ABSTRACT
Thirteen survivors of cardiac arrest outside the hospital were examined by clinical and psychological tests 1-3 years after the incidence, and compared to a matched control group of 13 patients with acute myocardial infarction without cardiac arrest. Psychological tests revealed that 7 patients with previous cardiac arrest and 4 control patients had mild-moderate to moderate-severe dementia. The demential symptoms were not detectable by a clinical interview. Four patients in each group exhibited pronounced anxiety symptoms. There were no clear differences between the two groups in respect of changes in cardiac function and social status after the incidence.
Subject(s)
Heart Arrest/complications , Intelligence , Socioeconomic Factors , Adult , Dementia/etiology , Female , Heart Arrest/therapy , Hospitalization , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Myocardial Infarction/complicationsABSTRACT
Phantom breast syndrome (PBS) developed in 11 out of 31 (35.5%) consecutive young women, who had undergone mastectomy for breast cancer. Six to 21 months after operation the patients were asked to take part in a follow-up investigation in which physical sequelae, social condition, and psychological reactions were assessed and related to the presence of PBS. There was no correlation between PBS and postsurgical physical sequelae, those who had received adjuvant radiotherapy, or the side on which mastectomy was performed. Socially, the group with PBS was dominated by women with an occupation outside the home. The psychological examination showed that the group with PBS had a definite predominance of women with a severely damaged body image and impaired sexual function in comparison to the group without PBS. However, the predominance did not reach a statistically significant level. Sexual identity, anxiety, affective disorder or changes in close family relationships did not reveal any distinct pattern. In our opinion, the appearance of PBS should be seen in relation to complex psychological reactions to the mastectomy.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms/surgery , Mastectomy/psychology , Adult , Age Factors , Anxiety , Body Image , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Mood Disorders/diagnosis , Sexual Behavior , Socioeconomic FactorsSubject(s)
Breast Neoplasms/surgery , Mastectomy/psychology , Adult , Body Image , Female , Humans , Mastectomy/adverse effects , Middle AgedSubject(s)
Pregnancy, Unwanted , Pregnancy , Abortion Applicants , Adolescent , Adult , Contraception Behavior , Female , Guilt , Humans , Personality , Psychology , Risk-TakingABSTRACT
Bannister and Fransella's Grid Test of Schizophrenic Thought Disorder based on Personal Construct Theory and the concept of "loosened construing", as measurable in the scores of Intensity and Consistency between intercorrelations, has been applied to a Scandinavian sample of psychiatric patients. The validity of the test was illustrated, and a significant difference was found between a group of schizophrenics and schizophrenic borderline states and a group without schizophrenic thought disorders. The Grid Test scores were found to agree with thought disorder manifestations as evaluated in qualitative terms on the basis of cognitive and projective tests, but they did not differentiate between developmental levels of thinking corresponding to concreteness in organic impairment versus diffuseness in schizophrenia. Thus, the concept of "loosened construing" as applied in this thought disorder test seems too unspecific.
