Repressed memories: Avoiding the obvious.

Sorting out the distinctions between reality and fantasy in terms of apparently recovered memories and reconstructions is at least as puzzling as sorting out current realities. In responding to C. B. Brenneis's (see records 2007-10660-001 and 2001-07368-001) challenge to the existence of the phenomena of repression and of recovered or reconstructed memories, the authors point out the data from the Recovered Memory Archive web site, the data from World War I and World War II battlefield neuroses, as well as the clinical observations of psychoanalysts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the formation of delusions.

Four principles are identified that account for most delusion formation. The most important of these is transference--transference to the world at large. The second is the defense against pseudohomosexual impulses as described by Freud (and generally misunderstood). The third is the learning within the family of bizarre meanings of concepts which are assumed erroneously to be the meanings other people use. The fourth is the need to have a more or less consistent understanding of one's life and experiences. Therapeutic implications are drawn. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Human immunodeficiency virus infection and stroke in young patients

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and stroke among young persons. DESIGN: Retrospective case-control study. SETTING: Large, inner-city public hospital. PARTICIPANTS: All patients aged 19 to 44 years with a diagnosis of stroke, whose HIV status was determined, admitted from January 1990 through June 1994. Controls matched for age and sex were selected from patients who were admitted during the same period for status asthmaticus whose HIV status was known. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The associations of HIV infection with all strokes and with cerebral infarction, after adjustment for other cerebrovascular risk factors, were evaluated by Mantel-Haenszel stratified analyses. The subtypes and causes of stroke in HIV-infected patients were compared with HIV-seronegative patients. RESULTS: The HIV infection was associated with stroke (odds ratio [OR], 2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-5.3) and cerebral infarction (OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 1.1-8.9), after adjustment for other cerebrovascular risk factors. Among patients with stroke, cerebral infarction was more frequent in HIV-infected patients than in HIV-seronegative patients (20 [80%] of 25 vs 48 [56%] of 88, P = .04). The frequency of cerebral infarctions associated with meningitis (P < .001) and protein S deficiency (P = .06) was higher in HIV-infected patients than in seronegative patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that HIV infection is associated with an increased risk of stroke, particularly cerebral infarction in young patients. This risk is probably mediated by increased susceptibility of HIV-infected patients to meningitis and protein S deficiency.     

Repressed memories and World War II: Lest we forget!

The war neuroses of World War II (WWII) provide ample evidence that repression does indeed occur, and that the recovery of these traumatic memories and their related affects led to remission of symptoms. Moreover, these recovered memories were of events that had occurred. An illustrative case history from WWII is described. This well-documented body of data, well-known at the time, seems to have been forgotten in current discussions concerning repressed memories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Insights, Hope, Kindness, and Confusion: Odyssey of a Psychoanalyst.

Insights from the author's previous systematic research and psychoanalytic observations are summarized. In a nationwide Gallup sample, segregation was found destructive to African Americans and Whites, although differently so. Clinical experience delineated the number 4 as a symbol, the helpfulness of psychoanalysis, and meanings of schizophrenic symptoms. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) pathogenesis (unconsciously based hurtful parenting) differentiated both parents of schizophrenics and inadequate therapists. A controlled project demonstrated that 70 sessions of psychoanalytic therapy were more helpful than medication with respect to schizophrenic thought disorder, hospitalization, and living a more human life. Masked clinical judgments from Rorschachs, TATs, and interviews were found to be valid. Clinical papers described treating lower socioeconomic status patients, not eating, the 4 bases of delusions, and the necessity to be kind, tolerant, stubborn, and confused and to avoid abstractions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal space as a measure of a dying child's sense of isolation.

Used interpersonal distance measures to objectify the sense of isolation said to be present in a child with fatal illness as he nears death. When asked to place each of 4 significant figures (nurse, doctor, mother, father) at their usual place in a 3-dimensional hospital-room replica, 25 6-10 yr old leukemic children placed the figures at a distance significantly greater than did the matched control group of 25 chronically ill hospitalized children. Although the distance of placement increased with both groups in subsequent admissions, the leukemic children increased the distance significantly more than did the chronically ill, lending strong support to the hypothesis that the sense of isolation grows stronger as the child nears death. A final placement of preferred distance leads to the conclusion that the 6-10 yr old fatally ill child not only perceives a growing psychological distance from those around him but for whatever reason prefers it that way. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A type of transference based on identification with an abusing parent.

A type of transference is described in which the patient treats the therapist not as if the latter were his father or mother, but as if the therapist were the patient and the patient reenacts the role of mother and father. This usually occurs when the therapy session seems irritating, exhausting or anxiety-provoking; this is particularly frequent with borderline and schizophrenic patients. An awareness of the significance of this type of transference will allow the therapist to make an unpleasant therapeutic situation into a useful therapeutic intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The indispensability of medication.

Contends that psychiatrists who are medication oriented can generally earn more money with less specialized training than can psychotherapy-oriented pychiatrists and that there is a tendency for them to believe that what they have not been trained in does not exist. The author cautions society against allowing medication-oriented psychiatrists to be the sole decision makers. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Note on the hygroscopic equilibrium of cottonseed and cottonseed products

The hygroscopic equilibrium of a sample of the Stoneville 2B variety of cottonseed and its derived products has been determined over the relative humidity range of 11 to 93%. In a previous publication (1) the hygroscopic equilibrium of a sample of the D and PL variety of cottonseed was determined over the range of 31 to 93% relative humidity: Comparison of the previous and present results show that the whole seed and kernels of both varieties exhibit the same hygroscopic equilibrium behavior. A comparison of the aforementioned results with those reported by Simpson (3) on Stoneville 2B variety, and by Franco (4) on the 1A 7387 variety grown in São Paulo, Brazil, show that for intact cottonseed the hygroscopic equilibrium behavior is the same. On the basis of the curves given in Figure 1 and on the assumption that the cottonseed used was representative of cottonseed in general, it is possible to calculate the equilibrium moisture content of the whole cottonseed or any component thereof. For example, cottonseed consisting of 12.1% linters, 87.9% delintered seed, 56.0% kernels, and 31.9% lint-free hulls, and containing 12% moisture on a whole seed basis, will yield linters, delintered seed, kernels, and lint-free hulls having 9.4, 12.7, 10.8, and 15.4% moisture, respectively.     

A Rorschach validation study of the ego regression theory of psychopathology.

Gave a psychiatric interview (to determine clinical status) and the Rorschach Test to 33 schizophrenics 4 times during a 20-mo period. Test-retest changes in 10 Rorschach indices of ego regression were then correlated with concurrent measures of clinical status change. F + %, R, Perseveration and Scorability were significantly related as predicted. Moreover, Ss not receiving medication showed more evidence of regression and recovery as their clinical status either declined or improved than did Ss receiving medication. Thus, there are certain treatment conditions under which the concept of ego regression accurately describes the pathogenic process, whereas there are other conditions under which regression is not as clearly demonstrable. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)