J R Hillard — Page 3 | Search PubMed

PubMed1978

Dysesthesia, witchcraft, and conversion reaction. A case successfully treated with psychotherapy.

An intelligent, well-educated black woman from the rural South, through an interaction of psychopathology and cultural background, experienced dysesthesia as a conversion reaction and came to believe that she was the victim of witchcraft. After neurological evaluation showed no abnormalities, she was successfully treated with conventional psychotherapy. Belief in hexing or root work is still alive today and should be inquired about in patients with unusual symptoms and an appropriate cultural background.

Black or African American↗

PubMed1977

Patients' attitudes and attributions to electroconvulsive shock therapy.

An attributional analysis of ECT as a placebo was investigated by comparing the attitudes of patients on two psychiatric wards. It was hypothesized that on the ward on which ECT was administered more frequently, general attitudes toward the treatment would be more favorable and more patients would express the opinion that ECT had worked well for them personally. The results, which supported the predictions, indicate that the operation of placebo effects in connection with ECT may account for differential treatment results more adequately than explanations based on physiological models. The findings also suggest that more research is needed to explore the relationship between patients' attitudes and treatment outcomes.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗