Psychotherapy and psychosomatics
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Psychother Psychosom · Jan 2008
Multicenter StudyPositive psychological impact of treating victims of politically motivated violence among hospital-based health care providers.
Health care personnel treating victims of politically motivated violence are at risk for traumatic stress symptoms. Few studies have assessed the positive psychological impact of politically motivated violence on health care workers. In this study, the level of positive psychological impact among health care workers with recurrent exposure to victims of politically motivated violence was examined. ⋯ Hospital-based health care providers treating victims of politically motivated violence experience both positive and negative psychological impact. Individuals who are more traumatized by their experience are more likely to also have a positive psychological impact.
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Psychother Psychosom · Jan 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialTreating acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder with cognitive behavioral therapy or structured writing therapy: a randomized controlled trial.
Writing assignments have shown promising results in treating traumatic symptomatology. Yet no studies have compared their efficacy to the current treatment of choice, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). The present study evaluated the efficacy of structured writing therapy (SWT) and CBT as compared to a waitlist control condition in treating acute stress disorder (ASD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). ⋯ The present study confirmed the efficacy of CBT for ASD and PTSD and identified SWT as a promising alternative treatment.
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Psychother Psychosom · Jan 2008
Association between anxiety and factors of coagulation and fibrinolysis.
Psychological stress and anxiety have been shown to produce an activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis. Resulting hypercoagulability is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, and could therefore contribute to an increased prevalence of coronary artery disease in anxiety patients. However, hemostasis function has not yet been studied in patients with clinically relevant anxiety disorders. ⋯ The coagulation and fibrinolysis system is activated in the direction of a hypercoagulable state in patients with severe phobic anxiety, triggered by fear of blood drawing. This could be one mediating factor for the increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in this population. Acute situational phobic anxiety should be monitored closely when studying the association between anxiety and hemostasis.
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Psychother Psychosom · Jan 2008
Frequent attenders in primary care: impact of medical, psychiatric and psychosomatic diagnoses.
Anxiety, mild depression and somatization are common in primary care (PC). Several studies have suggested that they may play a role in causing an excessive use of health care services, especially when combined with medical morbidity. The present case-control study explored how psychiatric and psychosomatic diagnoses and perceived quality of life are associated with the phenomenon of frequent attendance. ⋯ The present study confirms the association between medical-psychiatric comorbidity and frequent utilization of PC resources. It suggests a role for DCPR criteria in revealing subthreshold psychiatric comorbidity predicting a pattern of frequent attendance.
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Psychother Psychosom · Jan 2008
Posttraumatic stress disorder following accidental injury: rule or exception in Switzerland?
There is still marked variability in the findings concerning psychiatric disorders associated with traumatic injury. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of acute stress disorder (ASD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following accidental injuries, and to predict the PTSD symptom level at 6 months, taking into particular consideration the role of pre-existing psychiatric morbidity and insufficient command of the local language. ⋯ ASD and PTSD seem to occur less frequently following accidental injuries than previously reported in the literature. Pre-existing psychiatric morbidity and lack of proficiency in the locally spoken language do not appear to play an important role in the development of PTSD.