The Hillside journal of clinical psychiatry最新文献

Two distinct styles of recovery from a schizophrenic episode, namely, integration and sealing over, have been described in a number of clinical reports. This investigation focused on differences in the defensive organization of the two styles; specifically, that integrators possess a less primitive constellation of defensive organizations (less dominated by denial, negation, and repression). These results are discussed in relation to psychodynamic theory and their implications for the treatment process.

Restless leg syndrome is a frequently misdiagnosed and often misunderstood condition contributing to a complaint of insomnia in geriatric patients. Various pharmacologic agents used to treat the condition are often ineffective and have not consistently provided relief for the majority of patients with this condition. Our recent experience with Xanax suggests its possible effectiveness in controlling symptoms of the restless leg syndrome. Further, more controlled double blind studies--especially comparing other benzodiazepines at appropriate dosages--are called for.

This study compares 17 hospitalized borderline personality disorder (BPD) patients with 20 normal control subjects. Four criteria sets--DSM III, Grinker, Gunderson, and Kernberg--were combined and used with the semistructured DIAGNOSTIC INTERVIEW BORDERLINES (DIB) Scale. Findings indicate that among BPD patients the following were most prominent: 1) impulsive episodes 2) unstable relationships 3) chronic feelings of depressive emptiness/loneliness 4) acting out behavior and, somewhat less prevalent, 5) identity disturbance. BPD patients can be discriminated by different patterns of disturbance while sharing other features in common with them. While DSM III requires five of eight items for BPD diagnosis, from the above group significantly less than five adequately made a positive diagnosis in this study. BPD seems to identify a heterogeneous group of patients with behavioral disturbances without particular personality specificity which share certain core characteristics among which additional features may further subtype component members.

One context for understanding an adolescent's (or any other individual's) abnormal functioning is an appreciation of normal or modal functioning in the culture to which that adolescent belongs. After decades of research and clinical observation there is no consensus about what constitutes modal adolescent functioning in the United States. Much less is known about adolescent functioning in other cultures. Results were suggestive of large, cross-cultural differences in self-image among normal adolescents. In most areas American teenagers reported the best functioning while Bengali teenagers reported the worst. There were consistent gender differences in self-image across cultures, with adolescent girls showing poorer self-image than adolescent boys in many areas. Results are discussed from the point of view of difficulties in doing cross-cultural psychiatric research and the need for further research in this field.

The effects of triazolam on immediate and delayed recall were evaluated in a double-blind placebo controlled study in 22 normal volunteers. Subjects were randomized to receive triazolam or a placebo as a single dose administered at bedtime. Immediate and delayed recall are tested using a modified version of the "Williams Word Memory Task" before and at .5, 8, and 14 hours after drug administration. Delayed recall was evaluated at the 14 hour time point for words recalled at the pre drug and 1/2 and 8 hour time points. No significant difference was noted between the triazolam and placebo group with regard to their immediate recall ability at any of the time points. The placebo group demonstrated no decrease in their delayed recall ability during any of the various post drug time points. However, when evaluating delayed recall in the triazolam group, a statistically significant (p less than .05) decrease compared to baseline in their recall ability of words remembered at the .5 and 8 hour time points was noted. This study suggests that triazolam's amnestic effect may extend beyond the duration of its generally accepted hypnotic efficacy. This is consistent with the hypothesis that amnestic potency among the benzodiazepines is related to benzodiazepine receptor binding affinity and lipophilicity.

Other studies have reported the use of TCA antidepressants in the treatment of depressed children (Frommer 1967; Ossofsky 1974; Stack 1972; Polvan and Cebiroglu 1972). However, these studies did not meet criteria for inclusion in this review. In studies, other medicines were given concurrently with TCAs. Several did not specify the number of subjects and/or the number who responded. Sometimes subjects who were not diagnosed as depressed were included. Also studies of childhood depression tend to include adolescents; thus many samples were a mixture of adolescents and prepubertal children with the adolescents frequently predominating. As the purpose of this review was depression in prepubertal children, only studies comprised predominantly of prepubertal children were included. Although not included in this review, many such studies reported TCAs were useful in treating depression in children. After reviewing these studies, it is obvious that their sophistication has improved dramatically in recent years. Standard diagnostic criteria such as Feighner's Research Diagnostic Criteria, the Research Diagnostic Criteria, and more recently DSM-III (all of which are similar) have permitted a more objective and standardized diagnosis of depression. Likewise, the development of the Children's Depression Inventory and the Childhood Depression Rating Scale have allowed more objective measurement of severity of depression and of improvement in depression in children. Plasma drug level monitoring has allowed for pharmacokinetic studies of TCAs, more precise dose adjustment and equivalent drug treatment of subjects involved in clinical research studies. Studies to date indicate TCAs were helpful in treating depressed prepubertal children. However, double-blind placebo/control studies of tricyclic antidepressants in depressed prepubertal school-aged children have not been published. Ideally a study of antidepressants in children should include: objective standardized diagnostic criteria for diagnosing depression; objective rating of severity of depression; explicit exclusion criteria; steady-state plasma blood level monitoring; assured compliance; adequate duration of treatment so sufficient time is allowed for response to occur; a double-blind study design. Unfortunately the ideal study has not been done. TCAs may be an effective treatment for prepubertal major depressive disorder. However, further study is necessary to clearly establish their efficacy.

Although symptoms of major depression are the same in adults and prepubertal children, diagnosing depression in children presents special problems not encountered with adults. In addition to the standard clinical interview, methods of assessing childhood depression include diagnostic interviews, self-report inventories, projective tests, peer ratings, and biological markers. Unfortunately many of these methods currently lack detailed reliability and validity studies. Despite their limitations these techniques can be helpful in making a diagnosis. However, accurate diagnosis still requires careful evaluation and individualized clinical judgement.

The author reports a case of factitious rape in a psychiatric inpatient. To his knowledge, this is the first case report of this syndrome in the medical literature. This case is related to the signs and symptoms commonly found in Munchausen Syndrome. The question of the relationship of factitious rape to borderline personality disorder and to disturbed sexual identity is raised. Physicians are urged to develop an index of suspicion for factitious disorder.

Handling of the hospitalized borderline patient's request for disability compensation reflects the therapists's success or failure in keeping a sustained focus on splitting. This focus is crucial to the subacute hospital treatment of borderline psychopathology. Overprotectiveness or withholding of appropriate support results from countertransference reactions. Splitting is reinforced rather than minimized if the therapist fails to focus both on the damaged and overwhelmed aspect of the personality (how the patient feels) and on the irresponsible and manipulative aspect (what the patient does). The therapist who fails to respond to the disparate aspects in an integrated way risks acting out key aspects of the clinical picture to the detriment of successful subacute hospital treatment. The therapist's awareness of typical patterns of splitting can be enhanced by considering the patient's developmental history; current familial and vocational relations (or lack of them); and the patient's relation to the hospital staff.