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R Grinberg

Publications and source records attributed to R Grinberg.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

A psychoanalytic study of migration: its normal and pathological aspects.

Without maintaining that it always follows the same steps, we could say that the migratory process passes through several phases. The feelings that prevail are those of intense sorrow for all that has been abandoned or lost, fear of the unknown, and the very profound experiences of loneliness, privation, and helplessness. Paranoid, confusional, and depressive anxieties occupy the scene in turn. This stage may be followed or replaced by a manic state in which the immigrant minimizes the transcendental significance of the change in his life or, on the contrary, magnifies the advantages of the change and overvalues everything in the new situation, disdaining what has been lost. After a variable period of time, nostalgia appears, and sorrow for the lost world. The immigrant begins to recognize feelings previously dissociated or denied and becomes capable of "suffering" his pain ("growing pains") while, at the same time, he becomes more accessible to the slow and progressive incorporation of elements of the new culture. The interaction between his internal and external world becomes more fluid. Recovery of the pleasure of thinking and desiring and of the capacity for making plans for the future, in which the past is regarded as such and not as a "lost paradise" where one constantly longs to return. In this period, it could be considered that mourning for the country of origin has been worked through to the maximum extent possible, facilitating integration of the previous culture into the new culture, without the need to renounce the old. All of this promotes an enrichment of the ego and the consolidation of a more evolved sense of identity.

Acculturation

Postoperative malignant hyperthermia episodes in patients who received "safe" anaesthetics.

Three cases of postoperative malignant hyperthermia (MH) episodes, after what was considered to be a "safe" anaesthetic, are described. In each case the temperature rose in a delayed fashion after an uneventful anaesthetic. Treatment included intravenous dantrolene, surface cooling and ventilation with 100 per cent oxygen. Stress in the postoperative period may have been the triggering factor responsible for these reactions. Patients should be monitored well into the postoperative period as MH episodes may occur long after surgery is completed. If stress represents a significant triggering mechanism then no anaesthetic technique can be considered entirely safe.

Adolescent

Life events, psychiatric screening, and psychosomatic illness.

The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Schedule of Recent Events (SRE) were administered to a consecutive series of referrals to a general hospital psychiatric consultation service. Control groups of psychiatric and medical inpatients matched for age and sex were also evaluated. Significantly greater life change was found in the consultation group as compared to the medical controls, providing further support for the cluster theory of illness. The General Health Questionnaire was found to be an effective screening instrument for nonpsychotic emotional illness in a general hospital inpatient setting. A significant positive correlation between the GHQ scores and the SRE scores suggests a relationship which merits further study in the epidemiology of psychosomatic illness. The implications of the significant correlation of physical and emotional illness to clinical medical practice is briefly discussed.

Affective Symptoms

Inhibition of granulocyte erythrophagocytosis by HLA antisera.

The ability of HLA antisera to inhibit granulocyte erythrophagocytosis (EP) of opsonized red blood cells (RBC) was evaluated. Human granulocytes (PMN) were separated from heparinized whole blood by the Ficoll-Isopaque technique and suspended in McCoy's medium. EP occurred when the PMN were incubated with opsonized RBC. For six HLA antibody specificities evaluated, prior incubation of PMN with HLA antisera resulted in significant inhibition of EP without cytolysis when the PMN donor was positive for the specific HLA antigen, but not when the donor was negative for the antigen. The inhibition was time- and dose-dependent. Prior absorption of HLA antisera with HLA-specific platelets reduced or abolished the inhibition. An example of anti-NB1 also inhibited EP in 4 individuals. These data suggest that HLA antibody may adversely affect granulocyte phagocytic function. Inhibition of EP might be useful in evaluating compatibility prior to granulocyte transfusion.

Blood Platelets