Biomedical subjects

G Lyketsos

Publications and source records attributed to G Lyketsos.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1985

Dysthymic distress and hostile personality characteristics in Greek student nurses: a comparative study.

A comparative evaluation of anxiety, depression and personality deviances of student nurses was attempted, using Foulds' 'Scale of anxiety and depression and personality deviance' on Greek student nurses and on controls from other schools. It was found that: Greek student nurses scored higher in depression than student teachers and the Greek women sample, Greek student nurses scored higher in intropunitiveness than the Greek women sample, but there was no difference between student nurses and the control groups in all the personality deviances, and The younger the students, the higher their scores in anxiety and depression. Our findings support the hypothesis that dysthymic distress in Greek student nurses is associated with stresses of their training.

Anxiety↗

PubMed1982

Psychological characteristics of hypertensive and ulcer patients.

Hypertensive and duodenal ulcer patients were compared with physically ill patients at admission and discharge on personality traits and states of anxiety and depression. Both the hypertensive and ulcer patients were less dominant and more anxious than the control group at admission, while depression differentiated only the hypertensive group. The hypertensive patients were more depressed and more anxious than the ulcer patients at admission. At discharge, both experimental groups remained less dominant than the control group and the hypertensives remained more anxious and more depressed than the ulcer and control groups. Low dominance was correlated with high blood pressure and high extrapunitiveness was correlated with E.C.G. abnormality in the hypertensive patients. The results are discussed with respect to the role of aggression and low dominance in these 'psychosomatic' disorders.

Adult↗

PubMed1980

The ancient Greek tragedy as a means of psychotherapy for mental patients.

Some ancient and modern views of the beneficial effects of ancient Greek drama on the psychic processes of human beings are reported. We have used classical drama at the Dromokaition Mental Hospital as a means of psychotherapy for chronic patients since 1959. Beneficial effects noted both during the process of teaching and in performance are here described in brief. Aristotle's view that 'manics' can successfully empathize with tragic heroes and benefit from the sentiments of relief and pleasure which they derive from the events in the tragedy are explored, and the patients' own words are quoted in support of this theory. We claim that ancient drama is not merely a recreational activity for mental patients: on the contrary a unique psychotherapeutic effect is produced by the power of plot and language.

Catharsis↗

PubMed1980

Mobilization of refractory chronic schizophrenics with haloperidol.

Adequate high doses of haloperidol have been administered to 24 chronic, refractory to standard antipsychotic treatment, schizophrenics (16 male, 8 female, mean age 32.9 years) to investigate the possibility of mobilizing and releasing these patients from the hospital. Treatment was started with 20 mg haloperidol and optimal doses were determined for each patient. The median daily optimal dose at the end of the trial was 100mg. All patients were followed up for 16 weeks. Evaluating criteria were the BPRS, the Discharge Readiness Questionnaire, a side-effect rating scale, a CGI scale and the number of patients able to leave the hospital. 3 patients were evaluated as able to leave the hospital. 87.4% of the patients were subjectively evaluated as improved. High doses of haloperidol did not correlate with a higher incidence of unwanted effects. On the contrary antiparkinson treatment was discontinued or decreased in 14 patients. It is concluded that nonresponsive chronic schizophrenics can profit from adequate high doses of haloperidol.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

The temporal relationship between hostility and depressed mood.

Nineteen depressed in-patients were studied in a follow-up design for 8 weeks or until discharge, using three depression scales and a hostility questionnaire. It was hypothesized within a cognitive theory of depression that, self-rated hostility being a measure of negative thoughts and attitudes, changes in hostility would precede mood changes. Analysis was by contemporaneous and cross-correlations between mood and hostility measures. High intercorrelations were obtained among the mood ratings which decreased significantly over time, as did two of the four hostility measures. The hypothesis was confirmed by the cross-correlations between nurses' mood ratings and intropunitiveness and direction of hostility. The cross-correlations with Beck and Hamilton scales supported the hypothesis at a non-significant level.

Adult↗

PubMed1977

Emigration: psychopathologic reaction in the families left behind.

In order to investigate whether emigration acts as a psychic stress on the families left at home, two groups of families were compared: In group A the head of the family had emigrated, in group B the head of the family was a candidate for emigration. Compared to group B, group A showed a significantly higher rate of psychopathology related to the stress of emigration. Wives and children were mainly affected. The stress of emigration on the wives was corroborated by finding a high proportion of separated couples in group A in comparison with none in group B.

Child↗