Abnormal oral sensory perception in patients with a history of anorexia nervosa and the relationship between physiological and psychological improvement in this disease.

14 patients with a history of anorexia nervosa (AN) (mean duration 7.1 years) were divided into two groups according to whether they were still amenorrheic (group I, n = 6) at a significantly lower body weight or at normal stable weight with eumenorrhea (group II, n = 8); 26 age-matched students served as the control group. Psychological testing included the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), shadow silhouette size rating, and a new test of oral appreciation of different sized cubes. In groups I and II, oral misperception of medium and large sizes was significantly greater than visual-tactile appreciation; and all cube sizes, however presented, were overexaggerated when compared to the controls. Group II subjects had EDI scores and ideal body weight choices similar to those of group I. Thus, in AN, in addition to visual misperception, there may be a more generalized problem of size conceptualization including oral appreciation. These findings also suggest that improvement in body weight and menstrual function, as in group II, does not necessarily imply psychological recovery in AN.

Nursing case management: an innovative model of care for hospitalized patients with diabetes.

Cost, access, and quality are among the most pressing concerns facing the delivery of health care services in the 1990s. These issues are of particular concern for individuals with diabetes because of their high consumption level of health care resources. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a managed care approach could reduce the hospital stay while creating a balance between cost and quality of care.

Homogeneous groups as treatment modality for anorectics.

The accumulated amount of research studies on anorexia has not until now produced a clear understanding of its etiology, symptoms and treatment. In this paper we deal with one aspect of the symptomatology: the delusion on the part of the anorectic patient of being normal or overweight. This issue, which seems the most obnoxious, is dealt with and discussed through a psychological model of group therapy with the participation of 7 anorectic women. Implications and limitations of further psychological treatment are clarified and revised.

Selected social-psychological characteristics of a sample of Israeli cancer patients: facts and implications.

This paper presents some sociodemographic, medical and psychological data gathered in an ongoing study aimed at early identification of the psychosocial coping potential of adult, Jewish cancer patients in Israel. We show the distribution of a sample of 86 patients on variables such as age, sex, marital status, place of birth, religiosity, medical diagnosis, treatment modality, and duration of illness. We describe the patients' reported behavioral changes, their perceptions of the nature and causes of their illness, and their views on the supportive resources available to them. We also analyze patients' expectations regarding their future functioning in the areas of work, household, family and social relations, and leisure-time activities. On the basis of these initial analyses, we present some recommendations for the improvement of social-psychological intervention with cancer patients.

Role reversal: when doctors become patients.

We intend to present a personal view of the social behavior of doctors in the role of patients. The hypotheses presented here have been formed through personal experience and the accumulation of reports from and about medical colleagues who have been patients. Our purpose is twofold: (a) to describe the mechanisms of doctors becoming patients and (b) to show the difficulties of this role reversal. We tried to show the complex interactions of role changes in both partners, doctor and doctor-patient, because of differences in role identity, in rigidity or flexibility of coping behavior and the myth and beliefs surrounding the very concept of the medical profession.

Coping mechanisms of postmastectomy women. A group experience.

A treatment model using a randomly selected group of patients at various postmastectomy stages is discussed. Our hypothesis predicted that such a group would provide women with a much clearer and more positive understanding of their disease syntonic to each one's life style. At the end of this group therapy, we felt that we had established a self-therapy group, in which patients could sustain themselves and could readjust to new ways of living with their disease.

A multidisciplinary approach to the expression of pain in psychic depression.

The expression of cold pressor pain was measured by recording simultaneously verbal magnitude estimates, heart rates, and facial displays of 16 recently hospitalized depressed patients, and 16 nondepressed adults. Independence of the two groups for the depression factor was verified using the Hamilton Scale for Depression and the 100-mm line self-rating scale. Verbal responses and amount of time the ice bath was tolerated, as well as heart-rate measures, indicated that depressed individuals were significantly more sensitive to the pain stimulus. However, this elevated intolerance to pain was not reflected by marked changes of facial display. Reasons for this discrepancy are discussed. Nondepressed subjects, although clearly able to verbalize intensity of pain, were much less reactive to the pain along all dimensions.

Interaction between delta-6-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-6-THC) and lithium at the blood brain barrier in rats.

Neither the acute nor the chronic i.p. administration of delta-6-tetrahydrocannabinol affected the passage of lithium from blood to brain in normal rats.

A psychiatric ward with its specific attitudes as a social system within the community of a General Hospital.

The establishment of a psychiatric ward in a general hospital with modern therapeutic milieu orientation will necessitate certain changes and create problems of the following nature: (1) The psychiatric ward as a 'deviant' department within the social system of the general hospital. (2) The transition of the traditional approaches to the modern trend within the team of the department. The patient is required to develop an attitude of active participation. (3) The group setup of open ward groups in contrast to the more familiar orthodox out-patient groups are discussed. (4) Ward life discussed as a time-limited experience taken out of life situation. The change in attitude of the doctor will have to be more integrative by being able to deal with various levels and depth of behavior and functioning in multiple ways as related to the patient and his community.