journal article
LitStream Collection
Home
KROLL, JEROME ; BACHRACH, BERNARD
doi: N/Apmid: N/A
Descriptions of visionary experiences from written medieval sources are examined from a cross-cultural perspective. The mental states of the persons having the visions range from terminal illnesses, states of starvation, stress-related syndromes, dreams and hypnagogic states, and seemingly unremarkable mental states. Although a few of the visions elicited some skepticism on the part of contemporaries, most reports of visions were accepted at face value as bona fide visions, with no discernible differentiation between starvation visions, dreams, deliria of illnesses, and possible mental illness. Only four of the visions appeared causally related, by today's standards, to mental illnesses. These persons were not recognized as mentally ill by their contemporaries. Since there was a recognition of mental illness in the Middle Ages, it would appear that such recognition was based on symptoms other than visions or hallucinations. It is also possible that hallucinations, as culturally supported phenomena, were not as available as forms of expression of psychoses in the Middle Ages as they are today. Such a possibility has interesting implications regarding the role of a culture in shaping the forms by which mental illnesses are expressed, recognized, and labeled.
doi: N/Apmid: N/A
In this paper, length of stay for psychiatric inpatients (LOS) is discussed in terms of controlled studies of hospitalization, research on patient factors contributing to LOS, and variation in mean or median LOS between institutions and within units. Although the multiplicity of variables involved precludes ready generalization, it can be said that open- ended hospital stays, above 28 days, have not been demonstrated to improve outcomes. However, the complexity of specific circumstances makes it unrealistic to impose rigid uniform standards within or across units. Medically managed units with a director as the locus of decision making may be in a better position to control LOS. Research into relationships between different treatment milieus and outcomes for specific diagnoses is suggested as a promising avenue for further research into cost effectiveness of hospitalization.
doi: N/Apmid: N/A
The frequency and quality of headaches reported by 300 psychiatric patients were analyzed and compared to findings drawn from a general practice sample. Migraine and tension headaches were commonly reported and were found to be considerably more severe and frequent among psychiatric patients than among those patients attending a general practice. However, few of the psychiatric patients regarded their headaches as a major problem. Those who were headache sufferers had significantly higher scores on a psychometric assessment of neurotic tendency and were more frequently diagnosed as suffering from neuroses than were those patients who reported few or no headaches. There was no association between headache and the diagnosis of depression, but psychometric scores on depression were significantly higher among the headache cases. The scale may have been reflecting general psychiatric distress rather than depression as such. The possibility that headaches contribute significantly to psychiatric distress, and are not merely a symptom of such distress, is considered.
doi: N/Apmid: N/A
Two patients are described who depended on potentiation of tricyclic antidepressant effectiveness by thyroid superfunction for remission of an episode of unipolar depression. In one case, the excess thyroid hormone was the product of hyperthyroidism; whenever the hyperthyroidism was treated, the remission induced by imipramine was negated. In the other case, triiodothyronine was exogenously administered. These case studies suggested that some patients may require larger doses than 25 μg of triiodothyronine per day for effective antidepressant potentiation. Some endocrinological similarities between hyperthyroidism and depressive illness are discussed.
GROVE, WILLIAM M.; ANDREASEN, NANCY C.
doi: N/Apmid: N/A
Many traditional statistical approaches to data analysis assume a relatively simple situation in which the investigator is testing a single hypothesis. Most research in psychiatry, on the other hand, is exploratory in nature and involves testing many hypotheses. Exploratory research presents special problems in data analysis, which are discussed in this overview. Special statistical approaches that are available to reduce error risk, such as the Bonferroni inequality, are described. The importance of selecting confidence levels appropriate to a particular investigation, rather than arbitrary use of the .05 level, is also discussed.
GRIFFIN, NIALL ; WEBB, MARCUS G. T.; PARKER, ROBERT R.
doi: N/Apmid: N/A
The case is described of a young man who repeatedly injured his left eye. There was a history of previous deliberate self-injury and of childhood epilepsy.
doi: N/Apmid: N/A
Showing 1 to 10 of 18 Articles