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At least 451 records · Page 25Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Time trends in a study of 440 mass slayings/rampages occurring in public places.

We looked for variations in the timing of mass slayings/rampages (MS/R) committed in public places by solitary perpetrators. News reports on 440 MS/R from 1920 to 1996 yielded 379 onset times which were examined for temporal patterns. There was a dramatic increase in the number of MS/R from 1966 to 1995. We observed a significant monthly variation with peaks in July-August and December, and a bimodal daily rhythm for MS/R onset with a major peak at 11:00 a.m. and a minor peak at 8:00 p.m. Observed time trends for MS/R could help develop protective programs to reduce stress and violence in public places.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMed2000

Mass psychogenic illness: role of the individual physician.

Mass psychogenic illness is characterized by symptoms, occurring among a group of persons with shared beliefs regarding those symptoms, that suggest organic illness but have no identifiable environmental cause and little clinical or laboratory evidence of disease. Mass psychogenic illness typically affects adolescents or children, groups under stress and females disproportionately more than males. Symptoms often follow an environmental trigger or illness in an index case. They can spread rapidly by apparent visual transmission, may be aggravated by a prominent emergency or media response, and frequently resolve after patients are separated from each other and removed from the environment in which the outbreak began. Physicians should consider this diagnosis when faced with a cluster of unexplained acute illness.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1999

Fundamental studies of biodegradable hydrogels as cartilage replacement materials.

Through intelligent control of monomer chemistry and gelling techniques, biodegradable hydrogels with a range of mechanical strengths and degradation timescales have been constructed. A diacrylated, copoly(ethylene glycol-b-dl-lactic acid) (PEG-b-PLA) macromer was used to produce synthetic networks with equilibrium water contents (EWC) above 70% and initial compressive moduli values exceeding 1 MPa, demonstrating its viability as a cartilage replacement material. Experiments have shown that the mechanical strengths, EWCs, and useful lifetimes of these water-swellable networks are coupled to their copolymer chemistry as well as their processing conditions. A systematic study utilizing photopolymerized gels has been undertaken to elucidate the controlling factors behind the bulk-degradation process, as well as monitor changes in network structure with degradation. A statistical model will be used in conjunction with the experimental data to explain the exponential modulus decay and complex mass loss behavior observed during degradation for these hydrogels.

Biocompatible Materials↗
PubMed2000

Disaster management and the Goteborg Fire of 1998: when first responders are blamed.

On Thursday, the 29th of October, 1998, Goteburg, Sweden experienced one of its greatest fire related catastrophes. Sixty-three people lost their lives in a Goteburg discotheque. This paper describes the events surrounding the fire, its effects upon firefighters and the city of Goteborg, and the emergency mental health activities implemented to support fire and rescue personnel. Of particular importance were the effects experienced by fire and rescue personnel as they became targets for community grief and anger. This paper discusses the lessons learned from organizational and personnel points of view [International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 2000, 2(4), 267-273].

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Pokémon contagion: photosensitive epilepsy or mass psychogenic illness?

We studied a reported illness outbreak occurring on December 16, 1997, involving more than 12,000 Japanese children who had various signs and symptoms of illness after watching an episode of a popular animated cartoon, Pokémon. While photosensitive epilepsy was diagnosed in a minuscule fraction of those affected, this explanation cannot account for the breadth and pattern of the events. The characteristic features of the episode are consistent with the diagnosis of epidemic hysteria, triggered by sudden anxiety after dramatic mass media reports describing a relatively small number of genuine photosensitive-epilepsy seizures. The importance of the mass media in precipitating outbreaks of mass psychogenic illness is discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1999

Postvaccination mass psychogenic illness in an Iranian rural school.

In October 1992 after tetanus inoculations of 26 girl students in a village in the Islamic Republic of Iran, an outbreak of psychomotor syndrome occurred in 10. Although only few were affected, the temporary negative impact on public opinion about immunization was serious. Physical and laboratory investigations of the girls were normal. The 10 girls were compared with their 16 classmates. Higher socioeconomic status was protective (P = 0.04) and distance of home from school was relevant (P = 0.03). This is the first report of a health intervention unwarrantedly being held as the cause of an outbreak. The outbreak, however, was managed successfully.

Conversion Disorder↗
PubMed2001

[Mobbing--significance for private personal insurance].

The social conflict model called mobbing has hitherto almost remained undetected by private personal insurance systems. The mental and functional somatic disturbances caused by mobbing, however, have been well known for a long time and do not differ from those caused by other conflicts. Problems for the personal insurance develop from the fact that more often than not a (feigned) conflict solution will be sought by medical certifications of unfitness to work, referrals to hospitals and striving for acknowledgement of occupational disablement, none of which have a medical justification. A considerable portion of the national economic burden of mobbing will therefore--mostly unknowingly--be shouldered by private insurance companies. There are numerous medical diagnoses which may hide a mobbing conflict and are difficult to comprehend. This article represents instructions for better understanding and handling.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗
PubMed2001

Mass psychogenic illness following tetanus-diphtheria toxoid vaccination in Jordan.

In September 1998, more than 800 young people in Jordan believed they had suffered from the side-effects of tetanus-diphtheria toxoid vaccine administered at school; 122 of them were admitted to hospital. For the vast majority, their symptoms did not result from the vaccine but arose from mass psychogenic illness. The role played by the media, the children's parents, and the medical profession in the escalation of this mass reaction appeared, at first sight, to be unusual and even unique to the circumstances in Jordan at the time. A review of the literature showed, however, that this mass reaction was similar in many ways to previous outbreaks, even though the underlying causes varied. There are about 200 published accounts of mass responses to situations involving suspected poisoning or other events. Because such mass reactions are relatively rare and the triggers so diverse, individuals faced with responding to them are unlikely to have prior experience in how to handle them and are unlikely to take bold steps to prevent their escalation. Indeed they may be unaware that such events have been recorded before. The lessons learned from this incident in Jordan may help other immunization programme managers to handle crisis situations elsewhere.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

[University crisis and student psychiatric service].

This paper briefs a research on the influence of stressing environmental factors upon mental health conditions of university students. The study was undertaken at the Student Psychiatric Service, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia. Three equal periods are compared. The first is a normal one; the others are disorderly and riotous, up to the point of foreing the discontinuance of academic activities for several months. As compared with the period of academic stability, the rates of mental disturbances show a steep rise in the periods of agitation. Schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, all kinds of difficulties in interpersonal relations, and somatic disturbances, are sharply increased, whereas complaints of less severe disturbances, like transient situational disorders, level up or decrease. Another significant rise is registered in the use of drugs for therapeutic purposes. The study leads to the conclusion that stress due to environmental disorders or social upheavals is an important factor in the aethiology of severe mental disturbances.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Rethinking individualism and collectivism: evaluation of theoretical assumptions and meta-analyses.

Are Americans more individualistic and less collectivistic than members of other groups? The authors summarize plausible psychological implications of individualism-collectivism (IND-COL), meta-analyze cross-national and within-United States IND-COL differences, and review evidence for effects of IND-COL on self-concept, well-being, cognition, and relationality. European Americans were found to be both more individualistic-valuing personal independence more-and less collectivistic-feeling duty to in-groups less-than others. However, European Americans were not more individualistic than African Americans, or Latinos, and not less collectivistic than Japanese or Koreans. Among Asians, only Chinese showed large effects, being both less individualistic and more collectivistic. Moderate IND-COL effects were found on self-concept and relationality, and large effects were found on attribution and cognitive style.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

New formulae for estimating stature in the Balkans.

Recent studies of secular change and allometry have observed differential limb proportions between the sexes, among and within populations. These studies suggest that stature prediction formulae developed from American Whites may be inappropriate for European populations. The purpose of this investigation is to present more appropriate stature prediction equations for use in the Balkans to aid present-day identifications of the victims of genocide. The reference sample totals 545 white males obtained from World War II data. The Eastern European sample totals 177 males and includes both Bosnian and Croatian victims of the recent war. Mean stature for Eastern Europeans was obtained from the literature. Results show that formulae based on Trotter and Gleser systematically underestimate stature in the Balkans. Because Eastern Europeans are taller than American Whites it is appropriate to use this as an "informative prior" that can be applied to future cases. This informative prior can be used in predictive formulae, since it is probably similar to the sample from which the Balkan forensic cases were drawn. Based on Bayes' Theorem new predictive stature formulae are presented for Eastern Europeans.

Adult↗