Estimation of time by patients with positive and negative schizophrenia.

In a prior study, schizophrenic patients' tendency to over-estimate short time intervals was about the same for the different types of schizophrenia (DSM-III criteria). Reanalysis showed patients with positive and negative schizophrenia did not differ in their time estimations.

A double-blind randomized study of clomipramine versus maprotiline in patients with idiopathic pain syndromes.

Seventy patients with idiopathic syndromes were treated with maprotiline, a noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, or clomipramine, a serotonin reuptake inhibitor in a 6-week, double-blind, randomized, multicenter trial. Fifty-two patients completed the double-blind phase. Overall, 50% of the patients improved. Significant decreases were seen not only in the levels of pain but also in bodily discomfort, sadness an inner tension (determined by visual analogue scales, VAS). A decrease was also found in the frequency of sleep disturbances, intellectual and emotional inhibition, irritability, guilt feelings, retardation, sadness and suicidal ideas (observed ratings). Sixty-three percent of the subjects showed an overall improvement during treatment with clomipramine as compared to 36% during treatment with maprotiline (p less than 0.05). During clomipramine treatment significant decreases were seen on all the six VAS: sadness, bodily discomfort, inner tension, concentration difficulties, memory disturbances and pain. Bodily discomfort and pain were significantly reduced during maprotiline treatment. The effects produced by clomipramine were also significantly greater than the effects caused by maprotiline as concerns psychic anxiety and inhibition (VAS). The overall reduction in VAS was significantly greater with clomipramine when compared to maprotiline. The most important side effects were dry mouth (both drugs) and sweating (clomipramine). However, in the clomipramine group, 8 patients were excluded due to side effects as compared to 1 patient in the maprotiline group. Thus, the results indicate that antidepressants reduce not only pain but are also of clinical value in the treatment of patients with idiopathic pain syndromes. Drugs with pronounced effects on the serotonin reuptake are to be preferred.

Longitudinal changes in time estimation in affective disorders: a preliminary study.

8 patients with hospital diagnoses of major affective disorder were studied by repeated measurements of time estimation using the three different methods of metronome adjustment, verbal estimation and operative estimation (production) of short time intervals. Retrospective estimations of longer intervals were also studied. The diagnoses were evaluated according to DSM III criteria. The degree of mental disturbance was rated with subscales of the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale. Earlier findings had indicated that manic patients tend to overestimate short time intervals and that some depressed patients underestimated time, but some investigators have reported different results. A longitudinal study could possibly support the earlier findings if the time estimations should vary with the clinical states of the patients. Such a variation was suggested by the results of 5 of the 8 patients. In several cases there were statistically significant correlations between the results of time estimations and the rating scores. This partly supports earlier findings. Associations between time estimations and changes in clinical state seem to be present in some cases of major affective disorders. Operative estimations were best correlated with ratings in most cases.

A longitudinal study of time estimation in psychotic disorders.

5 healthy subjects and 9 patients with hospital diagnoses of schizophrenia were studied by means of repeated measurements of time estimation (production method) during a 1- to 2-yr period. The healthy subjects exhibited moderate variability in their time estimations and tended to over- or under-estimate somewhat. Both over- and under-estimation were also found among patients, but the patients were often more variable in their estimations and in some cases deviated more from the correct estimation than the healthy subjects. Two patients were decided under-estimators. They were both young, subchronic schizophrenics. Chronic schizophrenic patients tended to over-estimate time, but the amount of over-estimation had no noticeable correlation to the degree of clinical disturbance. Two patients gradually changed from under- to over-estimation during the observation period. One patient was evidently misdiagnosed. He suffered from a bipolar affective disorder, and his time estimations seemed to depend on his clinical state during the course of the disorder. The results are discussed in the context of earlier findings and physiological disturbances in chronic schizophrenia.

Time perception and affective disorders.

The estimation of short-time intervals by 60 control subjects and 56 patients with affective disorders was investigated using the three different methods of metronome adjustment, verbal estimation, and operative estimation (production). The patients were diagnosed according to DSM-III criteria. A group with major depression with melancholia (9), and another group with bipolar depression (8), tended to under-estimate time to about the same extent. A group with manic or hypomanic disorders (11) tended to over-estimate. Patients with major depression without melancholia (9), bipolar disorders in remission (9), and dysthymic disorders (10), had no decided tendencies to under- or over-estimate short time intervals. The estimation of longer intervals (5-10 min.) was not significantly altered in the patient groups. The results are discussed in the context of earlier investigations, which mainly have yielded no changes in ability to estimate time intervals despite a subjective feeling that time is passing slowly or quickly in affective disorders.

Estimation of time and the subclassification of schizophrenic disorders.

Estimation of short time intervals by 60 healthy subjects, 50 patients with schizophrenic disorders, and 8 with schizotypal personality disorders, was investigated using the three different methods, adjusting a metronome, verbal estimation, and operative estimation (production). The schizophrenic patients tended to over-estimate time with all three methods. Overestimation was also found when longer intervals were studied. Patients with different types of schizophrenic disorders, classified according to DSM-III criteria, over-estimated time about the same; no significant differences were found. Different courses of schizophrenia were also studied. Patients in remission over-estimated time to the same extent as chronic patients; the subchronic patients probably over-estimated less. Schizotypal personality disorders did not seem to be associated with a tendency to over-estimate short time intervals. The results were discussed in the context of perceptual disturbances in schizophrenic disorders.

Time estimation by healthy subjects and schizophrenic patients: a methodological study.

Three different methods were used to investigate the perception of short time intervals by 60 healthy subjects and a pilot group of 15 schizophrenic patients. The usefulness of metronome adjustment, verbal estimation, and operative estimation was evaluated. Estimation of longer time intervals was also studied. The influence of age, sex, oral temperature, and pulse rate was assessed. Earlier findings that schizophrenic subjects tend to overestimate short time intervals were supported by data from all three methods. Operative estimation--the subject's production of a requested time interval--could possibly best discriminate between the two groups. Estimation of longer time intervals did not differ significantly for the two groups.