Prospects of rehabilitation for elderly schizophrenics.

The psychopathology and disabilities of a group of institutionalised elderly schizophrenics were compared with those of a group of non-schizophrenic elderly, and with younger schizophrenics reported in a parallel study and in the literature. Elderly schizophrenics showed significantly more psychopathology and disability than the non-schizophrenic elderly; however, they exhibited less psychopathology than younger schizophrenics. Disability among elderly schizophrenics was not correlated with chronicity of institutionalisation or psychopathology.

Hostile personality characteristics and prostaglandins in essential hypertension.

The hostile personality characteristic of dominance was shown to be significantly lower in a group of 34 male patients with essential hypertension than in a general illness control group (n = 17) in the USA. This replicates a previous finding from research in Greece into this and other conditions of presumably psychogenic origin. Nonspecific neurotic syndromes (as identified by the Present State Examination, a semistructured interview) were more prevalent in hypertensives than in controls, but no clear neurotic cases were found.

Dysthymic states and depressive syndromes in physical conditions of presumably psychogenic origin.

This paper reports studies of patients with the following disorders: peptic ulcer, hypertension, bronchial asthma, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), ulcerative colitis (UC), urticaria, psoriasis and alopecia. The investigations focused on dysthymic states, measured by Foulds' Scale of Anxiety and Depression (SAD) and--except for the first three disorders--the Present State Examination (PSE). On the SAD, all the above groups scored significantly higher than somatically ill controls in anxiety, and all except ulcer patients scored significantly higher in depression.

Low dominance and high intropunitiveness in ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome.

Two experimental groups of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were compared for hostile personality characteristics and dysthymic states with physically ill patients. Both experimental groups were found to be less dominant, more intropunitive, more anxious and more depressed than the control group. IBS patients, however, were more dominant and less intropunitive than UC patients.

Eating disorders in schizophrenia.

An investigation of eating disorders in a population of chronic schizophrenic patients confirmed that there is a distinction between eating disorders of psychotics and eating disorders of the young. All the DSM-III criteria of eating disorders, except one, were observed among the psychotics although no patient fulfilled the necessary criteria for an eating disorder diagnosis except for one anorexic woman. All varieties of schizophrenic eating disorder were reported: in two-fifths of the patients eating disorders were associated with delusions and in one sixth with hallucinations; more than half of the patients had deviant eating behaviour which was not associated with any thought or perceptual disorders.

Dysthymic distress and hostile personality characteristics in Greek student nurses: a comparative study.

A comparative evaluation of anxiety, depression and personality deviances of student nurses was attempted, using Foulds' 'Scale of anxiety and depression and personality deviance' on Greek student nurses and on controls from other schools. It was found that: Greek student nurses scored higher in depression than student teachers and the Greek women sample, Greek student nurses scored higher in intropunitiveness than the Greek women sample, but there was no difference between student nurses and the control groups in all the personality deviances, and The younger the students, the higher their scores in anxiety and depression. Our findings support the hypothesis that dysthymic distress in Greek student nurses is associated with stresses of their training.

Hostile personality characteristics, dysthymic states and neurotic symptoms in urticaria, psoriasis and alopecia.

Three experimental groups of patients with urticaria, psoriasis and alopecia were compared for hostile personality characteristics, states of anxiety and depression, neurotic syndromes and stress with a control group of patients with other skin diseases. The patients from each experimental group were found to be less dominant, more intropunitive, more extrapunitive and more neurotic than the control group. The following neurotic syndromes differentiated the experimental groups: non-specific anxiety states in urticaria patients; neurotic depression in the patients with alopecia, and a variety of neurotic syndromes in the psoriasis patients.

Personality characteristics and dysthymic states in bronchial asthma.

Patients with bronchial asthma were compared with physically ill patients as to personality traits and dysthymic states. Asthmatics were less dominant and more intropunitive, more anxious and more depressed than the control group. Low dominance or dependent social attitude and inhibited hostility was correlated with low vital capacity (FVC).

The sexual adjustment of chronic schizophrenics: a preliminary study.

A comparison of a group of chronic schizophrenics with controls showed that: the patients had significantly less interest in sex, frequency of intercourse, and satisfaction from sex; the percentage of individuals with sexual dreams and sexual fantasies did not differ between the two groups; the severity of psychopathology influenced frequency of intercourse and satisfaction from sex, and the length of institutionalization influenced interest in sex; the schizophrenics had a variety of sexual disorders, but there was a significant difference between the sexes in disturbances of thought and perception; and, significantly more male schizophrenics, in comparison with females, had sexual dysfunction associated with pharmacotherapy, but feminization in the males was far from predominant. The patients' sexual disorders are not disturbing to the social life of the open mental hospital or the community surrounding it.

Psychological characteristics of hypertensive and ulcer patients.

Hypertensive and duodenal ulcer patients were compared with physically ill patients at admission and discharge on personality traits and states of anxiety and depression. Both the hypertensive and ulcer patients were less dominant and more anxious than the control group at admission, while depression differentiated only the hypertensive group. The hypertensive patients were more depressed and more anxious than the ulcer patients at admission.

Changes in the hostility of schizophrenic patients during treatment.

Hostility towards self and others often precipitates admission to hospital of the schizophrenic patient. A follow-up study of 24 newly admitted schizophrenic patients during eight weeks of treatment indicated high intropunitiveness and extra-punitiveness at admission which decreased concurrently with psychopathology. The larger change was in intro-punitiveness, resulting in an increase in the original predominance of extra-punitiveness.

Prevention of chronic mental disorders in Greece.

A critical review of the post-war development of the prevention of chronic mental disorders in Greece offers useful information for the future. Present-day experience and knowledge--both in Greece and internationally--allow plans to be made on a national scale. A careful study of priorities will enable the appropriate measures to be financed and applied in stages, thus ultimately benefiting the chronic mental patient.

The ancient Greek tragedy as a means of psychotherapy for mental patients.

Some ancient and modern views of the beneficial effects of ancient Greek drama on the psychic processes of human beings are reported. We have used classical drama at the Dromokaition Mental Hospital as a means of psychotherapy for chronic patients since 1959. Beneficial effects noted both during the process of teaching and in performance are here described in brief.

Mobilization of refractory chronic schizophrenics with haloperidol.

Adequate high doses of haloperidol have been administered to 24 chronic, refractory to standard antipsychotic treatment, schizophrenics (16 male, 8 female, mean age 32.9 years) to investigate the possibility of mobilizing and releasing these patients from the hospital. Treatment was started with 20 mg haloperidol and optimal doses were determined for each patient.

The temporal relationship between hostility and depressed mood.

Nineteen depressed in-patients were studied in a follow-up design for 8 weeks or until discharge, using three depression scales and a hostility questionnaire. It was hypothesized within a cognitive theory of depression that, self-rated hostility being a measure of negative thoughts and attitudes, changes in hostility would precede mood changes. Analysis was by contemporaneous and cross-correlations between mood and hostility measures.

The movement of hostility during recovery from depression.

Sixteen depressed in-patients from a hospital in Athens were assessed using the Hamilton Rating Scale and the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire. Comparison of admission, discharge and mid-treatment scores showed that: (1) There was a larger drop in depression score in the first half of treatment. (2) Hostility scores, except for extrapunitiveness, decreased significantly over time, larger changes occurring in the first half of treatment.

Emigration: psychopathologic reaction in the families left behind.

In order to investigate whether emigration acts as a psychic stress on the families left at home, two groups of families were compared: In group A the head of the family had emigrated, in group B the head of the family was a candidate for emigration. Compared to group B, group A showed a significantly higher rate of psychopathology related to the stress of emigration. Wives and children were mainly affected.