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Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) often is unrecognized (i.e., a patient fails to notice or report the event to the physician, or the physician fails to diagnose it). Psychosocial differences between patients with recognized and unrecognized AMI have not been examined. We compared 40 patients who sought treatment for a documented AMI with 30 patients who were found on routine electrocardiogram to have had an AMI for which they did not seek medical care. Patients with unrecognized AMI showed greater "alexithymia," or deficient psychologic awareness (p = 0.04; Alexithymia Provoked Response Interview), and a greater belief that chance factors determine their health (p = 0.004; Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale). Patients with unrecognized AMI were less likely to have angina, yet did not differ from those with recognized AMI with regard to demographics, smoking, systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, AMI location, depression, or hypochondriasis. We hypothesize that deficient psychologic awareness may impede AMI symptom perception or recognition, and that the belief in chance or fate as determining health may inhibit treatment-seeking.
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PMID:Psychosocial factors related to unrecognized acute myocardial infarction. 777 41

To examine the relationship between mood, somatization, and alexithymia in premenstrual syndrome (PMS), 66 women with a prospectively confirmed diagnosis of PMS were compared with a group of 49 non-PMS control women on a battery of self-administered tests measuring depression, anxiety, somatization, and alexithymia. Based on their scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, the PMS patients were subdivided into a high-depression and low-depression group and compared with the non-PMS control group on all test measures. Significantly greater somatization and alexithymia were reported in the high-depression PMS group, and no differences were found on any of the test measures between the low-depression PMS and non-PMS control groups.
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PMID:The relationship between mood, somatization, and alexithymia in premenstrual syndrome. 787 Nov 31

Research regarding psychological factors in head pain have generally focused upon personality traits and psychopathology. The role of illness beliefs offers another method of elucidating perceptions, attitudes and convictions towards a somatic complaint. One hundred patients, evaluated for head pain at a neurology clinic, were administered the illness Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) to delineate illness beliefs; the illness Effects Questionnaire (IEQ) to quantify the disruptive aspects of head pain; and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) to assess the subjects propensity to somatize as well as the ability to identify and report emotions. The data found no difference between subjects diagnosed with migraine syndrome and those with tension head pain in the IBQ dimensions, the TAS or in reported levels of anxiety or depression. However, chronicity of symptoms was associated with increased irritability. The clinical implications of the findings suggest that patients with head pain are psychologically distressed but often possess alexithymic characteristics that make insightful associations difficult.
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PMID:Illness beliefs and alexithymia in headache patients. 792 16

Our study sought to demonstrate the importance of attending to methodological issues in the study of personality characteristics of offspring of substance abusers (OSAs). A 4 x 2 factorial design, Parental Mental Health (no known psychological problems, substance abuse, other psychological problems, or dual diagnosis) x Exposure to Abuse/Neglect (present or absent), was used to examine depression proneness, neuroticism, alexithymia, self-esteem, self-concept, and locus of control in young adults. Results of this study demonstrated that in order to determine whether characteristics of OSAs are uniquely related to parental substance abuse, a psychiatric control group is needed. Also, the importance of separating the influences of other family environment variables (e.g., exposure to abuse/neglect) was demonstrated. None of the differences between groups in this study could be attributed to parental substance abuse per se; rather, the concomitants of substance abuse (i.e., exposure to abuse/neglect) were found to be more strongly related to poorer adjustment in OSAs. Finally, it was shown that the proportion of treatment-seeking subjects included in the sample affected the level of pathology observed. These results are discussed in relation to previous findings, and recommendations regarding methodology are made for future studies.
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PMID:Personality characteristics of young adult offspring of substance abusers: a study highlighting methodological issues. 793 26

Both amplification of normal visceral phenomena and the personality trait of alexithymia are factors in the process of somatization, whereby somatic symptoms become metaphors for emotional distress. The relationship between these two variables was investigated in 101 psychiatric out-patients. Each subject was administered the Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSA); the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS); the NEO-FFI, which measures five personality factors; and the health locus of control (HLC). In addition, anxiety and depression were quantitatively measured. SSA and TAS significantly correlated only in the female subjects. A regression model found neuroticism to contribute the most variance in predicting SSA while TAS did not fit into the model. Amplification is a perceptual element in potentiating somatization, whereas alexithymia contributes to the cognitive aspects of the process. The role of neuroticism is discussed as a mediating factor.
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PMID:The relationship between somatosensory amplification, alexithymia, and neuroticism. 799 59

Previous reports indicate that some patients with eating disorders have alexithymic characteristics, including affect deficit states and paucity of imagination. This study evaluated whether nonhospitalized patients with bulimia nervosa had elevated ratings of alexithymia in comparison to age-matched controls, and whether severity of bulimic symptoms was correlated with elevations in alexithymia ratings. Because alexithymia may be secondary to concurrent depression, this study was limited to patients with bulimia nervosa who were free of major depression. The authors compared alexithymia ratings for nonhospitalized normal weight women meeting DSM-III-R criteria for bulimia nervosa (N = 20) to healthy female volunteers (N = 20), utilizing the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) as the primary assessment instrument. Subjects also completed standardized rating scales for bulimic symptoms, depression, and anxiety. Alexithymia rating scale scores were significantly higher for patients with bulimia nervosa than for controls. In comparison to controls, patients had significant elevations on TAS factors reflecting affect deficit states, but normal scores for factors reflecting imagination and abstract thinking. Frequency of binge eating or purging behaviors was not correlated with alexithymia ratings. These data indicate that some patients with bulimia nervosa have alexithymic characteristics. Affect dysregulation was more prominent than limitation in fantasy or metaphorical thought. Additional studies are needed to assess whether presence of alexithymic characteristics may be predictive of response to treatment in patients with bulimia nervosa.
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PMID:Alexithymia ratings in bulimia nervosa: clinical correlates. 800 2

Thirty-eight patients with chronic respiratory failure, including 28 patients receiving HOT, were studied from the psychosomatic viewpoint. Assessment of psychological state was based on the following 5 psychometrical tests; Cornell Medical Index (CMI), Self Rating Questionnaire for Depression (SRQ-D), State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Alexithymia Scale (MMPI-Alexithmia scale) and egogram Check List (ECL). Tweleve HOT patients were also interviewed individually over a three-year period. The ECL showed overadaptation of non-HOT female patients, as compared with their HOT counterparts. There was an inverse correlation between PaO2 (room air) and the SRQ-D score. A significant correlation was also found between age and the SRQ-D score in both HOT and non-HOT patients. HOT patients were observed for 3 years (1-4 years after HOT introduction). Depressive state was observed in 16.6-36.4% of the patients throughout this observation period. Alexithymia was noted in 25.0% only 1 year after the initiation of HOT. However, the average scores for SRQ-D, STA-I and the MMPI-Alexithymia scale remained unchanged for 3 years. PaCO2 (room air, O2, inhalation) was significantly related to the STAI-1 score up to 2 years after starting HOT. Furthermore, a significant correlation was seen between HOT duration and MMPI-Alexithymia scales in HOT patients. Blood gas analysis parameters (delta PaO2, PaCO2 and pH) correlated significantly with respiratory scores on CMI somatic profiles. These results suggest that blood gas status (PaO2, PaCO2) may have an effect on the psychological states of patients early in the course of HOT. However, social factors, such as familial or economical problems, seem to have a greater influence in later stages. Thus, more attention must be given to psychosomatic treatment in the care of HOT patients.
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PMID:[Psychosomatic aspects of chronic respiratory failure managed with home oxygen therapy (HOT)]. 804 Oct 35

The authors review the current literature on psychosocial aspects of duodenal ulcer. The initial simple psychosomatic approach, has evolved to a multifactorial schema in which stress and individual vulnerability plays an important role. Psychological features (personality, Type A behaviour, alexithymia, anxiety, depression) and socioenvironmental factors (stress, life events, coping, social support) are analyzed. Newer aspects like the probable stress influence on immunity and infection by Helicobacter pylori are considered.
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PMID:[Psychosocial factors in patients with duodenal ulcer]. 807 75

Self-report alexithymia, depression, and anxiety inventories were completed by 204 (84 women and 120 men) psychoactive substance-dependent patients during their first week of hospitalization. Eighty-five of the 204 patients (41.7%) scored in the alexithymic range on the revised Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Women's average alexithymia, depression (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI]), and anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State [STAI-S]) scores were higher than men's average scores. Ethnic (Hispanic whites v non-Hispanic whites) and diagnostic (alcohol v drug v mixed-substance dependence) group differences were not significant. To examine the interrelationships among alexithymia, depression, and anxiety, a causal model confirmed in medical students was tested. The model was reconfirmed; state anxiety predicted depression and alexithymia, and depression predicted alexithymia. These findings are consistent with previous research and compatible with the view that a state of alexithymia can result from severe anxiety and depression.
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PMID:Alexithymia in women and men hospitalized for psychoactive substance dependence. 818 75

Alexithymic characteristics were assessed by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), a self-report measure of alexithymia, in 230 consecutive outpatients referred to a psychiatric consultation-liaison service. The prevalence of alexithymia was 37.8% (50.5% in men and 28.2% in women). Alexithymia was significantly associated with the following variables: male gender, low socioeconomic status, the presence of psychiatric disorder, especially depression, with old age and with a high level of psychological distress. No significant association between alexithymia and the presence of somatic illness was found.
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PMID:Alexithymia in psychiatric consultation-liaison patients. 830 47


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