Attachment--and loss.

In 1974 an article appeared in Science magazine with the dry-sounding title “Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases” by a pair of psychologists who were not well known outside their discipline of decision theory. In it Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman introduced the world to Prospect Theory, which mapped out how humans actually behave when faced with decisions about gains and losses, in contrast to how economists assumed that people behave. Prospect Theory turned Economics on its head by demonstrating through a series of ingenious experiments that people are much more concerned with losses than they are with gains, and that framing a choice from one perspective or the other will result in decisions that are exactly the opposite of each other, even if the outcomes are monetarily the same. Prospect Theory led cognitive psychology in a new direction that began to uncover other human biases in thinking that are probably not learned but are part of our brain’s wiring.

Thinking fast and slow.

The detection of psychiatric illness by questionnaire

This review provides the reader with the up-to-date evidence-based basis for prescribing exercise as medicine in the treatment of 26 different diseases: psychiatric diseases (depression, anxiety, stress, schizophrenia); neurological diseases (dementia, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis); metabolic diseases (obesity, hyperlipidemia, metabolic syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome, type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes); cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, coronary heart disease, heart failure, cerebral apoplexy, and claudication intermittent); pulmonary diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, cystic fibrosis); musculo-skeletal disorders (osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, back pain, rheumatoid arthritis); and cancer. The effect of exercise therapy on disease pathogenesis and symptoms are given and the possible mechanisms of action are discussed. We have interpreted the scientific literature and for each disease, we provide the reader with our best advice regarding the optimal type and dose for prescription of exercise.

/pdf/exercise-as-medicine-evidence-for-prescribing-exercise-as-4ap89k53ch.pdf

Exercise as medicine – evidence for prescribing exercise as therapy in 26 different chronic diseases

The self-medication hypothesis of addictive disorders derives primarily from clinical observations of patients with substance use disorders. Individuals discover that the specific actions or effects of each class of drugs relieve or change a range of painful affect states. Self-medication factors occur in a context of self-regulation vulnerabilities--primarily difficulties in regulating affects, self-esteem, relationships, and self-care. Persons with substance use disorders suffer in the extreme with their feelings, either being overwhelmed with painful affects or seeming not to feel their emotions at all. Substances of abuse help such individuals to relieve painful affects or to experience or control emotions when they are absent or confusing. Diagnostic studies provide evidence that variously supports and fails to support a self-medication hypothesis of addictive disorders. The cause-consequence controversy involving psychopathology and substance use/abuse is reviewed and critiqued. In contrast, clinical observations and empirical studies that focus on painful affects and subjective states of distress more consistently suggest that such states of suffering are important psychological determinants in using, becoming dependent upon, and relapsing to addictive substances. Subjective states of distress and suffering involved in motives to self-medicate with substances of abuse are considered with respect to nicotine dependence and to schizophrenia and posttraumatic stress disorder comorbid with a substance use disorder.

The Self-medication Hypothesis of Substance Use Disorders: A Reconsideration and Recent Applications

Objective: The present paper presents a brief overview on network analysis as a statistical approach for health psychology researchers. Networks comprise graphical representations of the relationsh...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/21642850.2018.1521283

Network analysis: a brief overview and tutorial.

Background The study explores the experiences of parents of individuals with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs), and examines the influences of parent gender and child age on perceived stress, stress and coping, child-rearing involvement, support and information/education accessed.



Methods and Materials  Questionnaires assessed general perceived stress, involvement, stress and coping related to caregiving, social support, and amount of information/education accessed in 23 mothers and 19 fathers of 3- to 18-year-old individuals with ASDs.



Results  When compared with fathers, mothers were significantly more stressed, more involved, and reported higher levels of stress and coping related to caregiving. Differences were found according to child age, regarding helpfulness of support and access to information/education. Parent gender and child age moderated correlations between some variables. Content analyses identified factors contributing to parental stress and its alleviation.



Conclusions  The positive relationships between the amount of information accessed and the quality of support received by parents, and between parental stress and involvement vary according to the life stage of the child. Mothers experienced a greater caregiving burden when compared with fathers.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1468-3148.2008.00437.x

Factors Contributing to Stress in Parents of Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

The pathological eating behaviors in Anorexia Nervosa (AN), Bulimia Nervosa (BN), and obesity are characterized by a preference for high immediate reward, despite higher future losses in terms of both physical and psychological outcomes. The present study compared the decision making profi le of females with a diagnosis of AN ( n = 22), BN ( n = 17), obesity ( n = 18), and a healthy weight comparison group ( n = 20) using a standardized neuropsychological test, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). The three clinical groups (AN, BN, obesity) were signifi cantly impaired on the IGT compared with the comparison group on both overall task performance and task learning; however, the three clinical groups were not signifi cantly different from each other. Sixty-one percent to 77% of the clinical groups reached the threshold for impairment on the IGT, compared with 15% of the comparison group. The potential basis for this shared decision making profi le is discussed. ( JINS , 2010, 16 , 711–715.)

http://www.tara.tcd.ie/bitstream/handle/2262/57120/Anorexia,%20bulimia,%20and%20obesity-%20Shared%20decision%20making%20deficits%20on%20the%20Iowa%20Gambling%20Task%20(IGT).pdf;sequence=1

Anorexia, bulimia, and obesity: shared decision making deficits on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT).

Diabetes distress is a general term that refers to the emotional burdens, anxieties, frustrations, stressors and worries that stem from managing a severe, complex condition like Type 1 diabetes. To date there has been limited research on diabetes-related distress in younger people with Type 1 diabetes. This qualitative study aimed to identify causes of diabetes distress in a sample of young adults with Type 1 diabetes. Semi-structured interviews with 35 individuals with Type 1 diabetes (23–30 years of age). This study found diabetes related-distress to be common in a sample of young adults with Type 1 diabetes in the second phase of young adulthood (23–30 years of age). Diabetes distress was triggered by multiple factors, the most common of which were: self-consciousness/stigma, day-to-day diabetes management difficulties, having to fight the healthcare system, concerns about the future and apprehension about pregnancy. A number of factors appeared to moderate distress in this group, including having opportunities to talk to healthcare professionals, attending diabetes education programmes and joining peer support groups. Young adults felt that having opportunities to talk to healthcare professionals about diabetes distress should be a component of standard diabetes care. Some aspects of living with diabetes frequently distress young adults with Type 1 diabetes who are in their twenties. Clinicians should facilitate young adults’ attendance at diabetes education programmes, provide them with opportunities to talk about their diabetes-related frustrations and difficulties and, where possible, assist in the development of peer-support networks for young adults with diabetes.

/pdf/what-s-distressing-about-having-type-1-diabetes-a-5ftvxpd2xj.pdf

David Hevey

Papers

Network analysis: a brief overview and tutorial.

Factors Contributing to Stress in Parents of Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

Anorexia, bulimia, and obesity: shared decision making deficits on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT).

What’s distressing about having type 1 diabetes? A qualitative study of young adults’ perspectives

Relationship between adverse early experiences, stressors, psychosocial resources and wellbeing.