ABSTRACT
The attitudes of 90 therapists toward patients with an eating disorder were explored by questionnaire. Topics included therapist's treatment desires, countertransference, treatment approaches, and prognosis. Twenty-eight respondents (31%) desired not to treat such patients. Analysis of those who did not desire to treat these patients showed that (1) more of them were male, (2) individual therapy as the sole treatment method was more common, (3) feelings of empathy were less common, and (4) more of them believed the prognosis for anorexia nervosa with bulimia to be poor. Overall, therapists considered cognitive behavioral therapy to be the preferred treatment method, though subjects who desired to treat these individuals tended to use more diverse (dynamic, supportive, interpersonal, eclectic) approaches. Twenty-nine percent of both groups believed female therapists were preferred. Therapist frustration, treatment resistance, and comorbid conditions were found problematic. This study revealed several factors that distinguish therapists by desire to treat individuals with eating disorders.
Subject(s)
Attitude of Health Personnel , Feeding and Eating Disorders/therapy , Psychotherapy , Cognitive Behavioral Therapy , Countertransference , Empathy , Female , Humans , Male , Motivation , Prognosis , Psychotherapy/methods , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
Suicide remains one of the major causes of death among the fastest growing segment of the US population--the elderly aged 65 and over. Individuals 65 and over comprised 12.4% of the population in 1988, but accounted for 20.9% of all reported suicides (McIntosh, 1992). The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the meaning of suicide to the elderly and how suicide becomes an alternative for them. Results indicate that elderly subjects gave considerable thought to the end of their lives--including planning for death. For them, suicide was frequently viewed as a way of maintaining control over the dying process. In this study, the elderly described their views on who makes the decision about when death will occur, when suicide is acceptable, and how they would like others to respond to their suicidal ideation. Risk factors and causes of suicide in the elderly emerged from the data.
