Câncer materno: a compreensão da criança e suas representações / Maternal cancer: the child's understanding and its representations / Cáncer materno: comprensión del niño y sus representaciones

O câncer é uma doença crônico-degenerativa, que tem como uma de suas principais características a capacidade de invadir tecidos e órgãos do corpo, favorecendo o crescimento desordenado de células. É uma doença que impacta fortemente a pessoa enferma e todos à sua volta, incluindo sua família e seus amigos. A partir desse cenário, este trabalho visou compreender a visão da criança e o impacto emocional sofrido diante do diagnóstico de câncer da mãe. Buscou-se avaliar, a partir de ferramentas lúdicas e do desenho-estória, o entendimento da criança em relação ao processo de adoecimento materno, tomando como base o referencial psicanalítico para reconhecer como ela lidou com a situação. Participaram desta pesquisa uma mulher de 39 anos com diagnóstico de câncer em remissão e seu filho de 9 anos. Os resultados demonstraram que o adoecimento materno causou impactos emocionais significativos e assustadores para o infante, gerando fantasias irreais relacionadas ao câncer e a si próprio. Dessa forma, considera-se de fundamental importância o cuidado estendido aos familiares do indivíduo doente, a fim de que se tenha um olhar a todos que sofrem diante desse contexto.(AU)

Cancer is a chronic-degenerative disease that has as one of its main characteristics the ability to invade tissues and organs of the body, favoring the disordered cell growth. It is a disease that strongly impacts the sick person and everyone around them, including their family and friends. Based on this scenario, this work aimed to understand the child's view and the emotional impact suffered in the face of the mother's cancer diagnosis. It sought to evaluate, with ludic tools and drawing history, the child's understanding about the mother's illness process, based on the psychoanalytic framework to recognize how they deal with the situation. A 39-year-old woman diagnosed with cancer, in remission, and her 9-year-old son participated in this research. The results showed that the maternal illness caused significant and frightening emotional impacts for the infant, creating unrealistic fantasies related to cancer and to himself. Thus, the care extended to the sick individual's family and to the relatives is considered of fundamental importance, to give a complete care for all those who suffer in this context.(AU)

El cáncer es una enfermedad crónico-degenerativa, que tiene como una de sus principales características la capacidad de invadir tejidos y órganos, favoreciendo un crecimiento desordenado de las células. Enfermedades como esta impactan fuertemente a la persona que está enferma y a todos los que la rodean, incluidos familiares y amigos. Considerando esta situación, este estudio tuvo como objetivo comprender la percepción de un niño y el impacto emocional que sufrió ante el diagnóstico del cáncer vivido por su madre. Se pretendió evaluar, utilizando herramientas lúdicas y de dibujo-cuento, la comprensión del niño al proceso de enfermedad materna, buscando reconocer cómo el niño manejó este proceso a partir del referencial teórico psicoanalítico. En esta investigación participaron una mujer de 39 años diagnosticada de cáncer en remisión y su hijo de 9 años. Los resultados mostraron que los impactos emocionales de la enfermedad materna fueron significativos y aterradores para el infante, generando fantasías irreales relacionadas con el cáncer y él mismo. De esta forma, el cuidado extendido a la familia del individuo que está enfrentando esta enfermedad es importante para promover una atención integral a quienes la padecen en este contexto.(AU)

A retinoraphe projection regulates serotonergic activity and looming-evoked defensive behaviour.

Animals promote their survival by avoiding rapidly approaching objects that indicate threats. In mice, looming-evoked defensive responses are triggered by the superior colliculus (SC) which receives direct retinal inputs. However, the specific neural circuits that begin in the retina and mediate this important behaviour remain unclear. Here we identify a subset of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) that controls mouse looming-evoked defensive responses through axonal collaterals to the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) and SC. Looming signals transmitted by DRN-projecting RGCs activate DRN GABAergic neurons that in turn inhibit serotoninergic neurons. Moreover, activation of DRN serotoninergic neurons reduces looming-evoked defensive behaviours. Thus, a dedicated population of RGCs signals rapidly approaching visual threats and their input to the DRN controls a serotonergic self-gating mechanism that regulates innate defensive responses. Our study provides new insights into how the DRN and SC work in concert to extract and translate visual threats into defensive behavioural responses.

An Introduction to Using the Method of Levels (MOL) Therapy to Work with People Experiencing Psychosis.

This paper provides a basic introduction to using method of levels (MOL) therapy with people experiencing psychosis. As MOL is a direct application of perceptual control theory (PCT), a brief overview of the three main theoretical principles of this theory--control, conflict, and reorganization will be outlined in relation to understanding psychosis. In particular, how these principles form the basis of problem conceptualisation and determine what an MOL therapist is required to do during therapy will be illustrated. A practical description of MOL will be given, using case examples and short excerpts of therapeutic interactions. Some direct contrasts will also be made with cognitive behaviour therapy for psychosis (CBTp) and psychodynamic approaches (PA) in order to help illustrate the theory and practice of MOL.

Imaginal experiences and perceptual defence.

Three studies are reported concerning the interaction between internal imagery and perceptual defence. This interaction may be a source of the magical ideation and perceptual anomalies which are thought to be a feature of schizotypal personality. The studies were designed to test the hypothesis that scores on the Magical Ideation Scale (MIS) can be predicted effectively from scores on the Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS) if defensiveness in handling imagery is included. The latter was measured instrumentally by a tachistoscope test known as the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT). Two studies (both N = 35) found MIS and TAS to be highly intercorrelated. The first study, using volunteers from the general student population, failed to find a global measure of defensiveness measured by the DMT to be a significant modulator of MIS scores. The second study using subjects with a greater frequency and variance in the reporting of anomalous experiences, did however confirm the hypothesis. In particular, projection scores together with TAS scores, were found to be a significant predictor of MIS scores (r = 0.79, p < .0001). A third study (N = 34), which compared the DMT profile of high scorers on the MIS with that of a comparison group, found the predicted differences on their DMT global scores and projection scores to be significant. The implications of these findings for understanding anomalous experiences are discussed.