[Development and Evaluation of a Manualized Body-Psychotherapeutic Group Intervention with Functional Relaxation for Patients with Cancer "Calm with Body and Soul"]. / Entwicklung und Evaluation einer manualisierten körperpsychotherapeutischen Gruppenintervention mit Funktioneller Entspannung bei krebskranken Patienten "Gelassen mit Leib und Seele".

OBJECTIVE: A feasibility study to determine whether oncology patients in the acute phase of their disease can participate in and benefit from a functional relaxation (FR) program. METHODS: A group intervention (N=14) over 10 sessions following the FR functional relaxation stress manual; measurement of psychological distress by a pre-post questionnaire survey. RESULTS: The intervention appears well suited to help psychologically distressed patients process their symptoms and cope with stressors. There was some indication that general well-being increased and hyperarousal decreased.Overall well-being increased; hyperarousal decreased. DISCUSSION: The intervention was well accepted, but regular participation was not always possible due to the disease. The body therapy approach and group setting seemed particularly helpful. Due to the heavy physical strain on the patients, the structure of the groups as well as individual exercises were adapted individually. CONCLUSION: The body-based interventions made unconscious elements accessible and thus to work with therapeutically to a limited extent. Further research is needed to show the effectiveness of this functional relaxation group intervention.

Vomiting and feeling fat--coincidence of achalasia and bulimia nervosa.

OBJECTIVE: In clinical practice it is often difficult to distinguish between organic and psychological vomiting. METHOD: We present a case of a 34-year-old woman with an 18-month history of vomiting with the initial diagnosis of bulimia nervosa (BN). However, the patient showed an unusual vomiting behavior. Therefore, further somatic diagnostic procedures were carried out leading to the additional diagnosis of achalasia. After successful interventional and surgical treatment for achalasia, further psychotherapeutic interventions were necessary because of worsening of the BN symptoms. A certain disturbed eating behavior seemed to persist at 3-year follow-up, while the medical condition had improved. CONCLUSION: It needs to be emphasized that careful diagnostic steps are indispensable to distinguish between psychological vomiting and organic vomiting. In case of two separate diseases a suitable treatment regime for each is required.