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Biomedical subjects

L N Gruber

Publications and source records attributed to L N Gruber.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1978

Ex-patient visitors to the hospital psychiatric unit.

An informal study of visits to an inpatient psychiatric unit by former patients indicated that such visiting was a common occurrence, more prevalent than staff realized. Most ex-patient visitors were chronically impaired individuals who were making a marginal community adjustment and did not use aftercare services. Of 29 expatient visitors, some of whom made multiple and even daily visits, more than half appeared to use the visits as an indirect, symbolic way of asking for help. For some the brief contacts with treatment personnel seemed to have therapeutic value. The authors suggest that, although such visits may be troublesome to staff, expatient visitors should be welcomed and offered informal brief supportive contacts when feasible.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Negative treatment responses in psychiatry.

Powerful disagreements about the helping relationship are often expressed by clinical worsening of the patient and by defensive reactions of the doctor. Typical presenting patterns are the patient who wants "more" from his doctor, or who feels the doctor expects "too much" of him. Resolution of these relationship issues depends on empathic understanding and clarification of the patient's feelings plus small, symbolic, nonverbal gratifications of the patient's felt needs. After resolution of the relationship impasse, specific therapies are more likely to be effective.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1977

An organizational-distress syndrome: diagnosis and treatment.

Organizational disturbances often begin with seemingly plausible complaints, which the author calls mass symptoms, that are presented repeatedly from many sources and that cannot be clarified or resolved. They are essentially pseudo-problems by which responsibility for organizational failing is transferred elsewhere. Treatment consists primarily of restoring functional job-related communication, often by means of small, explicit changes in communication pathways rather than by attitudinal changes in communication or by "open" or emotionally candid communication. The author describes the occurrence and treatment of mass symptoms in a military hospital unit, a mental health center, and a university teaching unit.

Communication↗
PubMed1977

Simple techniques to relieve anxiety.

Many patients can obtain rapid, short-term relief of anxiety through the use of simple, meditative techniques. Anxiety, tension, mild depressive feelings, and psychophysiologic symptoms frequently respond to such techniques. Five techniques are described, including physical self-support, attending to unpleasant feelings, listening to thoughts, listening to sounds, and paying attention to one's breathing. The techniques are easy to learn, innocuous, and well accepted by most patients. Patients who experience relief with simple psychological techniques are often more hopeful and more accessible to treatment.

Adult↗