Showing papers by "Conor Duggan published in 1995"

Dysfunctional attitudes in depressed and recovered depressed patients and their first-degree relatives.

Abstract: A series of depressed probands and their first-degree relatives were categorized as follows: (a) currently depressed; (b) recovered depressed; and (c) never-ill relatives. Their scores on a subscaled version of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (the DAS-24) were compared. The DAS total scores mirrored previous findings in that the total scores for recovered individuals returned to normal or near-normal levels. However, the dependency subscale scores remained elevated for the recovered depressed group. It is proposed that these results support the conclusion that self-report measures of cognitive vulnerability should focus on specific rather than global effects, if progress is to be made in the search for true vulnerability factors.

Medium-term course of disaster victims. A naturalistic follow-up.

Abstract: BACKGROUND Our aim was to describe the medium-term course (2-3 years) in a series of victims who had experienced severe trauma. METHOD We selected a consecutive series of 31 trauma victims and applied a structured clinical schedule (CAPS-2) to their psychiatric evaluations prepared for the court on two separate occasions approximately one year apart. RESULTS Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression were the commonest diagnoses, occurring in 39% and 16% of the victims respectively when they were first assessed. Most had improved between the assessments and this was especially the case for the re-experiencing of the trauma and over-arousal, but less so for avoidance; 20% of subjects showed no improvement, often being handicapped by secondary psychiatric illness. CONCLUSION Traumatised victims generally showed recovery in the 2-3 years after the trauma, but this was slow and was not universal.