores her possessions). Before she turned up on my doorstep she had tried sleeping in several other doorways in the vicinity, but my neighbours are all, to varying degrees, afraid of her. She is only a small woman, weighing perhaps 8 stone and rather frail, so clearly she represents no physical danger, but her strangeness may put people in mind of a witch.
Lithium Continuation Therapy Following Electroconvulsive Therapy
Authors: Coppen A. , Abou-Saleh M. T. , Milln P. , Bailey J. , Metcalfe M. , Burns B. H. , Armond A.
Published: August 2008

Thirty-eight depressed patients who were treated with ECT were randomly assigned to receive lithium therapy or identical-looking placebo tablets for one year after clinical recovery in a double-blind trial. The patients who received placebo tablets spent an average of 7.8 weeks with an episode of depression (either as in-patients or day-patients) during the year. In comparison, patients who received lithium spent on average 1.7 weeks with an episode (P <0.02). The trial confirms the high rate of relapses after ECT and suggests that lithium considerably reduces this morbidity. It is suggested that ECT without continuation therapy is not a satisfactory treatment of depressive illness.
Situational Depression: Validity of the Concept
Authors: Hirschfeld Robert M. A.
Published: August 2008

The validity of the concept of situational (i.e. reactive) depression as distinct from other major depressive subtypes is examined in terms of psychosocial stressors, personality features, current symptomatology, and clinical course and follow-up. Thirty-eight patients with a recent onset of situational major depressive disorder (i.e. the disorder developed after an event or in a situation the diagnostician deemed likely to have contributed to the episode at that time) were compared with 68 non-situational major depressive patients. These patients were participants in the clinical studies of the NIMH-Clinical Research Branch Collaborative Program on the Psychobiology of Depression. No significant differences between the two groups were found in the total number, content areas, or other categorizations of life events, experienced prior to onset. Some statistically significant differences in current symptomatology and in clinical course and follow-up measures were obtained, but there were none in personality traits. Implications of these results in relation to previously published reports are discussed and caution is recommended in the use of the term situational depression until more definitive data become available.
Derealization Syndrome and the Outcome of Schizophrenia: A Report from the International Pilot Study of Schizophrenia
Authors: Hwu Hai-Gwo , Chen Chu-Chang , Tsuang Ming Tso , Tseng Wen-Shing
Published: August 2008

Eighty-five schizophrenic patients were found to have worse two-year follow-up outcome (history of remission, clinical course, improvement in psychotic symptoms, general treatment result) than 39 non-schizophrenic psychotic patients. The outcome of 36 schizophrenic patients with derealization at initial evaluation, especially when nine hebephrenics were excluded, was better than that of 49 schizophrenic patients without derealization but similar to that of 39 non-schizophrenic patients. The hebephrenics with derealization demonstrated similar outcomes to schizophrenic patients without derealization. In non-schizophrenic patients, derealization had no prognostic significance.
The Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire: A Validity Study with American Psychiatric Patients
Authors: Mavissakalian Matig , Michelson Larry
Published: August 2008

The Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire (MHQ) was used as a screening test for psychiatric disorder in 169 new outpatients. The profile obtained on the six subscales of the MHQ was strikingly similar in this American sample compared to four previous British reports. The MHQ significantly differentiated between diagnostic groups, most particularly between neuroses and personality disorders. Moreover, 75 per cent of the patients could be correctly classified as either neurosis or personality disorder on the basis of their MHQ total and subscale scores. The MHQ appears to be particularly useful in identifying phobic disorders, and the phobia subscale consistently discriminated between anxiety-phobic states and other diagnostic groups.
III. Plasma Growth Hormone and Prolactin Responses to Apomorphine
Authors: Kolakowska Tamara , Gelder Michael , Fraser Sheila
Published: August 2008

Hormonal responses to apomorphine 0.005 and/or 0.01 mg/kg body weight were studied in 17 schizophrenic patients during their routine treatment with neuroleptic drugs. Plasma growth hormone (GH) rose in 9 of the 20 tests and in 4 of these GH peak exceeded 5 ng/ml. This preserved GH response to apomorphine was significantly but weakly associated with lower daily doses of neuroleptics. It was unrelated to the extrapyramidal side-effects, plasma prolactin (PRL) level, duration of treatment or its therapeutic effect.

In 13 of the 20 tests, plasma PRL declined by more than 20 per cent of the baseline level. This was similar to the fall in PRL observed after placebo in the group studied previously. The absolute decline in plasma PRL following apomorphine correlated positively with the baseline PRL concentration and was unrelated to the daily doses of neuroleptics or to any other variable considered.
Diazepam, Propranolol and their Combination in the Management of Chronic Anxiety
Authors: Hallstrom C. , Treasaden I. , Edwards J. Guy , Lader M.
Published: August 2008

The therapeutic benefit of combining propranolol with diazepam over either of these drugs given alone was tested in a placebo-controlled crossover study with twenty-four chronically anxious out-patients. The combination was generally more effective than diazepam. Diazepam was more effective than placebo or propranolol. A reduction in the resting pulse rate by propranolol of more than 7.5 beats per minute resulted in a greater therapeutic response to this drug, alone and in combination. Lesser degrees of pathology responded better to treatment. Psychological factors in treatment showed themselves to be important in moderating pharmacological response. Chronically anxious patients generally derived little benefit from continued anti-anxiety treatment.
A Comparison of “Offender” and “Non-Offender” Male Patients Admitted to the State Hospital, Carstairs between 1966 and 1975
Authors: Hughson A. V. M.
Published: August 2008

A comparison was made between ‘offender’ (part V) and ‘non-offender’ (part IV) male patients admitted to the State Hospital, Carstairs, over a ten year period. More than a third of the ‘non-offender’ group had at some time in the past been in penal institutions. During their stay in the State Hospital, the ‘non-offender’ patients were more disturbed in behaviour than their ‘offender’ counterparts, and relatively fewer of them were discharged during the period of study.
Suggestibility, Low Intelligence and a Confession to Crime
Authors: Coid Jeremy
Published: August 2008

There are considerable practical and ethical difficulties that confront a psychiatrist preparing a report for the defence when the case against the accused rests upon his confession of guilt. Until recently there has been widespread belief that a false confession is not made to a serious crime except in highly unusual or irregular circumstances. Indeed, Sir Henry Fisher, a former high court judge, who had been requested by the Home Secretary to examine the cases of three youths who had confessed to the murder of Maxwell Confait, a transvestite prostitute, concluded that their confessions could not have been made unless at least one had been involved in the killing. His belief has now been considered ill-founded, yet it was an opinion made after the three boys had been given their absolute discharges at appeal.
Educational Achievement, IQ and Affective Disorder in the Adult Offspring of Bipolar Manic-Depressives
Authors: Waters Brent G. H. , Marchenko-Bouer Irene , Smiley Donna
Published: August 2008

An educational history, corroborated by records where available, was obtained on 54 of the 58 adult offspring of 17 bipolar manic-depressives. The offspring were also interviewed and psychiatric status was ascertained.

Primary and other affective disorder in the offspring was not associated with a lower IQ or lower ultimate educational attainment than that of the remaining offspring. There was a trend towards increased educational failure in the offspring with primary affective disorder, but they were as likely as other offspring who had failed to have resumed their education at a later date. Ill offspring with any form of school failure had a significantly earlier onset to their psychiatric illness, although school failure could not be shown to be a part of an early symptom complex.
Co-Existence of Incubus and Capgras Syndromes
Authors: Pande Atul C.
Published: August 2008

Since de Clérambault (1920) described the syndrome of erotomania, there have been several reports in the literature amplifying various aspects of the condition. However, it was only recently that Raschka (1979) reported two cases of what he labelled the ‘incubus syndrome‘. This syndrome is a variant of erotomania and the feature central to it is a delusion of imposed intercourse with an imaginary lover during one's sleep.
Abnormal Gastric Emptying in Primary Anorexia Nervosa
Authors: Holt Stephen , Ford Michael J. , Grant Sandra , Heading Robert C.
Published: August 2008

The gastric emptying rate was measured in 10 female patients with primary anorexia nervosa and 12 healthy volunteers, using a scinti-scanning technique for the simultaneous study of the liquid and solid components of a test meal. The emptying rate of both the liquid and the solid phase components of the meal was significantly slower in patients with anorexia nervosa. The aetiological and therapeutic implications of this finding are discussed.
Clomipramine and Exposure for Chronic Obsessive-Compulsive Rituals: III. Two Year Follow-Up and Further Findings
Authors: Mawson D. , Marks I. M. , Ramm L.
Published: August 2008

Forty chronic ritualizers were given clomipramine or placebo from weeks 0 to 36; also all had exposure in vivo, half from weeks 4 to 10 (30 hours) and half from weeks 7 to 10 (15 hours). In the 37 patients available at week 114 there were substantial and maintained improvements in rituals, mood and social adjustment compared to week 0. Reduction of rituals was even greater in those who had 30 hours of exposure. There was no drug effect on rituals at two year follow-up. Greater initial anxiety or depression predicted the superiority of clomipramine over placebo from weeks 10 to 36 and more prescription of tricyclics in follow-up. However, two year outcome was not predicted by initial anxiety or depression, nor by sex, age, age of onset nor duration of rituals.
A Study of Depression and Obsessionality in Dysmorphophobic and Psoriatic Patients
Authors: Hardy G. E. , Cotterill J. A.
Published: August 2008

Measures of depression and obsessionality were made in patients with dysmorphophobia, psoriasis and control subjects. The depression score distinguished all three groups. Patients with dysmorphophobia had significantly higher scores compared to the patients with psoriasis, who in turn had significantly higher scores compared to a control group. Patients with dysmorphophobia and psoriasis had equally elevated obsessional symptom scores compared to controls. It is unlikely, therefore, that dysmorphophobic symptoms are due to an obsessional state. Depression, however, was found to be an important clinical feature of dysmorphophobia.
The Bereaved Child
Authors: Van Eerdewegh Michele M. , Bieri Michael D. , Parrilla Ramon H. , Clayton Paula J.
Published: August 2008

This is a one-year prospective study of one hundred and five 2 to 17 year old children of a consecutive sample of young widows and widowers in the community and of the children of controls. The children's reactions to the parental death were recorded at one month and thirteen months after the event in a structured interview with the surviving parent. The interview included items of general adaption to the death, school performance, behaviour problems, symptoms relevant to psychopathological manifestations (depression, anxiety, etc.) and general health. The results indicate a significant increase of dysphoria which disappears over time (P <0.0001), the persistance of a minor form of depression (P <0.03), an increase in bed wetting (P <0.03), and a significant degree of impairment in school performance (P <0.0001). There were no significant increases in behaviour problems and severe forms of depression. The children's general health was not affected. Those results are compared to currently available data on childhood bereavement and discussed in the light of conflicting reports relating parental loss to adult psychopathology.
Facial Expressions can be Modelled Mathematically
Authors: Thornton Mark , Pilowsky Issy
Published: August 2008

Facial expressions provide crucial information about an individual's internal mood state, but are difficult to quantify. We report the development of a mathematical method for measuring facial expressions, using photographs and a specially designed computer programme.
The Psychoanalytical Approach
Authors: Rosen Ismond
Published: August 2008

Modern psychodynamic formulations concerning the sexual dysfunctions stem directly from Freud's Three Essays on Sexuality (1905). Amplification and modification of psychoanalytical views since then have provided a further store of observation and clinical theory of personality development and the working of the unconscious mind, from which both behaviourally-, as well as psychoanalytically-orientated workers continue to draw. However, no single unified psychoanalytic theory of sexual dysfunction exists, nor should it at this stage of our understanding. Psychoanalysis continues to be the major source of psycho-dynamic principles in this field; there are three avenues down which progress is being made. The first, which forms the body of this contribution, is the application of psychoanalysis to the psychotherapeutic treatment of sexual dysfunctions. The second is the amalgamation of certain of the techniques and principles of psychoanalysis together with active behavioural practices based on the discoveries of Masters and Johnson and the behavioural therapists. [Singer (1974) in the USA; Robinson and Creed (1980) in the UK]. The third, no less interesting from a psychodynamic point of view is the way in which some modern behavioural learning theory psychologists are finding themselves facing psychodynamic complexities, such as transference, counter-transference, and a growing reliance on talking rather than manipulative procedures. Some behavioural sex-therapists see themselves as psychotherapists (Mackay, 1976). A knowledge of psychodynamics is therefore invaluable whatever one's final clinical approach.
Classification of Adolescents who Take Overdoses
Authors: Hawton Keith , Osborn Madeline , O'Grady John , Cole Deborah
Published: August 2008

A simple method of classifying adolescent self-poisoners into three sub-groups on the basis of the duration of their problems and the presence or absence of behavioural disturbance is described. The three groups differed markedly in terms of factors concerning their families, especially their relationships with their parents, and in their medical and psychiatric histories, the nature of their overdoses and the problems they were facing at the time. The treatment offered to members of the three groups also differed. The method of classification may offer a useful means of distinguishing between subjects in terms of outcome, including subsequent adjustment and repeat attempts.
Changing Patterns in Mental Illness in the Elderly
Authors: Christie Alexander B. , Christie Alexander B.
Published: August 2008

The study at Graylingwell Hospital conducted by Roth (1955) has in part been replicated in order to study the changing patterns of mental illness in the elderly over a 25-year period. Important changes in the diagnostic distribution and outcome of cases admitted have occurred. Functional illness has given way to dementia, not as a proportion of patients admitted but in the number of beds employed for their care 6 and 24 months after their index admission. Discharge rates for all diagnostic groups except acute confusional states, have undergone considerable change and death rates have fallen. The study has concentrated on the residual in-patient population, paying particular attention to increasing demand for beds for the dementing group. These changes have been quantified and reflect a four-fold increase in bed requirements for cases of dementia at two years. Despite a striking reduction in requirement for functional cases, there is an overall increase in bed requirement of 38 per cent at the two-year mark.
Psychiatric Units in District General Hospitals and Traditional Mental Hospitals: Some Recent Evidence
Authors: Mahadevan S. , Forster D. P.
Published: August 2008

Using routine data from the Mental Health Enquiry, the work of two district general hospital (DGH) units and a mental hospital was examined. There was a marked difference in the way the two DGH units operated and between the way the mental hospital worked as support hospital or as independent complete in-patient service. The operational policy practised by psychiatrists is more important than the structure of the system. It is important to establish sensitive policies for a wide variety of organizational structures.
Pupil Studies in Depressed Patients: An Investigation of the Mechanism of Action of Desipramine
Authors: Shur Eric , Checkley Stuart
Published: August 2008

Six depressed patients were treated routinely with desipramine, a relatively selective noradrenergic uptake blocking drug. After 0, 1 and 3 weeks' treatment pupillary responses to tyramine, phenylephrine and pilocarpine were measured using a photographic technique. Both 1 and 3 weeks' treatment significantly inhibited tyramine and phenylephrine-induced mydriasis, but did not inhibit pilocarpine-induced miosis; in fact the longer treatment enhanced miosis due to pilocarpine. Resting pupil size was significantly increased after 1 and 3 weeks' treatment.

The findings can be explained by the known ability of desipramine to block noradrenaline uptake and α adrenoceptors: they provide no evidence of muscarinic receptor blockade or of a slowly developing adaptation at a adrenoceptors.
Monitoring of Patients in Prophylactic Lithium Treatment
Authors: Vestergaard P. , Schou Mogens , Thomsen Klaus
Published: August 2008

The effect of long-term lithium treatment on the kidneys has generated concern among psychiatrists, and proposals have been made that routine determinations of serum lithium and serum TSH should be supplemented with control of the kidney function through regular determinations of serum creatinine, glomerular filtration rate, and renal concentrating ability, as well as through kidney biopsy in certain circumstances.
Psychiatric Morbidity and Time Zone Changes: A Study of Patients from Heathrow Airport
Authors: Jauhar P. , Weller Malcolm P. I.
Published: August 2008

In a two-year period, 186 patients were admitted from Heathrow Airport to the nearest psychiatric hospital. Affective illness was related to time zone change. Depression was diagnosed significantly more often on flights from east to west (P < 0.012 east to west versus west to east; P < 0.015 north to south combined with south to north versus east to west, Fisher's exact probability test, two tailed). Hypomania was inversely related to depression in an east to west comparison (P < 0.025). No other associations with direction of travel were seen in other diagnoses. Ninety-three (50 per cent) were diagnosed as schizophrenic; 24 of these had been aimlessly wandering. Twenty patients had been admitted at least once before under similar circumstances. Schizophrenic patients from Heathrow constituted 20 per cent of the total number of schizophrenic patients admitted to the hospital during that period.
A Study of Familial Factors in Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Whalley L. J. , Carothers A. D. , Collyer S. , De Mey R. , Frackiewicz A.
Published: August 2008

Data on the families of 74 probands with autopsy-proven Alzheimer's disease did not support the hypothesis, advanced by Heston and co-workers, of a familial association between Alzheimer's disease, Down's syndrome and immunoproliferative disorders. However, there are difficulties of interpreting negative conclusions in this type of study, particularly those resulting from small sample size and the impossibility of tracing all relatives; only the data for immunoproliferative disorders are incompatible with the hypothesis, those for Down's syndrome being too few to be informative. The incidence of presenile dementia among the first-degree relatives of probands was raised, as in many previous studies, and was consistent with a simple polygenic model. The mean parental age at birth of the probands was significantly raised by about 2 years (P = 0.01), but so also was that of their unaffected sibs, suggesting that the mechanism differs from that occurring in trisomy 21 and certain other aneuploidies.
Cluster Analysis of Symptoms in Elderly Demented Patients
Authors: Ballinger B. R. , Reid A. H. , Heather B. B.
Published: August 2008

One hundred elderly patients with chronic organic brain syndromes were assessed by standard interviews, nursing ratings and from historical information. The data were subjected to cluster analysis and eight clusters were isolated. The significance of these clusters is discussed and other features of the patients reviewed.
The Dexamethasone Suppression Test for Melancholia
Authors: Carroll Bernard J.
Published: August 2008

Melancholia is thought by many investigators to have a biological basis, and biological research, particularly on abnormalities of the neuroendocrine system and of the sleep electroencephalogram, is now beginning to yield results which can help in the differential diagnosis of depressive illness. This review will focus on the most widely studied neuroendocrine disturbance: disinhibition of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal cortex (HPA) system as revealed by the dexamethasone suppression test (DST).
Men and Women Who Do Not Have Orgasms
Authors: Brindley G. S. , Gillan Patricia
Published: August 2008

In the well-known condition of primary complete anorgasmia in women, the glandipudendal (‘bulbocavernosus’) reflex is often absent, and this is strongly correlated with failure of treatment. From these facts, and from properties of the glandipudendal reflex, we argue that organic abnormalities in the spinal cord contribute to causing the condition in some cases.

We report nine cases of complete primary anorgasmia in men, two of whom lacked glandipudendal reflexes. The condition need not imply sterility; in all these nine (as also in three incomplete cases) we were able to obtain semen by electroejaculation or vibratory stimulation, and the wife of one patient is now pregnant.
Compulsive Gamblers in Treatment
Authors: Greenberg David , Rankin Howard
Published: August 2008

Twenty-six male compulsive gamblers were seen in one hospital over the last 8 years. Five were single, and only 5 had stable marriages. In most cases the compulsive gambling preceded their marriage. The majority had criminal records arising out of their gambling debts. All were offered treatment based on behavioural principles, but only 5 gained and maintained control over their gambling, 7 lapsed intermittently, and the remaining 14 were gambling when last seen. The problems in treatment are discussed, and modifications suggested.
Psychiatric Illness after Leaving University: A Five-Year Follow-Up of Students
Authors: Hall Zaida M. , Sheil L. P. , Waters W. E.
Published: August 2008

Ninety-one undergraduates who had been referred to the Southampton University psychiatrist and matched controls who had not sought psychiatric help were followed up yearly for five years by questionnaire. The response rate for cases and controls was poor, but the difference in psychiatric morbidity was large. At least 26 of the patients subsequently consulted a doctor for emotional problems as against five of the controls; 17 of the patients were again referred to a psychiatrist but none of the controls. It is concluded that students who are referred to a psychiatrist during their University course have a much higher rate of psychiatric morbidity in the five years after they leave University than do students who have not been so referred.
On Evaluating the Severity of Depression: An Experimental Study of Psychiatrists
Authors: Fisch Hans-Ueli , Hammond Kenneth R. , Joyce C. R. B.
Published: August 2008

This study extends earlier work on the evaluation of depression by general physicians, and compares the results obtained with that group with those from a group of experienced psychiatrists. Differences within each group were larger than those between them. In neither group were individuals able to describe their own diagnostic processes with great accuracy, but psychiatrists were, as expected, somewhat more consistent than general physicians. They became even more so when allowed to select their own cues; of which, however, they made use of a smaller number. These tended to be of a specific rather than (as with the physicians) of a general nature.
Does Tryptophan Potentiate Clomipramine in the Treatment of Agoraphobic and Social Phobic Patients?
Authors: Pecknold J. C. , McClure D. J. , Appeltauer L. , Allan T. , Wrzesinski L.
Published: August 2008

A 10 week double blind study of 24 agoraphobics and 16 social phobics all on clomipramine compared the effect of adding tryptophan or placebo. Tryptophan did not potentiate the beneficial effect of clomipramine on phobic avoidance, phobic fears or the incidence of panic attacks. Neither was the presence of depression a factor of outcome.
The Impact of Legal Modes of Thought upon the Practice of Psychiatry
Authors: Wood John
Published: August 2008

Almost invariably, a professional man becomes the captive of his chosen profession. His training and his subsequent experience in practice leave an indelible mark. It is often said that married couples grow to look like each other, and in extreme cases like their dogs. So lawyers, accountants, bank managers, doctors and perhaps even psychiatrists appear to take on a stereotyped form. The cartoonist spots the uniform clothes, the rimless glasses or the mid-European accent, as the trade mark of the particular profession. But more crucially there is also the growth of stereotyped modes of thought, of common assumptions and traditional patterns of argument which are to a large extent subconscious and so more likely to pass unnoticed.
Community Psychiatric Nursing for Neurotic Patients: A Controlled Trial
Authors: Paykel E. S. , Mangen S. P. , Griffith J. H. , Burns T. P.
Published: August 2008

Seventy-one neurotic patients requiring follow-up were randomly assigned to routine psychiatric out-patient care or to supportive home visiting from community psychiatric nurses as their main treatment agents and were assessed every six months for 18 months. No differences were found between effectiveness of the two modes of service on symptoms, social adjustment or family burden. Patients seeing community psychiatric nurses reported greater satisfaction with treatment. Community psychiatric nursing resulted in a marked reduction in out-patient contacts with psychiatrists and other staff, more discharges, and a small increase in general practitioner contact for prescribing. Care of such patients by community psychiatric nurses is a valuable alternative mode of deployment within the psychiatric team.
The Nithsdale Schizophrenia Survey: I. Psychiatric and Social Handicaps
Authors: McCreadie Robin G.
Published: August 2008

A review of all known schizophrenics from a discrete geographical area, Nithsdale in Dumfries and Galloway Region, found a point prevalence of 2.38 per 1000 of the total population; this figure fell to 1.73 when only Feighner positive schizophrenics were considered. Only 3 per cent of the population interviewed had no abnormality in mental state or behaviour; negative schizophrenic symptoms were prominent positive symptoms uncommon. Approximately one quarter were in-patients, who were an atypical group, showing much more obvious social and psychiatric disability. In- and day patient care and state benefits for schizophrenics cost each member of the Nithsdale community approximately £12 a year.
The Nithsdale Schizophrenia Survey: II. Abnormal Movements
Authors: McCreadie Robin G. , Barron Elizabeth T. , Winslow George S.
Published: August 2008

In a review of all known schizophrenics (n = 133) from a discrete geographical area, Nithsdale in Dumfries and Galloway Region, 88 per cent were examined for evidence of tardive dyskinesia (TD) and parkinsonism. The prevalence of both TD and parkinsonism was 31 per cent. The TD group was older and more often showed negative schizophrenic symptoms than the non-TD group. The trend was towards a higher prevalence among in-patients and Feighner positive schizophrenics. Parkinsonism was common in patients receiving antiparkinsonian drugs. Ten per cent of patients had both TD and parkinsonism. The findings will act as a baseline for regular reassessment of the population.
Testing the Monogenic Theory of Schizophrenia
Authors: Tsuang Ming T. , Bucher Kathleen D. , Fleming Jerome A.
Published: August 2008

Segregation analysis was applied to blind family data concerning schizophrenia to decide if the transmission of schizophrenia could be explained by a single major gene. Our results showed that the Mendelian model was unacceptable. Therefore, the monogenic hypothesis could not account for the transmission of schizophrenia. Since the hypothesis of no parent-child transmission was also not accepted, there was an indication that some form of vertical transmission existed which could be psychosocial, or an interaction between genetic and psychosocial factors. Our results suggest genetic heterogeneity in schizophrenia. Currently available clinical criteria for defining subgroups must be improved in conjunction with detection of biological indicators so that segregation analysis of family data could be effectively used in determining modes of transmission in schizophrenia.
Demethylation of C14 2,3,4-Trimethoxyphenylethylamine in Schizophrenics Before and After L-methionine Loading
Authors: Antun F. T. , Kurkjian R.
Published: August 2008

Demethylation was compared in acute and chronic schizophrenics and in non-schizophrenics by the administration of C14 labelled 2,3,4-trimethoxyphenylethylamine (TMPEA). The results did not show a significant difference in the urinary levels of the monodemethylated catabolites of TMPEA among any groups of patients. However, there was a significant decrease in demethylation in untreated chronic schizophrenics after ten days of L-methionine orally, whereas the non-schizophrenic group similarly given methionine did not change. This suggests the possibility of a biological weakness in schizophrenia.
Neurotoxic Effects of Lithium with Delayed Rise in Serum Lithium Levels
Authors: Sellers J. , Tyrer P. , Whiteley A. , Banks D. C. , Barer D. H.
Published: August 2008

Neurotoxicity is a rare but well recognized unwanted effect of lithium therapy (Moore, 1972; von Hartitzsch et al, 1972; Tyrer and Shopsin, 1980) which tends to be associated with high serum lithium levels. In clinical practice it is normally assumed that once signs of toxicity are detected and treatment stopped, serum levels will return to normal. We report here a patient who developed toxic symptoms while her serum levels were in the therapeutic range but who developed severe neurotoxic sequelae and high serum levels after treatment was stopped.
EEG Monitored ECT
Authors: Christensen Peder , Koldbæk Ib
Published: August 2008

EEG monitored ECT was administered to 20 patients, 12 females and 8 males. One hundred and fifty-six treatments were given (mean 7.8 treatments/patient), and the relation between clinically observed seizures (COS) and the cerebral patterns of convulsions (EPC) was compared. If clinical observation alone had been used, restimulation would have been necessary in 43 per cent of the treatments, whereas restimulation actually was done in 9 per cent. Similarly, too violent convulsion patterns would have been ignored in 5 per cent of the treatments.
Acute Rise of Pancreatic Polypeptide after Electroconvulsive Therapy
Authors: Allen J. M. , Adrian T. E. , Cramer P. A. , Steinert J. , Bloom S. R.
Published: August 2008

Plasma pancreatic polypeptide concentrations rise by 320±81 per cent following administration of electroconvulsive therapy. This rise is observed in the first ten minutes despite premedication of patients with 0.6 mg atropine. Pancreatic polypeptide release is dependent on cholinergic tone and is very sensitive to atropine. The dramatic rise in pancreative polypeptide observed following electroconvulsive therapy probably results from vagal stimulation and reflects insufficient atropine premedication.
Elevated Motilin Levels in Patients Treated with Antidepressant and Neuroleptic Drugs
Authors: Allen J. M. , Christofides N. D. , Cramer P. A. , Steinert J. , Bloom S. R.
Published: August 2008

Constipation is a frequent effect of treatment with antidepressant and neuroleptic drugs as a result of interference with neuronal control of colonic muscular activity. Motilin, a circulating peptide, is involved in induction of myoelectric complexes in the colon. Significantly elevated circulating basal motilin levels were found in patients receiving tricyclic antidepressant drugs, mean 128±33 pmol/l (control 48±6 pmol/l) or neuroleptic therapy, mean 213±29 pmol/l (control 87±8 pmol/l).
The Contemporary Natural History of Mental Disorder in Old Age
Authors: Blessed G. , Wilson I. D.
Published: August 2008

A classificatory system for mental disorders in the elderly proposed by Roth in 1955 was examined in a comtemporary population. Ninety per cent of patients could be allocated to the five psychosyndromes originally defined. Examination of outcome in the present sample, at six months and two years, showed important differences. The outlook for patients with paranoid psychoses showed an improvement though for those with affective illness (at 2 years) there was little change. Of special importance was the increased long-term survival of very elderly female patients with senile dementia. This, in conjunction with the general rise in admissions for mental disorders in the aged over the past 25 years, has considerable implications for the future development of psychiatric services for the elderly mentally ill.
Rapid Response to Lithium in Phenelzine Non-responders
Authors: Nelson J. Craig , Byck Robert
Published: August 2008

Three patients suffering from major depressive disorder with melancholia and unresponsive to a three-week trial of adequate dosage of phenelzine, received lithium. Each responded within a five-day period. The similarity to lithium augmentation of tricyclic treatment is noted and discussed.
Normal Ventricles in Young Schizophrenics
Authors: Benes Francine , Sunderland Pearson , Jones Barry D. , LeMay Marjorie J. , Cohen Bruce M. , Lipinski Joseph F.
Published: August 2008

The CT scans of 11 schizophrenics and 26 controls were evaluated for both linear (Evan's and cella media ratios) and volume (planimetry and grid ratios) measurements of ventricular size. There were no differences between the two groups on any of the measures obtained. These results are discussed in relation to previous reports showing ventricular enlargement in schizophrenics. The relatively younger age and briefer period of hospitalization in this present sample are suggested as variables possibly associated with these findings.
The Present State Examination: Experiences with Xhosa-speaking Psychiatric Patients
Authors: Gillis L. S. , Ben-Arie O. , Elk R. , Teggin A.
Published: August 2008

Language, conceptual, and cultural factors are discussed in relation to a Xhosa translation of the Present State Examination which was administered to a series of 120 consecutive new admissions to a psychiatric hospital.

The experiential events of psychiatric disturbance as defined by the PSE exist in Xhosa-speaking patients and it is a valid instrument.
Pharmacological Responsiveness of Sweat Glands in Anxious Patients and Healthy Volunteers
Authors: Maple Shani , Bradshaw C. M. , Szabadi E.
Published: August 2008

The responsiveness of eccrine sweat glands to local intradermal injections of carbachol and phenylephrine was studied in six male and six female healthy volunteers and six female patients suffering from anxiety neurosis, using a plastic paint impression method. Carbachol evoked consistently greater responses than phenylephrine. The response to carbachol attained a peak approximately two minutes after injection, whereas the response to phenylephrine attained a peak within fifteen seconds of the injection. Males showed greater responsiveness to both drugs than females, this being reflected in significantly higher maxima of the dose-response curves for the males. The anxious females showed a higher level of spontaneous sweat gland activity and greater responsiveness to both drugs (reflected in higher maxima of the dose-response curves) than the normal females.