[The concept of personal identity]. / El concepto de identidad personal.

This work reviews the different meanings of "personal identity" from a philosophical point of view. Start point is its etymology and then what has been said about it since the Antique Greek to our days is summarized.

[Diabetes, alexithymia and depression]. / Diabetes, alexitimia y depresión.

Diabetes Mellitus and Depression are two increasing pathologies. Several articles indicate that Depression in Diabetes is twice as important as in the general population. Yet, Depression in diabetic patients is underdiagnosed. On the other hand, Alexithymia might be a factor associated to Depression. We therefore carried out a research in order to evaluate the relationship between Depression and Alexithymia in diabetic patients at the Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires. We performed psychiatric interviews, which led to diagnoses based on DSM-IV, and applied the following scales: HAM-D, TAS-26, DBI and M.I.N.I. We evaluated 59 patients who had been diagnosed Type II Diabetes. Crossing variables, we observed a negative correlation between the results of Beck's Depression Inventory and those of Hamilton's Depression Scale. On the contrary, these last results showed a positive correlation with results obtained through TAS-26, which reveals a significant relationship between Depression and the presence of Alexithymia. According to the link between Depression, Diabetes Mellitus II and Alexithymia and considering that Alexithymia has consequences on the illness evolution and the treatment of both pathologies, it seems important to determine when and how to include its evaluation.

[Suicide attempt in the adolescence: a clinical report]. / Tentativa de suicidio en la adolescencia: relato de una experiencia clínica.

The aim of this paper is to communicate the job in a psychiatric inpatient unit based on the narration and analysis of an adolescent's suicide attempt. We insist on a personalized approach from an individual, familiar, and group point of view and the arrangement of treatment following discharge; all these from a therapeutic community's psychodynamic perspective. The work in the acute hospitalization is focused on the patient's recovery and returning to the community.

[Adolescents' suicide attempt with their parent's psychotropic medication: descriptive study]. / Tentativas de suicidio en la adolescencia con psicofármacos de los padres: estudio descriptivo.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency in adolescents under 21 years old hospitalized in the Psychiatric Unit of Hospital Italiano of Buenos Aires because of suicide attempt with pills taken by their parents. POPULATION AND SAMPLE: This study was carried out in a population of patients under 21 years old hospitalized in the Psychiatric Unit of Hospital Italiano of Buenos Aires between September 2004 and February 2006. MATERIAL AND METHOD: This is a quantitative, prospective, observational and transversal study. The variables considered were age, gender, cause of admission, suicide method. When the attempt was done with pills we considered what kind of pills and whom they belong to; we also asked about familiar psychiatric history and familiar history of suicide attempt and suicide. RESULTS: We analyzed data from 85 patients. 67% (n=57) were female and 33% (n=28) male. Age range was between 13 and 21 years with a media of 18,05 +/- 2 years. The principal cause of admission was suicide attempt (40,5 +/- 3,68%) (n=45). The suicide attempt method most frequently used was the ingestion of pills (77,8 +/- 9,6%) (n=35). DISCUSSION: The majority of adolescents who took pills did it with medication belonging to their parents ( 82,8 +/- 16,32%) (n=29). Within this medication 93% (n=27) were psychotropics. The availability of suicide methods is related directly to suicide. Without this methods near many autoagressive impulses may be restrained. The importance of this availability of this methods is often underestimated instead of being modified by prevention.

[Psychogeriatric unit within a General Hospital. Descriptive analysis of outpatient assessment, diagnosis and treatment]. / Unidad de Psicogeriatría de un Hospital General. Análisis descriptivo de la evaluación, diagnóstico y tratamiento de las consultas ambulatorias.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency of some epidemiological variables in 200 patients over 65 years old that came to admission as outpatients in the psychogeriatric area in the psychiatric unit at the Hospital Italiano in Buenos Aires, Argentina. METHOD: A specific questionnaire was completed by both patient (or relative) and the physician. RESULTS: 83% were female and 17% male. The most important diagnosis were depressive disorder (34%), adaptive upheavals (28%) and dementia (16%), within this group, major depressive disorder and Alzheimer dementia. Only a 31% patients went under a neuropsychological assessment psychotherapy was indicated to 18% of the patients, pharmacology for 39%, memory improvement group for 18% and combined treatment for 25%. CONCLUSION: This paper brings data regarding outpatients over 65 years old with psychogeriatric treatment. This may improve the health system in psychogeriatric area taking into account socio-cultural and economic factors.

[Therapeutic community model in short psychiatric hospitalization. Descriptive study on the dynamic psychiatric inpatient unit of the Italian hospital of Buenos Aires]. / Modelo de comunidad terapética en internaciones psiquiátricas breves. Estudio descriptivo de la Unidad Psiquiátrica Dinámica de Internación del Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires.

OBJECTIVE: the aim of this paper is to communicate a project of short term psychiatric hospitalization, based on a therapeutic community model, considering qualitative and quantitative aspects in the present socio - cultural context. INTRODUCTION: this psychiatric hospitalization model that embraces psychodynamic and pharmacological interventions is focused in the intensity of interactions between members of the therapeutic community and integrated to the administrative structure of a general hospital; this will be the key to consider patient's return to the community and to move forward over the prejudices that inpatients suffer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: quantitative, prospective, observational and transversal study on a Dynamic Psychiatric Inpatient Unit. 605 patients were included. RESULTS: mean length of stay was 16.34 days; principal causes of admission were depression (19.4%), suicide ideas (17.7%), suicide attempt (17.6%), substance abuse or dependence (14.3%), psychosis (13.8%), behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (6%). There were 75 readmissions. 14.88% patients were physically restrained. Principal Axis I diagnosis were depression (32.1%), substance dependence (13.2%), bipolar disorder (10.2%), dementia (7.6%), schizophrenia (7.5%), and psychotic disorder (5.8). Axis II diagnosis were borderline personality disorder (27.3%), narcissistic personality disorder (8.9%), histrionic personality disorder (5.3%). DISCUSSION: this kind of approach shows a structural model that allows possible and persistent favorable changes for psychiatric inpatients.

[Post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder: treatment intervention]. / Trastorno por estrés post-traumático y trastorno por uso de sustancias: abordaje terapéutico.

There is an increasing interest to find efficacious treatments for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbid substance use disorder (SUD). Therefore, in this paper the studies published on the psychological and pharmacological treatment for the management of comorbid PTSD and SUD will be discussed, as these are highly prevalent and shown in part I. The few studies published to date suggest that patients benefit most form an integrated treatment approach for the comorbid disorders. Psychological treatments based on cognitive behavioural strategies appear to be useful for patients with PTSD and comorbid SUD disorder. Medications such as SSRIs and particularly sertraline that efficacious for PTSD, seem to be as well for this dual disorder. In addition, pharmacological options, among them quetiapine or bupropion have shown promising results in preliminary studies.

El concepto de identidad personal / [The concept of personal identity].

This work reviews the different meanings of "personal identity" from a philosophical point of view. Start point is its etymology and then what has been said about it since the Antique Greek to our days is summarized.

Aspectos epidemiológicos de la población ambulatoria en el servicio de psiquiatría de un hospital general: [revisión] / Epidemiological aspects of ambulatory patient population consulting a general hospital's psychiatry service: [review]

En las últimas décadas, la aparición de las sucesivas versiones del DSM-IV y la CIE 10 han contribuído a una mayor coherencia diagnóstica en el ámbito de la psiquiatría, favoreciendo así la búsqueda de datos epidemiológicos alrededor de los trastornos mentales que afectan a nuestras poblaciones. En tanto numerosos trabajos se abocan a trastornos específicos, escasos trabajos reflejan la consulta ambulatoria que abarque todas las patologías de la salud mental. El objetivo de este estudio de carácter descriptivo y exploratorio es obtener datos epidemiológicos de la población consultante, los diagnósticos prevalentes y los factores estresantes asociados para orientar los posibles abordajes terapéuticos. La metodología utilizada fue el relevamiento de 1.928 historias clínicas de los pacientes evaluados por los médicos admisores, psiquiatras de larga trayectoria clínica y que comparten un marco teórico común.