Fear of Flying, Stress and Epileptic-Like Symptoms.

Background: Intense fear of flying, called aviophobia, is a highly prevalent psychological phenomenon, afflicting (in some estimates) up to 40% of the population of industrialized countries and although aviophobia is a highly prevalent mental health problem, published studies about its epidemiology and treatment are rare. Methods: In this study, including 61 participants (28 males and 33 females; mean age 26.85) engaged in business related travels in the last two years, we assessed relationships of fear of flying problems with symptoms of stress also reflecting childhood traumatic stress experiences and its influences on brain sensitization and epileptic-like symptoms. In this assessment we also studied fear of flying symptoms and work related psychological problems described as burnout. Results: The results show that the participants who manifest higher levels of stress symptoms have higher levels of aviophobic experiences. Stress symptoms measured by TSC-40 manifested significant correlations with aviophobic experiences measured by Flight Anxiety Modality Questionnaire (FAS) (Spearman R=0.46, p<0.01). Other correlations were found between FAS and Limbic System Checklist (LSCL-33) (Spearman R=0.39, p<0.01) and FAS and Burnout Measure (BM) (Spearman R=0.30, p<0.01). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the experience of fear of flying is related to past and recent stressful events and also to levels of work related problems described and experienced as burnout.

Sexual Dysfunctions in Obese Women Before and After Bariatric Surgery.

BACKGROUND Obesity and associated comorbidities increase the probability of sexual disorders. The present study evaluated sexual satisfaction levels in obese women prior to and following bariatric surgery, utilizing the validated Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) to also evaluate the sexual satisfaction in obese and non-obese women. MATERIAL AND METHODS 60 obese women (mean initial BMI of 43.7±5.9 kg/m²; mean age of 41.7±10.8 years) were administered the questionnaire on sexual function (FSFI) preceding bariatric surgery (laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, 22 women; gastric plication, 33 women; and biliopancreatic diversion, 5 women), 6 months and 12 months after the procedure, i.e., following substantial weight reduction (final mean BMI of 35.5±5.5 kg/m²). The control group comprised 60 non-obese women (mean BMI of 22.2±1.9kg/m²; mean age of 36.4±10.7 years). RESULTS Our findings indicate that baseline sexual function in the preoperative obese females was significantly lower than in non-obese women, with p<0.01 in each domain. Data gathered at the 6- and 12-month points following the procedure indicated no significant difference. Before the procedure, 31 obese subjects (51.6%) exceeded the cutoff for FSD, at the 6-month evaluation point, 17 women (39.5%) exceeded the cutoff, and at 12 months postoperatively, 18 subjects (41.9%) exceeded the cutoff, indicative of FSD. Among the non-obese controls, only 9 subjects (15%) exceeded the cutoff threshold. CONCLUSIONS These findings show that substantive weight reduction resulting from bariatric surgery results in reduced sexual dysfunction in female subjects.