SEARCH · PubMed Health
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Confirmation of Proctor's 1958 estimate of high incidence of hysterical phenomena among a rural child psychiatric population is provided by recent observations on a small, random sample of children referred for psychological assessment in Australia. Demographic and other similarities between the two groups are discussed, and tentative directions for treatment are noted.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Ninety three female neurological in-patients were assessed in a collaborative neurological and psychiatric study. An overall prevalence of definite psychiatric disorder of 34% was found, depression being the most common diagnosis. Psychiatric morbidity was most common when the neurologist felt that the presentation could not be explained by a neurological disorder. The majority of such patients had symptoms which could be explained by the psychiatric disorder but a substantial number could not be given a definite diagnosis. The General Health Questionnaire was not found to be a useful screening instrument in this setting.
Bizarre visual symptoms and absurd verbal responses to questions, in a 32-year-old man recovering from a severe asthma episode, suggested a possible conversion disorder with Ganser-like symptoms. Positron Emission Tomography (PET)revealed bilateral lesions involving occipital association cortex and posterior temporal and parietal lobes, most likely infarcts from hypoxia. PET permitted correlation of the patient's specific cortical lesions with his unusual perceptual, cognitive, and speech symptoms, including Ganser-like state, to a degree not previously possible in such cases.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
BACKGROUND: A major pitfall in the diagnosis of conversion disorder is the difficulty in ruling out organic causes. METHODS. A 19-year-old female was referred with seizures and the Dandy-Walker syndrome. We continued the medical workup and also treated the patient with psychotherapy. RESULTS: The patient's symptoms gradually abated, however, the headaches remained. No neurologic illness evolved during the follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of pseudoseizures is suggested according to clinical evaluation and follow-up. A multidisciplinary approach is recommended in such cases for efficient diagnosis and treatment.
The authors review the evidence for the efficacy of the sodium amytal interview with particular reference to psychiatric emergencies and rapid assessment and treatment. Amytal interviews have a valid role in the assessment and initial management of catatonia, hysterical stupor, and unexplained muteness as well as in distinguishing between depressive, schizophrenic, and organic stuporous states. Valid therapeutic indications include the abreaction of traumatic neurosis, recovery of memory in amnesic and fugue states, and recovery of function in conversion disorders. The authors offer a protocol for application of the amytal interview in emergency settings.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
In 1697, seven people were condemned at Paisley for using witchcraft to torment Christian Shaw, daughter of the laird of Bargarran. For seven months, Christian had bizarre seizures during which she claimed to see the Devil and her tormentors assaulting her. She also exhibited pica and said that the foreign material had been forced into her mouth by her invisible assailants. The notable Glasgow physician, Matthew Brisbane, was consulted and gave evidence at the trial; he could find no natural explanation for the pica. It is likely that Christian had a dissociative (conversion) disorder after being cursed by a servant. Christian recovered and later married the minister of Kilmaurs. After his untimely death, she established a highly successful spinning business which lead to the Paisley cotton industry.
There is no agreement on the incidence or prevalence of psychosomatic disorders in the elderly. This is due in large part to the methodological difficulties of the epidemiological studies which have not employed the same diagnostic criteria and classification. Drawing on the literature and on clinical experience, a classification is offered, and using the diagnostic criteria explicit in this classification, probable trends are identified. Pseudodementia may well be the only stress-related disorder that is peculiar to the elderly.
Wheezing and dyspnoea are typical symptoms of asthma but can also be found in diseases of the extrathoracic airways. Functional upper airway obstruction may imitate, as well as complicate asthma. Functional upper airway obstruction was first described as a conversion disorder in young females with inspiratory stridor. Subsequently, it was found that functional upper airway obstruction was more often a secondary phenomenon in chronic asthma also involving the expiratory laryngeal airflow. During a period of 15 months, we diagnosed six cases of functional upper airway obstruction. Five patients were female and one male, and four were also asthmatics. Three cases showed chronic sinusitis with postnasal drip (PND) and/or gastro-oesophageal reflux. Both disorders may irritate the larynx. Treatment of sinusitis and gastro-oesophageal reflux led to a significant improvement of dyspnoea in all three of these patients. In asthma refractory to treatment and in the case of an asthmatic exacerbation without obvious cause, functional upper airway obstruction should be excluded to avoid unnecessary treatment with systemic steroids. Some of the possible causative factors of functional upper airway obstruction, such as postnasal drip and gastro-oesophageal reflux, are easily treatable.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.