bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Symptoms of psychological distress predict 7-year mortality
Authors: Huppert Felicia A. , Whittington Joyce E. 
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSISAs part of the Health and Lifestyle Survey (HALS), 6096 adults from a representative sample of community residents completed a standardized questionnaire which elicited psychiatric symptoms – the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) of Goldberg (1972). Their survival status at 7 years was determined, and 474 had died. Respondents whose GHQ score was above the conventional threshold (4/5), used when screening for psychiatric disorder, were 60% more likely to die over the 7-year interval than respondents whose GHQ score was below threshold (risk ratio 1·64 for men and 1·58 for women). The differences were statistically significant for both sexes when the effects of age, physical disorder, social class and smoking behaviour were taken into account. Personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion) were not related to mortality, neither was self-reported difficulty in sleeping. However, a low subjective rating of one's general health was associated with increased mortality. We explored a range of cut-points and found reliable effects for both sexes at all cut-points from 3/4 to 6/7. Possible differences related to naturalversusunnatural causes of death were explored and found not to explain the results. The findings from this general population study confirm that it is not only psychiatric disorders, but also psychiatric symptoms, which are associated with subsequent mortality, and thereby reinforce the importance of appropriate intervention to alleviate these symptoms.
Gender differences in family attitudes about schizophrenia
Authors: Davis J. A. , Goldstein M. J. , Nuechterlein K. H. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisRecent studies have found that the expressed emotion (EE) status of relatives of female schizophrenics may not possess the prognostic value found previously for male schizophrenics. In the present study, relatives of 110 recent onset schizophrenic patients were assessed using the Camberwell Family Interview (CFI-EE), the Five Minute Speech Sample Method (FMSS-EE) and a measure of Affective Style (AS) to determine whether affective attitudes or behaviours varied by patient gender. Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) ratings made during in-patient and outpatient periods were examined to assess patient symptomatology. No differences were found by patient gender for CFI-EE, FMSS-EE, or subcomponents of the CFI-EE measure. However, when the subcomponents on the FMSS associated with a high EE critical rating were examined, males were found to be recipients of more harsh criticism than female patients. Similarly, for the AS measure, there was a distinct subgroup of male patients who received a level of criticism not seen in female patients. When the concordance across the two EE measures was examined, relatives of males were more consistent in their affective attitudes than relatives of female patients. Analysis of the BPRS data from the in-patient to the out-patient periods suggested variations by patient gender which may explain some of the differences in relatives' affective attitudes.
Difficult to place patients in a psychiatric hospital closure programme: the TAPS project 24
Authors: Trieman Noam , Leff Julian 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisA group of 72 long-term patients, who were retained in Friern Hospital until the final stage of its closure programme, underwent a comprehensive psychiatric and social assessment shortly before moving to other hospitals. These patients were then compared with the rest of the long-stay patients who were considered suitable for community placement.The residual group consisted of younger patients with shorter duration of stay, compared with the rest of the hospital population. Although not excessively disabled functionally or physically, the residual patients were slightly more disturbed in mental state in comparison with the rest, with notably higher levels of subjective anxiety.A range of 13 problem behaviours were designated by staff as a direct impediment to placing a patient in a community setting. Most common problem areas were aggressiveness, non-compliance with medication and inappropriate sexual behaviour. Fourteen per cent of the residual group had none of these special problems. Some other patients have remained in hospital solely because they refused to leave.It is argued that a distinction should be made between the residual patients who were actually transferred to other hospitals, and a core group of extremely disturbed patients for whom further hospitalization is likely to be the only alternative.
Mental health problems in the Gomel region (Belarus): an analysis of risk factors in an area affected by the Chernobyl disaster
Authors: Havenaar J. M. , Van Den Brink W. , Van Den Bout J. , Kasyanenko A. P. , Poelijoe N. W. , Wohlfarth T. , Meijler-Iljina L. I. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe epidemiology of mental problems in the Gomel region in the republic of Belarus was studied in a two-stage survey of a broad based population sample (N = 1617), using the General Health Questionnaire (12-item version) and the Munich Diagnostic Checklist for DSM-III-R. The Gomel region is one of the areas that was most severely affected by the Chernobyl nuclear diaster in 1986. In the studied population sample 64·8% had a GHQ-score above the threshold of 2. A DSM-III-R psychiatric disorder was present in 35·8%, with especially high rates for affective (16·5%) and anxiety disorders (12·6%). Dysthymia, general anxiety disorder, adjustment disorders and ‘not otherwise specified syndromes’ made up almost two-thirds of the observed morbidity (22·9%). A higher prevalence of mental health problems, both in terms of the GHQ and the DSM-III-R was observed among people who have been evacuated and in mothers with children under 18 years of age. These data indicate that the Chernobyl nuclear disaster may be partly responsible for the high prevalence of (milder) psychiatric disorders and psychological distress in the Gomel region, even 6 years after the event. Future studies comparing the data from Gomel region with an unexposed area will have to provide a more definite answer concerning the impact of this nuclear disaster on mental health.
Growth hormone response to clonidine in male patients with panic disorder untreated by antidepressants
Authors: Schittecatte M. , Ansseau M. , Charles G. , Machowski R. , papart P. , Pichot W. , Wilmotte J. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisWe report a non-significantly higher growth hormone (GH) response to intravenous clonidine administration (150 μg) in 10 male patients with panic disorder who had never received antidepressant therapy than in 10 matched controls. These results are consistent with data suggesting a normal or increased adrenergic receptor sensitivity in panic disorder patients.
Aetiology of anxiety and depressive disorders in an inner-city population. 1. Early adversity
Authors: Brown G. W. , Harris T. O. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisA survey of an inner-city population of working-class and single mothers is described and the prevalence of anxiety and depression reported using two related diagnostic schemes, Bedford College caseness and DSM-III-R. This acts as an introduction to an analysis which indicates that adverse experiences in childhood and adolescence (involving parental indifference, and sexual and physical abuse) considerably raise risk of both depression and anxiety conditions (with the exception of mild agoraphobia and simple phobia) in adult life.
Stupor: a conceptual history
Authors: Berrios G. E. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe concept of ‘stupor’ is subjected to historical analysis. Particular attention is given to the nineteenth-century, during which three evolutionary stages are identified. During the first stage stupor is considered as a simple state of non-responsiveness. The second stage recognizes that some stupors are accompanied by rich subjective experiences and separates them as ‘psychiatric stupors’. During the third stage some of its symptoms are reinterpreted as resulting from an interaction between patient and environment. A number of historical sources are reviewed in an attempt to illustrate the evolution of the concept and its association with cognate behavioural states.
Stress arousal and coping with surgery
Authors: Ray C. , Fitzgibbon G. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThere is little evidence of a curvilinear relationship between pre-operative emotionality and post-operative adjustment, as predicted by a model which supposes that moderate preoperative anxiety assists adjustment. This paper suggests that the negative affect, or stress, associated with the work of worry should be distinguished from the active coping orientation which it also implies. In this study stress and arousal were assessed pre-operatively in a sample of cholecystectomy patients, and correlations between these scores and various indices of post-operative adjustment were computed. Stress before surgery was positively related to stress and pain experienced post-operatively. Arousal, by contrast, was negatively related to pain, medications and period before discharge. Female patients had higher stress scores than the males, while the direction of the difference was reversed in the case of arousal. These findings are interpreted as support for the significance of the role of coping orientation, as represented by arousal, in promoting adjustment, with emotionality or stress playing a less significant and even negative role.
The impact of interviewer variability in an epidemiological survey
Authors: O'Muircheartaigh C. A. , Wiggins R. D. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisOne of the principal sources of error in data collected from structured interviews with respondents is the method of measurement or observation itself. In this paper the differential impact of each of a group of interviewers on the responses obtained in an epidemiological survey is examined. The effect is measured and its impact on the interpretation of individual responses, scale scores and model fitting is shown.
Psychiatric disorder and its declaration in contrasting areas of South Wales
Authors: Ingham J. G. , Rawnsley K. , Hughes D. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisAn earlier study suggested that the mining valleys of South Wales produced a higher rate of declared psychiatric illness than nearby rural areas. A replication during a later period showed that the rural area had now caught up with the mining area but a difference in sex ratios between the two areas had remained remarkably constant. A sampling survey, using self-assessment of symptoms in random samples, indicated that differential selection into the psychiatric services was likely to be a determining factor.
Chronic schizophrenia and discharge from hospital
Authors: Pryce I. G. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisA group of male chronic schizophrenies in hospital for over two years was compared with a similar group attending a day hospital in respect of severity of handicaps and social circumstances. Inpatients were significatitly more handicapped on all the measures used, and it was concluded that severity of handicaps was the main reason for the failure to discharge them from hospital. The implications for the planning of services for the chronic psychiatric patient are discussed.
Anorexia nervosa and the regulation of intake: a review
Authors: Mawson A. R. 
Published: July 2009

SYSNOPSISRecent work on the central mechanisms of food intake is reviewed in relation to anorexia nervosa. On the basis of the present review a number of conclusions are drawn as possible avenues for future research. A proposal is outlined for the investigation of L-dopa as a potential treatment for anorexia nervosa.
The reliability of reporting adverse experiences
Authors: Steele G. P. , Henderson Scott , Duncan-Jones Paul 
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSISThe reliability of reporting of life-events was examined in 52 subjects attending clinics. An inventory of events and longer-standing difficulties was administered on 2 occasions, 7–14 days apart. High levels of reliability were found for the number of events, the mean score for distress or change over all events, and for the single event with the highest score. The reporting of individual events was less reliable: only 70 % of those events reported at either interview were reported under the same heading at both interviews. Subjective reactions to events differ in reliability according to the type of response, and they are less reliable for single events than overall. Lastly, the reliability of highly distressing events is in fact lower than for the less distressing. These findings point to some of the shortcomings of inventory methods in life-event research.
Skin melanin concentrations in the affective disorders: possible relationships to the catecholamine hypothesis
Authors: Robins Ashley H. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisSYNOPSIS Skin melanin concentrations were measured by reflectance spectrophotometry in patients during the active phase of a primary affective illness and in normal subjects. There were no significant differences between 27 females with depression (unipolar illness) and 17 females with mania (bipolar illness) or between a mixed group of 30 male patients with mania and depression (predominantly mania) and a normal sample of 27 male subjects. These negative results are discussed in terms of the catecholamine hypothesis of the affective disorders. A study of brain pigmentation is suggested as being a potentially useful investigation in manic-depressive psychosis.
Estimation of corticosteroids in human cerebral cortex after death by suicide, accident, or disease
Authors: Brooksbank Benjamin W. L. , Brammall Margaret A. , Cunningham Ann E. , Shaw David M. , Camps Francis E. 
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSISThe concentration of cortisol (F) has been found to decrease only to a limited extent in intact brain tissue maintained at ambient temperature after death, and the decrease is mainly accounted for as 20-dihydrocortisols (DHF). The sum of F and DHF has therefore been estimated in samples of frontal cortex removed from human cadaver brains collected at necropsy, and taken as a measure of the concentration of cortisol at death. Corticosterone concentration was also estimated. The concentration of cortisol in the cerebral cortex of physically healthy individuals who had committed suicide was consistently as low or lower than in the cortex of control patients who had died suddenly without antecedent severe illness. It is concluded therefore that neither the presumed severe emotional stress preceding suicide nor depressive illness itself is associated with high levels of cortisol in the cerebral cortex. On the other hand, it was found that the cerebral cortical concentration of cortisol in patients who had died from stressful somatic diseases was raised and that the increase was roughly related to the likely degree and duration of the physical stress endured by the patients. There was some indication that the ratio of cortisol (F+DHF) to corticosterone may be lower in the cerebral cortex of suicides than in that of controls.
Daily variations of the urine content of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol in two manic-depressive patients
Authors: Bond P. A. , Jenner F. A. , Sampson Gwyneth A. 
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSISDaily measurements of MHPG in urine have been carried out in two patients with manic-depressive psychosis. In both cases, levels in mania were elevated and in depression lowered with interval levels which were intermediate and within the normal range. The results lend some support to the suggestion that there might be an increase in brain noradrenaline metabolism in mania and a decrease in depression.
The role of language in psychiatric treatment in the French Romantic Age: A note on Dr Laurent Cerise
Authors: Starobinski Jean 
Published: July 2009

SYSNOPSISAt the beginning of the 19th century France had many experts on the ‘moral treatment of insanity’. Very few of them, however, applied their experience and theories to the role of language in the development of behaviour from childhood on, in the pathogenesis of mental disorders, and in psychotherapy. To Dr. Louis Cerise, one of the founders of the Annales Médico-Psychologiques, belongs the great distinction of formulating a theory which tried to take account of the necessary contribution of language to individual development. In his book Des Fonctions et des Maladies Nerveuses (1842), he put forward a view of the relationship between the individual and society. His concept of ‘the goal of activity’ still merits our attention.
Recent life events in schizophrenia and depression
Authors: Jacobs S. C. , Prusoff B. A. , Paykel E. S. 
Published: July 2009

SYSNOPSISDepressives and matched first admission schizophrenics were compared with respect to life events experienced in the six months before the onset of illness. Depressives reported more events than schizophrenics, but this excess involved only certain types of events. Depressives reported more exits from the social field, and a variety of undesirable events, particularly those involving interpersonal arguments. They reported no more events in some other classes. These findings support previous work involving life events, particularly exits and undesirable events in the genesis of depression, and indicate that qualitative implications of events influence their effects.
Relationship between sleep and growth in patients with reversible somatotropin deficiency (psychosocial dwarfism)
Authors: Wolff Georg , Money John 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisIn a partly retrospective, partly follow-up study, 27 patients aged 1 year 10 months to 16 years 2 months with reversible somatotropin deficiency, showed a relationship between the rate of statural growth and sleep, graded as good, poor, or mixed. During periods of good sleep the overall growth rate averaged 1·04 cm per month, and during periods of poor sleep it averaged 0·34 cm per month (t=8·46, df=32, P<0·001). Presumably, good growth, good sleep, and optimal nocturnal somatotropin release intercorrelate in this syndrome of dwarfism, but the data with regard to nocturnal somatotropin release remain to be demonstrated empirically.
Validation of the 30-item General Health Questionnaire in postpartum women
Authors: Nott P. N. , Cutts S. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisTwo hundred consecutive women from five Southampton general practices who were between 8 and 14 weeks postpartum were visited at home. Each subject was given the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) and a standardized psychiatric interview. Thirty-seven (18%) were identified as ‘cases’ by the psychiatric interview. Eighty-nine (44.5%) scored highly on the GHQ. Analysis of the results indicates that slight modification of the content and a raised cut-off point of the GHQ-30 make it a useful screening instrument for postpartum psychiatric disorder.
A comparison of two different services treating schizophrenia: a cost–benefit approach
Authors: Jones Robert , Goldberg David , Hughes Beverley 
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSISThis study compares the clinical and social outcome for 2 cohorts of patients who had a first admission for schizophrenia 4 years earlier. One cohort was treated in a psychiatric unit attached to a teaching district general hospital (DGH(T)), while the other was treated at an area mental hospital (AMH) with modern rehabilitation facilities. The clinical outcome for the 2 cohorts was broadly similar, but the DGH(T) imposed less of a strain on relatives, and was associated with less unmet need. The DGH unit tended to have significantly shorter durations of stay for its patients, so that its total hospital costs were less than those for the AMH despite higher unit costs. The cost benefit analysis shows that, where these particular patients are concerned, the DGH(T) unit is economically superior to the AMH despite the fact that it supports a large teaching staff, and that these economic advantages are accompanied by various non-monetary advantages.
Brain chemistry and behaviour
Authors: Iversen Susan D. 
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSISThe functional organization of chemically transmitting synapses in the brain are described with special emphasis on recent studies demonstrating the localization of different transmitters to specific anatomical circuitries. The use of pharmacological tools for manipulating levels of chemical transmitters is referred to briefly, but particular attention is given to the problems of studying the function of these pathways with lesion techniques.Noradrenaline (NA) and dopamine (DA) are selected for detailed consideration and experimental evidence reviewed, suggesting that these two catecholamines in the forebrain serve different functions: NA with processes of attention essential for learning, and DA with the execution of appropriate responses. Hypotheses suggesting dysfunction of forebrain DA and NA systems in schizophrenia are discussed.
Descriptive studies of H-reflex recovery curves in psychiatric patients
Authors: Metz John , Goode David J. , Meltzer Herbert Y. 
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSISThe rate of recovery of the H-reflex, an electrical evoked monosynaptic spinal cord reflex, was abnormally high (fast) in over 20% of unmedicated psychotic patients of all major diagnostic classes. A few patients had significantly lower H-reflex recovery curves. Chronic neuroleptic treatment produced relatively lower recovery curves, whereas fluoxetine, a specific serotonin uptake blocker, produced relatively higher curves.
A follow-up of ‘new’ long-stay patients in Camberwell, 1977–1982
Authors: Wykes Til 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisSince 1977 there have been two major developments in the provision of services for the ‘new‘ long-stay in Camberwell – a hospital-hostel and an associated supervised group-home. This paper looks at the impact of these services over a 5-year period on a group of patients who fulfilled the ‘new’ long-stay criteria at the end of 1977. Both services appear to be extremely successful in containing such disabled patients. The results suggest that some improvements in patients' handicaps can be achieved and that some patients can be discharged with intensive psychiatric support. Excluding those patients in Special Hospitals, only one person was discharged to and has remained in unsupervised accommodation within the 5-year period.
A method for increasing patients' recall of information presented by doctors
Authors: Ley P. , Bradshaw P. W. , Eaves D. , Walker C. M. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisWithin minutes of leaving the consulting room, patients are frequently unable to recall what their doctor has told them. This paper describes a simple, practical method for increasing recall by the organization of medical information into ‘labelled’ categories. The success of this technique was demonstrated first in a laboratory experiment with volunteer subjects, and then in a naturalistic setting with general practice patients.