Accent echoing: a newly described imitation phenomenon of psychosis?
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Hooded rats in a social colony were given increasing daily doses of d-amphetamine up to 8 mg/kg. Time-lapse 16 mm cinematographically recorded behavior was analyzed for the following: grooming, feeding, sex, sleeping, resting, sterotypy, agonistic behavior, muricidal activity, and the location and movement of each rat. Subordiant rats receiving d-amphetamine actively withdrew from social interactions by retreating to strategically defensible locations in the environment. They remained hypervigilant of other rats and overreacted to their approaches by either fleeing or by defensively rearing and "boxing". On the other hand, when the dominant rat received the maximum dose, it seemed totally oblivious to the other rats. The responses to drug treatment in subordinant rats may provide a model for the social behavior of frightened paranoid schizophrenics.
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To study the escaping behavior of 1030 schizophrenic in-patients, "Brief Rating Scale for Dangerous Behavior of In-patient" was used to asses them within their first week hospitalization from May 1994 to March 1996. The result showed that 276 (26.8%) patients had escaping behavior. The patients with paranoid schizophrenia had higher rate of escaping behavior. There was no correlation being found between sex, age, duration of illness, and escaping behavior. The patients with the history of such behavior were more likely to escape from ward (41.9%). The suggestion for preventing such behavior were discussed.
The authors studied the behavior of normal subjects and paranoid schizophrenic patients in a simple problem-solving situation. The schizophrenics were divided into two sample groups, one of individuals under treatment and the other of individuals not under treatment. The learning process involved in this problem-solving situation is very similar to an instrumental conditioning, and can be understood by means of the following assumptions: (1) the subjects use decision functions in reacting to the stimuli, although they may be not fully aware of this; (2) learning is the result of successive transformations of these decisions in the course of time; (3) the changes have specific probabilities and are related to (a) those responses which are made to the latest stimuli, and (b) a differential probability for decision functions which were effective, or only interrupted painful reinforcement, or were completely ineffective. In schizophrenics further factors of importance were (1) an 'inertia' factor and (2) the rigidly continued use of unsuccessfuly or only partially successful decision criteria. The authors used a systems theory based on Galois field theory and a calculus of operators specifying three groups of subjects. A computer program based on thses hypotheses was tested in a stimulation experiment. The statistical evaluation of the results showed a congruence between the theoretical approach and the experimental data.
An Aboriginal behavioral syndrome is described and considered from cognitive and social labeling perspectives. Fifty-seven cases of this fear of sorcery syndrome were encountered in a 5-year epidemiological survey of Aboriginals living on reserves in the Northern Territory. The syndrome is similar to others reported from around the world in cultural contexts where sorcery is an important component of belief systems. It is characterized by severe anxiety and agitation, a breakdown of normal social behavior, and a paranoid preoccupation with personal, physical, and social security. The syndrome is particularly noteworthy in that it circulates from one clansman to another, although the individual course of the disorder is relatively short term and nonrecurring. From a Western perspective, when the behavior associated with this syndrome assumes clinical proportions, appropriate diagnosis is made, and tranquilizing medication typically prescribed. The detailed epidemiology is in accordance with local definition of likely sorcery victims. This conformity with cultural expectation is taken as evidence for the labeling hypothesis. This analysis is based on theoretical models deriving from psychological and sociological approaches to psychiatric disorder, which suggest that the behaviors can only be explained by reference to the larger cultural context and belief system which is operating. The syndrome is institutionalized both in terms of social expression and control. Cognitive labeling and social labeling theory are seen as complementary models conjointly explaining both individual and social response to the illness, suggesting the interactive nature of adjustment etiologies. In addition, these approaches speak to the individual and social functions served by the sorcery symptoms described.
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BACKGROUND: The 80-hour workweek was adopted by US residency programs on July 1, 2003. Our published data from the preceding year indicated significant impairment in psychologic well-being among surgery residents. The purpose of this study was to determine whether psychologic well-being and academic performance of surgery residents improved after inception of the 80-hour workweek. METHODS: A single-blinded survey of general surgery residents (n=130) across 4 US training programs was conducted after July 1, 2003, with the use of validated psychometric surveys (Symptom Checklist-90-R and Perceived Stress Scale) and the American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination; comparison was done with preceding year and societal data. Primary outcomes were "psychologic distress" and "perceived stress." Secondary outcomes were "somatization," "depression," "anxiety," "interpersonal sensitivity," "hostility," "obsessive-compulsive behavior," "phobic anxiety," "paranoid ideation," "psychoticism." and "academic performance." The impact of demographic variables was assessed. RESULTS: Mean psychologic distress improved from the preceding year (P < .01) but remained elevated, compared with societal norms (P < .001). The proportion of residents meeting the criteria for clinical psychologic distress (>or=90th percentile) decreased from 38% before, to 24% after, July 2003. Mean perceived stress remained elevated, compared with norms (P < .0001) without improvement from the preceding year. Overall academic performance was unchanged. Previously elevated secondary psychologic outcomes improved after July 2003 (P < .05), although obsessive-compulsive behavior, depression, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, and anxiety failed to normalize. Male gender and single status were independent risk factors for psychologic distress. CONCLUSIONS: Inception of the 80-hour workweek is associated with reduced psychologic distress among surgery residents. The perception of stress and academic performance remains unchanged.
A long list of psychiatrically inclined illnesses or symptoms, especially some cases of mood disorder, dementia, paranoid psychoses, violent behavior and fatigue, have been documented to be caused by vitamin-B12 deficiency, among other causes. The author uses reputably published literature--and extrapolations from it--to show that these conditions are possibly more commonly caused by B12 deficiency than is currently generally accepted, mostly because of a lack of appreciation of the lowest serum-B12 level that is necessary to protect against the cerebral manifestations of this deficiency. After surveying the whole area of psychiatry and nutritional deficiencies in general, the author deals with the role of vitamin-B12 in mood disorders, paranoid psychoses and dementia in more detail. In doing so, he cites some useful conclusions from the literature, including the debunking of several myths about the diagnosis and treatment of brain-B12-deficiency, especially the efficacy of high dose oral treatment and the relative inefficacy of the Schilling's test.
BACKGROUND: Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education work-hour restrictions are aimed at improving patient safety and resident well-being. Although surgical trainees will be dramatically affected by these changes, no comprehensive assessment of their well-being has been recently attempted. STUDY DESIGN: A multicenter study of psychological well-being of surgical residents (n = 108) across four US training programs before implementation of the 80-hour work week was performed using two validated surveys (Symptom Checklist-90-R [SCL-90-R] and Perceived Stress Scale [PSS]) during academic year 2002-03. Societal normative populations served as controls. Primary outcomes measures were psychologic distress (SCL-90-R) and perceived stress (PSS). Secondary outcomes measures (SCL-90-R) were somatization, depression, anxiety, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, obsessive-compulsive behavior, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism. The impact of personal variables (age, gender, marital status) and programmatic variables (level of training, laboratory experience, institution) was assessed. RESULTS: Mean psychologic distress was significantly higher in general surgery residents than in the normative population (p < 0.0001), with 38% scoring above the 90th percentile and 72% above the 50th percentile. Mean perceived stress among surgery residents was higher than historic controls (p < 0.0001), with 21% scoring above the 90th percentile and 68% above the 50th percentile. Among secondary outcomes, eight of nine symptom dimensions were significantly higher in surgical residents than in societal controls. In subgroup analyses, male gender was associated with phobic anxiety (p < 0.001) and anxiety (p < 0.05), and junior level of training (PGY 1 to 3) with anxiety (p < 0.05), obsessive-compulsive behavior (p < 0.05), and interpersonal sensitivity (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: More than one-third of general surgery residents meet criteria for clinical psychologic distress. Surgery residents perceive significantly more stress than societal controls. Both personal and programmatic variables likely affect resident well-being and should be considered in assessing the full impact of Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education directives and in guiding future restructuring efforts.
The factor structure of psychotic symptoms as assessed by means of the Scales for the Assessment of Positive and Negative Symptoms (SAPS and SANS) was examined in a sample of 660 psychotic inpatients. Analyses were conducted at item-level. Principal-component analysis (PCA) was used to extract factors, the OBLIMIN procedure to rotate factors, and the eigen value greater-than-one criterion to determine the number of factors. PCA resulted in 11 interpretable factors explaining 64% of the total variance: poverty of affect/speech, thought disorder/inappropriate affect, bizarre delusions, social dysfunction, other delusions, paranoid delusions, bizarre behavior, nonauditory hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, manic thought disorder, and attention. Many of the factors were significantly intercorrelated. A second-order PCA resulted in four second-order factors, the first three roughly corresponding to the well-known psychosis, disorganization and negative dimensions. It is concluded that the factor structure of psychotic symptoms is more complex than is generally acknowledged, and that the dimensions of psychosis, disorganization and negative represent second-order dimensions. The subscale composition of the SAPS and SANS was not supported.
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High doses of amphetamine evoke a behavioral syndrome in man which is similar to paranoid schizophrenia. The similarities between the behavioral effects of amphetamine and the symptoms of an endogenous behavior disorder suggest a mechanistic relationship between the two states. This study deals with a specific set of behavioral signs in the rat which are caused by relatively high doses of amphetamine and are mediated by serotonin receptor activation. Experiments on the mechanism by which amphetamine evokes this behavioral syndrome reveal that the l-isomer, like the d-isomer, acts indirectly, i.e., by release of endogenous serotonin. Furthermore, when d- and l-isomers are compared on the basis of potency in causing the serotonin behavioral syndrome, the d form is between two and three times more potent than the l-isomer. This result is consistent with the greater potency of the d-isomer (approx 2 to 1) in exacerbating symptoms of paranoid psychosis in humans. The data indicate that the serotonin behavioral syndrome in rats caused by relatively high doses of amphetamine may be the experimental counterpart of the paranoid psychosis induced in man by high doses of amphetamine.
As a part of the ABC Schizophrenia Study, a large-scale investigation of the influences of age and gender on the onset and course of schizophrenia, this study compared retrospective reports about emerging symptomatology during the early course of schizophrenia given by patients and their significant others in a representative first admission sample. The Interview for the Retrospective Assessment of the Onset of Schizophrenia (IRAOS), a comprehensive interview assessing early signs and symptoms, revealed that, in most cases, patients as well as informants perceived negative, depressive, and unspecific symptoms as early signs of the disorder. Pairwise agreement about the presence of certain symptoms was good for a limited number of signs, e.g., substance abuse, suicidal behavior, parental and marital role deficits, and paranoid delusions. These items mainly concern abnormal behaviors that can be observed easily. In contrast, there was little agreement between reports about perceptual and formal thought disorder, i.e., subjective internal phenomena. The results supported a continuity model for the observability of symptoms in schizophrenia.
Stalking behavior has been associated with several mental disorders, both psychotic and non-psychotic. The most frequently associated condition appears to be an individual with primitive personality psychopathology regardless of co-occurring psychotic symptomatology. Among the psychotic symptoms, erotomanic, and jealousy delusions may be the most clinically and torensically relevant. However, delusional jealousy has not been well appreciated in the psychiatric literature as an important contributor to stalking behavior. In this article, we explore the psychiatric, psychosocial, and forensic aspects of stalking in the context of delusional jealousy. We use a case example to highlight important issues in this area.
BACKGROUND: The onset and course of the psychopathologic features of Alzheimer disease have not been established in prospective, longitudinal studies. METHODS: Two hundred thirty-five patients with early, probable Alzheimer disease were recruited at 3 sites and observed naturalistically for up to 5 years. At 6-month intervals, the Columbia University Scale for Psychopathology in Alzheimer's Disease was administered. Markov analyses were used to predict the probability of a specific symptom developing or being maintained at the next visit. For each symptom category, the maximum frequency of occurrence at 4 consecutive points (duration, 2 years) was calculated. RESULTS: Misidentification, wandering or agitation, and physical aggression increased during follow-up. At any visit, the likelihood of a new symptom developing was greatest for behavioral disturbance, intermediate for paranoid delusions and hallucinations, and least for depressed mood with vegetative features. Wandering or agitation occurred at 3 or more of 4 consecutive visits (duration, 2 years) in the majority of patients, paranoid delusions and hallucinations were intermediate in their degree of persistence, and depressed mood with vegetative signs rarely persisted. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioral disturbance, particularly agitation, is common and persistent in patients with Alzheimer disease. Psychotic symptoms are less common and show moderate persistence over time. Depressed mood with vegetative signs is uncommon and rarely persists. These findings suggest leads about the optimal treatment duration for specific subtypes of psychopathologic features.