Psychopathology, perceived social support, and coping in survivors of adult sexual assault: A cross-sectional hospital-based study.

BACKGROUND: Adult sexual assault (ASA) is often associated with negative mental health consequences. The psychological needs of ASA survivors are overlooked while the legal and social needs focused on. METHODOLOGY: It is a cross-sectional study. The ASA survivors who came for medical evaluation were included in the study after obtaining consent. Fifty ASA survivors were interviewed for the study. Psychopathology, perceived social support, and coping mechanisms were assessed during interview using especially designed semi-structured pro forma. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 25.6 ± 7.2 years. Forty-one of 50 survivors suffered from major depressive disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder or both with 33 expressing suicidal ideas. Maximum social support was perceived from family and least from significant others such as health-care workers, police, and judiciary. Problem solving and expressive action are associated with better perceived social support by family as well as friends. CONCLUSION: Depression and suicidal ideas among majority the survivors of ASA highlight the mental devastation the sexual assault causes to a woman. Although family is primary social support to them, health-care workers and law enforcement officials are not perceived as supportive toward the survivors. Routine mental health assistance and empathetic approach by all parties involved in the management of survivors are needed in these cases.

Psychogenic Belching: A Case Report.

Conversion symptoms usually appear with emotional conflicts of the patient. Belching's psychogenic aetiology is not unheard of and can be a manifestation of conversion disorder though rare. Current case is of a middle aged woman presenting with belching unresponsive to medical management. The patient improved after supportive psychotherapy sessions and placebo medication.

Management of depression in primary care.

Countless publications document that most patients of depression are managed by the primary care physicians and only few cases are referred to psychiatrists. In the present article, the authors have discussed the relevant features in diagnosis and management of depression for the primary care physicians.

Menstrual psychosis : a case report.

Menstrual Psychosis is a unique disorder (Altschule et al, 1963). Over the last 150 years, sporadic case reports of this disorder are found in the literature. As yet, the standard psychiatric diagnostic nomenclature i.e. DSM, ICD-10 does not acknowledge its individuality. We report a 16-year-old female patient who was treated for three episodes of psychosis over a period of 5 months.