Biomedical subjects

P Doucet

Publications and source records attributed to P Doucet.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Cognitive behaviour therapy and medication in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

OBJECTIVE: To compare cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) with CBT plus medication; medication alone; and placebo in the treatment of adult obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). METHOD: Forty-eight participants (43 completers) were recruited into two protocols. In the first protocol, 21 people with OCD were randomly allocated to either a standard medication (fluvoxamine) or standard placebo condition for a 5-month period. Both these groups subsequently received CBT for a further 5 months. In the second protocol, 22 people with OCD received CBT, one group was already stabilized on an antidepressant of choice; the second group was drug naïve. RESULTS: All active treatments, but not the placebo, showed clinical improvement. There was no difference in treatment response to CBT regardless of whether participants had previously received medication or placebo. CONCLUSION: CBT has a more specific antiobsessional effect than medication but CBT plus medication shows greatest overall clinical improvement in mood.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Relationship between circadian period and size of phase shifts in Syrian hamsters.

In response to a light pulse, hamsters normally generate phase advances that are positively correlated with the length of their circadian period (tau). To determine whether this is a general property of the phase-shifting oscillator, the present study looked for a correlation between tau and phase-advance size not only for photic but also for nonphotic shifts. Syrian hamsters, Mesocricetus auratus, were entrained to light-dark cycles with a periodicity of either 23.67 h (the short-T group) or 24.33 h (the long-T group); after release into constant darkness, the short-T and long-T groups exhibited short and long taus, respectively. These animals were then induced to run in a novel exercise wheel for 3 h, starting at circadian time (CT) 7, or were exposed to 20 min of light, starting at CT 19. The size of the ensuing phase advances did not differ between the short-T and long-T groups not only for the nonphotic stimulus but also for the photic one, an unexpected result for the photic stimulus. Within the short-T groups for photic and nonphotic stimuli, the shorter tau was, the larger the phase advances were, another unexpected relationship. Another experiment where phase delays were induced by light pulses at CT 15 also failed to yield significant differences between the short-T and long-T groups. Independently of their after-effects on tau, T cycles may influence the capacity of the pacemaker to phase shift in ways that are still unclear but at least similar for both photic and nonphotic shifts.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

The analyst's transference imagery.

The countertransference is a concept whose meaning has changed considerably. Freud and his followers regarded it as a negative reaction in the treatment which the analyst had to master. Since 1950 and Paula Heimann's pioneering paper, the countertransference has been understood and used more positively and has come to be seen as an essential tool for achieving completeness in the work of analysis. In line with this approach, this paper describes a countertransference reaction which has proved to be useful. It concerns the appearance of images of houses in the analyst. These houses correspond to important experiences revived by the analysand's material. The emotional content of these images links up with an identical content in the patient. An interpretation based on this experience has an enhanced therapeutic strength and effect. The paper concludes with a case study and a theoretical discussion of the phenomenon.

Countertransference↗

PubMed1988

Pruritus ani.

Although the importance of the anal zone is well known in psychoanalysis, pruritus ani has not been studied recently in the psychoanalytic literature. This paper is presented to show how bisexuality in a male patient has been analysed through pruritus ani as the main presenting symptom. After giving the case history of Fernand, pruritus ani is analysed from three main points of view: phallic, anal and oral. This is done to illustrate the connexions of the psychopathological material at the three stages and their expression through one symptom of the 'instincts and their vicissitudes'. Finally, the importance of the anal stage and its symptomatology as an attempt to diminish the affective charge brought up in the individual by the oral and phallic conflicts is discussed briefly.

Adult↗

PubMed1986