Biomedical subjects
S Hucker
Publications and source records attributed to S Hucker.
Schizophrenia and substance abuse.
BACKGROUND: Recent research from North America has demonstrated higher than expected rates of drug and alcohol abuse among the seriously mentally ill. Schizophrenics appear to be particularly susceptible to the negative effects of substance abuse. These include psychiatric and social complications, with antisocial behaviour, particularly violence emerging as one of the most worrying features. This review examines the strength of the association and explores the possible explanations for the apparent link between schizophrenia, substance abuse and violence. METHOD: The literature was searched using Medline, supplemented with a manual literature search. RESULTS: Very few articles specifically approached the problem of violence among substance abusing schizophrenics, but over 80 papers were identified which were helpful in exploring the link between dangerous behaviour and substance abuse by schizophrenics. CONCLUSIONS: While there is circumstantial evidence to support the hypothesis that schizophrenics who abuse drugs or alcohol are at an increased risk of behaving violently, longitudinal studies are required to facilitate a better understanding of the mediating mechanisms.
Serum pituitary and steroid hormone levels in the adult male: one value is as good as the mean of three.
The result of the hormone concentration of one blood sample was used to determine the accuracy of predicting not only the hormone concentrations of a second and third sample drawn 15 minutes apart, but also the mean value of the three samples. Three blood specimens from 73 men involved in two previously reported studies (A and B) were assayed individually for luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, prolactin, testosterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, estradiol, and cortisol. The predictive correlation of one single hormone value, when compared with the mean of three values, was 0.90 or greater, except for prolactin in study A (0.86) and testosterone in study B (0.86). Since the hormone level obtained for one sample has such a high predictive value for the hormone levels of the other two samples, drawing more than one sample is redundant.
Sexual sadism: brain, blood, and behavior.
The behavior of sadists is bizarre and poorly understood. There are gross endocrine and brain abnormalities in a small number of these men. Approximately two-fifths show subtle temporal lobe brain abnormalities that are logically linked to sexual behavior and require further exploration. It would be interesting to explore the interface of the endocrine system and the brain--that is, to determine if there are interactive processes that may be related to the development of sexual anomalies, perhaps early in life as suggested by Kolarsky et al. Certainly, biological factors cannot determine whether an individual will act on his sexual impulses. Many psychological factors, such as family background and substance abuse, play a significant role in the dangerousness of the individual. However, it appears that biological factors are noteworthy in sexual sadism. Brain pathology, especially, shows some correlation with force used in offences and likelihood of recidivism, and for this reason alone it merits further study.
The courtship disorders: a further investigation.
The senior author had put forward the hypothesis that voyeurism , exhibitionism, obscene telephone calling, toucheurism - frotteurism , and at least some cases of the preferential rape pattern all distort normal courtship behavior in basically the same manner. An earlier study (Freund et al., 1983) tested part of this hypothesis, namely that voyeurism , exhibitionism, and frotteurism - toucheurism , are closely related. However, the outcome of one of the experiments by which this test was performed could be interpreted as indicating that the relationship between these anomalous erotic inclinations consists simply in that they may be expressions of a disinclination toward intercourse. The present study was conducted to test this interpretation. It compared 16 exhibitionists with 16 sexually normal controls on penile responses to auditorily presented descriptions of the four phases of normal sexual interaction (location of a suitable partner; pretactile erotic interaction; tactile interaction short of intercourse; the situation of intercourse) and sexually neutral situations. These descriptions were narratives about the examined subject's involvement in such interaction. No differences in responding between exhibitionists and normal controls were observed. Both groups responded most to descriptions of intercourse. The second largest response was to tactile interaction (short of intercourse). The third was to situations of partner location and pretactile interaction, which were not differentiated from each other. Responses to sexually neutral situations were smaller than those to descriptions of any category of sexual interaction. This result refutes the hypothesis that exhibitionism develops on the basis of a disinclination toward intercourse. The close relationship between exhibitionism, and voyeurism and toucheurism (or frotteurism ), had been demonstrated earlier.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The courtship disorders.
This study tested parts of the hypothesis that voyeurism, exhibitionism, toucheurism and frotteurism, obscene telephone calling, and at least some cases of the preferential rape pattern are all based on the same disturbance. In Part One, a frequency count of patients referred for one of these activities who subsequently reported having engaged in others of this same class was in accord with the clinical impression that there is a high degree of concomitance among at least some of these activities. In Parts Two and Three, relative preference for anomalous vs. normal erotic interactions was assessed by monitoring penile volume changes during verbally presented descriptions of corresponding situations. Part Two demonstrated that patients who suffered from one of the disorders in question other than voyeurism and who denied voyeuristic activity or tendencies, nonetheless responded more to narratives describing voyeuristic situations than did controls. Part Three showed that exhibitionists who denied toucheuristic activity or tendencies responded more to toucheuristic stimuli than did controls.
Dual diagnosis patients: substance abuse by the severely mentally ill.
Drug and alcohol abuse is a common problem among patients who are severely mentally ill. It is associated with frequent and serious complications and yet is often overlooked by clinicians. In this article the literature on dual diagnosis patients is reviewed, the complications of and reasons for substance abuse are examined, and recommendations for management are made.