bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Factors associated with psychiatric morbidity in men ‐ a general practice survey
Authors: Hobbs P. R. , Ballinger C. B. , McClure A. , Martin B. , Greenwood C.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– A survey of men aged from 20 to 59 years from a general practice list using the General Health Questionnaire and a questionnaire of social and domestic items yielded 1011 respondents. Several items were shown to be linked with psychological disturbance including ill health, ill health or psychiatric history in wife, poor relationship with wife, being unemployed, poor or divorced and lower social class. The results are compared with those of a similar sample of women.
Relationship of dysphoric premenstrual changes to depressive disorders
Authors: Halbreich U. , Endicott J.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT An association between premenstrual dysphoric changes and depressive disorders is demonstrated in 170 women. Each woman underwent an evaluation for current and life‐time diagnosis using the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC). Premenstrual dysphoric changes were evaluated with the Premenstrual Assessment Form (PAF). Criteria for PAF Full Depressive Syndrome were met by 57 % of women with a life‐time diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder. Only 14 % of the Never Mentally 111 women met these PAF criteria. Eighty‐four percent of those who had PAF Full Depressive Syndrome also had RDC Major Depressive Disorder while only 9 % were Never Mentally Ill.
Phobic states presenting as somatic complaints syndromes in Nigeria: socio‐cultural factors associated with diagnosis and psychotherapy
Authors: Morakinyo O.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT Previous publications have given the impression that phobic states do not exist, or are very rare, in Africa south of the Sahara. This study has shown that this impression is erroneous. One of the explanations for this stems from the fact that African psychiatric patients tend to present with predominantly somatic complaints. These complaints mask the underlying illness making diagnosis very problematic. In an in‐depth study of a sample of psychoneurotic patients, in Nigeria, phobic states were found to account for the complaints made by a substantial number of the patients. The type of objects to which fears tend to be bound in African patients are not often the same as those in Western society. This offers another explanation why identification of phobic states might have been missed by the previous writers. The socio‐cultural and psychodynamic aspects af this illness in the African are discussed, as well as the effects which such factors may have on the physician‐patient relationship, their relevance in diagnosis‐making and in successfully implementing psychotherapy for the patients.
Recent rise in supposedly stress dependent causes of death in psychiatric hospitals in Norway indicating increased “stress” in hospitals?
Authors: Saugstad L. , Ödegård Ö.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT The present study comprises all deaths in Norwegian psychiatric hospitals in 1950–74 with the diagnosis of non‐organic (functional) psychosis: 5106 deaths. Mortality declined in both sexes as did excess mortality which is now 1.7 times the general population in the male, and 2.3 times in the female sex. However, a significant rise in unnatural deaths (suicides and accidents) took place in both sexes during 1963–74, as mortality increased 2–3 times in comparison with 1950–62. This rise in unnatural deaths is probably directly related to the introduction of drug therapy, which created an increased need for protection of the hospital population. A challenge which the accompanying changes in the hospital environment have failed to meet. Cardio‐vascular mortality increased considerably during 1963–74 in both sexes. The rise is most likely the combined result of an adverse effect of drug therapy in individual patients (obesity, physical inactivity, increased smoking habits), the reduced stress‐relieving effect of hospitalisation through shorter stays in hospital and the liberalisation policy. We may not yet have experienced the total adverse effect on mortality of the increase in behavioural risk factors in psychiatric patients. It is suggested that future mortality studies include psychiatric out‐patients.
Medicinal self‐poisoning and prescription frequency
Authors: Forster D. P. , Frost C. E. B.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT Deliberate non‐fatal self‐poisoning due to medicinal agents more than doubled in England and Wales during the period 1968–78. Interregional analysis showed a significant positive correlation between the rate at which psychotropic drugs were prescribed by general practitioners (GPs) and the medicinal self‐poisoning rate. Regression analysts indicated that a reduction of 1000 psychotropic prescriptions would be associated with 3.8 fewer self‐poisoning admissions due to medicinal agents. Causal and non‐causal links between the psychotropic prescription rate and the medicinal self‐poisoning rate were both considered, but the balance of the evidence seems to favour the causal interpretation. Overall, it is suggested that ihe benefits of such reduced prescribing outweigh the costs. A significant relationship was not found between unemployment and medicinal self‐poisoning.
Suicide and attempted suicide in a general hospital in western Ethiopia
Authors: Jacobsson L.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT Suicidal behaviour in western Ethiopia as seen in a general hospital is reported on. The suicide rate is at least 3–11 per 100,000 inhabitants per year (mean 4.5) which is higher than is usually reported from Africa. As many women as men seem to commit suicide and the incidence is highest in the age group 19–24 years and lowest in the oldest group. The incidence seems to be higher in urban areas. Hanging is the most frequent method used by both sexes.
Incidence of rheumatoid arthritis among patients with schizophrenia, affective psychosis and neurosis
Authors: Allebeck P. , Rodvall Y. , Wistedt B.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of hospital care with the diagnosis rheumatoid arthritis (RA) among patients with schizophrenia, affective psychosis and neurosis compared with that among hospitalized patients in general. By means of the in‐patient register of Stockholm County, a cohort was formed comprising all patients discharged with the diagnoses schizophrenia, affective psychosis and neurosis in Stockholm County during 1971, and a sample of all patients discharged for any diagnosis during the same year. We followed the groups in the in‐patient register through 1981 in order to identify hospital episodes with the diagnosis RA, Observed and expected incidences of RA in hospital care were obtained using all hospitalized patients as a reference group. For schizophrenia and affective psychosis the incidence of RA was around half the expected, whereas for neurosis it was close lo the expected incidence. With reservation for small numbers of observed cases, the results support the hypothesis of a reduced incidence of RA among patients with schizophrenia. The finding regarding affective psychosis was based on a smaller number of cases and merits further investigations.
Implications of the distinction between organic and functional psychoses
Authors: Hays P.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT On the basis of their symptomatology, some psychoses are called organic. The remaining psychoses are called functional. It is generally supposed that symptomatically organic psychoses have organic causes and thus call for medical investigations, while the functional psychoses are not so caused, and call for a dynamic formulation rather than an organic one. The author examines the basis for this distinction, and argues that it is logically unsound. He gives examples of exceptions to the rule, both organic‐seeming illnesses that are the consequence of psychological mechanisms, and symptomatologically functional psychoses with organic anteced‐ents. The exceptions prove to be so numerous that a different approach to the investigation of the psychoses, an approach stressing antecedents rather than symptomatology, appears to be called for.
Identifying children at high somatic risk (α1 antitrypsin deficiency): possible long‐term effects on parents' reproduction, marital status and social class level
Authors: Thelin T. , McNeil T. F. , Sveger T.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT Neonatal identification of children at high somatic risk due to inherited α1 antitrypsin deficiency (ATD) has been found to elicit a negative emotional reaction in a majority of the parents, at least initially. This sub‐study was conducted to determine whether the identification and follow‐up of the children's ATD had negatively influenced the families' reproduction, marital status and social class level (defined by parental occupation) during the 5 years following the identification of the children's ATD. No such negative effects were found in comparing these characteristics among 61 families with a child with ATD versus 183 control families living in the same area and having a child of the same sex and age. Unexpectedly, the ATD‐children's families (fathers) had a significantly higher social class level, raising the question of a possible gene advantage associated with ATD.
Decreased production of interferon alpha and interferon gamma in leucocyte cultures of schizophrenic patients
Authors: Moises H. W. , Schindler L. , Leroux M. , Kirchner H.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– In a first approach to measure the activity of the interferon system in schizophrenic patients, leucocyte cultures of schizophrenic patients and normal control individuals were set up using a whole blood assay. In this system both lymphoproliferation and the induction of interferon was tested. The lymphoproliferation (LP) test was performed with one bacterial recall antigen (PPD) and four different mitogens (phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A), pokeweed mitogen (PWM) and a novel mitogen derived from mycoplasma arthritidis ‐ MAS). For induction of interferon two inducers of interferon alpha (Corynebacterium parvum and Newcastle disease virus (NDV)) and two inducers of interferon gamma (PHA and Con A) were tested. Leucocytes of the patients responded to C. parvum, NDV and Con A with significantly lower titers of interferon, whereas the responses to PHA were lower than those of normals, but this difference was not significant. Regarding the LP test, significantly lower responses of the patients were obtained with PHA and Con A, whereas there were no significant differences when the responses to MAS, PWM or PPD were compared. Although our data cannot rule out a role of the medications in the defects observed, they may be indicative of a defect in the interferon system of schizophrenic patients.
Platelet MAO activity as a biological marker in subgroups of alcoholism
Authors: von Knorring A.‐L. , Bohman M. , von Knorring L. , Oreland L.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– In the Stockholm Adoption Study, two types of alcoholism, “Type I” and “Type II”, have been identified on the basis of genetic predisposition. In the present study, this classification has been applied to a clinical sample. The two types of alcoholism were clinically clearly identifiable. Type I alcoholism was characterized by late onset and few social complications. Type II alcoholism was characterized by early onset, use and abuse not only of alcohol, but also of glue, cannabis, amphetamine and opioids, together with several social complications. The subjects with Type II alcoholism had also more alcoholism and depression among their first‐degree relatives than the subjects with Type I alcoholism. Furthermore, the two types of alcoholism were separable by means of the biological marker ‐ platelet MAO activity. While platelet MAO activity was normal in Type I alcoholics, as compared with healthy controls, it was clearly low in the Type II alcoholics. This subclassification of alcoholism seems to be of value in future studies concerning the etiology, epidemiology and treatment of alcoholism.
Post‐partum mental illness in Northern Nigeria
Authors: Ifabumuyi O. I. , Akindele M. O.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– All the major psychotic disorders observed following childbirth in the West also occur among patients in Northern Nigeria. The age at onset of post‐partum mental disorder is observed to be lower among Northern than Southern Nigerian women; this, in the authors opinion, is probably because women in Northern Nigeria are generally “given out” to their spouses in early teenage. The study also comments on a probable entity of “pure puerperal psychosis”.
Contribution of adverse drug reaction to admission rates in an acute psychiatric ward
Authors: Hermesh H. , Shalev A. , Munitz H.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– The relative contribution of adverse drug reactions (ADR) to the admission rate of an acute psychiatric ward was examined prospectively. Among 321 patients hospitalized over a period of 17 months, adverse drug reactions were the main cause for hospitalization in 7.5%. Extrapyramidal side effects ‐ mainly resistant akathisia ‐ account for half of these patients. The population at high risk was that of the elderly and those suffering from organic brain syndromes.
Immunoglobulins in schizophrenics and prediction of need for hospital care
Authors: Pulkkinen E. , Soininvaara O.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– The purpose of the study was to determine whether the total number of day's spent in hospital during a 5–year follow‐up period could be predicted by determining IgA, IgG and IgM concentrations in 62 schizophrenics on initial admission. A high IgA concentration on initial admission indicated less frequent need for hospital care during follow‐up. A scattering diagram of this negative correlation showed that the correlation was based on a group of seven patients whose IgA concentrations markedly exceeded normal values. This group with exceedingly high IgA differed from the control group in several areas, which would indicate that these patients suffer from a “different” schizophrenia than the patients in the control group. This finding supports the idea of the heterogeneity of schizophrenia, and raises find the possibility of developine biochemical methods to delimanat ent diagnositic categry of schizophrenia.
Train suicide in the county of Fyn 1979–82
Authors: Lindekilde K. , Wang A. G.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– The phenomenon of suicide by train in the county of Fyn is examined for the period 1979–82. The reference population comprised all suicides in the county, minus suicide by train, for the period 1979–82, totalling 505 events. The data is based on the death certificates and the relevant psychiatric journals in the region for the period under study. Sixteen suicides by train took place in the investigation period and these differed significantly from the reference population on the following points: 1) distribution by age: 44% of the suicide by train population belong to the age group 15–29 years, whereas in the reference population only 11% were found in this age group; 2) psychiatric or non‐psychiatric patient: in the group of train suicides 81% were classifiable as psychiatric patients (inpatient, outpatient, former inpatient), in the reference population 38% were thus classifiable. Of the 13 “psychiatric” suicides by train, nine (69%) had a psychosis diagnosis. As in other international investigations a correlation was demonstrated between increasing proportion of mentally ill and degree of violence and deliberateness of the suicide act. From the aspect of prophylaxis, suicide by train is more a problem for the psychiatrist than for Danish Rail, just as coverage of these events by the daily press is believed to act as an incentive to this group of potential suicides.
Antidepressant effects of sleep deprivation in bright and dim light
Authors: Wehr T. A. , Rosenthal N. E. , Sack D. A. , Gillin J. C.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– In order to test whether exposure to bright artificial light at night is a necessary condition for the antidepressant response to sleep deprivation therapy, five patients were totally sleep‐deprived on two separate nights, once in very bright light and once in nearly total darkness. During the day after the sleep‐deprivation night patients were found to have responded equally well to sleep deprivation in both conditions. During the sleep‐deprivation night, however, antidepressant responses may have been greater in the bright light condition. Thus, light at night is not necessary for the antidepressant response to sleep deprivation, but we cannot rule out the possibility that the effects of light exposure and sleep deprivation are additive or that exposure to light at some time after sleep deprivation begins (including during the following day) is necessary for the response.
Expectancy, covert sensitization and imaginal desensitization in compulsive sexuality
Authors: McConaghy N. , Armstrong M. S. , Blaszczynski A.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– Twenty subjects were randomly allocated to receive either imaginal desensitization (ID) or covert sensitization (CS) to reduce compulsive anomalous sexual behaviours. It was predicted from a behavioural completion model of compulsive urges, that patients’ response to ID would be at least as good as their response to CS and would correlate with reduction in their general levels of tension following treatment. These predictions were supported. Correlations between patients’ expectancies of treatment success and their response were of moderate strength for expectancy measures taken following the first session of both treatments, but much stronger for expectancy measures following the last session of ID. It was suggested that patients experienced a specific response during the further sessions of ID, which enabled them to improve their prediction of response. As aversive therapies remain the standard behavioural therapy for sexual paraphilias, the finding of the present study that imaginal desensitization without traumatic imagery or aversive physical stimuli is at least as effective would seem to require urgent replication, if only on ethical grounds.
The elderly in the mental health services of twenty‐one European pilot study areas
Authors: ten Horn G. H. M. M.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– In a WHO project: Mental Health Services in Pilot Study Areas, 21 centers in 16 European countries collected a cohort of 200 consecutive new out‐, day‐and inpatients in 1979/1980 and followed them up for a period of 2 years. Since in most countries the elderly constitute a rapidly growing proportion of the population, with increasing demands on the mental health services, the collected data concerning the elderly were examined in detail. The results show that it is possible to study elderly people in care with data from a more general study. There are considerable differences among the elderly in the use of mental health services in the various areas, which can only be partly explained by differences in the age distribution of the various populations. The diagnostic distribution of elderly patients, and the type and amount of care delivered within the same diagnostic group, differ widely from area to area. Trieste offers a good example of day care as an alternative to inpatient care, even for elderly patients with organic psychosis.
Parental representation in young women who attempt suicide
Authors: Goldney R.D.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– A reliable and valid Parental Bonding Instrument was administered to young women who had attempted suicide. Results indicated low parental care and high overprotection. These results are consistent with theoretical formulations of suicidal behaviour, and taken with other studies help provide a profile of parental characteristics which may be associated with such behaviour.
Comparative analysis of observer depression scales
Authors: Maier W. , Philipp M.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT–The Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), Bech Rafaelsen Melancholia Scale (BRMS) and Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) are analyzed according to mean discriminatory power, internal consistency, homogeneity and transferability. The analysis was done separately in different samples of patients with depressive syndromes: a) operationally defined depressive syndrome; b) Major Depressive Disorder (RDC); c) Major Depressive Disorder, endogenous type (RDC). BRMS and MADRS were superior to HAMD in all evaluated aspects. Further, the BRMS was superior to MADRS according to the criteria of homogeneity and transferability.
Hand preference in schizophrenics and handedness conversion in their childhood
Authors: Shimizu A. , Endo M. , Yamaguchi N. , Torii H. , Isaki K.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– A handedness questionnaire which was given to 1774 schizophrenic inpatients was identical to that employed in our previous study on healthy students. Information was obtained on forced conversion of hand usage in childhood and the occurrence of left‐handedness in their families. Family history of schizophrenia was also investigated. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of left‐handedness or non‐right‐handedness (i.e., left‐handedness and ambidexterity combined) between schizophrenic patients and normal subjects. However, the rate of converted right‐handedness in schizophrenics was higher than that in normal people. The incidence of original non‐right‐handedness (i.e., present non‐right‐handedness and converted right‐handedness combined) in schizophrenics was greater than that in normal controls.
A psychoendocrine study in male paranoid schizophrenics with delusional ideas of homosexual content
Authors: Rinieris P. , Markianos M. , Hatzimanolis J. , Stefanis C.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– The serum prolactin (PRL), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone (T) and estradiol (E) levels were investigated in a group of male paranoid schizophrenics with delusional ideas of homosexual content, in a group of male paranoid schizophrenics without delusional ideas of homosexual content, and in a group of healthy, male heterosexual subjects. Only male paranoid schizophrenics with delusional ideas of homosexual content had significantly lower serum PRL values and significantly higher serum E levels than those of the age‐matched group of normal, male heterosexual controls; also, these patients tended to have higher (though not to a statistically significant degree) serum LH and T levels than those of normal controls. Findings of this study are discussed within the framework of the possible involvement of endocrine factors in the occurrence of delusional ideas of homosexual content in male patients with paranoid schizophrenia.
ACTH 4–9 analogue (Org 2766) in depressed elderly patients
Authors: Frederiksen S. O. , D'Elia G. , Bengtsson B. O.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– Sixty‐two moderately depressed elderly in‐ and out‐patients were administered 80 mg ACTH 4–9 analogue (Org 2766) or placebo daily for 4 weeks in a double‐blind interindividual comparison. Patients were rated on days 0, 15 and 29 with the Hamilton Psychiatric Depression Rating Scale (HPDRS), The Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAS) and the Sandoz Clinical Assessment Geriatric Scale (SCAG). After 4 weeks 23 patients crossed over to the opposite treatment for a further 2 weeks. A statistically significant reduction in the severity of depression and anxiety was found in both treatment groups. No statistically significant differences were found between the treatment groups, when comparing scores for each item and total scores of HPDRS, HAS and SCAG on day 0, 15 or 29. Nor were there any statistically significant differences after the cross‐over. Somatic examination and laboratory screenings before and at the end of the study did not reveal any pathological changes. No side effects were recorded.
Schizophrenia in early adolescence
Authors: Aarkrog T. , Mortensen K. V.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to schizophrenias starting in early adolescence, before age 15. Diagnosis may be difficult because such early manifestations may differ from the classical schizophrenias and from the traditional subgroups. The authors caution against a too liberal interpretation of normal problems in adolescence. In comment on the literature, particular weight is placed on descriptions of schizophrenias in adolescence. Some typical early manifestations of schizophrenia are described including, among other traits, depressive states and sociopathic behaviour. Key symptoms such as thought disturbances or flattening of affect may be lacking. Five long‐term cases were chosen. None was classified in childhood as infantile borderline. A diagnosis of schizophrenia was made in adolescence. In the cases where Schneider's criteria are not fulfilled, other hard evidence of schizophrenia is given. Emphasis is placed on the importance of early diagnosis.
Locus of control in chronic anxiety disorders
Authors: Hoehn‐Saric R. , McLeod D. R.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT– The relationship between psychopathology and the personality trait, locus of control, was examined in 116 adult outpatients diagnosed as having chronic anxiety disorder. Measures consisted of state and trait scales, a measure of social adjustment, and a measure of disturbance during childhood. Patients with an external locus of control were more depressed, had higher levels of state anxiety, and exhibited more indecisiveness, fatigue and agoraphobia than those with an internal locus of control. Externally oriented patients also scored higher on neuroticism and trait anxiety and scored lower on social adjustment. On the somatic scales, externally oriented patients rated themselves, in contrast to physician's rating, as being more symptomatic than internal patients, suggesting the presence of a help‐seeking attitude. Locus of control may be of importance in the formulation of therapy and prognosis in patients with anxiety disorders.
Normal ventricles in chronic schizophrenics
Authors: Shima S. , Kanba S. , Masuda Y. , Tsukumo T. , Kitamura T. , Asai M.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT The computed tomography (CT) scans of 46 chronic schizophrenic patients and 46 controls were studied using ventricular‐brain ratio. Ewans’ index, and cella media index. None of the indices used revealed significant differences between the patient and the control groups.
Effects of psychotherapy in schizophrenia
Authors: Sjöström R.
Published: August 2007

Abstract Effects of individual long‐term psychotherapy carried out by a single therapist with 14 schizophrenic male patients were studied 6 and 8 years after the start of therapy. The outcome measures were: time spent in hospital, ability to work, social contacts and symptoms, plus a total outcome score. The psychotherapy patients were compared with a control group of schizophrenic patients treated by conventional methods. The two groups were matched with regard to prognostically important variables (age, sex, time in hospital, ability to work) in order to obtain comparable groups. At the first follow‐up video‐taped personal interviews focusing on the patient's status the year before the investigation were performed, followed by ratings by “blind raters”. The psychotherapy patients had significantly more favourable scores on scales for hospitalization, work, symptoms and total outcome in spite of very low prescribed doses of neuroleptics in the last year. At the second follow‐up these differences were maintained. In addition, a difference between the two groups in the variable ‘social contacts’ had emerged.
Differential response to amphetamine in schizophrenia
Authors: Cesarec Z. , Nyman A. K.
Published: August 2007

Abstract Amphetamine added to maintenance therapy with neuroleptic drugs was accompanied by relief of complaints in 32 of 48 chronic schizophrenic patients with a long‐standing incapacity for work. In 22 cases this relief was followed by increased work efficiency. These gains were lost at experimental withdrawal of amphetamine. The response to amphetamine varied with type of schizophrenic symptomatology. All current regressive symptoms meant worsening in spite of concomitant neuroleptic treatment, in accordance with the dopamine hypothesis. Non‐regressive subjects displaying florid symptoms, however, benefited. Worsening, in a few cases, occurred only in the absence of neuroleptics. A few subjects with negative symptoms only, seemed totally unresponsive. These findings point at variations in sensitivity to dopaminergic stimulation in schizophrenic subjects. Worsening and improvement with amphetamine were each clearly connected with type of symptomatology only when current psycholic or florid non‐regressive symptoms were exhibited. In cases with negative symptoms only, the type of response could not be reliably based on clinical data. Studies of autonomic functioning and attention were therefore performed in a sub‐sample. Skin conductance level, reactivity and habituation rate were found to be lower in positive responders before amphetamine. After amphetamine there were no such differences. Attention tests showed no initial differences between groups but the performance of positive responders improved with amphetamine.
Adrenoreceptor interactions of the enantiomers and metabolites of mianserin: are they responsible for the antidepressant effect?
Authors: Pinder R.M.
Published: August 2007

Mianserin is a tetracyclic antidepressant whose postulated mechanism of action involves release of noradrenaline mediated via cortical α2‐adrenergic autoreceptor blockade. This property resides stereoselectively in the S(+)‐enantiomer of mianserin, which is also more potent in behavioural tests indicative of antidepressant activity, and in the reversal of clonidine‐induced effects. Cortical receptor binding studies have indicated that although a similar stereoselectivity prevails for the inhibition of both α2‐binding (clonidine) and α1‐binding(prazosin), mianserin and its enantiomers are more potent antagonists at α2‐ than at α1‐binding sites. However, no stereoselectivity is apparent for the antagonism of cortical α2‐heteroreceptors controlling serotonin release. Following chronic administration, (±)‐ and S(+)‐mianserin, but not the R(‐)‐enantiomer, produce functional supersensitivity at α2‐autoreceptors which is unaccompanied by changes in clonidine binding. Neither mianserin nor its enantiomers alter the sensitivity of α2‐heteroreceptors following chronic administration. Like mianserin and its S(+)‐enantiomer, but unlike R(‐)‐mianserin and the 8‐hydroxy metabolite, the desmethyl metabolite inhibits noradrenaline uptake in vitro. 8‐Hydroxymianserin and, to a lesser extent, desmethylmianserin release noradrenaline from cortical slices via α2‐autoreceptor antagonism, but only the 8‐hydroxy metabolite blocks α2‐autoreceptors and α2‐heteroreceptors in synaptosomal preparations. It is likely that S(+)‐mianserin, desmethylmianserin, and 8‐hydroxymianserin contribute substantially to the overall facilitating effect of mianserin on noradrenergic transmission in vivo. As yet it is unclear whether this effect is exclusively responsible for the antidepressant activity of mianserin or whether the stereoselectivity also shown by the mianserin enantiomers towards serotonin receptors plays a complementary role.
Changes in sleep EEG architecture during the treatment of depressed patients with mianserin
Authors: Mendlewicz J. , Dunbar G. C. , Hoffman G.
Published: August 2007

The effect of mianserin on sleep variables was studied in a single‐blind non‐controlled trial. Ten depressed hospital in‐patients received placebo for one week and then mianserin 60 mg at nightfor four weeks. Acute changes seen on starting mianserin treatment included increases in sleep period time, total sleep time, sleep efficiency index, and stage II sleep, together with reductionsintotal time awake and latency for rapid eye movement sleep. The changes in sleep efficiency index, total time awake, stage II sleep, and latency for rapid eye movement sleep persisted over the duration of the study. Clinically, treatment with mianserin improved overall sleep pattern and ameliorated their depression.
Treatment of depression in cancer patients
Authors: Maguire Peter , Hopwood Penelope , Tarrier Nicholas , Howell Tony
Published: August 2007

One hundred and fifty‐two women undergoing mastectomy were randomly assigned to routine care or routine care plus monitoring by a specialist nurse. The nurse detected and referred 76% of her patients for psychiatric help. Only 15% of the routine care subjects that warranted help were referred. Twelve to eighteen months after surgery, morbid anxiety and depression were less common in the monitored (5% and 5%) than in the control (30% and 50%) group. This difference appeared to be due primarily to psychiatric treatment which included antidepressant medication, anxiolytic drugs, and supportive psychotherapy. Few affective disorders remitted without such treatment. In a further study, the effects of antidepressant medication plus cognitive therapy and cognitive therapy alone were compared. Both treatments alleviated depression in the short term but the improvement was sustained in the long term only in those given combined treatment.
BRIEF HISTORY OF ITALIAN PSYCHIATRIC LEGISLATION FROM 1904 TO THE 1978 REFORM ACT
Authors: Maj Mario
Published: August 2007

A brief survey is given of the evolution of Italian psychiatric legislation. The following acts are examined: the 1904 law, stating that people affected by mental derangement must be kept in custody and treated in mental hospitals when they are dangerous to themselves or to others or create public scandal; the 1909 regulations, in which various aspects of mental hospital organization are dealt with; the 1968 law, sanctioning the institution of voluntary admission; the 1978 Reform Act. It is emphasized that the 1978 Italian mental health law is the only one, in the Western industrialized world, in which: 1) patient's dangerousness is not used as a criterion for commitment, and compulsory admission is restricted to therapeutic emergency cases; 2) it is established that compulsory admission of psychiatric patients must be implemented in general hospitals; 3) prolonged hospitalizations are discouraged, by stating that compulsory treatment should last as a rule seven days; 4) it is sanctioned the abolishment of mental hospitals. Moreover, stress is laid on the law's attention to community‐based facilities, described as the places in which preventive, therapeutic and rehabilitative interventions relevant to mental diseases should be implemented as a rule.
DSM‐III Schizophrenia: Is there Evidence for Familial Transmission?
Authors: TSUANG MING T , KENDLER KENNETH K , GRUENBERG ALAN M
Published: August 2007

To resolve some recent controversies as to whether there is any evidence of familial transmission in DSM‐III schizophrenia, a blind study of first degree relatives of 332 DSM‐III schizophrenics was conducted. A comparison group of first degree relatives of 318 surgical patients who were free of psychiatric symptoms were also studied. The morbidity risks of schizophrenia and related illnesses were estimated among these relatives.

The risk of DSM‐III schizophrenia in the relatives of schizophrenics was 3.7 + 0.7 which was significantly higher (p < .01) than among the relatives of surgical controls (0.2%+ 0.2) with a relative risk of 18.5 (3.7/0.2). When broad criteria of schizophrenia were used by including all schizophrenia‐related illnesses, the risks were approximately 9.0% and 1.0% respectively in the families of schizophrenics and controls with a relative risk of 9.0. These results will be discussed in the light of relevant literature. It is concluded that there is an evidence for familial transmission in DSM‐III schizophrenia.
The role of ward structure on nursing staff behaviours: an observational study of three psychiatric wards
Authors: Hodges V. , Sandford D. , Elzinga R.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT Variable rates of staff‐patient interaction were found between three wards, which differed in the degree of programme structure, staff‐patient ratios, and patient chronicity. Highest rates of staff‐patient interaction occurred where a highly structured ward programme operated in a closed ward with chronically disturbed patients, and this was more likely to increase as staff‐patient ratios decreased. The lowest staff‐patient interaction rates occurred in acute, open and closed wards. Further, acute ward patients received negligible attention from nurses in terms of staff‐patient interaction after 10 days following admission.
Validating an experiential measure of parental style: the use of a twin sample
Authors: Parker G.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT A study of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins was undertaken to assess further the properties of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), a self‐report measure of parental care and overprotection, to examine for associations between PBI and mood (trait anxiety and depression) scores, and to assess the genetic contribution to anxiety and depression scores. Mean correlations on the PBI scales were high and strikingly similar for the MZ and DZ twin pairs, supporting the construct validity of the PBI as a measure of parental characteristics. Higher mood scores were linked with less parental care and greater parental protection, the associations being stronger with anxiety than depression. Finally, methodological limitations in estimating heritability are noted.
Visually stimulated saccadic eye movements in patients treated with lithium
Authors: Opgenoorth E. , Kral G. , Wolf R.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT Saccadic eye movements were stimulated with the aid of 11 light spot stimuli, 10 of which were arranged at 3°, 6°, 9°, 12°, and 15° to the left and right of the central stimulus. The parameters average and maximal eye movement velocity and latency were precisely investigated. 19 patients averaging 6.6 years on lithium prophylaxis were compared with 23 healthy controls. Significant differences between the two groups could not be found at this level of function.
Fatigue and anxiety in surgical patients
Authors: Christensen T. , Hjortsø N. C. , Mortensen E. , Riis‐Hansen M. , Kehlet H.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT In 15 patients fatigue was assessed by an arbitrary scale, anxiety by the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory and concentration by various concentration tests before and 10 and 30 days after uncomplicated elective, abdominal surgery. Preoperatively, fatigue correlated to state‐anxiety (r = 0.68) and trait‐anxiety (r = 0.66). From pre‐ to postoperatively, fatigue had increased on both day 10 and day 30. State‐anxiety decreased, while trait‐anxiety was unchanged. Increase in fatigue 30 days after surgery correlated to increased state‐anxiety (r = 0.65), but not significantly to trait‐anxiety (r = 0.38). No correlation was found between increase in fatigue 30 days after surgery and the preoperative degree of state‐ and trait‐anxiety, (r = ‐0.09, r = ‐0.29), respectively. Neither pre‐ nor postoperative performance during concentration tests correlated to postoperative fatigue. It is concluded that preoperative anxiety may not be decisive for the development of postoperative fatigue. Postoperative fatigue may be considered a symptom of deterioration in cardiovascular function, neuro‐muscular performance and nutritional status rather than psychological factors.
A validity study of a new rating scale for psychiatric patients
Authors: Foreman E. Iljon , Baker R.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT A criterion validation of a new scale, REHAB (Rehabilitation Evaluation Hall And Baker) (1) is described. Forty‐three long‐stay psychiatric patients from two wards were observed by a psychologist over a 2‐week period using a time sampling procedure. The observed behaviour was coded into predetermined categories based on Blunden & Kushlick's (2) concept of engagement. Also during this period the ward nurses rated the 43 patients using the REHAB assessment. The time sampled observations were correlated with REHAB factors and items. Five hypotheses about the relationship between the two measures were tested. Four of the five hypotheses were supported by the data. Overall, despite certain limitations of the study, it is concluded that evidence is provided for the criterion validity of REHAB.
Chinese diagnostic interview schedule I. Agreement with psychiatrist's diagnosis
Authors: Hwu H.‐G. , Yeh E.‐K. , Chang L.‐Y.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT NIMH‐DIS was translated into Chinese and modified to the Chinese version of DIS (DIS‐CM). One hundred clinical patients and 187 community subjects were studied for diagnostic agreement between the DIS‐CM and the psychiatrist's clinical diagnosis. In the community sample, DIS‐CM overdiagnosed the cases of manic episode, phobic disorder, obsessive‐compulsive disorder and alcoholic problem, while it underdiagnosed the cases of tobacco dependence in the community sample and manic episode in the clinical cases. Standard diagnostic criteria, method of symptom detection, and social desirability, were identified as the major factors contributing to the diagnostic disparity. Variables related to life situations, language habit and medical histories were also analysed to test the external validity of the DIS‐CM in case identification. The results affirm that the DIS‐CM is reliable as a psychiatric epidemiological tool.
The general practitioner and the psychiatric health service in Italy after the reform: opinions and experiences in an urban district
Authors: Rizzardo R. , Rovea A. , Magni G.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT This paper presents an analysis of the impact of the psychiatric reform in Italy on health care delivery by the general practitioner. In an urban district of the Veneto region a survey was made on the opinions and assessments of the general practitioner about the new status of psychiatric care, on the quantity of psychiatric cases identified, and the correspondence between these opinions and assessments and the real delivery of psychiatric care. The pessimism about the psychiatric reform that emerges among some general practitioners seems to have more to do with the slow progress in creating intermediary facilities between hospital and region rather than an a priori opposition to the reform.
Patterns of self‐destructive behaviour in schizophrenia
Authors: Nyman A. K. , Jonsson H.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT Of 110 consecutive, young schizophrenic patients, 18 (16.4%) died during a follow‐up period of 14–17 years from first admission. Fifteen of them met with a sudden death. Definite suicide was proven in 10 cases (9%). Suicide was associated with chronicity in course, social dependency, and lowered efficiency. Some type of warning was present in all suicide cases. The frequency of suicide thoughts and attempts was high in the whole material. Suicide attempts were associated with protracted non‐regressive symptomatology, readmission to hospital, social intervention, and female sex. The disparity of characteristics between attempted suicide and definite suicide cases may partly be explained by the preponderance of women among the former and by the fact that only half of the suicidal deaths occurred when the frequency of attempts was at its peak. In attempted suicide in men their characteristics were compatible with those of the whole group, as well as with those of the suicide cases.
Characterizing somatization, hypochondriasis, and hysteria in the borderline personality disorder
Authors: Snyder S. , Pitts W. M.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT Somatization, hypochondriasis, and hysteria have often been considered as associated features of the borderline personality disorder. This study was designed to characterize these three syndromes in the borderline patient. Inpatients with DSM‐III borderline personality disorder were compared with controls with dysthymic disorder. Scales and items from standardized rating instruments which measured the three syndromes were scored and compared between groups. Although the hysteria‐obvious and hypochondriasis scales of the MMPI and the Hamilton Depression Scale item measuring hypochondriasis were elevated in the borderline group, there were no significant differences between groups. Scores of dysthymic patients significantly exceeded those of borderline patients on four of five MMPI codetypes measuring the three syndromes. Findings are discussed in light of previous psychodynamic, empirical, and research literature.
Behavioural symptoms and autistic psychosis in the mentally retarded adult
Authors: Lund J.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT 302 mentally retarded (MR) adults, representative of the total Danish MR population, were examined with regard to behavioural symptoms and psychiatric disorder. Deviant behaviour was found in 123 (41%) and was correlated to origin and degree of retardation, epilepsy and place of living. The distribution of the symptoms strongly indicates that organic brain damage is the major etiological cause. By grouping behavioural symptoms on three axes: A: social withdrawal (27%), B: abnormal bodily movements and sensory stimulation (22%) and C: conduct behaviour (17%), different patterns of abnormal behaviour were demonstrated. Behavioural symptoms occurred in 74 (87%) of 85 persons given present state psychiatric diagnoses. Behavioural symptoms are prominent in the group of autistic psychosis (childhood autism), which is classified by the triad of 1) autism, 2) abnormal language, and 3) stereotypic behaviour. This diagnosis was established in 23 (7.6%), and differences in psychopathology are basically determined by degree of intellectual resources, with the subgroup of Kanner's early childhood autism constituting the upper level.
Suicidal communication of persons attempting suicide and responses of significant others
Authors: Wolk‐Wasserman D.
Published: August 2007

Forty consecutively admitted suicide attempt patients in an intensive care unit, their therapists, and 70 significant others of 37 of the patients, were investigated by means of 300 semi‐structured interviews. The patients belonged to three diagnostic groups: neurosis, alcohol and drug abuse, and prepsychosis/psychosis. Thirty‐seven of the patients had communicated their suicidal intentions to people around them. All patients used protracted indirect verbal communication. Immediately before the suicide attempt, most of the neurotics continued often to use indirect verbal communication, amplified by demanding behaviour. Drug and alcohol abusers, moreover, also employed direct verbal communication, and prepsychosis/psychosis patients indirect non‐verbal communication. The majority of significant others understood the patients' suicidal communication and responded with near‐total silence. Ambivalence about continuing the relationship characterised most partners of patients in all diagnostic groups, and also persons other than partners in the abuse group. Ambivalence about helping the patient, and aggression expressed by significant others were most prevalent in the abuse group.
Social determinants of aggression in a sample of Chinese primary school children
Authors: Ekblad S.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT— The aim of the present study was to relate children's aggression levels to social determinants of interest (i. e., child‐rearing measures, day‐care attendance, peer group influence, and TV‐watching) in a sample of Chinese children in the People's Republic of China. A sample of 290 primary school students (155 boys and 135 girls, mean age 10.3) in grade four in Beijing were investigated using the Multi‐Faceted Aggression Inventory. The children's parents were asked about child‐rearing measures and day‐care experience for the child. Teachers rated the children's aggression, school achievement level, and membership in the Young Pioneers.

Despite acknowledged limitations, the findings in this study gave evidence that according to a person‐environment interaction perspective, the Chinese children's individual differences in aggression were influenced by the restricted environment. As aggressive behaviour is undesired and suppressed in the Chinese culture in and outside the home, the Chinese children seemed to show lower levels and less variation of aggression behaviour than children in permissive environments (e. g., Sweden). However, when analysing sex differeces in aggression environmental influences alone might not explain the differences.