Subject(s)
Human Rights/education , Psychiatry/education , Refugees/psychology , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/diagnosis , Adult , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Humans , Male , Massachusetts , Mental Disorders/diagnosis , Models, Educational , Politics , Schools, Medical/organization & administration , United StatesABSTRACT
Pilot data demonstrating the personality traits and background variables of ADHD mothers with children with ADHD are presented. Three subject groups are compared: mothers with ADHD, with ADHD children; mother without ADHD, with ADHD children; and mothers without ADHD, without ADHD children. Significant differences are observed on the Wender Utah Scale for attention deficit disorder, levels of neuroticism and conscientiousness on the NEO-Five Factor Inventory are significantly higher in mothers with ADHD. In addition, neuropsychiatric disorders, alcoholism in the family of origin, and atypical sexual events are reported at a significantly higher rate in the mothers with ADHD, with ADHD children. The implications of group differences are discussed.
Subject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Mother-Child Relations , Parenting/psychology , Activities of Daily Living , Adult , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/diagnosis , Child , Female , Humans , Medical History Taking , Middle Aged , Neuropsychological Tests , Personality Inventory , Social EnvironmentABSTRACT
A Bosnian mental health professional told the following story: Her village had been under siege for months, and she had worked around the clock in her community using all her personal and professional resources. She was offered a few days break in Zagreb and went to the city; she welcomed the chance to be out from under fire and to rest. A bookstore was the first place she wanted to go, to browse, to expand her vision, to read about other places and peoples. In the shop, the shelves were lined with American best-selling self-help books with titles like "Getting rid of the shoulds in your life in 24 hours," "How to stop being angry and guilty in 12 steps," etc. She looked at these and felt so unreal that she fled back to her village, preferring the reality of her people and her problems.
Subject(s)
Books , Psychotherapy , Self Care/psychology , Social Support , Adaptation, Psychological , Adult , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Mental Disorders/psychology , Psychoanalytic TherapySubject(s)
Body Image , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/chemically induced , Diethylstilbestrol/adverse effects , Gender Identity , Identification, Psychological , Mother-Child Relations , Psychosexual Development , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/chemically induced , Vaginal Neoplasms/chemically induced , Adolescent , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/psychology , Diethylstilbestrol/administration & dosage , Female , Humans , Psychoanalytic Theory , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/psychology , Vaginal Neoplasms/psychologyABSTRACT
The problem of patient-therapist sexual contact is a substantial one, perhaps involving 5-10% of male therapists, and we suggest that the structure of psychotherapy and abundance of rescue fantasies make it inevitable. While skeptical of claims that there are any positive effects, we catalogue many negative effects: ambivalence and mistrust of subsequent therapists; patients doubting their own sense of reality; childhood trauma repeated and fixated instead of being interpreted; bondage to the offending therapist; original complaints of sexual dysfunction and problems in intimacy with men are exacerbated; burdens of guilt and shame carried by the patient; fantasy aspects of sexuality difficult to discuss in subsequent therapy, and the abrupt ending of the relationship leaving patient stranded and/or disorganized.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders/therapy , Professional-Patient Relations , Psychotherapy/methods , Sexual Behavior , Adult , Conflict, Psychological , Fantasy , Female , Gender Identity , Humans , Incest , Male , Mental Disorders/psychology , Middle Aged , Personality Development , Rage , Reality Testing , Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological/therapyABSTRACT
We use the catalogue of negative effects of sexual contact with the therapist (part I) to discuss the problems of subsequent therapy. Patient issues center around problems of trust, and anxiety and guilt around eventually exploring characterological issues involved in the sexual contact. From the therapist side (either as consultant or long-term therapist) problems include that of finding the best way of evaluating and understanding the patient's story (including its credibility); how to avoid repeating, in some new and disguised form, the previous therapist's counter-transference problems, and finally, the questions of if, when, and how is it therapeutic for the patient to report and press charges against the previous therapist. We recommend an ongoing role for the initial consultant in instances where such charges are to be pressed.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders/therapy , Professional-Patient Relations , Psychotherapy/methods , Sexual Behavior , Adaptation, Psychological , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Malpractice/legislation & jurisprudence , Mental Disorders/psychology , Referral and Consultation , RiskABSTRACT
An overview is presented of psychosomatic problems in women - the epidemiology, physiology and psychology. Surveys of sickness rates in women and psychological studies are used as a basis of speculation about higher female morbidity rates. Theories of psychosomatic illness, the somatic concomitants of hysteria and alexithymia are reviewed as they pertain to observations of gender differences in disease phenomena. A clinical case is presented of thyrotoxicosis, one of the illnesses predominantly found in women.
Subject(s)
Gender Identity , Identification, Psychological , Psychophysiologic Disorders/psychology , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/psychology , Asthma/psychology , Colitis, Ulcerative/psychology , Female , Graves Disease/psychology , Humans , Hypertension/psychology , Middle Aged , Neurodermatitis/psychology , Peptic Ulcer/psychology , Psychophysiologic Disorders/epidemiology , Sick Role , Stress, Psychological/psychologyABSTRACT
The emotional impact of diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure is described in a series of 50 mothers and daughters interviewed by psychiatrists. Patterns of response to this trauma and methods of resolution are discussed, and opportunities for preventive intervention by gynecologists are suggested. Specific, open dialogue about DES with the patient as a colleage can minimize the emotional sequelae of the experience.
PIP: This study analyzes the emotional impact of diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure in an index population consisting of 50 women at risk plus 30 mothers who were all interviewed about their DES experience in an open-ended, in-depth, clinical style. The findings show that significant emotional upset is the normal response to the knowledge that the ingestion of a drug during pregnancy can cause or has caused some abnormality in the offspring. Nevertheless, the capacity of a woman to come to terms with the anxiety DES has generated, once she had been given the chance to express her feelings and fears, was impressive. DES daughters reacted to the DES experience in one of 3 ways, in descending order of frequency: 1) trust (80%). Most DES daughters rationalized that their mothers and doctors did the best they could, and were generally cooperative in their follow-up care; 2) hostility (10%); and 3) fear (10%). 90% of DES mothers came to terms with the knowledge and implications of DES exposure in ways characteristic of their life-long personality styles; in contrast, the remaining 10% who did not come to terms with the reality of DES exposure felt overwhelmed by quilt, paranoid rage, fear, and despair. Physicians can help patients deal with such problems by: 1) acknowledging problematical feelings and expecting them to be difficult to deal with; 2) noting the patient's pattern of response, and supporting her strengths; 3) giving factural information matter-of-factly; 4) listening to reactions to this information; 5) giving a structured plan in which the woman participates and be available for follow-through on it (eg, periodic colposcopic examinations); and 6) referring the women to support groups for an extended network of information and continued support.
Subject(s)
Affective Symptoms/therapy , Diethylstilbestrol/adverse effects , Vaginal Diseases/psychology , Vaginal Neoplasms/psychology , Affective Symptoms/etiology , Affective Symptoms/prevention & control , Female , Humans , Interview, Psychological , Mother-Child Relations , Physician-Patient Relations , Pregnancy , Vaginal Diseases/chemically induced , Vaginal Neoplasms/chemically inducedABSTRACT
In this paper short-term dynamic psychotherapy (STAPP) is described briefly in terms of its selection criteria and technique, and the preliminary findings of an ongoing outcome study are presented. Of 22 experimental patients who were treated with STAPP, 14 were rated as 'recovered' by two evaluators, 4 were 'much better', 3 'little better' and 1 was 'unchanged'. Of 8 controls who waited a period of 2--5 months, 5 were 'unchanged' and 3 'a little better' at the end of their waiting period. When they were treated subsequently, 4 had 'recovered', 2 were 'much better' and 2 withdrew having moved from the Boston area. The complexities inherent in psychotherapy evaluation are described, and the 3 patients who improved 'a little' and the 1 who was 'unchanged' are discussed briefly.
Subject(s)
Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care , Psychotherapy, Brief , Anxiety/psychology , Anxiety/therapy , Attitude , Female , Humans , Interpersonal Relations , Learning , Male , Motivation , Pilot Projects , Problem Solving , Psychoanalytic Theory , Self Concept , Transference, Psychology , WorkABSTRACT
Alexithymia is a concept in need of validation and measurement. The paper summarizes alexithymia as it is understood clinically and describes questionnaires used to elicit information helpful in making the assessment of alexithymia characteristics. Problems in use and the need for further work on comparative clinical experience are discussed.
