Sarcoidosis: psychotherapy and long-term outcome-a case report.

Sarcoidosis is a systemic, inflammatory disease of unknown aetiology, influenced by stressful life events and associated with a high incidence of alexithymic personality traits, and of depressive symptoms. The medical literature on sarcoidosis has called for a psychotherapeutic intervention to modify the perceived state of disease, the influence of stressful events and the depressive condition. Few studies have described cases treated with psychotherapy, and no information is available on its long-term outcome.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease: alexithymia and attachment style.

Alexithymia and its relation with attachment style were evaluated in a group of 69 patients (men, M age = 46.4 yr., SD = 12.

Use of the Drawn Stories Technique to evaluate psychological distress in children.

This study evaluated the validity of analyzing children's drawings using the Drawn Stories Technique for psychodiagnostic assessment and clinical investigation of children. The research was conducted on a sample of 211 subjects (102 girls, 109 boys), 99 in primary school and 112 in secondary school. Three measures of psychological distress were given: the Drawn Stories Technique (considering two types of outcome of the stories as an index of psychological distress: story with a negative outcome and story with a positive outcome), and two self-report scales, the Anxiety Scale Questionnaire for Children and the Children's Depression Inventory.