American Journal of Psychiatry
- Volume 140
- Number 3
- March 1983
Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages273–283Hypochondriasis can be conceptualized in four ways: 1) as a psychiatric syndrome composed of "functional" somatic symptoms, fear of disease, bodily preoccupation, and the persistent pursuit of medical care, 2) psychodynamically, as a derivative of ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.273Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages284–289When clinicians formulate a case for treatment by dynamic psychotherapy they include an assessment of ego functions, including the capacity for self symbolization. Terminology for this purpose has been diffusely defined. This paper reviews concepts for ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.284Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages290–295The authors describe a clinical entity encountered in the treatment of marital disorders, the marital relationship of the "collapsible" man of prominence. They describe the presenting complaints of 16 prominent men seeking psychiatric treatment. They then ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.290Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages296–300This report identifies and quantifies the multiple manifest and latent functions of the state mental hospital, using data collected by the National Institute of Mental Health. The data reveal a complex institution providing over 500,000 episodes of care ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.296Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages301–304Court decisions setting limits on the use of medication in psychiatric hospitals often assume that psychiatrists use medications inappropriately in response to patients' violent acts. No empirical data have existed to support or refute this assumption. ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.301Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages305–308To test the common assumption that only women should treat rape victims, the authors examined the effect of therapists' gender on their counseling of 41 rape victims. The men and women counselors did not differ significantly in their descriptions of their ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.305Neuroendocrine dysfunction in schizophreniform disorder: correlation with six-month clinical outcome
Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages309–313The thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) stimulation test and the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) were administered to 21 patients with schizophreniform disorder at the time of admission for acute illness: 9 showed dysregulation on one or the other ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.309Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages314–318The authors measured urinary free cortisol and urinary 3-methoxy-4- hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) levels in 24 severely depressed patients and 22 normal control subjects. Urinary free cortisol levels were significantly higher in the depressed patients than ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.314Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages318–322Recent clinical studies have reported rapid improvement following administration of lithium to depressed patients who are unresponsive to tricyclic antidepressants. The clinical value of lithium augmentation would be greatest in subtypes of depression ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.318Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages323–326The author surveyed 101 attorneys and judges involved in civil commitment procedures to answer the question of how they view psychiatrists, mental hospitals, and the mentally ill. She found that these lawyers and judges tended to view psychiatrists in ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.323Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages327–331The Massachusetts Mandatory Mental Health Insurance Act requires all health insurance plans in the state to cover mental illness. Because of their concerns that this law might be taken as a national model, the authors describe the problems encountered in ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.327Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages332–335During the past decade and a half, readmissions increased substantially as a proportion of all admissions to state mental hospitals, and the absolute number of readmissions appeared to rise. These trends were interpreted widely, but incorrectly, as ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.332Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages335–338Knowledge of changes in patients' symptoms during hospitalization is crucial in planning treatment for acute psychotic exacerbation of chronic schizophrenia. Biweekly assessment of symptoms in 44 schizophrenic patients during the first 4 weeks of ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.335Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages338–341The authors studied postdexamethasone cortisol secretion in 18 depression-free, healthy, obese subjects before and after weight loss. Although all subjects suppressed cortisol normally before weight loss, 5 of 18 (27.5%) failed to suppress cortisol after ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.338Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages342–344DSM-III defines and offers diagnostic criteria for organic affective, organic delusional, and organic personality syndromes but provides no organic personality syndromes but provides no organic equivalent for anxiety disorders. Nevertheless, symptoms of ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.342Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages345–347Although it has been commonly taught and has been reported elsewhere that telephone prompting increases the rate at which patients keep their first outpatient clinic appointment, this study indicated that the increased rate at which patients kept their ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.345Publication date: 01 March 1983
Pages353–354Of 75 detoxified alcohol-abusing inpatients given the dexamethasone suppression test (DST), 13 demonstrated nonsuppression and returned to normal suppression after 4 more weeks of abstinence. The authors question interpreting nonsuppression in alcohol ...
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.3.353