Psychosocial care and breast cancer.
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Breast Neoplasms↗
Biomedical subjects
S Bloch
Publications and source records attributed to S Bloch.
Counseling caregivers of relatives with schizophrenia: themes, interventions, and caveats.
As part of a controlled study of the effectiveness of a counseling program for family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia, we conducted a comprehensive examination of the process. The particular foci were on themes that arose during sessions, principal therapeutic interventions offered, and caveats for counselors working in the field. The most striking finding was the diverse range of themes, covering personal, coping, family, and social aspects of the caregiving experience. This required a correspondingly broad array of interventions. The implications are clear: confining counseling for caregivers to such traditional dimensions as education or attempts to reduce emotional expressiveness denies them the opportunity to deal with other equally relevant concerns.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Drug and alcohol abuse by doctors.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether doctors who abuse substances differ from controls in terms of their physical and psychological well-being, and their marital and occupational functioning. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: The 44 doctors concerned in all cases of substance abuse which came before the Medical Board of Victoria between 1984 and 1990 were invited to complete a demographic questionnaire, psychological tests and a semi-structured interview. A control group of 42 doctors, obtained from the Medical Register, was also invited, and the groups were compared. SETTING: The study was carried out at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, under the auspices of the Medical Board of Victoria. RESULTS: Questionnaires were returned by 70% of the drug-dependent doctors and 83% of the controls. However, interviews were given by only 20% of the drug-dependent doctors. The groups differed significantly in terms of marital status (P < 0.002), overall health (P < 0.003), general wellbeing (P < 0.0009), and having experienced physical illness (P < 0.02) and psychiatric illness (P < 0.006) since graduation. No differences were found on the standardised questionnaires; this may reflect successful treatment. CONCLUSION: Substance abuse in medical practitioners is a major problem and is associated with considerable morbidity. Prevention and early intervention are crucial.
Adult↗
Developing a code of ethics for psychiatry: the Australasian experience.
The first ever code of ethics of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists was promulgated in 1992. In this paper two of the four members of the College's Ethics Committee (which prepared the document) describe the code's provenance and the procedure used to determine its form and content. The code, a milestone in the College's history, reflects its maturity in confronting the many ethical issues with which psychiatrists have to wrestle in contemporary clinical (and research) practice. We hope that our account will assist them to deal effectively with this pivotal aspect of their professional work.
Australia↗
Family grief.
As grief is both an individual and shared experience, adopting a systemic perspective is most appropriate for health-care professionals seeking to assist the bereaved. Within this framework, the family virtually always constitutes the most significant social group in which grief is experienced. In this paper we review the literature on family grief, covering clinical case reports, the observations of family therapists, systematic family bereavement research and family intervention studies. An understanding of patterns of family grief and vulnerability factors for morbid grief is pivotal to both preventive intervention and treatment of an established disorder.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Joint uptake and body distribution of a technetium-99m-labeled anti-rat-CD4 monoclonal antibody in rat adjuvant arthritis.
Joint uptake and body distribution of a 99mTc-labeled monoclonal antibody (Mab) to the rat CD4 molecule (W3/25; IgG1) were investigated after intravenous injection in normal rats and in animals with experimentally induced adjuvant arthritis. An isotype-matched Mab with irrelevant specificity (anti-human carcino-embryonic-antigen) was used as control. A 4 hr sequential gamma-camera imaging revealed that both anti-CD4 and control Mab accumulated to a higher degree in arthritic than in normal ankle joints; the accumulation was comparable for the two Mabs. In contrast to the inflamed joints, a specific accumulation of the anti-CD4 Mab was found in organs rich in CD4-positive cells, i.e. spleen, bone marrow and lymph nodes, as assessed by direct well counter measurements 16 hr after injection. The control Mab displayed no preferential organ accumulation in either normal or diseased animals. These results indicate that a specific accumulation of anti-CD4 Mabs occurs in CD4-positive-cell-rich tissues in both normal and diseased animals and that immunoglobulins accumulate preferentially in inflamed joints regardless of their antibody specificity.
Animals↗
Interocular transfer of depth discrimination in intact and in DSO-sectioned pigeons.
Interocular transfer (IOT) of a depth discrimination task was studied in intact pigeons and with a section of the supraoptic decussation (DSO). Animals were trained to respond to the nearer of two small light emitting diodes placed at different depths in the left and right compartments of a black tunnel. The near stimulus (at 10.5 cm from the eyes) and the far one (at 21 cm) could only be seen one at a time. Though the task was difficult to learn monocularly, intact as well as lesioned animals had good transfer scores with the untrained eye. Success in transfer may be related to the presentation of the discriminanda which assured that their images impinged upon the retinal 'red field'. DSO-transection did not affect IOT possibly because differential oculomotor adjustments needed for focusing near or far targets provide central bilateral and/or binocular information which is not conveyed by the DSO.
Animals↗
Specific respiratory patterns distinguish among human basic emotions.
Prototypical respiratory-facial-postural actions ('emotional effector patterns') related to six basic emotions had been extracted from an ensemble of physiological reactions present in subjects reliving intense emotional situations (Bloch & Santibañez, 1972). Subjects reproducing these actions could evoke the corresponding subjective experience, which suggested their use as an experimental model for generating controlled emotional states. The aim of the present study was to quantify the respiratory parameters which characterize the emotions of joy-laughter, sadness-crying, fear-anxiety, anger, erotic love and tenderness. Respiratory movements and facial/postural expressions were recorded from 36 young actors who had learned in previous workshops to express these emotions by reproducing the corresponding prototypical actions. A qualitative analysis of the recordings showed that as the emotional reproduction went along, both breathing and expression evolved from an initial 'robot-like' phase to a more natural stage in which spontaneous vocalizations and gestures appeared. This suggested a partial activation of the emotional network. The quantitative analysis of the respiratory movements for the fundamental cycles showed that for anger, erotic love and tenderness significant changes in amplitude, rate and duration of the 'expiratory pause' were the major elements of differentiation, while for sadness, joy and fear inspiratory over expiratory time ratios were the elements of differentiation. These last three emotions were further characterized by small amplitude/high rate saccadic respiratory movements superposed to different phases of the fundamental cycles. It is concluded that quantitatively well differentiated sets of respiratory changes characterize each of six basic emotions. The bottom-up experimental model for generating such emotions based on the joint activation of the respiratory-facial-postural systems and its relation to corresponding 'real-life' emotions is discussed.
Adult↗
Substance abuse among medical practitioners.
This paper reviews the literature relating to the prevalence, causes and treatment of substance abuse and psychiatric illness among doctors. Possible aetiological and pathogenic factors influencing drug-dependent doctors are discussed and some problems which arise in the management of these doctors are raised. Local studies in relation to certain personality factors in medical students, to cause of death in a medical cohort, and preliminary impressions from a study of substance-abusing doctors are reported.
Journal Article↗
Potential perils of the demonstration-consultation interview in family therapy: a case study of contextual confusion.
This article focuses on a specific aspect of consultation in contemporary family therapy, namely, problems that arise in the context of a consultation that simultaneously serves as a demonstration of a particular model of therapy. The demonstration-consultation interview is used widely in family therapy, but has received little attention in the literature. We use a case example of the apparent persistent deterioration in the clinical state of a patient following such a family interview with a visiting expert, and examine the possible contribution to the patient's deterioration that the demonstration-consultation context creates for the various participants. We offer provisional guidelines to minimize the risk of negative effects of the demonstration-consultation interview, pending empirical research into this phenomenon.
Adult↗
Systemic family therapy in adult psychiatry. A review of 50 families.
The place of family therapy in adult clinical psychiatry remains unclear, despite considerable theoretical developments in the subject. In order to delineate the potential role of a family therapeutic approach, a study was conducted of the first 50 families treated in a newly established family-therapy clinical located in an adult psychiatric hospital.
Adjustment Disorders↗
A systems approach to loss.
Following the death of a family member, the mourners' experiences of grief are inevitably influenced by and, in turn, influence the experiences of their relatives. Therapy should apply a model which takes this interactive process into account. A systems approach can fulfil this requirement in certain cases. Three case histories are provided to illustrate the potential effectiveness of a systems-oriented intervention. The questions still remain as to when the model is optimally applied, and whether it has a role in preventive psychiatry.
Adult↗
Color mixing in the pigeon. A psychophysical determination in the longwave spectral range.
Pigeons were trained to discriminate between spectral lights and additive mixtures in the 580-640 nm range. Two behavioral procedures were used: (I) a simultaneous instrumental discrimination and (II) successive "autoshaping" discrimination. Pigeons were able to make color mixture matches within this spectral range with satisfactory precision. Matchings determined by the animal correspond well to those predicted on the basis of the spectral sensitivities of two (or even three) pigment-droplet combinations present in the pigeon retina.
Animals↗
Utilizing television to promote a community colon cancer screening program.
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Colorectal Neoplasms↗
Purification and characterization of Aeromonas hydrophila beta-hemolysin.
Aeromonas hydrophila hemolysin was excreted in our culture conditions during the stationary growth phase. The toxin was purified to homogeneity by a three-step method: ultrafiltration, acid precipitation in the presence of RNA and anion exchange chromatography with FPLC apparatus. Beta-hemolysin is a protein not associated with lipids, carbohydrates or nucleic acids whose subunit mol. wt is 51,000. The mol. wt determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis suggests that the molecule is in a trimeric form. The toxin is thermolabile and inactivated by proteolytic enzymes such as trypsin, chymotrypsin, pronase, subtilisin and proteinase K. Antibodies raised against the beta-hemolysin neutralize both hemolytic and cytotoxic activities. When injected at high dose, this purified hemolytic protein causes a positive rabbit ileal loop test, thus indicating that beta-hemolysin could be the main virulence factor involved in intestinal symptoms.
Aeromonas↗
The student with a writing block--the ethics of psychotherapy.
The potential role of the psychotherapist as ethical interventionist is considered with reference to a patient who presented with a writing block. The case for the therapist to act paternalistically is followed by the counterargument which revolves around the respect for autonomy. A bridge between these two opposing positions is then offered which depends on viewing informed consent as a dynamic process. As part of this procedure it is made clear that while autonomy is the desired end-state of psychotherapy, it is not the be all and end all of treatment. Therapy is necessarily value-laden since it aims for the enhancement of the patient's state of autonomy; it is value-free inasmuch as the therapist desists from guiding the patient in how she should live her life.
Adult↗
Subacute osteoporotic compression fracture: misleading magnetic resonance appearance.
Three patients with benign subacute osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures are presented. T1 weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images (SE 500/30) showed decreased vertebral signal. Because the results of the MR examination were thought to indicate malignant disease, extensive medical workups, including one biopsy, were pursued in all three patients. Routine (SE 500/30) spin-echo pulse sequences cannot definitively distinguish between benign and malignant vertebral compression fractures.
Aged↗
Depth resolution in the pigeon.
Pigeons possess a binocular visual field and a retinal region of higher cellular density pointing to the center of this overlap. These features and the precision of pecking behavior suggest that in this lateral-eyed bird cues other than monocular ones might participate in depth judgements. Pigeons were trained with an operant procedure to discriminate between luminous points differing in depth which appeared to the observer as floating in the dark. The accuracy of depth judgements was found to be a function of the ratio between the interstimulus distance and the mean eyes-to-stimulus distance. In a first test (experiment I) no external binocular disparity cues were available, the animal only seeing one luminous point at a time (near or far). In a second test (experiment II) where binocular disparity cues were available, the animal having this time to discriminate a pair of points placed at equal depth from a pair placed at unequal depths, only one pair being visible at a time, depth resolution did not improve. This suggests that, at least within the range of distances explored, the pigeon has no stereoscopic vision. Notwithstanding this, binocular cues do play a role, since when tests were done comparing binocular with monocular viewing (experiment III), monocular depth resolution was significantly worse.
Animals↗