Meige's disease misdiagnosed as anxiety disorder.

A woman in her late 40s with a 5 year history of anxiety was treated with relaxation training and cognitive restructuring. Her anxiety was manifested by facial twitching, hand fidgeting, vocal tremor, loss of self-esteem, and depression. Therapy seemed to reduce motor symptoms and improve her self-esteem, confidence, and mood. Six months after the start of therapy the client was found to have Meige's Disease. Following treatment with botulinum toxin, motor symptoms disappeared. This case highlights the need for psychotherapists to be more aware of neurological and medical problems which may mimic psychological ones.

Factors influencing drinking behavior in alcoholic panickers and non-panickers.

Male alcoholics who (a) experienced panic attacks prior to abusing alcohol, (b) experienced panic attacks subsequent to abusing alcohol, and (c) had not experienced panic attacks were compared on three sets of measures: the Panic Attack Questionnaire, the Restrained Drinking Scale, and the Inventory of Drinking Situations. The results showed that two groups of Ss who experienced panic attacks were more likely than non-panickers to use drugs other than alcohol, began drinking at an earlier age, had a greater proportion of parents with panic and alcohol related problems, had higher drinking restraint scores, and drank in more situations. The Ss who experienced panic attacks prior to abusing alcohol were more likely than the other groups to drink in situations similar to those related to agoraphobic fears. It was postulated that alcoholics who experience panic attacks, especially those who experienced panic attacks prior to abusing alcohol may be using alcohol to reduce anxiety or fear related to panic attacks.

Induction and reversal of depression, anxiety, and hostility.

Anxiety, hostility, and depression were induced and reversed by use of the Velton (1968) Mood Induction Procedure. Forty subjects were assigned randomly to one of four induction groups: Anxiety, Depression, Hostility, or Neutral. Mood states, measured by the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) were obtained before induction, after induction, and after reversal of moods. All mood induction treatments increased levels of all moods, but did not differentially increase a specific mood. Induced moods were reversed by using statements opposite to the induction ones. Mood induction was not correlated with previously administered Internal-External Locus of Control and Profile of Mood States questionnaires, but a high baseline MAACL score was correlated with low mood induction. Questions amenable to future research were raised.