Showing papers on "Depression (differential diagnoses) published in 1972"

The depression of widowhood.

Abstract: A group of 109 randomly selected widows and widowers, average age 61, were evaluated one month after the deaths of their spouses. Thirty-five per cent of them had a collection of depressive symptoms similar to those common in psychiatric depressed patients. The group of bereaved with the reactive depression was compared to bereaved with fewer depressive symptoms on 53 demographic, social and physical variables. Few differences were found, and most were related to the diagnosis of depression in the one group and not in the other. One social variable that showed a significant difference was that fewer of those with reactive depression had children in the area they considered close. Thus one means of support, emotional, physical or financial, was not available to them. As opposed to other differences, this difference of support might be thought of as a causative factor in the development of the depression. Age, sex, previous treatment for a depression, family history of depression or alcoholism were not different in the two groups and therefore could not predict outcome. One incidental finding is noteworthy. Of the 109 women in the study, 81 per cent of the deceased and 47 per cent of the surviving women were housewives (p<.005). The women who died were not significantly older or unemployed because of illness. Finally, from a group of durable marriages, 65 per cent of the conjugally bereaved experienced minimal depressive symptoms.

Outcome of investigation of patients with presenile dementia.

Abstract: Of 106 patients admitted for investigation to a neurological hospital with a presumptive diagnosis of dementia, 84 were confirmed to have intellectual impairment or loss of learning and memory function or both. A possible aetiology for the dementia was found in 36 of these 84 patients; the commonest causes discovered were intracranial mass lesions, arterial disease, and alcoholism. Fifteen of the 106 patients were found not to be demented but to have some other illness, most commonly depression. Of the whole series some 15% of the patients suffered from conditions that were amenable to treatment.

Proposed Classification of Childhood Depression

Abstract: Neurotic depressive reactions of mid-childhood may be classified into three distinct categories. Masked depression is the most frequent, appearing in children whose personality and family display severe psychopathology. Children suffering acute depression are fairly well adjusted prior to the traumatic event that precipitates the depression; there may be mild psychopathology in the family. Chronically depressed children have a history of marginal premorbid social adjustment, depression, and repeated separations from important adults; in addition, at least one parent has a history of recurrent depression.

Hypersomnia and Manic-Depressive Disease

Abstract: The authors studied 84 bipolar and unipolar depressed patients by means of a questionnaire to determine whether they showed symptoms of increased sleep time. Their finding that hypersomnia is not an unusual symptom of depression has implications both for the classification of affective disorders and for biologic research.

Potentiation of Amitriptyline by Thyroid Hormone

Abstract: A double-blind comparison was made between amitriptyline alone and amitriptyline with added L-triiodothyronine (T3, liothyronine sodium at two dose levels, in cases of depression seen in general practice. Assessments were made initially, and at 3, 7, 10, 14, and 21 days, using Hamilton's Depression Scales and the NIMH Self-Rating Scales. Significant differences in favor of the two regimes with added liothyronine were obtained at 14 days on both scales (P

Environmental stress in primary depressive illness.

Abstract: The occurrence of life-change events (as defined by the social readjustment rating questionnaire) prior to disease onset was measured in a group of 74 patients suffering from primary depressive disorders. The resultant frequency distribution histogram was unimodal. Patients with a positive family history for depression did not differ significantly, in these measurements, from those with a negative family history nor did patients with "endogenous" depression differ significantly from those with "reactive" depression. We were, therefore, unable to distinguish two populations within the depressed group using this parameter. We conclude that the terms "endogenous" and "reactive" are misleading for the majority of patients with depressive illness.

Behavioral Measurement of Severe Depression

Abstract: Three different methods of measuring depression were studied in ten severely depressed patients Serial assessments were made using the Beck Depressive Inventory (self-rating scale), the Hamilton Rating Scale (physician-rated scale), and objective behavioral measures The hypothesis was that these three methods would show a significant correlation; the study confirms this The behavioral measures are an inexpensive method of assessing the depth of depression and seem to predict the posttreatment adaptation better than the Beck Depressive Inventory or the Hamilton Rating Scale Behavioral measures should be useful in future research to assess the results of drug or somatic therapies

Depression during mania: clinical observations and theoretical implications.

Abstract: In the course of longitudinal studies of patients with manic-depressive illness, the authors regularly observed clear features of depression during periods of acute mania. The relationship of depression to mania in 20 hospitalized patients was systematically investigated through an analysis of nurses' and physicians' behavioral ratings and notes. Statistically significant positive associations between mania and depression were found in the majority of cases. The psychological implications of the concurrent presence of depression and mania are discussed.

Alcoholism, Alcohol Intoxication, and Suicide Attempts

Abstract: A total of 34 patients were admitted to the hospital with wounds inflicted in suicide attempts, 29 were alcoholics Of these, 26 were intoxicated at the time of the suicide attempt Two behavioral syndromes and a high incidence of amnesia and denial (42%) were identified Seven patients with an "abreactive" syndrome made their attempts after becoming abruptly intoxicated These attempts occurred in the context of an interpersonal interaction with manifest anger, aggression, and hyperactivity These patients seldom sustained severe injuries Eleven patients with a "depressive syndrome of chronic intoxication" made their attempts after two weeks or more of excessive drinking during which they had increasing depression in mood, motor retardation, and withdrawal While the majority of these patients inflicted potentially fatal injuries such depressions are detectable and these suicides are potentially preventable

Parkinsonism and depression.

Abstract: From a retrospective study of parkinsonian patients studied over the years, the authors speculate upon possible neurochemical relationships between the physical manifestations of the disease and the depressive components. They believe that as neural deficits progress the likelihood of depression is

Surgical stimulation antagonizes the respiratory depression produced by forane.

Abstract: In 15 patients anesthetized with Forane and in an additional 15 patients anesthetized with Forane and nitrous oxide, the authors found that surgical stimulation induced increases in ventilation which significantly reduced PaCO2 The mean reductions in CO2 from control values prior to surgical stimulation ranged from 5 to 13 torr, the magnitudes being similar in the two groups and for all depths of anesthesia. The reductions were sufficient to cause all average CO2 values to be less than 50 torr even at deep levels of anesthesia. Prior to operation, the respiratory depression for a given anesthetic concentration appeared to be somewhat greater when Forane was given without nitrous oxide.

Etiological factors in female transsexualism: a first approximation.

Abstract: Female-to-male transsexuals (females who are extensively identified as males and want sex-reassignment surgery) are being more frequently described. Yet discussions about etiology are almost nonexistent. Ten examples of female-to-male transsexualism are reported here in which a recurring family role constellation is noted. This constellation may indicate etiological factors. In the present series of cases, the mother is almost always psychologically removed from the family, usually by depression, early in the girl's development. The father, while a substantial person in most regards, does not support his wife in her suffering but instead sends a substitute into the breach. This surrogate husband is the transsexual-to-be, also chosen perhaps because she strikes her parents as unfeminine in appearance from birth on. Since the family needs the child to function thus, any behavior construed as masculine is encouraged, and feminine behavior discouraged, until the islands of masculine qualities coalesce into a cohesive identity. Evidence for this theory comes not only from parents but from the subjects' fantasies, which are of rescuing endangered, motherly women. That these girls' masculinity seems to originate in part from traumatic disruption of mothering suggests that the condition may be allied to some forms of female homosexuality.

Anterior Bifrontal ECT: A Clinical Trial

Abstract: An open clinical trial of a new placement of treatment electrodes for ECT is reported in 17 hospitalized depressed patients. The method is termed anterior bifrontal ECT (ABF/ECT) and is given with electrodes placed as far forwards over the front of the head as is consistent with obtaining a generalized seizure. Four and eight ABF/ECT effectively reduced depression as measured by post-ECT reduction in depression rating scale scores, and these effects were intermediate between those obtained in the past for B/ECT and U/ECT. Memory changes were not observed clinically or on formal testing, and significant post-ECT clouding or confusion did not occur with ABF/ECT. These memory findings were similar to those obtained in the past for unilateral ECT. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Antinuclear Factor in Psychiatric Disorders

Abstract: In a double-blind test to determine whether the antinuclear factor (ANF) was present in patients with psychiatric disorders, a significantly greater number of positive ANF results was found in patients whose conditions were characterized by depression.

History of depression as a risk factor for depression with oral contraceptives and discontinuance.

Abstract: 5151 Female patients (mean age 35.6 years para 2.7) nonpregnant nonpostpartum nonmenopausal or postmenopausal were studied to evaluate history of severe depression during or after pregnancy as a predispostion to depressive reactions to oral contraceptives (OCs). A comprehensive health questionnaire given these women asked whether severe depression had accompanied pregnancy. Current depression was measured by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and 3 self-rating mood scales. A significantly larger proportion of post-OC users reported a history of depression during and after pregnancy than current users or never users. However an association between duration of use and depressive history was absent. A relationship between history of depression and abnormal depression with OC use was absent. Past OC users reported more cases of severe premenstrual irritability than did current users. While evidence suggesting an aggravation of the depressive condition by use of OCs was absent there appeared to be a relation to a history of pregnancy-related depression and discontinuance of OCs.

Relationship of patient background characteristics to efficacy of pharmacotherapy in depression

Abstract: As a part of a Collaborative Depression Treatment Study pretreatment background characteristics (socioeconomic, demographic, and prior psychiatric status) of 163 depressed women were examined to determine whether they were related to the degree of clinical response to amitriptyline. Further analyses

Emotional reactions to having cancer.

Abstract: Much discussion of the management of patients with cancer centers on what to tell the patient about his diagnosis. The more basic issue of what the patient already knows has not often been considered.Fifty patients were interviewed by a psychiatrist as they registered for treatment at the Radiotherapy Center of the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. All had cancer. Forty (80 per cent) correctly gave their own diagnosis.These 40 patients were not told of their diagnosis by their physicians. How they learned they had cancer and how they reacted to that knowledge was the focus of this study.The degree of anxiety and depression in these patients was the basis for discussion of what helped them to function. A series of mechanisms of defense was found to be in use. None of these patients had attempted suicide, despite knowledge that they had cancer.The interrelationship of neuroses existing prior to the diagnosis of cancer, with emotional reactions to that diagnosis, was noted in 7 patients. Only 1 subject devel...

Role of Antidepressants and Neuroleptics in the Treatment of Depression

Abstract: In two studies, the relationship among depressive symptoms, depression, and psychotropic drugs was examined. In the first study, imipramine hydrochloride was administered in low and high dosages to chronic schizophrenic patients with prominent apathy and anergy, viz, symptoms of depression. Stimulating properties (improvement in areas of motor retardation and emotional withdrawal, worsening in tension) were noted. Not all patients displayed signs of stimulation; no suppression of the stimulative effect occurred with high dosages. The hypothesis that thiothixene might have a stimulative effect at low dosages in the above patients was not supported. In the second study, thiothixene was compared with amitriptyline hydrochloride in the treatment of 40 patients who had been diagnosed as suffering from endogenous depression. Global ratings and rating scales favored amitriptyline. These results suggest that antidepressants are the treatment of choice in the diagnosis of depression, but they are probably contraindicated in symptoms of depression.