bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Geetopdesh: spirituality, cultural values and psychotherapy
Authors: Malhotra S. 
Published: May 2011

In today’s age of globalization, growing materialism-unhealthy competition and distress, there is a felt need to explore the dimension of spirituality (Spiritual Intelligence). Spirituality and values can work as a soul for the science. In this regard, mythology and cultural heritage have a lot to offer. Revisiting scriptures and trying to understand the insights gained in the past era can add on to the knowledge and skills used in the practice of Psychotherapy. In todays fast pace life and age of globalization, utilizing such knowledge, insights and skills shall indeed be quite useful, both for personal growth and that of the patient. Today the challenge lies in inclusion, merging the cultural knowledge with current psychotherapeutic skills.The paper shall focus on values derived from ‘Geetopdesha’ (’Geeta’, the Holy Book of the Hindus that incl. the preachings and guidance of Lord Krishna, an incarnation of the Administrator God Vishnu, to Arjun on the battlefield). It incorporates the philosophy of life and death, the never ending soul, cognitive psychotherapy, ‘Karm’ philosophy emphasizing on one’s duties and responsibilities.Patients from different parts of the world can benefit from such insights and concepts that help in conflict resolution, enhancing motivation, self realization, increasing tolerance and acceptance thus aiding in reducing human suffering. It is of practical use in managing anxieties, phobias, fear of death, care of terminally ill and grief work. Combining relevant traditional approaches with the newer techniques is indeed a challenge in todays clinical practice of mental health professionals.
Children of homosexual parents
Authors: Moutinho A. , Pereira A.V. , Jorge G. 
Published: May 2011

Like families headed by heterosexual parents, lesbian and gay parents and their children are a diverse group. Unlike heterosexual parents, however, lesbian and gay parents are often subject of discrimination because of their sexual orientation while facing adoption, custody or assisted reproductive technologies, based on stereotypes concerning children psychological development and wellbeing.This work reviews empirical evidence regarding children with gay and lesbian parents. The results of existing research comparing children of homosexual parents with children of heterosexual parents are quite clear: common stereotypes are not supported by the data.
Prevalence of borderline personality disorder in immigrants in a psychiatric inpatient setting
Authors: Nielsen F. , Ziegenbein M. , Sieberer M. 
Published: May 2011

IntroductionInformation about the relationship between personality disorder and ethnicity or migration is sparse. The few studies regarding the prevalence of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in immigrants compared to an indigenous population are inconsistent.AimsThe aim of the present study was to compare the frequency of a BPD diagnosis in psychiatric inpatients with and without an immigrant background.Methods2494 consecutive patients over a 3-year period at a psychiatric university hospital were reviewed. Data included socio-demographic and clinical variables and also information about an immigrant background. The psychiatric diagnosis was limited to information available from the digital documentation system of the psychiatric clinic and additionally from discharge letters. The diagnosis of borderline personality disorder was based on ICD-10 criteria.Results374 individuals (15%) of the study population had an immigrant background. The rates of BPD were 6.5% in the indigenous group (n = 2120) vs. 3.5% in the immigrant group (n = 374). The difference between the indigenous and the immigrant group regarding the rates of BPD-diagnoses was statistically significant (chi2 = 5.02, df = 1, p = 0.025).ConclusionsThe findings suggest that in a clinical sample BPD was diagnosed less frequently in the immigrant group than in the indigenous group. Therefore, our results do not support the concept of immigration as a risk factor for BPD. However, future investigations with a prospective study design and at epidemiological levels need to be conducted in order to get more precise information about the prevalence of BPD in different immigrant groups.
Ekbom syndrome - cultural aspects from a clinical case
Authors: Olari M. , Le Vacon G. , Follet M. 
Published: May 2011

IntroductionEkbom syndrome is a delusional parasitosis in which the patient has the delusion of infestation by parasites. This condition might occur in concordance with senile dementia or cerebrovascular disease, but it is also present in mood disorders or schizophrenia.ObjectivesTo present a clinical description of a delusional parasitosis that appeared in a young nigerian women after she immigrated in France.AimsOur case is suggestive for showing that delusional parasitosis might develop in circumstances of social vulnerability such as the immigration and might have different cultural aspects.MethodsWe present the case of a 29 years old nigerian women that developed a delusional parasitosis 3 years after her arrival in France. The diagnosis was based on a carefully detailed clinical history, an MMSE was also applied. In order to exclude secondary causes an extensive laboratory evaluation was performed including: complete blood cell count, liver, renal and thyroid function tests, serum electrolytes and glucose levels, vitamin B12, folate, iron studies, coproanalysis, neuroimaging.ResultsThe patient had all laboratory and neuroimaging tests normal. She presented a delusional parasitosis and she described an infestation with multiple intestinal worms. She was capable of describing them and their movements under the skin and also in all the organs. She described dracunculiasis and three more different species that are commonly present in Nigeria, she never mentioned lice or mites.ConclusionsEkbom syndrome is a delusion of hallucinatory mechanism that might have different cultural presentations and could be favored by social vulnerability such as immigration.
Family environment: differences between men and women greek roma
Authors: Mentis M. , Kotrotsiou S. , Paralikas T. , Paschou A. , Mantzoukas S. , Bakouras S. , Kotrotsiou E. , Gouva M. 
Published: May 2011

IntroductionRoma attribute a great value at the family life. For them the family is the basic axis around which their community structures and their personal relationships are developed.AimThe present study aimed to evaluate the family relationships, the personal growth and the family system maintenance in male and female Roma.Materials and methods145 individuals (105 male and 89 female), residents of the general area of Greece, participated in the present study. The measures used were: a) The Family Environment Scale (Form R-FES) and b) A questionnaire concerning socio-demographic information.ResultsThe mean age of men was 35.31 ± 11.21 years old, while the mean age of women was 32.43 ± 11.70 years old. According to the findings, the men scored higher in certain factors which were studied. In particular, they reported significantly greater Achievement Orientation (P=.000), Moral-Religious Emphasis (P = .000), Family Control (P = .000), Family Organization (P=.016) and Family Incongruence Score (P=.011).ConclusionsMale Roma hold a special place in the Roma family, whereas the female's Roma place in the society of Roma in Greece is underestimated. Based on the measures used in the present study, the male Roma are characterised by greater ethics, religiousness, tendency to achieve their goals and generally to do things. Also, the male Roma seem to have a greater control over the family, in comparison to the female Roma.
Validation of patient health questionnaire in Greek-language sample
Authors: Pilipenko N. , Karekla M. , Feldman J. 
Published: May 2011

Lack of validated measures creates obstacles for psychology research progress. The validation of widely used instruments can facilitate research and clinical work.Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) is a cost-effective and psychometrically sound (Spitzer et al., 1999) instrument which is used for the diagnosis of specific psychiatric disorders according to the established diagnostic criteria. Unfortunately, despite its potential utility, PHQ has not been validated or used with Greek language populations.The aim of this study is to conduct a PHQ validation in 520 Greek native-language participants in Cyprus. Appropriate self-report Greek-language measures were identified based on the convergence between the diagnostic specifications of these measures and PHQ diagnoses. The identified measures and the translated PHQ were used for data collection. Participants’ demographic and health information was also gathered.Currently, the project is in its final stages of data collection, and will be completed by December, 2010. Preliminary results, suggest that a number of PHQ subscales have high internal consistency (e.g. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .81 on Somatization, .83 on Depression) and correlate moderately with other diagnostic measures used (e.g. depression scale r = .43, p < .001 with BDI-II; panic scale r = .5, p < .001 with PDSQ panic scale).Upon completion of data collection, PHQ factor structure, reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity will be further investigated. Item and correlation analysis will be confirmed.Strength and weaknesses of PHQ subscales and the employed validation method will also be discussed.
The impact of social context on the acculturative process: acculturative stress in Latin American immigrants
Authors: Revollo H.-W. , Qureshi A. , Collazos F. , Casas M. 
Published: May 2011

IntroductionThe relationship between immigration and mental health may in part be affected by factors related to social context in general and in relation to specific ethnic groups in specific social contexts. A growing body of research is exploring the impact of neighborhood context on the well-being of immigrants. The specifics, however, have yet to be identified.AimTo analyze the impact of social context on stress and acculturative stress in a hospitalised Latin American immigrant sample.MethodsThe study was part of a larger project concerning stress, coping, and psychosocial well being in Latin American immigrants hospitalised in both internal medicine and obstetrics in a large public hospital in Barcelona (Spain). 290 participants were evaluated with the PSS-10 for general stress, the BISS for acculturative stress and a sociodemographic questionnaire elaborated ad hoc for social context.ResultsNeighborhood socioeconomic level is related to general stress and acculturative stress. A lower socioeconomic level is associated with higher levels of stress and acculturative stress. High levels of ethnic density of Latin American immigrants is moderately associated with lower levels of homesickenss and intercultural contact stress, but are not related with perceived discrimination.ConclusionsSocial context is an important factor that should be considered in the acculturative process of Latin American immigrants and its impact on their mental health status. A low socioeconomic neighborhood level increases levels of stress and acculturative stress, increasing the risk of psychosocial distress.Own group ethnic density would appear to function as a protective factor.
Undergraduate elective experience in psychiatry - a personal account and literature review
Authors: Russell-Reddish H. , Temple P. , Beezhold J. 
Published: May 2011

IntroductionThe study was triggered by the first author's own experience on an undergraduate elective at the National Mental Wellness Centre in St Lucia. This was an eye-opening experience of psychiatry in a less economically developed environment. It highlighted disparities between practice in the developed and the developing world. Notably significant differences were apparent in facilities, epidemiology of presenting complaints, the interaction of cultural beliefs as well as the method of assessment and management.Aims/objectivesTo review the literature on the educational impact of electives in psychiatry.MethodsA literature search using Ovid MEDLINE was conducted using the keywords’medical student’ AND’elective’ AND’psychiatry’. A total of 229 results were returned. These were then analysed for their relevance.ResultsOnly one paper was found emphasising the importance of electives in psychiatry. This reported on one individual's personal experience. There also were reports highlighting the importance of undergraduate elective experience and the need to increase exposure to psychiatry to improve the uptake of postgraduate training programmes. There were no papers objectively assessing the educational quality or impact of a psychiatric elective experience.ConclusionsAn overseas elective experience was subjectively beneficial for the author but there is a lack of objective research to show the educational benefit of psychiatry electives on a wider scale. Further research regarding the educational benefits of electives in psychiatry is needed.
Acculturation stress in immigrant population, migratory mourning and associated comorbidities
Authors: Serrano Díaz de Otálora M. , Gómez-Arnau Ramírez J. , Martínez de Velasco R. , Andrada Meyer J. 
Published: May 2011

IntroductionMigratory mourning has specific features and migration is itself a risk factor for mental health. Basic grieving relate to seven areas: family and friends, language, culture, land, social status, contact with the national group and physical risks, as well as general mourning the failure of the migration project.ObjectivesWe intend to trace the process of acculturation seeking to distinguish its symptoms from those of most common psychiatric disorders.MethodsWe conducted a literature review using the National Library of Medicine and PubMed search system.ResultsAdaptation process traces a U-shaped curve. In the second stage called crisis stage may appear rejection or isolation, sadness, crying, sleeplessness, irritability, distrust, recurrent and intrusive thoughts, psychosomatic symptoms (headaches, fatigue, musculoskeletal pain), dissociative and somatoform symptoms. Stress reactions can occur with cognitive fatigue, role and personal shocks.Ulysses syndrome has features in common with acute stress disorder or adjustment disorder. Differential aspects regarding DSM-IV are: multiple identifiable stressors of high intensity, long duration, cultural interpretations and association of dissociative and somatoform symptoms.Main observed pathologies are: PTSD, schizophrenia and paranoia, somatization and affective disorders, whose clinical expression is primarily determined by cultural factors.ConclusionsProfessionals should know the different manifestations of mental illness in immigrant population to distinguish them from experiential reactions and to avoid upset psychiatrization and therapeutic nihilism. Ulysses syndrome seems closer to preventive health and psychosocial support areas.
Problem solving skill and Iranian nursing students
Authors: Seyedfatemi N. , Moshir Abadi Z. , Borimnejad L. , Haghani H. 
Published: May 2011

IntroductionThe ability to solve problems and make decisions creatively has become paramount to new nursing graduates, as these skills assist them with recognizing and evaluating situations that require prompt attention. This study was done to determine nursing student’s problem solving skills in various years of their four-year program.MaterialsThis is a cross-sectional study. Three hundred and twenty two undergraduate nursing students in BSc nursing program participated in this study. The study setting was Nursing School of Iran University of Medical Sciences. The Problem Solving Inventory (PSI; Heppner & Petersen, 1982) was used to data gathering. The scale was divided into three subscales including: problem-solving confidence, approaching avoidance style, and personal control. Low scores were representative of a positive judgment and high scores indicated a poorer judgment of problem-solving abilities. Students involved in the study signed the study Informed consent.ResultsFindings showed that the mean score of problem solving skill was 89.5 ± 21.51. First year students were found to have a mean score of 89.13 ± 18.71, second year students had a mean of 91.57 ± 1.87. The mean score of third year was 91.52 ± 20.8 and for fourth year students was 84.18 ± 27.47. When these results are compared, no significant differences occurred among the student in different years, as well as no difference between nursing students in 3 subscales of problem solving was seen.ConclusionsIt is expected that Nursing school produce practitioners who have the ability to solve problems and make decisions.
Culturally defined community psychiatry in slovenia
Authors: Skoliber T. , Novak M. , Oravez J. , Švab V. 
Published: May 2011

IntroductionCommunity psychiatry is to be acknowledged as evidence based psychiatric treatment in Slovenia with some decades of lag behind other EU countries. Nevertheless some community psychiatric programmes were developed by four Slovenian psychiatric hospitals, one of them covering the most deprived region regarding BDP and service provision region with 220000 population. Team work of psychiatrist, two nurses and social worker covers only several patients and families with most severe disability and social deprivation. Communication and cooperation with other community agencies is, regardless their scarcity, crucial. Community work has to be adapted to specific cultural environment defined by multiethnicity and prevailing protestant ethics that influence workers, patients and carers alike.Case reportRevolving door patient with severe mental illness living in extreme poverty in suburb area was approached with family visits. Her mother also presented signs and symptoms of mental disorder and was strongly reluctant to treatment. A number of interventions applied targeted to their living circumstances. Their needs were different from those defined by health and social workers, which resulted in absence of any community care in previously. With personal involvement of team workers, consensus was made and continuity of psychopharmacological treatment with the patient was achieved after many years of non-compliance. Further steps were planned regarding their actual local and social circumstances.ConclusionCommunity psychiatric interventions need to be culturally and socially adapted to the needs of their consumers. The case presented is to reflect special cultural, individual and social particularities that define specific community psychiatric work.
Psychiatry without borders
Authors: Tarricone L. 
Published: May 2011

The socio-economic changes of recent decades with the massive migration flows from third world countries and Eastern Europe to the more industrialized nations, including Italy, has led to a need for a meeting point between different cultures and has placed psychiatrists and health services in the position of having to revise their organizational models.With this study we intend to analyze the mental health needs of non-CEE citizens in the context of a general hospital situation, and assess the impact of current laws.A revision, made in the period 2006/2010 in SPDC in Campi Salentina, of the admissions and consultancy carried in the Emergency Unit for non-patients was carried out. Patients were divided by geographical area of origin, date of immigration, personal data and clinical diagnoses. The data show an increase of users patients coming from European countries, non-CEE geopolitical areas and North Africa in the first three years.In the second two years, a reduction of admissions resulted because of a change in legislation. The clinical diagnosis showed a prevalence of clinical features of neurotic and adaptation of substance use for immigrants from Eastern Europe and pathology of the spectrum of mood disorders in patients from other continents. It is essential that the nature of the patient and their disease is considered in the context of socio-cultural dynamics to provide new knowledge, taking into account the size of collective psychopathology using a methodology that integrates the general cultural suffering from whatever country they come from.
Antidepressant treatment restores brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) serum levels and ameliorates motor function in parkinson's disease patients
Authors: Ricci V. , Pomponi M. , Martinotti G. , Bentivoglio A. , Loria G. , Caltagirone C. , Bria P. , Angelucci F. 
Published: May 2011

IntroductionDepression is a common psychiatric disorder in Parkinson's disease (PD). It has been proposed that antidepressant drugs may bust brain production of trophic factors, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), an effect associated with improvement of clinical symptoms. However, BDNF and GDNF play also a role in the maintenance of dopaminergic neurons, which undergo to neuronal death during PD course.AimsBased on these findings we explored the hypothesis that PD depressed patients may have altered BDNF or GDNF serum levels and that antidepressant drugs may restore them and potentially have beneficial effects not only for depressive but also parkinsonian symptoms.MethodsWe measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) the serum levels of BDNF and GDNF in depressed PD patients, non depressed PD patients and healthy subjects and correlated them with clinical observations.ResultsWe found:(1)BDNF serum levels were decreased in PD depressed as compared to non depressed patients and control subjects;(2)antidepressant therapy restored BDNF serum levels to those of controls; and(3)antidepressant therapy in association with Parkinson's therapy significantly ameliorated motor performance in PD depressed patients.ConclusionOur data suggest that PD patients are characterized by a reduction of BDNF serum levels and that depression may exacerbate this effect and worse PD symptoms. It is proposed that association between anti-parkinsonian treatment and SSRI could be a good therapeutic chance not only for treating depression in PD but also for improving PD symptoms.