Peripandemic psychiatric emergencies: impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients according to diagnostic subgroup.

On March 11th, 2020, the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic. Governments took drastic measures in an effort to reduce transmission rates and virus-associated morbidity. This study aims to present the immediate effects of the pandemic on patients presenting in the psychiatric emergency department (PED) of Hannover Medical School. Patients presenting during the same timeframe in 2019 served as a control group. A decrease in PED visits was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic with an increase in repeat visits within 1 month (30.2 vs. 20.4%, pBA = 0.001). Fewer patients with affective disorders utilized the PED (15.2 vs. 22.2%, pBA = 0.010). Suicidal ideation was stated more frequently among patients suffering from substance use disorders (47.4 vs. 26.8%, pBA = 0.004), while patients with schizophrenia more commonly had persecutory delusions (68.7 vs. 43.5%, pBA = 0.023) and visual hallucinations (18.6 vs. 3.3%, pBA = 0.011). Presentation rate of patients with neurotic, stress-related, and somatoform disorders increased. These patients were more likely to be male (48.6 vs. 28.9%, pBA = 0.060) and without previous psychiatric treatment (55.7 vs. 36.8%, pBA = 0.089). Patients with personality/behavioral disorders were more often inhabitants of psychiatric residencies (43.5 vs. 10.8%, pBA = 0.008). 20.1% of patients stated an association between psychological well-being and COVID-19. Most often patients suffered from the consequences pertaining to social measures or changes within the medical care system. By understanding how patients react to such a crisis situation, we can consider how to improve care for patients in the future and which measures need to be taken to protect these particularly vulnerable patients.

Contribution of autobiographic memory impairment to subjective memory complaints in focal epilepsy.

"My memory is terrible!" is a common refrain among people with epilepsy, but such complaints are not reliably linked to poor performances on standard tests of memory. Negative affect like depression and anxiety are the most robust predictor of these complaints; however, neither do they entirely account for the phenomenon. The contribution of autobiographic memory impairment to subjective memory complaints in focal epilepsy has not been well-explored despite autobiographic memory impairments being common in patients with epilepsy, and the face validity of relating day-to-day memory failings to such a personally relevant form of memory. The current study sought to clarify whether autobiographic memory dysfunction contributes to subjective complaints in epilepsy, above and beyond negative affect, objective memory impairment, and epileptological factors in a large sample of patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy relative to healthy controls (N = 135). Patients were stratified into groups with mesial temporal (MT; n = 40) versus nonmesial temporal (NMT; n = 46) foci. Compared to controls (n = 46), both patient groups reported more bitter subjective memory complaints (p < 0.001, large effect size), demonstrated poorer episodic (p = 0.001, large effect size) and semantic autobiographical recall (p = 0.004, medium effect size), and had higher levels of depressive symptomatology (p = 0.011, medium effect size), and trait neuroticism (p = 0.015, medium effect size). Contrary to expectations, multiple regression analyses revealed that autobiographic memory function was not an independent predictor of subjective memory complaints in either group with epilepsy. In people with epilepsy with MT foci, objective verbal memory dysfunction, neuroticism, and female gender predicted memory complaints (R2 = 0.70, p = 0.015), whereas only neuroticism predicted memory complaints in people with epilepsy with NMT foci (R2 = 0.21, p = 0.001). Although patients' poor recall of their autobiographical memories did not contribute to their concerns about their day-to-day memory function, the findings indicate that the location of the epileptogenic focus can provide clues as to the underlying contributors to subjective memory complaints in focal epilepsy. Important clinical implications to stem from these findings include the need for clinicians to adopt a patient-tailored, multifactorial lens when managing memory complaints in people with epilepsy, taking into account both psychological and cognitive factors.

An evaluation of the relationship between violence exposure status and personality characteristics among infertile women.

In this descriptive study, our aim was to examine the relationship between violence exposure status and personality characteristics among infertile women. The researchers collected data from 315 infertile women at an in vitro fertilization unit of the Woman and Child Disease Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. An introductory information form, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised-Abbreviated Form (EPQR-A), and the Infertile Women's Exposure to Violence Determination Scale (IWEVDS) were used as data collection tools. When the relationship between the IWEVDS and EPQR-A subdimension scores of the infertile women were examined, a positive relationship was found between the being-forced-into-traditional-practices subdimension of the IWEVDS and the neuroticism subdimension of the EPQR-A. In addition, a weak negative relationship was found between the being-forced-into-traditional-practices subdimension of the IWEVDS and the lying subdimension of the EPQR-A.

Occupational class and the changing patterns of hospitalization for affective and neurotic disorders: a nationwide register-based study of the Finnish working-age population, 1976-2010.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the long-term changes and socioeconomic disparities in hospitalization for affective and neurotic disorders among the Finnish working-age population from 1976 to 2010. METHODS: Register-based study, consisting of a 5-year follow-up of 3,223,624 Finnish working-age (18-64-year old) individuals in seven consecutive cohorts. We calculated the hazard ratios of psychiatric hospitalization for different occupational classes using Cox regression models. RESULTS: The risk of hospitalization for affective and neurotic disorders increased in all occupational classes after the economic recession in the 1990s, and then decreased in the 2000s. Before the 2000s, the risk was the highest among manual workers. In the 2000s the disparities between upper-level non-manual employees and other occupational classes increased. Hospitalization rates remained high among female manual workers and non-manual lower-level employees. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed important similarities and differences between occupational classes in terms of long-term changes in hospitalization for affective and neurotic disorders. The results suggest that the labor market changes and healthcare reforms during the 1990s and 2000s in Finland have been more beneficial for higher than for lower occupational classes.

Three diagnostic psychiatric subgroups in comparison to self-stigma, quality of life, disorder severity and coping management cross-sectional outpatient study.

BACKGROUND: Much attention has been paid to psychological factors influencing characteristics, severity, and course of mental disorders. The objective of our investigation was to examine the interrelations among quality of life (QoL), self-stigma, and coping strategies, demographics and severity of the disorder in neurotic spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, and depressive spectrum disorders. METHODS: A total of 343 clinically stable Czech outpatients with different mental disorders (153 with neurotic spectrum disorders; 81 with depression, and 109 with schizophrenia spectrum disorders) were included. The patients were examined by their outpatient psychiatrists during regular psychiatric checkup and completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Quality of Life Satisfaction and the Enjoyment Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q), the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (ISMI), the Stress Coping Style Questionnaire (SVF-78), and the Clinical Global Impression scale (CGI). RESULTS: The study demonstrates that the self-stigma and coping strategies are significant factors linked to the QoL in all diagnostic groups of patients. Patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders had lower scores in QoL compared to the other two groups. The patients with depression or neurotic spectrum disorders had a lesser degree of self-stigma than the patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The severity of the illness significantly correlated with the QoL, self-stigma, and coping strategies. CONCLUSIONS: The investigation confirmed the connection between the quality of life, self-stigma, coping strategies, and the severity of the illness, in outpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, depressive, and neurotic spectrum disorders. A further longitudinal study would be useful to determine the causative relationships of these variables.

Neurotic Personality Traits and Risk for Adverse Alcohol Outcomes: Chained Mediation through Emotional Disorder Symptoms and Drinking to Cope.

BACKGROUND: Rates of alcohol abuse are high on Canadian postsecondary campuses. Individual trait differences have been linked to indices of alcohol use/misuse, including neurotic traits like anxiety sensitivity (AS) and hopelessness (HOP). We know little, though, about how these traits confer vulnerability. AS and HOP are related to anxiety and depression, respectively, and to drinking to cope with symptoms of those disorders. Neurotic personality may therefore increase risk of alcohol use/abuse via (1) emotional disorder symptoms and/or (2) coping drinking motives. OBJECTIVES: Allan and colleagues (2014) found chained mediation through AS-generalized anxiety-coping motives-alcohol problems and AS-depression-coping motives-alcohol problems. We sought to expand their research by investigating how emotional disorder symptoms (anxiety, depression) and specific coping motives (drinking to cope with anxiety, depression) may sequentially mediate the AS/HOP-to-hazardous alcohol use/drinking harms relationships among university students. METHODS: This study used cross-sectional data collected in Fall 2014 as part of the Movember-funded Caring Campus Project (N = 1,883). The survey included the SURPS, adapted DMQ-R SF, and AUDIT-3. RESULTS: AS and HOP were both related to hazardous alcohol and drinking harms via emotional disorder symptoms and, in turn, coping drinking motives. All indirect pathways incorporating both mediators were statistically significant, and additional evidence of partial specificity was found. Conclusions/Importance: The study's results have important implications for personality-matched interventions for addictive disorders.

[Does the French Big Five Inventory evaluate facets other than the Big Five factors?] / Le Big Five Inventory français permet-il d'évaluer des facettes en plus des cinq grands facteurs ?

INTRODUCTION: The Big Five Inventory (BFI) developed by John et al. (1991) is one of the most widely accepted tools for assessing dimensions of personality. It comprises 44 items that assess five broad dimensions of personality (the Big Five Factors): Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness to experience. Based on correlations with the facets described in the NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R), another Big Five assessment tool with 240 items and 6 facets per dimension, Soto and John (2009) showed that the dimensions in the BFI could be divided into two facets each (ten facets altogether). These results are in line with those of DeYoung et al. (2007), who ran factorial analyses with all the NEO PI-R facets and the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) and identified ten intermediate factors (between facets and dimensions) which they called "aspects" (two per dimension). The goal of the present study is to investigate the ten facets described by Soto and John in a French sample, using the French version of the BFI (BFI-Fr), which has good psychometric properties, and to check whether the pattern of correlations of these facets with the NEO PI-R match those of the American version. METHOD: We created three groups. The first comprised 360 students from the Institut libre d'éducation physique supérieure (ILEPS) and Tours University (psychology undergraduates). Participants (mean age 21.1 years±2.30; 58% women) completed the BFI-Fr and the NEO PI-R. The second comprised 142 psychology students from Tours University (mean age 20.6 years±1.78; 81% women); they completed the BFI-Fr twice, two weeks apart (test and retest). The third comprised 252 psychology students from Paris-Nanterre University (mean age 23 years±4.2; 89% women) who described a total of 405 people they knew well (mean age 35.2±10.8; 49% women) using the peer-report format of the BFI-Fr. RESULTS: In the self-report format, eight of Soto and John's ten aspects had acceptable internal consistency (based on Guildford's (1954) internal consistency criteria, due to the small number of items), with Cronbach's α between 0.60 and 0.86 and test-retest correlations between 0.71 and 0.89, showing satisfactory temporal stability. We found a single facet for Extraversion (Assertiveness), two for Agreeableness (Altruism and Compliance), two for Conscientiousness (Self-Discipline and Order), one for Neuroticism (Anxiety), and two for Openness to Experience (Openness to aesthetics and Openness to ideas). Based on their convergence with the corresponding facets in the NEO PI-R, these eight facets showed satisfactory external validity. With regard to the peer-report format, the Activity facet of Extraversion, which did not have sufficient internal consistency in the self-report format, had acceptable properties (i.e. 9 out of 10 facets). Only the Depression facet of Neuroticism still had insufficient internal consistency. In this study, we proposed an improvement of two facets (Activity and Compliance) and added one facet specific to the French version (Emotional Instability) in place of the Depression facet. DISCUSSION: We showed that the BFI-Fr can be used to assess nine of the ten facets described by Soto and John. We also identified an Emotional Instability facet, replacing the Depression facet of Neuroticism. DeYoung et al. (2007) considered that anxiety and depression are indissociable and can be represented by a Neuroticism aspect they labeled Withdrawal. They suggested a second aspect of this dimension they called Volatility (with the N2 Angry Hostility facet of the NEO PI-R as main marker and the N5 Impulsiveness and N3 Depression as secondary markers). The Emotional Instability facet we found corresponds closely to the N2 Angry Hostility facet of the NEO PI-R and appears to be a satisfactory marker of DeYoung et al.'s (2007) Volatility aspect. Although this study has limitations, particularly related to the samples (students), the BFI-Fr facets (derived from those defined by Soto and John in the BFI or proposed as improvements on the original facets) match the corresponding NEO PI-R facets and can also be seen as main markers of the aspects defined by DeYoung et al.

Spiritual Transcendence and Psychological Adjustment: The Moderating Role of Personality in Burn Patients.

The current study examined the moderating role of personality traits (neuroticism and extraversion) on the relationship between spiritual transcendence and positive change, and spiritual transcendence and distress in burn patients. The sample (N = 98) comprised adult burn patients (age = 25-50) admitted to three hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan. They were assessed according to a demographic information sheet, the NEO Personality Inventory (McCrae and Costa in J Personal Soc Psychol 52:81-90, 1987), the Spiritual Transcendence Index (Seidlitz et al. in J Sci Study Relig 41:439-453, 2002), the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales-21 (Lovibond and Lovibond in Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress scales, Psychology Foundation, Sydney, 1995), and the Perceived Benefit Scales (McMillen and Fisher in Soc Work Res 22(3):173-186, 1998). Stepwise moderated regression analysis showed that both personality traits (neuroticism and extraversion) played a moderating role in the relationship between spiritual transcendence and positive change, and spiritual transcendence and distress in burn patients. The findings highlight the potential role spiritual transcendence may have in understanding and improving the psychological adjustment of burn patients.

Neuroticism-related personality traits are associated with posttraumatic stress after abortion: findings from a Swedish multi-center cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Most women who choose to terminate a pregnancy cope well following an abortion, although some women experience severe psychological distress. The general interpretation in the field is that the most consistent predictor of mental disorders after induced abortion is the mental health issues that women present with prior to the abortion. We have previously demonstrated that few women develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) after induced abortion. Neuroticism is one predictor of importance for PTSD, and may thus be relevant as a risk factor for the development of PTSD or PTSS after abortion. We therefore compared Neuroticism-related personality trait scores of women who developed PTSD or PTSS after abortion to those of women with no evidence of PTSD or PTSS before or after the abortion. METHODS: A Swedish multi-center cohort study including six Obstetrics and Gynecology Departments, where 1294 abortion-seeking women were included. The Screen Questionnaire-Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (SQ-PTSD) was used to evaluate PTSD and PTSS. Measurements were made at the first visit and at three and six month after the abortion. The Swedish universities Scales of Personality (SSP) was used for assessment of Neuroticism-related personality traits. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the risk factors for development of PTSD or PTSS post abortion. RESULTS: Women who developed PTSD or PTSS after the abortion had higher scores than the comparison group on several of the personality traits associated with Neuroticism, specifically Somatic Trait Anxiety, Psychic Trait Anxiety, Stress Susceptibility and Embitterment. Women who reported high, or very high, scores on Neuroticism had adjusted odds ratios for PTSD/PTSS development of 2.6 (CI 95% 1.2-5.6) and 2.9 (CI 95% 1.3-6.6), respectively. CONCLUSION: High scores on Neuroticism-related personality traits influence the risk of PTSD or PTSS post abortion. This finding supports the argument that the most consistent predictor of mental disorders after abortion is pre-existing mental health status.

[SPOUSE DEADAPTATION IN WOMEN WITH MIGRAINE].

Spouse deadaptation is polietiologic health problem that leads to medical, psychological and social consequences that causing the need to find the key factors of its development. The research of the influence of migraine, occurring in one in five women, on the formation of deadaptation of the married couple was conducted. The author analyzes the decline of daily activity, quality of life and development of the personal characteristics of women depending on the clinical course of the disease. The interrelation was established between different variants of personality disorders in patients with migraine and types of sexual dysfunction. The most common form of sexual dysadaptation in all types of personality disorders revealed communicative. The role of men in causing interpersonal conflict in terms of disharmony of sexual relations between spouses was described. The research reveals the main factors affecting the degree of spouse deadaptation that will form the basis of psychocorrective program.

[Alienation: Differential Psychopathology of Ego-Disturbances]. / Entfremdungserlebnisse ­ Psychopathologische Differenzierung der Ich-Störungen.

Alienation, i. e. disorders of the inner experience of integrity, continuity, and agency, represents a feature of both psychotic and non-psychotic disorders. Thereby, ego disturbances are thought to be specific for schizophrenia. Depersonalisation, in contrast, has been reported in schizophrenia as well as a neurotic, probably distinct syndrome. The differentiation of psychotic vs. non-psychotic alienation is often all but trivial. The present paper provides an overview of the historical roots and the psychopathological conceptualizations of alienation. Clinically relevant features of psychotic alienation are highlighted. Experience of passivity, loss of authenticity and disturbances of striving and volition appear as psychotic characteristics.

THE PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL STATUS IN CELIAC DISEASE.

Based on the results of a comprehensive study of 35 people aged from 19 to 52 years, among them 20 women and 15 men with celiac disease features of their physiological status were studied, reflecting the severity of the disease and quality of life. The diagnosis was based on the clinical and anamnestic data, endoscopy, histomorphological, immunological and genetic exams. Psychophysiological analysis showed that in celiac disease is characterized by the formation reactions with anxiety, anxiety-phobic, neurotic, affective, and hypochondriacal symptoms. The results of the study emphasized the importance of adaptive physiological capacity of the body to build tolerance to the development of psycho-vegetative, hypochondriacaldepressive and other disorders.

A dimensional approach to assessing personality functioning: examining personality trait domains utilizing DSM-IV personality disorder criteria.

BACKGROUND: This study compared a dimensional, trait domain approach to characterizing personality pathology with the traditional polythetic approach with respect to their associations with interpersonal functioning and personality traits from the five factor model. METHODS: Psychiatric inpatients (N=1476) were administered the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II personality disorders. Dimensional representations of trait domains were derived from reorganizing DSM-IV criteria into personality trait domains from DSM-5 Alternative Model. Dimensional scores and personality disorder (PD) total criterion scores served as independent variables in predicting interpersonal profile clusters, as well as extraversion, agreeableness conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness from the five factor model traits. RESULTS: Trait domain scores and PD criteria totals were significantly correlated with submissive interpersonal style yet none proved significant in regression analyses. Avoidant and borderline PD total criteria were negatively associated with a normative interpersonal style. Combined trait domain of detachment and avoidant PD total criteria predicted a hostile/withdrawn interpersonal style. The trait domain of detachment was negatively associated with five factor traits of extroversion, whereas borderline PD total criteria were negatively associated with conscientiousness. Avoidant and borderline PD total criteria were positively associated with neuroticism. CONCLUSIONS: The cross-cutting dimensional approach provided useful information in predicting a hostile/withdrawn interpersonal style as well as extroversion. Importantly, PD criterion scores and dimensional trait scores combined to predict this interpersonal style providing support to the alternative model of personality diagnosis in DSM-5. Clinicians are encouraged to assess dimensions of personality traits as these are related to interpersonal problems frequently encountered in psychiatric settings. While potentially useful, the dimensional approach articulated here did not yield substantial prediction of behavior.

Relationship between subjective halitosis and psychological factors.

OBJECTIVES: Subjective halitosis is a growing concern in the fields of dentistry and psychology. This study was designed to determine the association between subjective halitosis and contributing psychological factors. METHODS: Data for this cross-sectional study were gathered from 4,763 participants who had answered questions on subjective halitosis and psychological factors (depression, anxiety, stress and personality traits) in the study on the epidemiology of psychological, alimentary health and nutrition (SEPAHAN). Binary logistic regression was used for data analysis. RESULT: The mean age of all subjects was 36.58 years; and the majority of subjects were female (55.8%), married (81.2%) and graduates (57.2%). The prevalence of subjective halitosis was 52.8%. The majority of subjects with the complaint of subjective halitosis were married (P<0.001) and young (P=0.07). Participants with subjective halitosis were significantly more anxious [odds ratio (OR)=1.76, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.38-2.24], stressed (OR=1.41, 95% CI: 1.17-1.71) and depressed (OR=1.31, 95% CI: 1.09-1.57). Among personality traits, neuroticism was a risk factor (tertile 1 vs. tertile 2: OR=1.29, 95% CI: 1.09-1.51; and tertile 1 vs. tertile 3: OR=1.74, 95% CI: 1.43-2.13) and conscientiousness was revealed to be a protective factor (tertile 1 vs. tertile 2: OR=0.82, 95% CI: 0.70-0.98; and tertile 1 vs. tertile 3: OR=0.65, 95% CI: 0.53-0.80). CONCLUSION: It seems that psychological factors, such as anxiety, depression and stress, as well as some personality traits, can be considered as risk factors for subjective halitosis. Multidisciplinary efforts by dental and psychological professionals must be considered to address this problem.

The Major Mobilization of the Unconscious and the Total Removal of Resistance in Davanloo's Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy Part II: Treating the Transference Neurosis.

Davanloo's Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy has been the subject of various reviews. The first article in this series focused on a review of Davanloo's early work as well as a discussion of some of his most recent research findings. A case from the Montreal closed circuit training program was reviewed. This second article will focus on Davanloo's views on the transference neurosis and how its development should be avoided at all costs. There will be further exploration of the case presented in Part I from the Montreal closed circuit training program. There will also be a special focus on detecting the transference neurosis when present and the technical interventions needed to lay the foundations for removing it.

[Relationship between defense mechanism and therapeutic alliance]. / Relation entre mécanismes de défense et alliance thérapeutique.

INTRODUCTION: The therapeutic alliance can be defined as a collaborative relationship between the patient and the practitioner. It represents an essential component of the psychotherapeutic process (Ambresin et al., 2007; Cungi, 2006; Martin et al., 2000). Some authors suggest that a good alliance can have a favorable impact on the therapeutic success (Barber et al., 2000; Hubble, Duncan, & Miller 1999; Horvath & Luborsky, 1993; Horvath & Symonds, 1991). This alliance can be influenced by psychological and behavioral factors (Cungi, 2006) Thus, some defense mechanisms could prevent change or, on the contrary could facilitate adaptation (Ambresin et al., 2007) and have an impact on the therapeutic success (Muris & Merckelbach, 1996). However, the relationship between therapeutic alliance and defense mechanisms represents an insufficiently explored field (Ambresin et al., 2007; Cungi, 2006). The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between therapeutic alliance and twenty defense mechanisms in a sample of French psychiatric patients, by differentiating results in men and women. We also examined the positive and the negative therapeutic alliance. METHOD: Sixty patients aged from 18 to 58 (M=41.50; SD=11.03) completed the French versions of the Defense Style Questionnaire-40 (DSQ-40) and the Helping Alliance questionnaire-II (HAq-II). RESULTS: Therapeutic alliance was significantly associated with each defense style: mature (0.62), neurotic (0.45) P<0.01and immature (0.27) p<0.05. The mature defense style was a significant predictor of therapeutic alliance (R(2) adj=36, F=12.39, ß=0.65, P<0.01) and of positive therapeutic alliance (R(2) adj=36, F=12.34, ß=0.62, P<0.001). Among women, positive therapeutic alliance was significantly associated with all mature defenses, three neurotic defenses (reaction formation, pseudo-altruism, idealization) and four immature defenses (splitting, denial, somatization, passive aggression). Among men, three mature defenses were associated (anticipation, humor, sublimation), four neurotic (reaction formation, pseudo-altruism, idealization and undoing) and two immature (somatization and denial). The negative therapeutic alliance, in our total sample, was associated with two immature defenses (denial and dissociation). Among men, displacement was the only defense associated with negative alliance, among women no defenses was significant. DISCUSSION: These results highlight the relationship between therapeutic alliance and some defense mechanisms, like some authors have suggested (Ambresin et al., 2007; Bond & Perry, 2004; Bond, 2004). Moreover, some defenses appeared to be more associated with a positive or a negative therapeutic alliance, and could depend on the patient gender. CONCLUSION: The present study confirms the importance of taking into account the gender in the study of defense mechanisms, and to increase our knowledge about the relationship between therapeutic alliance and defense mechanisms.

Re-conceptualizing Neurosis as a Degree of Egocentricity: Ethical Issues in Psychological Theory.

Psychology's historical rejection of ethics has led to an oversimplification of the origins and treatments of mental disorders. In this article, we present an analysis of how classical neurosis can be reformulated from an ethical and psychological interaction. We focus on the crucial role that egocentricity plays and argue that this term can help to clarify how ego defensive ethical decisions can undermine psychological capacities and contribute to a progressive depersonalization that can result in typical clinical disorders. In Christian anthropology, the virtues, especially humility and love have a crucial role in the positive growth of human affective and cognitive capacities. In addition, the person in his/her nature is endowed with the capacity to transcend the self and to escape egocentricity through self-giving love of God and of others. This capacity of self-giving is diametrically opposed to egocentricity and opens a new way for possible psychological recovery.

[The diagnostic usability of selected narrativity indices in stories about close relationships in the assessment of personality organization]. / Uzytecznosc wybranych wskazników narracyjnosci wypowiedzi na temat relacji interpersonalnych w diagnozie poziomów organizacji osobowosci.

AIM: The aim of this study was to test the usability of selected narrativity indices identified from autobiographical accounts of important relationships in an assessment of neurotic (NPO) and borderline personality organization (BPO). METHODS: Narrativity indices, both particular and generalized, were used to predict personality organization levels. Indices were derived from two separate layers of analysis: 1) lexical indices were counted with computer assistance; 2) evocative/reception indices dealing with coherence of the story were assessed using the competent judges method. RESULTS: It was found that the lexical narrativity index-the active "I"-was a good predictor of both BPO and NPO, while the human factor was a good predictor of BPO when low. Moreover, a generalized index was used to describe how stories are saturated with the narrativity indices of intentionality, concreteness, and active "I", but simultaneously deprived of human factor, and was found to be the best predictor of BPO. Furthermore, where the coherence of the story and of its subdimension (integration) rise, the probability of BPO diagnosis decreases. CONCLUSIONS: This research provides support for the thesis that surface narrativity indices may predict deeper personality structure. Its results are justified in the light of Kernberg's theory, and have the potential to become a useful tool in clinical practice as a supplementary source of information in diagnostic and psychotherapeutic processes.

[Vasomotor Endothelial Function in Healthy Individuals: Contact Types of Character].

We studied the vascular endothelial vasomotor function in healthy young individuals, depending on the type of character accentuation, levels of neuroticism, depression and anxiety. It is shown that the types of character accentuation effect on endothelial vasomotor function in healthy men and women. Personality characteristics of a person can be a significant risk factor for disease, the pathogenesis of which is the starting element of endothelial vasomotor dysfunction.

Tired and apprehensive: anxiety amplifies the impact of sleep loss on aversive brain anticipation.

Anticipation is an adaptive process, aiding preparatory responses to potentially threatening events. However, excessive anticipatory responding and associated hyper-reactivity in the amygdala and insula are integral to anxiety disorders. Despite the co-occurrence of sleep disruption and anxiety disorders, the impact of sleep loss on affective anticipatory brain mechanisms, and the interaction with anxiety, remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that sleep loss amplifies preemptive responding in the amygdala and anterior insula during affective anticipation in humans, especially for cues with high predictive certainty. Furthermore, trait anxiety significantly determined the degree of such neural vulnerability to sleep loss: individuals with highest trait anxiety showed the greatest increase in anticipatory insula activity when sleep deprived. Together, these data support a neuropathological model in which sleep disruption may contribute to the maintenance and/or exacerbation of anxiety through its impact on anticipatory brain function. They further raise the therapeutic possibility that targeted sleep restoration in anxiety may ameliorate excessive anticipatory responding and associated clinical symptomatology.