The Effect of Violence on the Diagnoses and the Course of Illness Among Female Psychiatric Inpatients.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to determine the rate of exposure to domestic violence among female inpatients at any period of their lives; to investigate the effect of different forms of violence on the diagnoses and the course of the illness. METHOD: The study was conducted on 102 female inpatients treated at Bakirkoy Research and Training Hospital for Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) was administered and socio-demographic and clinical data was collected. A form designed for the assessment of violence was used to evaluate domestic violence. RESULTS: Ninety patients reported that they had been subjected to some kind of violence at some period of their lives. The parents or husbands were the most frequently reported persecutors. Seventy-three patients reported that they had been subjected to violence before the onset of their illness. Seventy-one had been subjected to physical, 79 to verbal, 42 to sexual, 52 to economic violence, and 49 to constraints on social relationship formation. Comorbid diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was related to all types of violence. The rate of suicide attempt was found to be significantly related to verbal-emotional violence. Only 12 patients had previously reported being subjected to domestic violence to their psychiatrist. CONCLUSION: Domestic violence, an often overlooked phenomenon, is prevalent among women with psychiatric disorders. Subjection to domestic violence is found to be correlated with PTSD and suicidal attempt.

Skin picking in Turkish students: prevalence, characteristics, and gender differences.

The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence, characteristics, triggers, and consequences of skin picking (SP) in a sample of Turkish university students, with an emphasis on gender differences. A total of 245 students from two universities in Turkey were assessed by using the Skin Picking Inventory. In total, 87.8% of the students reported engaging in SP, and 2.04% of the students had pathological SP. There was no statistically significant difference between female and male students regarding the frequency of SP and the estimated daily SP time. The SP episodes began earlier in men than in women. Women were found to pick their chins, whereas men were found to pick their legs more frequently. SP is prevalent among Turkish students. Triggers, characteristics, and consequences of SP in Turkish students are similar to the results reported in studies conducted on different cultures. Large-scale studies are needed to further investigate gender differences in SP.

The relation of psychogenic excoriation with psychiatric disorders: a comparative study.

Psychogenic excoriation (PE), characterized by excessive scratching or picking of the skin, is not yet recognized as a symptom of a distinct DSM-IV disorder. It is a chronic disorder with a high rate of psychiatric comorbidity. The purpose of this study was to compare patients diagnosed with PE and patients with another dermatological disease in terms of comorbid psychiatric disorders. Thirty-one consecutive subjects were recruited from an outpatient dermatology clinic. The control group was composed of 31 patients with chronic urticaria. All subjects were interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID-I), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), and Yale-Brown Obsession and Compulsion Scale (Y-BOCS) and also completed a semistructured questionnaire. Current major depressive syndrome was the most common psychiatric disorder in the PE group. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of current major depressive syndrome (PE group 58.1%, control group 6.5%, P<.01). In the PE group, 45.2% of subjects were diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), while the rate of OCD was only 3.7% in the control group (P <.01). The PE group scored significantly higher on the BDI, HARS, and Y-BOCS. The results of this study point to the close relationship of PE to depression and OCD.

Expression of anger and alexithymia in patients with psychogenic excoriation: a preliminary report.

OBJECTIVE: Psychogenic excoriation (PE), which is characterized by lesions formed by self-picking, has a significant place among the dermatoses related to psychological factors. Emotions, particularly anger that cannot be expressed, may be important in the etiology. The objective of this study was to evaluate the sociodemographic characteristics of patients with PE and with another psychodermatosis, and compare them in terms of anger, manner of anger expression, and alexithymia. METHODS: Thirty-one consecutive subjects with PE and thirty-one patients with chronic urticaria were recruited from an outpatient dermatology clinic. All of the subjects completed Toronto Alexithymia Scale and Trait Anger and Anger Expression Scale. RESULTS: PE patients had higher levels of anger (p < .01), tended not to show their anger (p < .05), and were more alexithymic (p < .05). There was also a positive correlation between anger and alexithymia scores (r = .49, p < .05). DISCUSSION: PE, a severe and chronic psychiatric and dermatological problem, may be related to affect-regulation, particularly anger and alexithymia. Due to the fact that it has a different place among psychodermatoses, individuals with PE might benefit from learning how to regulate their affects other than by excoriation.

[The relationship between psychogenic excoriation and psychiatric disorders: a comparative study]. / Psikojenik deri yolmanin psikiyatrik bozukluklarla iliskisi: karsilastirmali bir calisma.

OBJECTIVE: Psychogenic excoriation (PE), characterized by excessive scratching or picking of the skin, is not yet recognized as a symptom of a distinct DSM-IV disorder. It is a chronic disorder with a high rate of psychiatric comorbidity. The purpose of this study was to compare patients diagnosed with PE and another group of psychodermatosis patients in terms of comorbid psychiatric disorders. METHOD: Thirty-one consecutive subjects were recruited from an outpatient dermatology clinic. The control group was composed of 31 patients with a dermatological disease other than PE. Subjects were interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) and the Yale-Brown Obsession and Compulsion Scale (YBOCS). Subjects also completed a semi-structured questionnaire for socio-demographic data and clinical features. RESULTS: Current major depressive syndrome was the most common psychiatric disorder in the PE group. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of current major depressive syndrome (PE group 58.1%, control group 6.5%, p<0.01). Some 45.2% of the PE group was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) while the proportion was only 3.7% in the control group. This difference was also statistically significant (p<0.01). The PE group scored significantly higher in the BDI, HARS and the YBOCS. CONCLUSION: The results of this study point to a close relationship between PE and depression and OCD.