Differences in the personality profile of medication-overuse headache sufferers and drug addict patients: a comparative study using MMPI-2.

BACKGROUND: Medication-overuse headache (MOH) refers to headache attributed to excessive use of acute medications. The role of personality needs studies to explain the shifting from drug use to drug abuse. The main aim of this study is to study personality, according to Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, comparing MOH, episodic headache, substance addicts (SA) vs healthy controls. METHODS: Eighty-two MOH patients (mean age 44.5; 20 M, 62 F) and 35 episodic headache (mean age 40.2; 8 M, 27 F), were compared to 37 SA (mean age 32.5; 29 M, 8 F) and 37 healthy controls (mean age: 32.49; 20 M, 17 F). International Classification of Headache Disorders 2nd Edition criteria were employed. Chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and post hoc comparisons were used for statistics. RESULTS: MOH patients scored higher on Hypochondriasis, Depression (only females), Hysteria (only females) (P < .000). MOH did not show higher scores than episodic headache or healthy controls in dependency scales, while SA did. CONCLUSION: The data obtained show that MOH and SA do not share common personality characteristics linked to dependence. Although further studies are needed to understand if such a difference is related to instrumental characteristics or to yet undiscovered psychobiological characteristics of MOH patients; however, we hypothesize that the detected difference may rely on the fact that drug dependence in the 2 groups is promoted by entirely different needs: pleasure seeking in the SA group, pain avoidance in the MOH group.

[Cognitive-Behavioural group interventions and Multifamily Psychoanalysis group in a Psychiatric Ward]. / Interventi cognitivo-comportamentali di gruppo e psicoanalisi multifamiliare di gruppo in un Servizio Psichiatrico di Diagnosi e Cura.

AIM: This paper aims to study, evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two group interventions within a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The outcome indicators of the satisfaction of patients and their families with the ward were evaluated with a Satisfaction Questionnaire on the department, and their satisfaction with the groups were evaluated with the Satisfaction Questionnaire for the groups. The two theoretical orientations examined are the cognitive-behavioural therapy, with group cognitive-behavioural intervention in the context of SPDC, and psychoanalysis, with multifamily psychoanalysis groups, according to the model of Jorge García Badaracco. METHODS: The sample is composed of 83 users (42 males and 41 females) participating in the groups; 41 users (23 males and 18 females) not participating in the groups; 54 family members participating in the groups; 41 family members not participating in the groups. RESULTS: The results show an improvement of satisfaction with activities compared to the hospitalisation into the ward (p<.01), an improvement in the perception of the ward climate (p<.01) of the users participating in the groups, regardless of the orientation of reference, but it shows a greater effectiveness of groups with cognitive-behavioral group orientation (p<.001). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate a greater effectiveness of the groups with cognitive-behavioural orientation, but confirm that psychotherapeutic groups in psychiatric contexts, even in emergency, not only seems to be well accepted and perceived positively by users and family members, but it also contributes to increasing satisfaction with the ward.