bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic Electroplexy: A Study of the Clonus Phase in E.C.T
Authors: Tresise P. C. , Stenhouse N. S.
Published: October 2008

Contemporary psychiatry requires a clearer interrelation of scientific and practical medicine. This paper is an attempt to bring observable evidence into the realm of bedside nursing and safe scientific methods.

The personal study of many hundreds of E.C.T.s has been undertaken with the aim of clarifying the phenomenon of the clonus phase, defining and studying it in its phase-sequence so that some understanding can be reached as to what is normal clonus.

Organically-healthy patients suffering from depressive psychoses were studied under ordinary bedside conditions. In some instances, the clonus events were automatically recorded to confirm the existence of clinically-observable evidence, such as the march of onset and cessation of the clonus in different anatomical locations.

A clinical and statistical category of the E.C.T. phases was established. The clonus phase was defined and set into this category. The characteristics were enumerated and described. The clonus phase was taken as a total event with its times of appearances and anatomical sequences, the increments and decrements of frequencies, intrinsities and symmetrical distributions.

The evidence was collated, discussed and a unifying process proposed.
Problems of Treatment in the Schizophrenia-Like Psychosis of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy—A Case Report
Authors: Bloch Sidney
Published: October 2008

A case report is presented to illustrate problems in managing the schizophrenia-like psychosis of temporal lobe epilepsy. In this patient, leucotomy was the only effective treatment.
Sensitivity Training in a Psychiatric Hospital
Authors: Leyton H.
Published: October 2008

This article describes the establishment of sensitivity groups (T-groups) within a psychiatric admission centre handling a full spectrum of psychiatric problems. The rationale for T-groups is reviewed. Some of the factors leading up to the demand for the T-groups by the staff themselves are described. The composition of the group, and its reactions to sensitivity training are discussed. Some current and some anticipated difficulties in this type of in-service training are considered.
The Proverbs Test for Disorder of Thinking in Schizophrenia and Mania
Authors: Harrison Arthur W. , Spelman Michael S. , Mellsop Graham W.
Published: October 2008

Recent papers have questioned the clinical value of the proverbs test as a test of thought disorder. This paper confirms that a simple proverbs test elicits disordered thinking, but may not discriminate between that of thought disordered schizophrenics and of manics. except that the manics tend to be more verbose.
The Crisis of Hysterectomy
Authors: Raphael Beverley
Published: October 2008

This paper provides a review of relevant literature on the outcome of hysterectomy and on affective, defensive, cognitive, reality and object relations aspects of the hysterectomy crisis. The development, from the literature review and from the pilot study, of the research instrument, the Hysterectomy Interview Schedule is described. Parameters of response in terms of significant interactions are recorded for 100 subjects. It is concluded that women experience as helpful supportive relationships which enable them to discuss their fears and positive and negative feelings about the operation, particularly its effects on their marital and feminine role functions. Appropriate explanation and practical help are also of value to them.
Allusive Thinking and its Physiological Correlates
Authors: Barr R. F. , McConaghy N.
Published: October 2008

In schizophrenic thought disorder, there is a relative inability to inhibit those aspects of a concept which the context makes irrelevant. The thinking of many normal people shows a similar tendency and has been called allusive thinking.

In the present study of 62 students, it was found that allusive thinkers differed significantly from non-allusive thinkers in their pattern of conditioning. The allusive thinkers showed less ability to delay conditioned responses and less ability to suppress irrelevant responses. It was concluded that weakness of inhibition as manifested by allusive thinking was significantly related to weakness of inhibition in classical conditioning.
Fertility and Psychiatric Morbidity
Authors: Mai Francois
Published: October 2008

This paper reviews the literature concerning the fertility of those with psychological illness. Conflicting views have been presented over the last hundred years, but more recent and better designed surveys show more consistent results. These demonstrate with reference to psychotics that schizophrenics, but not manic-depressives, have fewer children than control population groups. There is no consistent evidence yet that those with neurosis and personality disorder have reduced fertility, although there is a suggestion that infertile women are more likely to have a personality disturbance than fertile controls. Further well-controlled population surveys are needed in this neglected field.
Aspects of the Distinction between Gross and Less Serious Psychiatric Disorders in Children and Adolescents
Authors: Eisen Peter
Published: October 2008

The clinician's role in the diagnostic process, and more particularly, his functioning as a diagnostic instrument, is examined in the setting of the initial screening of psychologically disturbed children and adolescents. The clinician's functioning as an observer of patients as well as of himself is discussed. The screening method adopted distinguishes between gross and less serious psychiatric disorders. This distinction is defined, and four significant factors underlying the process are described. The method of screening is briefly outlined. Details of a clinical study of 112 children and adolescents assessed by this method are presented.
Psychiatric Admissions and Family Size
Authors: Lindsay J. S. B. , Woodforde J. M.
Published: October 2008

In samples of patients attending a psychiatric day hospital, admissions to an in-patient psychiatric service, and in-patients admitted to a general hospital Department of Psychological Medicine, admission was found to come less often from families of “procreation” and “orientation” than would be predicted. The previously investigated hypothesis of diminishing risk of admission with increasing family size was confirmed for day hospital patients and for one-parent families. For more organized and formalized hospital care, the admitted patients differed in their family characteristics.
The “Human Relations” Movement and Psychiatry
Authors: Grant W. B.
Published: October 2008

The author draws attention to the increase in activities, in Australia as elsewhere, which might be subsumed under the rubric “The Human Relations Movement”. Various authors have commented on the dangers to naive participants in some “human relations” activities, whilst other authors point to the apparently valuable outcomes of such activities, even for professional trainees of various kinds. It seems likely that the “Human Relations Movement” and the body of psychiatrists have much to teach and to learn from one another.
Time Series for Symptom-Clusters in a Case of Manic-Depressive Illness
Authors: Pritchard D. W. , Rump E. E. , Grivell P. D.
Published: October 2008

Symptom intensities for a manic-depressive patient were recorded over a period of ten months, with 83 occasions of testing. On each occasion, a personal questionnaire covering twenty symptoms was presented, following Shapiro's method. Three clusters were obtained which involved symptoms of depression, agitation and hypomania. The time series for each cluster showed somewhat irregular cyclic trends. Various treatments appeared to modify, but did not prevent, the periodic changes in mood. Depression and hypomania were negatively related clusters, rather than complementary aspects of a single dimension. Agitation was correlated with depression, but nevertheless showed a distinct trend as a separate cluster. Implications for the symptomatology of depression were found.
Group: The More Primitive Psychology?: A Review of Some Paradigms in Group Dynamics
Authors: Blomfield O. H. D.
Published: October 2008

Comment is made on the concept of “paradigm” in contrast with the attitude of mind implicit in Husserl's “phenomenological reduction”. Merleau-Ponty's development of Husserl's phenomenology brings into focus our intersubjective enmeshment with a shared world, a view denied by traditional emphasis on individuality and objectivity.

An outline of the origins of group life and individual valency is sketched by consideration of child development and object-relations theory, broadened by the insights of R. D. Laing. W. R. Bion's formulations on the work and basic assumption groups are seen as a description of the group expression of primal patterns of instinctual life.

R. Schindler of Vienna has distinguished pre-group from group and has described the binding power of the group's opponent (G) function. His description of fixated group positions represents a sophistication of the ethological concept of pecking-order. This institutionalization is seen as a step in the formation, maturation and decay of a group's structure. Some interrelation is seen between Bion's and Schindler's ideas.

The relevance of these dynamic models of the natural history of groups to interpretative technique is discussed, leading to a consideration of H. Ezriel's analysis of the common group tension into required, avoided and calamitous relationships.
The Psychological Health of University Students as Measured by a Personality Inventory
Authors: Hetzel Richard , McMichael A. J. , Kidson M. A.
Published: October 2008

A sample of 397 Monash University students received the Eysenck Personality Inventory at enrolment in 1969, and again in 1971. Rises in neuroticism scores occurred in most student groups but were most marked among students who reported poor psychological health, who had poor academic records and who were trainee teachers. Students who reported poor psychological health in 1970 obtained significantly higher neuroticism scores in 1969 than other students. It is concluded that rises in neuroticism scores in the above three groups reflect developing psychological illness, and in the case of poor academic performers university attendance itself is a significant stress.
Psychological Complications of Hysterectomy
Authors: Chynoweth R.
Published: October 2008

This paper reports on the preliminary findings of a study which was carried out at the Royal Brisbane Hospital between September 1970 and December 1971 on 100 women who had been admitted for hysterectomy.

Pre-operative prediction was made as to the likelihood of a well-adjusted or mal-adjusted outcome on the basis of a semi-structured psychiatric interview.

Follow-up assessments were made six months post-operatively and correlated significantly with the predicted outcome.

Reference is made to factors which related positively to a mal-adjusted outcome and the implications of the study are discussed.
The Problem-Oriented Record in Psychiatry
Authors: Gilandas Alex J.
Published: October 2008

The problem-oriented approach to record keeping developed by Lawrence Weed, M.D. is having a significant impact upon psychiatry in the U.S. Under the system, a patient&s problems are listed and all subsequent data, plans and progress notes are cross-indexed to the appropriate problems. This encourages the use of sound logic in therapy. Communication with others about the patient is also improved. Although the system does not require a computer it anticipates and facilitates the computerization of psychiatric records. Precise documentation also allows more accurate clinical research. Some problems posed by the system are also discussed.
A Study of Aetiological Factors at Critical Periods of Development in Autistic Children
Authors: Williams Sara , Harper Juliet
Published: October 2008

Ninety-seven children were diagnosed as suffering from infantile autism according to the nine points of the British Working Party and the World Health Organization classification of Mental Disorders in Childhood. Data on these cases were analyzed in terms of aetiology as known, social class of parents, year of onset, its relationship to the presence of an organic cerebral defect, and outcome in terms of the present educational placement of the child. Findings suggested that infantile autism was a disorder with a multiple aetiology and the causes, both organic and environmental, were interrelated. It was postulated that the most consistent effect present in the early backgrounds of these children was a history of sensory deprivation at a critical period of development.
Levels of Psychotherapy: A Study of Intimacy
Authors: Eisen Peter
Published: October 2008

Individual psychotherapy is discussed. Some characteristics of psychotherapy, sharing, proximity and interaction, between patient and therapist lay the basis for the concept of levels of psychotherapy. Three levels of psychotherapy—“Caretaker” “Educational” and “Integrative”—are outlined on theoretical and clinical grounds and brief excerpts from therapy used to highlight each level. Central to the distinction of one level from another is the phenomenon of intimacy. Thereby, the therapeutic relationship in “Caretaker” psychotherapy is seen as a limited, uni-lateral intimacy; in “Educational” psychotherapy as a non-intrusive, limited intimacy and in “Integrative” psychotherapy as a bilateral, shared intimacy.
The Effect of Token Reinforcement on Verbal Participation in a Social Activity with Long Stay Psychiatric Patients
Authors: Horn Jacqueline , Black W. A. M.
Published: October 2008

A token reinforcement programme was set up to increase verbal participation in a weekly quiz for a ward of 38 male long term psychiatric patients. Response rates were measured and it was found that the amount of participation increased markedly when reinforced but returned to the original low level when reinforcement was discontinued. The study demonstrates that a token reinforcement procedure is effective in increasing the patients& verbal participation in a social activity.
Management of Group Homes
Authors: Wood Philip R. , Einodor Sister M.
Published: October 2008

Since 1968 fourteen group homes for chronic patients from the Ararat Mental Hospital and Training Centre have been developed. These have been highly successful in that patients who otherwise would not have been able to leave hospital, have now been able to do so. Of the 58 patients who have been discharged to then, none have had to be readmitted permanently, and only four have been admitted for short-term care. Considering that the majority of patients have been transferred to us for long term institutional care we believe that the overall results are very satisfactory.
Premature Ejaculation Treated by the Dual Sex Team Method of Masters and Johnson
Authors: Clarke Michael , Parry Laurel
Published: October 2008

The treatment of premature ejaculation has always carried a poor prognosis and recovery in an established case is uncommon.

In 1970, in their book “Human Sexual Inadequacy”, Masters and Johnson reported the treatment of 186 cases of premature ejaculation with only four failures. Their technique is based on the use of a dual sex team comprising a male and a female therapist who treat the “marital unit”, not just the dysfunctional male.

The present authors report initial success in the treatment of two premature ejaculators using a shortened version of the Masters and Johnson programme, requiring only seven treatment sessions.

One case is described in detail to indicate the disturbed interpersonal dynamics which may undarly the development of premature ejaculation and to illustrate the manner in which the treatment principles are applied in its management.

The success of the technique seems to derive from a reduction of anxiety in the coital situation and a strengthening of trust and confidence in the relationship between the marital partners.
The Adolescent as Delegate of His Parents
Authors: Stierlin Helm
Published: October 2008

The concept of the adolescent as a delegate of his parents illuminates many vicissitudes of the separation process between parents and their adolescent offspring, and also introduces differing treatment perspectives. Where an adolescent is delegated, he is encouraged and allowed to move out of the parental orbit—up to a point!! He is then held on a long leash, as it were, and his separation is made limited and conditional. Such qualified “sending out” is implied in the original Latin word “delegare”, which means, first, to send out and, second, to entrust with a mission. The latter meaning implies that the delegate—although sent out—remains beholden to the person who sends him out. This becomes possible only on the basis of a strong, though often invisible and selective, loyalty.
Screaming in a Vacuum: Some Adolescents' Search for Meaning
Authors: Eisen Peter
Published: October 2008

Late adolescents, often in conflict over establishing an adequate personal identity in a discordant world, are at special risk. Some feel an ideational and affective emptiness and an absence of meaningful “external” experience, which can be likened to screaming in a vacuum. Clinical material from three adolescents is described. Theoretical formulations incorporating the long-term impoverishment of object relationships and lack of definition of “the self” are seen as central issues. The therapeutic task, aimed at establishing an acceptable and reliable self-awareness, is discussed.
Detailed History for Prognosis in Psychiatric Disturbance of Adolescence
Authors: Metcalf Sheila M.
Published: October 2008

This paper deals with the importance and techniques of history taking. Adolescents through to the early twenties, do not have the information available to give a part of the history that can only be obtained by enlisting the help of the parents. A form of history taking from the parents is described and illustrated which brings out important details used in prognosis of adolescent psychiatric disturbance.
On Entering Adolescence: Continuity, Crisis or Chaos
Authors: Rickards Winston S.
Published: October 2008

Adolescence has long left the silent zone and is a well studied phenomenon. The child entering this extended developmental stage is confronted by a world of rapid uncertain change, social and cultural upheaval, expanding technology with complex vocational pressures. In his search for identity, he can expect and is expected to go through a period of turmoil, where the boundaries of normality and pathology are notoriously indefinite to health professionals, society and even to the adolescents themselves.

The family of the adolescent and society itself, responds to the unfolding development, the sexuality, the drive for independence, the emerging intellectual and vocational potential, the search for trustworthy humans and belongingness with peers, society, and humanity, with responses ranging from healthy empathy to seduction, envy, and undue expectations often of stereotypic proportions. From a controlling apprehension about this emergence, the child can often be viewed with unreal dependence as the new hope for the better world.

Entry to puberty and adolescence has deep significance throughout the history of mankind. The modern day child may well approach the task with more anxious expectations, and may well wonder what roles he will have to fulfil, what options will be possible, and what lies ahead. He has been drafted compulsorily—how will he serve?

In the biologically intact child, where there has been a nurturing and facilitating environment developmental lines flow in genetic continuity. Physical, intellectual, emotional, and social parameters each show spurts and lags varying in timing and intensity. Earlier delays, deviations and defects may become relevant once more or be relegated to the past by new healthy adaptations.

In this period the child is vulnerable from within and without to the manifestation of intensified biological drive, psychological growth and social demand. Family and social responsiveness must be matched by competence and availability of health professionals.

Crises—whatever their origin—are a turning point between further continuity or pathological development.—and require the establishing of healthy adaptive inter-relationships with family, peer groups, school and community. This paper will illustrate current crises and clinical disorders which necessarily present to paediatric psychiatric services whose role may be crucial in offering diagnostic and therapeutic intervention for the child and family, ranging from crisis intervention models to extended care for the child and family.
Psychological Problems among University Students in an Area of Rapid Socio-Cultural Change
Authors: Teoh Jin-Inn
Published: October 2008

The study is a one year epidemiological cum clinical survey of all student psychological problems that arise within the University of Malaya campus. There are 8,000 students and the University curriculum is undergoing a rapid change from the transformation of the medium of instruction from English to the Malay language. Furthermore, a very high proportion of rural Malay youths from socially-deprived rural regions are given government scholarships or grants to enter the University. Coupled with the increasing political pressure by a benevolent Malay government to restructure society so that the more economically backward Malay can compete equally with the business-like Chinese, there is a growing tide of Malay Nationalism—the focus of which stems essentially from the 3,500 Malay under-graduates in the campus.

The author ran a regular psychiatric clinic once or twice weekly at the Student Health Service, and the three attending physicians refer him all cases which they suspect of having symptoms or problems which are deemed as psychological, emotional or psychiatric. The students fill a structured form (administered by a research assistant) and each is interviewed by the author for clinical assessment.

The results of the study indicate that as high as 90% of all students seen had psychiatric or emotional problems prior to entry into University, most of them developed onset of symptoms during their Form Five or Form Six years. Rural Malay students especially present special problems with very high rates of psychiatric breakdown. Other aspects of the study deal with the family structure of the students, their problems of acculturation into a relatively middle class University structure, their sexual problems, the smoking of cannabis and their projected anger on the University authorities and the government. This is to such an extent that at present the 3,500 Malay students in the University of Malaya campus form the main pressure group opposing the Malaysian Government.
Spasmodic Torticollis
Authors: Meares Russell
Published: October 2008

Spasmodic torticollis is a distressing condition, characterised by involuntary and intermittent spasm of neck muscles, which in time become hypertrophied. It should be distinguished from a tic. Its incidence has been estimated at 1 in 1200 psychiatric referrals. Its relative rarity is a possible reason for the sparseness of the literature, which in turn helps to explain the confusion surrounding its aetiology. This is still unknown, but there is sufficient evidence to suggest that spasmodic torticollis is of interest as a model of “psychosomatic” illness, in that the convergence of a number of organic, personality, and situational factors may be necessary for its production.
A Sequential Trial Comparing Two Plasma Levels of Nortriptyline
Authors: Burrows Graham , Turecek L. R. , Davies Brian , Mowbray Robert , Scoggins Bruce A.
Published: October 2008

Pairs of depressed patients were matched for age, sex, and severity of depression, and treated for four weeks with nortriptyline so that plasma levels of below 49 ng/ml and above 140 ng/ml were, obtained.

Comparisons of pairs of patients as regards to improvement of depression, using a sequential skew restricted design, suggested that it was unlikely that a significant difference between the two treatment regimes would be detected.
Psychiatric Problems Encountered in Urban Zulu Adolescents with Specific Reference to Changes in Sex Education
Authors: Cheetham R. W. S. , Sibisi H. , Cheetham R. J.
Published: October 2008

Adolescent attitude has constantly challenged adult belief but current adolescent revolt is manifest in increased psychiatric symptomatology expressed through escalating aggression, violence, depression and drug dependency. This appears contingent upon radical disruption in family life and social disorganization subsequent to the Industrial Revolution. The authors suggest that the principle of peer group communication and adult inculcation of responsibility, existing in the pre-19th century European family or, for example, in traditional Zulu people, as described in South Africa, modified according to recent knowledge and applied to all groups of adolescents in Society, would materially reduce the incidence of current adolescent psychopathology.
Problems of Evaluative Research into Group Phychotherapy Outcome
Authors: Fielding John M.
Published: October 2008

Evaluative research has lagged behind the expanding clinical applications of group psychotherapeutic methods. Historical, social and cultural factors, as well as diverse theoretical orientations and a preoccupation with the differences between various group approaches, have contributed to the dilemma of defining group psychotherapy. No generally acceptable definition of what represents improvement in group therapy has yet evolved. A variety of research strategies have been developed to assess group psychotherapy outcome. Approaches using construct criteria, with an individualized outcome for each patient, would seem to offer the most potential for future outcome studies. Many variables may influence evaluative research in group psychotherapy and the conventional research approach of a controlled clinical trial has rather limited feasibility. In discussing the problems of evaluative research, into group psychotherapy outcome, the literature is reviewed.
Youth's Fulfilment of Adult Prophecies
Authors: Aldrich C. Knight
Published: October 2008

The quickness of youth's response to social change makes parents and other adults nervous, and triggers the expectation that a change in youthful manners will lead inevitably to a change in morals. Since this expectation can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, adults can create the problems they seek to avoid if they communicate to their children their expectations of antisocial behaviour.

To counterbalance the sanctions of a permissive society, youth needs adult confidence in its capacity to set its own limits. If adults have confidence in youth in a world of change, youth will have confidence in itself.
A Psychological Study of the Modern Hero: The Case of James Bond
Authors: Trahair R. C. S.
Published: October 2008

Reasons for the popularity of the modern hero are presented with a psychoanalytic orientation. Close attention is given to the familiar case of James Bond. Various bases are offered for the readers' identification with the hero; erotic and aggressive features of the writing and imagery are illustrated; the origin and character of our hero are related to the classic study of Otto Rank; the adventures of our hero are fitted to the monomyth of Joseph Campbell.
The Family as an Operating Model for the Adolescent Inpatient Unit: Experiences in a New Zealand Setting
Authors: Muir R. C. , Lewis P. J. E.
Published: October 2008

An account is given of 3 years' experience with 126 adolescents in a 16 bed in-patient unit.

Diagnostic categories, length of stay, screening and assessment techniques, staffing and facilities are described. Particular emphasis is given to a discussion of family process and structure in the assessment and treatment of individual children and in the design and modalities of overall management.

The aim of the unit is to become a model of the family for each child or adolescent, a model which, through the medium of group behaviour enables nuclear conflicts to be clarified and related to the roles and functions in the family of origin.
Multiple Family Therapy
Authors: Lindsay John , Pollard Danuta
Published: October 2008

The development of a multiple family therapy programme in a general hospital department of psychological medicine is described. The use of one way vision screens in such therapy, varying according to the patients' and families' needs is an important technological aid. Four age and social-status based groups have emerged and the details of current management within each is outlined. Our involvement with general practitioners in a family orientated programme is also noted.
Establishing Tokens as Conditioned Reinforcers with Long-Stay Psychiatric Patients
Authors: Samuels G. I. , Black W. A. M.
Published: October 2008

Tokens were swiftly established as conditioned re-inforcers for a large group of long-stay psychiatric patients. The method involved exchanging tokens, immediately they were received, for the back-up reinforcement. This was found to be efficient when compared to a previous study and resulted in considerably greater increases in response rates. The target behaviour was verbal participation in a social activity and the increases in participation were maintained when the exchange of tokens for back-up reinforcement was delayed. The method is especially useful for setting up token programmes.
Views of Melbourne Psychiatrists on Conversion Reactions
Authors: McCallum Peter
Published: October 2008

Recent literature on conversion reactions is reviewed. Four different perspectives emerged—the neurological, psychoanalytic and sociological standpoints and the view that malingering was responsible for so-called conversion reactions. A questionnaire survey of the opinions of Melbourne psychiatrists on this issue is reported. No concensus of opinion was evident on most points. The association between the psychiatrist's background and his pattern of responses is explored. Experience overseas in Britain or America was associated with particular patterns of response. This suggests that international differences in outlook retard understanding in this area. Research approaches aimed at clarifying the subject are discussed.
Mental Health Organizations in Transition
Authors: Guy Barry N.
Published: October 2008

Many mental health institutions are changing their traditional treatment policies and practices and their organizational structures. Literature is reviewed which provides a model for changing mental health organizations based in general systems theory. The systems organizational model has empirical support in the growing community mental health movement. The strong interaction of technological and ideological factors determining the nature of the new mental health organizations is stressed. Also considered are some of the problems facing those planning and managing changing mental health organizations.
Psychotherapy and the Iatrogenic ‘Love Affair’
Authors: Christie George L.
Published: October 2008

After giving an introductory outline of the phenomenology and theoretical aspects of the concept ‘love affair’, the author proceeds to review a number of symptomatic love affairs arising in the lives of a series of female patients during the course of analytically oriented psychotherapy. The material is presented in its general aspects and in the form of one detailed case history. In subsequent discussion the author attempts to explain the genesis of these love affairs in terms of phase-specific conflicts in the patient and certain iatrogenic aspects of the therapy.
Ritual Prevention in the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Neurosis
Authors: Catts S. , McConaghy N.
Published: October 2008

Behaviouristic theories of obsessive-compulsive neurosis are reviewed and their relationship indicated to the introduction of ritual prevention as a form of treatment for this condition. Studies investigating aspects of ritual prevention are summarised. The treatment of six obsessive-compulsive patients in a psychiatric ward of a general hospital is described and the difficulties encountered outlined. The authors' impression was that the response of patients shown was more marked and immediate than with any other treatment apart from leucotomy.
The Effects of Discharge on Long-Stay Psychiatric Hospital Patients
Authors: Barr Ron , Parker Gordon
Published: October 2008

One hundred and forty long-stay patients discharged from Callan Park Hospital were followed up. All except nine were accounted for and 90 who were living outside hospital at the time of the study were interviewed. Thirty percent of the total sample were readmitted during the mean follow up period of 20.4 months. Most of those living outside hospital said that they were happier than when living in hospital. They formed a relatively homogeneous socio-economic group with the majority living in boarding houses and convalescent homes and being unemployed.
The Two Town Study: A Comparison of Psychiatric Illness in Two Contrasting Western Australian Mining Towns
Authors: Burvill P. W. , Kidd Cecil B.
Published: October 2008

The results are presented of a survey of patients identified by their general practitioner as having conspicuous psychiatric morbidity, according to Kessel's (1960) Classification, during a three months general practice survey in two Western Australian towns, one, Gynalla, a new expanding town in the Pilbara area and the other, Jaburoo, an established economically stagnant town in the South West. The findings show a higher general practice consultation attendance rate for both sexes, and a higher rate of psychiatric illness among females, in Jaburoo than in Gynalla. In Gynalla psychiatric cases among women formed a disproportionately high percentage of all general practice attendances. The implications of these findings are discussed.
A Double Blind Trial of Lithium Carbonate and Haloperidol in Huntington's Chorea
Authors: Leonard D. P. , Kidson M. A. , Brown J. G. E. , Shannon P. J. , Taryan S.
Published: October 2008

Six patients with a family history of Huntington's chorea (HC) participated in a double blind crossover trial involving four treatments— lithium carbonate, haloperidol, lithium carbonate and haloperidol, and placebo. Each treatment was administered for three weeks and, at the end of each treatmeat period, assessments were made of chorea and a rumber of psychological variables. None of the treatments significantly affected chorea measurements. With regard to the psychclog.cal variables, the levels of irritability, the frequency of angry outbursts and depression did appear to be affected in some patients by the treatment. Three patients improved on a combination of lithium carbonate and haloperidol while the remaining three did not. Haloperidol alone significantly raised depression ratings above levels for other treatments including placebo. It is suggested that lithium carbonate and haloperidol together should be seriously considered in the treatment of HC when patients are excessively irritable and impulsive.
The Royal Derwent Hospital in Tasmania: Historical Perspectives on the Meaning of Community Psychiatry
Authors: Burnham J. C.
Published: October 2008

Throughout the history of the hospital, local social institutions, formal and informal, tended to perform casualty and receiving functions so that the Royal Derwent has always served as institution of last resort. Case books show that both illnesses and treatment conformed to those familiar elsewhere in the British Empire and developed no local peculiarities. The records provide epidemiological evidence of a dramatic decline in incidence of first admission for psychosis after the period when convict transportation created a high rate of social dependency.
Guided Fantasy as a Treatment for Childhood Insomnia
Authors: Porter Jeannie
Published: October 2008

A “guided fantasy” technique is described to relieve insomnia in children without the use of chemotherapy or the more conventional forms of hypnotherapy. In children at an age where fantasy is a spontaneous everyday response, relaxed sleep is induced through listening to a story from a tape that is created from the child's favourite fantasy figures and everyday likes and interests. The ‘guided fantasy’ is presented by the parents as a novel bedtime story rather than as a therapy procedure by the therapist. The child is allowed to feel he has a controlling influence in putting a favourite figure to sleep within the story, and so is gently led to accept sleep himself by choice. No active therapist is involved so there are no dangers of expected transference or abreaction.
The Management of Pathological Grief
Authors: Raphael Beverley
Published: October 2008

Earlier descriptions of pathological grief are reviewed. From the study of recently bereaved widows major forms of pathological grief are outlined. These are suppressed or inhibited grief and distorted grief, including forms with extreme anger or extreme guilt. Other grief variants are noted. The management of pathological grief is outlined; specifically the encouragement of the expression of suppressed affects especially sadness, anger and guilt; as well as the going over of memories and feelings to do with the lost relationship. Consideration is given to: the establishment of the therapeutic contract; the specific exploration of the response to the death and the preexisting relationship; resistances; interpretation of defences; assessment of progress of mourning; social network factors; termination; and transference and counter-transference.
A New Application of Closed Group Psychotherapy in a Public Psychiatric Hospital
Authors: Spielman Ron
Published: October 2008

This paper describes an intensive group psychotherapy treatment program in a public psychiatric hospital to which patients with severe personality disorder are referred. A unique structure within the patient/staff community is described concerning the inter-relationships of the closed psychotherapy groups and the relationships between the groups and staff within the broader therapeutic milieu.

The regular arrival and departure of the closed groups serves to activate relevant latent instinctual conflicts which are of significance in personality disorder.

The advantages of this approach to treatment of personality disorder are discussed and the results of evaluation of progress of the unit's first eleven closed groups are presented.
Coping Behaviour: Correlates of Survival on a Raft
Authors: Henderson A. S. , Bostock F. T.
Published: October 2008

The seven survivors of a shipwreck, involving ten men, were interviewed within a few days of rescue. They had been floating in a rubber raft for 9 days and had thereafter been on an isolated rocky beach for four days. Three of the men walked through dense bush to obtain help. Rescue came on the thirteenth day. The purpose of the authors' examination was to identify those behaviours which the survivors reported as helping them to cope during their ordeal. The most prominent of these were attachment ideation, drive to survive, modelling, prayer and hope. Attachment behaviour is described in some detail as a most potent, but inadequately recognised coping behaviour.
Changing Patterns of Psychiatric Hospitalization in past Fifty Years: A Cohort Study
Authors: Krupinski Jerzy , Stoller Alan
Published: October 2008

Nine cohorts of patients admitted between 1919 and 1962 have been followed up until 1971. Comparison has been made in terms of sex and age specific incidences of selected psychiatric disorders throughout the whole period.

The results of treatment have been evaluated in terms of discharge and death rates, length of stay, re-admission rates to psychiatric institutions and total period under hospitalization. These data have been compared with those available since the introduction of the statistical system in Victoria in 1961.
Suicidal Attempts in an Outer Region of Metropolitan Melbourne and in a Provincial Region of Victoria
Authors: Kessell A. , Nicholson A. , Graves G. , Krupinski J.
Published: October 2008

A two year study of attempted suicide was undertaken in two Victorian regions. Incidence rates of 16.7 and 22.1 per 10,000 population were found in the metropolitan and provincial regions respectively. A number of factors were considered and found relevant to the difference in incidence. In addition, other parameters including multiple attempts, seasonal distribution, method used, association with alcohol and referral to psychiatric care were considered. Our findings are compared with those of earlier studies reported in Australia.
Foreign Language Interpreting in Psychiatric Practice
Authors: Price J.
Published: October 2008

This article examines the problems of foreign language interpreting in psychiatric practice. It is demonstrated how an interpreter's apparent competence may readily be mistaken for true competence and that it is well worthwhile formally assessing an interpreter's command of his second language. In interpreting from patient to psychiatrist, the omission of important material was found to be a noteworthy feature. Here the meaninglessness of material not only favoured its omission but also often indicated important psychopathology. It was found that the more psychotic the patient the more likely it was that mistakes in interpreting from patient to doctor would occur.
A Clinical Trial of Electrosleep Therapy with a Psychiatric Inpatient Sample
Authors: Levitt Eugene A. , James Norman McI. , Flavell Philippa
Published: October 2008

The study assessed the effectiveness of electrosleep therapy in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and sleep difficulties in a small, heterogeneous sample of psychiatric inpatients. A double-blind format was employed, one group receiving active treatment while the other received simulated treatment. The results showed active electrosleep to be no better than placebo in bettering quality of sleep or in lessening symptoms of depression or anxiety.
Neuroendocrine Identification of Depressed Patients
Authors: Carroll Bernard J. , Curtis George C.
Published: October 2008

Recent studies of hypothalamo—pituitary—adrenal (HPA) suppression in depressed patients indicate that these subjects often show abnormal early escape of plasma cortisol levels following an initial suppression. Non-depressed psychiatric inpatients usually show normal sustained HPA suppression. The responses of 49 depressed and 30 non-depressed patients have been analysed to develop criteria which can make the dexamethasone suppression test suitable for outpatient studies. The cortisol levels measured in a 24-hour urine collection and a single blood sample post-dexamethasone were sufficient to enable 61% of the depressed patients to be identified correctly at a confidence level of 90%, on the basis of at least one abnormal cortisol value. When both cortisol values were abnormal 35% of the depressed patients were identified correctly at a confidence level of 100%. Patients with “endogenous” depressive profiles had the most abnormal results. A normal response to this test will not necessarily exclude the diagnosis of primary depressive illness. An abnormal response to the test may be of help in confirming the diagnosis. With the simplified procedure outpatient studies may become possible.
The Great Debate
Authors: Nurcombe Barry
Published: October 2008

A. R. Jensen's hypothesis concerning genetically-determined differences in intelligence between North American blacks and whites is summarised. Problems involved in the application of heritability statistics to IQ data are discussed. The concept of “intelligence” is reviewed from a cross-cultural perspective, and an alternative model of potential, competence and performance is proposed. Finally, the questions of scientific freedom and social responsibility are touched upon, and the implications of the great debate for scientists and educators discussed.
Concepts of Mental Illness Amongst the Rural Xhosa People in South Africa
Authors: Cheetham R. W. S. , Cheetham R. J.
Published: October 2008

The rural Xhosa people of South Africa have retained social cohesion through traditional custom, purity of language and the dominant role of ancestor worship, traditional medicine and witchcraft in lifestyle, beliefs and ceremonies. Abstract concepts are limited and ego defence mechanisms include projection, displacement and rationalization but cognitive disturbances per se are not regarded as important. Major attention is paid to severe conative and affective disturbances, ascribed to object or spirit intrusion, witchcraft or sorcery, which necessitate treatment by a traditional “witchdoctor”. Therapy is community orientated as far as possible unless uncontrollable violent behaviour necessitates referral to a mental hospital.
An Evaluation of Evidence on Depressive Classification and Some Alternative Suggestions from Physiology
Authors: Byrne D. G.
Published: October 2008

The wealth of material on depressive classification provides both researcher and clinician with a sorting task of monumental proportions. Moreover the criticisms which have been fired at studies of depressive classification using symptoms as a data base, also require systematic sorting and elucidation.

An attempt has been made to review the major studies of depressive classification in a systematic way, together with the principal criticisms which have been made of them. The survey is not exhaustive but aims at providing a relatively ordered overview of the area.

The most critical issue, that of subjectivity of data collection is taken up, and it is suggested that biological measures may form a more objective data base for studies of depressive classification than ratings of symptoms and behaviour.
Homosexuality Treated Adventitiously in a Stuttering Therapy Program: A Case Report Presenting a Heterophobic Orientation
Authors: Porter Jeannie F.
Published: October 2008

The heterophobic orientation toward treatment of homosexuality is discussed. A case report is presented where homosexuality apparently “spontaneously remitted” and heterosexuality was instated while the patient underwent treatment for stuttering. The change in sexual orientation is interpreted as possibly adventitiously induced through generalization effects from treatment of the relevant phobic aspects of the stuttering problem to the associated social aspects of the sexual problem.
Potency in Psychotherapy
Authors: Gilchrist A. A.
Published: October 2008

This paper defines therapeutic potency in terms of constructive as opposed to destructive intervention. In judging the degree of success in psychotherapy we may use either a medical or a growth model. Whichever criterion is adopted the conclusion stands that potency will be at a maximum whenever the therapist selects the most efficient technique for working with his client regardless of the school which gave birth to it. An eclectic approach views the differences between schools as exaggerated by the use of divergent psychological models and terminology, and sees value in various explanatory concepts such as ‘reinforcement’ ‘conditioning’, ‘insight’ and ‘cognitive restructuring’.
Social Geography of Suicidal Behaviour in Hobart
Authors: Koller K. M. , Cotgrove R. C. M.
Published: October 2008

Psychological notions are required to explain geographical patterns. Mapping and statistical analysis for year 1971, 1973, 1974 and half of 1975 revealed that attempted suicide occurs commonly in the area surrounding the central business area of urban Hobart and also in the older housing department areas. Physical patterns and social structure are related in a tangible way for the expression of suicidal behaviour in a spatial pattern.