Reappraisal Defuses Strong Emotional Responses to Israel-Palestine Conflict

December 18, 2012 
For Immediate Release

Contact: Anna Mikulak
Association for Psychological Science
202.293.9300
amikulak@psychologicalscience.org

Related Topics: Cognitive Processes, Cognitive Psychology, Emotional Control, Emotions, Intergroup Relations,Psychological Science

Reappraisal is a widely-used cognitive strategy that can help people to regulate their reactions to emotionally charged events. Now, new research suggests that reappraisal may even be effective in changing people’s emotional responses in the context of one of the most intractable conflicts worldwide: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Negative intergroup emotions play a crucial role in decisions that perpetuate intractable conflicts,” observes lead researcher Eran Halperin of the New School of Psychology at the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel.

With this in mind, Halperin and his colleagues wondered whether cognitive reappraisal, a strategy that involves changing the meaning of a situation to change the emotional response to it, might be effective in diminishing such negative intergroup emotions.

Their research is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

In the first study, 39 Jewish Israeli participants viewed a series of photos that were deliberately selected to induce anger. Some of the participants were trained in cognitive reappraisal — they were taught to respond to the images like scientists, considering them objectively, analytically, and in a cold and detached manner. The other participants received no instructions.

Then all of the participants watched an anger-inducing presentation. The four-minute presentation — with pictures, text, and music — described Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian response, including the launching of rockets, the election of Hamas, and the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. Before watching, participants were asked to apply the reappraisal technique they had learned.

Halperin and colleagues found that participants who were taught to reappraise their emotional responses expressed less anger towards Palestinians, greater support for conciliatory policies, and less support for aggressive policies than the participants who received no training. The results suggest that the increase in support for conciliatory policies could be explained — at least in part — by decreased intergroup anger.

To examine whether these findings would extend to conflict-related events as they occurred in the real world, Halperin and colleagues conducted a second study.

The researchers knew that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas would be presenting a bid to the United Nations seeking full UN membership for Palestine in September 2011. They recruited 60 Jewish Israelis to participate in a study and, six days before the UN bid, they asked the participants to rate their current positive and negative emotions and their general support for different types of policies.

Once again, the researchers trained half of the participants to use cognitive reappraisal. Over the course of the following week, the participants received three text message reminders to use the technique they had learned. A week after the training and two days after the bid, the researchers assessed participants’ emotional and political reactions.

As Halperin and colleagues expected, there was no difference in negative emotions among the participants before training took place. A week after training, however, the reappraisal participants reported lower levels of negative emotions toward Palestinians. The data suggest that the reappraisal actually made them more supportive of conciliatory policies and less supportive of aggressive policies, effects which could be attributed to a decrease in negative emotions.

Even more surprising, however, was the fact that these results held up five months later when the participants were asked to complete a brief questionnaire by an unfamiliar experimenter.

“We consider our findings to be preliminary yet provocative,” write Halperin and colleagues. “Political positions in conflict situations are considered rigid, well entrenched, and driven mainly by ideological rather than emotional considerations. It is therefore surprising to see shifts in these attitudes based on such minimal interventions.”

These results provide evidence that emotion regulation strategies like reappraisal can influence intergroup emotions, not just intrapersonal emotions, and can even shape political reactions.

The researchers believe that this research could eventually lead to interventions that incorporate cognitive reappraisal as a way of increasing support for peace in long-term conflicts.

Study co-authors include Roni Porat of The Hebrew University and Interdisciplinary Center – Herzliya (Israel); Maya Tamir of The Hebrew University (Israel); and James Gross of Stanford University.

###

For more information about this study, please contact: Eran Halperin at eran.halperin@idc.ac.il.

The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "Can Emotion Regulation Change Political Attitudes in Intractable Conflicts? From the Laboratory to the Field" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Anna Mikulak at 202-293-9300 or amikulak@psychologicalscience.org.

Related Topics: Cognitive Processes, Cognitive Psychology, Emotional Control, Emotions, Intergroup Relations,Psychological Science

A psychologist with schizophrenia talks about what helps him function effectively

Taken from the book: “Abnormal Psychology” by David Homes.  Harpers Collins. ©1991.

Frederick J. Frese III is a psychologist who has struggled with schizophrenia for over 20 years. He described the onset of his symptoms and talked about his occasional “breakdowns”. Most of the time, however, he functions effectively, and in the following comments he describes some of the things that help. Dr. Frese believes it is important that the person whit schizophrenia be aware of the nature of the problem in order to develop effective coping strategies. He said:

Person whit schizophrenia needs to carefully study how they function. Until they can identify their deficits, it is very difficult to start building compensatory mechanisms that will enable them to function better… persons recovering from schizophrenia should be able to identify, and be on the lookout for, the sorts of persons, places, and things that can cause the type of stress that may precipitate their breakdowns. They should know to get to environments that are helpful.

Just as a diabetic must take action to control his or her blood-sugar level, persons recovering from schizophrenia must learn to monitor and take measures to counteract an imbalance in subcortical neurochemical activity. But unlike diabetes, schizophrenia seriously interferes with rational processes, and once the irrationality begins, the person may have great difficulty in acting in a rational or responsible manner.

To overcome the irrationality, Dr. Frese also emphasizes the importance of feedback from others:

Because of our disability, it is very difficult for us to know what we do that normal do not understand. Therefore, it is very helpful to have a trustworthy normal around to let us know what it is about our thoughts that perhaps it would be better not to share with everyone else. In my case, my wife constantly gives me feedback whenever I am saying or doing things that normal people may consider bizarre or offensive. Some things are rather obvious. If you are hearing voices, it is generally best not to talk back to them while normal are around. If your thoughts are dominated by the importance of the colors or similar sounds in the environment, you probably do not want to reveal too much about this to others.

Whit help, other disabled persons learn to compensate for their disabilities and frequently lead dignified, productive lives. The blind learn to use canes and seeing-eye dogs; those with limited use of their legs learn to use crutches and wheelchairs. For the mentally ill, however, the parameters of our disability are often not easily defined. We need help and feedback so we can understand exactly the nature of our disability.

Whit regard to the results of psychological testing, Dr. Frese said:

Assessment results that us we have “gross pathology”, “extreme confusion” or “diffuse brain damage” are not really helpful. We need very specific information. Perhaps new assessment instruments need to be developed, possibly with input from us, so that we can better learn how it is that we are different from others or where our psychological blind spots are.

Unfortunately, feedback is not always enough. Sometimes the symptoms overwhelm the person, who then loses the ability to function. When that occurs, some flexibility on the part of other people in the environment is necessary. Dr. Frese commented:

Schizophrenia tends to be an episodic disorder. We are going to have periodic breakdowns. This makes holding employment very difficult because the usual practice is to terminate employees who require frequent periods of leave. Work for us should be structured so that our disabilities are taken into account. Many of us are well educated and/or have useful skills when we are not having episodes. Why can´t jobs be structured for us so that our episodic breakdowns do not automatically result in our loss of employments? As with those in the general population, we like and needs to be a little more flexible in understanding that we are going to behave strangely from time and there are going to be time when we do not function well at all.

"Abnormal Psychology" by David Holmes. Part 4, p. 303. Case study 15.1.

A Psychological Analysis of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club

How the World of Psychology Applies to This Famous Novel.

by Bryan R. Price.

Yahoo! Contributor Network.

May, 2007.

Fight Club was originally a novel by Chuck Palahniuk, and was made into a movie a short time after the book's success. Palahniuk's contemporary and often vulgar writing style has made the author not only a good fortune, but a huge fan base of support. In all of Palahniuk's books, a great deal of psychology theory and ideas are present- and Fight Club is no different.

Fight Club's success is more than just well written content- it was a book and movie geared towards younger men. Books such as "Little Women" and other women-themed movies were plentiful- but the same could not be said for male content. The book and movie differ in many ways- so focus will be put on the movie. In the movie, the main character's name is somewhat of a mystery. Through various clues, the avid film buff will notice that small hints suggest the character's name is Jack Moore, as seen on a check.

Jack is a rather disturbed individual, who suffers from insomnia. Jack sees a doctor, who tells him to visit a support group to see what pain really was- and declined to give Jack medicine. Jack finds an ability to sleep after going to these support groups, often of which he ends up crying to relieve stress from a common office job, common apartment, and a dull, bland, life. This is where things take a turn for the worst- as Marla Singer is introduced. She makes an appearance at one of the support groups for males only- so she is clearly what Jack calls a "faker". Jack is also a "faker", of course, but he finds that he can not enjoy the support groups knowing that Marla is there faking along with him. Eventually, he confronts her and they work out a temporary solution- which ultimately ends up failing.

Meanwhile, Jack meets Tyler Durden. Tyler is a strong hater of common culture, and considered to be a nihilist. Tyler and Jack form a much more involved friendship after Jack's apartment explodes- which effectively ruins his life and everything he owned. Tyler and Jack end up fighting in a parking lot out of being curious, and end up forming a fight club when other men start to join. These applicants are usually the type that grew up without a father- a rather interesting fact to take note while watching.

Throughout the movie, Tyler and Jack start to drift apart, as Tyler forms a project to attack popular consumer culture. Eventually, Jack and Tyler find themselves at the end of their efforts, with Tyler ready to watch a few credit card buildings explode from the amount of explosives he had ordered to be planted. Jack realizes that Tyler is actually him- and nothing more than an apparition or split personality. Jack ends up putting a gun inside his mouth and pulling the trigger, only to still live and realize that Tyler is gone. Jack then wakes up in a mental hospital, with the movie ending with a scene of the fight club members planning to continue their efforts against society- and claiming Tyler will come back.

The movie and book both focus on existentialism- which is the philosophy that an individual must make meaning from a chaotic and empty universe- and this individual is often the object of suffering. Throughout the movie, there are scenes where there is clear cut evidence of this. For instance, Tyler claims, "Only after disaster can we be resurrected" [1]. Another piece of evidence of existentialism comes when Tyler states, "It's only after we've lost everything that we are free to do anything." At one point, Tyler inflicts a chemical burn onto Jack, which is a lesson that tries to explain the sole fact that you will never get anywhere in life until hitting rock bottom. Existentialism defines the need for one to make decisions to better one's life- and that a person is who they are determined to be. Clearly, the movie focuses on this philosophy throughout the entire movie- as several main themes and subtexts are based from it.

Sigmund Freud is a notable psychologist that suggested the existence of the id, ego, and superego. The id is essentially the driving force that demands pleasure constantly [2]. The ego is the checks and balances of the id, as it waits for a safe or healthy moment for pleasure to be obtained. Finally, the superego is the moral standard that suppresses the id. Jack has a very interesting system of morals in Freud's terms. Jack is first satisfied with the common, bland life of having a normal job and condo. His superego is clearly doing a great job. However, it may be functioning all to well- as the id apparently creates Tyler Durden in an attempt to overcome its suppressor. While the id is successful in achieving its purpose, the ego is still operational. While it is hard to see, as Tyler and Jack are exact opposites- the ego acts as a mediator between the two in the end of the conflict. As Jack and Tyler become equally aware of each other, the ego can claim responsibility of bringing a sense of peace to the situation.

Also, there is the matter of gender identity confusion to take into effect. Although Jack shouldn't be considered feminine, there is a definite difference between Jack and Tyler in regards to masculinity. For instance, Jack collects furniture for a hobby. This is far from masculine, and far from the gender identity of Tyler. It would seem that the gender identity confusion adds to the correct balance of id and superego [3] - and ultimately helps Jack achieve things he otherwise could not. For instance, Jack gets into his first fight, albeit with himself. He defies his boss, in an act of rebellion against conformity. He also finds an attractive woman to date off and on, depending on the state of his identity. This lack of masculinity could be attributed to Jack's lack of a father figure in early childhood- but either way, it ends up causing catastrophic consequences in his personality.

Another psychologist, Abraham Maslow, suggested the idea of self-actualization. This is the idea that all humans try to make the most of their abilities, and to strive towards success to the fullest ability [4]. Individuals who achieve such self-actualization are considered to be creative, embrace facts rather than avoid them, spontaneous, appreciate life, like to solve puzzles, and of course have morals. Essentially, this is the act of achieving the peak of one's potential. Interestingly, there is a paradox within Fight Club concerning this subject. Tyler claims that men who wish to achieve freedom from a controlling father-figure will only be self-actualized once they have children and become fathers themselves. Essentially, the only way to self-actualization in this statement is to become what you are trying to defy. However, the narrator eliminates Tyler through shooting himself- and achieves self-actualization in effect.

Obviously, following a matriarch-style of development has either directly given Jack his problems, or at least contributed to them. As with other characters in the book and movie, most notably in the fight club, the majority of men relate to Jack through not experiencing a father figure. This has led a generation of youth develop without the guidance of a father- and in essence shaped masculinity through much harsher means. Interestingly, this has made an increase in schizophrenics [5]. Poverty is usually a cause of schizophrenia, and this is very much more common among single mother families than that of couples or single father families. This makes it very possible that Jack was suffering from schizophrenia because of poverty- although other factors could have been a direct cause. Heredity is another big cause of the disorder- and Jack's father was not mentioned in this context. It would appear that the exact cause of Jack's possible schizophrenia can not be determined because of lack of evidence.

Finally, it is important to relate psychosis and sleep deprivation to the film. Jack suffers from a bad case of insomnia- which can have detrimental effects. These effects can lead to forms of psychosis [6] - which makes schizophrenia a very viable effect as a result. When Jack is denied medication, he instead finds release in another form. Because of this he experiences schizophrenia less than he was before, although he might not have known it. It would seem that everything follows a massive chain reaction- which eventually leads to schizophrenia and an eventual internal conflict.

Fight Club is incredibly accurate in terms of validity. This comes to no surprise, as the author is both very qualified and very knowledgeable. Everything that could be explained in medical terms can likewise be explained through several theories or ideas. The effects of these health afflictions are very real- such as the insomnia or schizophrenia. Interesting psychological terms such as self-actualization and gender identity come into play- and with amazing accuracy. It seems Hollywood has made a successful and fact-proven work of art. Although, it would seem the credit should likely go to Chuck Palahniuk- who sold the rights of his works to have a movie made. Overall, the movie is incredibly accurate, and is definitely worth a place in any movie collector's shelf.

"Si oyes voces y ves visiones..., ¡no estás mal de la cabeza!" - John Read

John Read, psicólogo especialista en abusos sexuales y psicosis.

26/05/2012 por Víctor M. Amela. La Vanguardia.

¿Locura... o sentido?

John Read superó el trauma psicológico de una familia disfuncional y un abuso sexual en la infancia. Sus vivencias y su curiosidad le llevaron a investigar la psique humana y a estudiar eso que llamamos locura. Read ha concluido que lo mejor es tratar amorosamente a pacientes a los que hemos etiquetado como psicóticos y esquizofrénicos. Y lo argumenta en libros como Modelos de locura o El sentido de la locura (Herder). Read me pondera el trabajo en España del doctor Jorge Tizón y su equipo de atención precoz a pacientes en riesgo de psicosis (con el patronazgo de la Fundació Llegat Roca i Pi) y me anima a visitar InterVoiceOnline.org. Este Read me ha parecido muy cuerdo.

¿Qué es la locura?

El término para definir comportamientos inusuales en el seno de una cultura.

¿La locura... es cultural?

¡Claro! Conozco a fondo la cultura maorí, y sé que en esa cultura no es síntoma de locura oír voces.

¿No?

Aprenden desde niños que eso encaja en la normalidad..., ¡y nadie se asusta! Nadie cree que uno esté loco sólo por oír voces...

Aquí sí, aquí te llevan al médico...

Allí entienden que es un ancestro que acude a ayudarte. Lo agradeces..., ¡y a otra cosa!

Pues si yo oigo voces, ¡sí me espantaré!

Porque te han enseñado que eso es estar mal de la cabeza, enfermo, y te internarán, tratarán...: vives con ese relato miedoso.

Oír voces, entonces, ¿no es patológico?

Para la especie humana, no es nada raro oír voces y ver visiones: ¡es parte de nuestra naturaleza! El 15% de la gente oye voces.

No sabía esto, explíquemelo...

Mire, el 80% de las personas mayores de 60 años que ha perdido a su pareja o a algún ser muy querido... ¡lo oirá o lo verá en algún momento durante el primer año de duelo!

¡¿Tantas personas?!

Pero preferimos no comentarlo con nadie...

¿Le ha pasado a usted?

Un buen amigo mío se mató en accidente de coche... Lo lamenté tanto... Al día siguiente se me apareció, vino a despedirse de mí...

¿Hay explicación científica?

Lo primero es aceptar el hecho sin problematizarlo, pues lo que ayuda no es saber cómo sucede, ¡sino dilucidar qué significa!

¿Y qué significa?

¡Es un mensaje a encajar en la biografía de quien lo vive! Pero el psiquiatra, en vez de escuchar al paciente..., ¡lo dopa! Debería ver cómo encaja el mensaje en su relato vital.

¿Lo llamamos locura... y es un mensaje?

Sí. El psiquiatra debe lograr, con humildad, sensibilidad y paciencia, que el paciente se convierta en autor del relato de su vida...

¿Y no lo hacen así los psiquiatras?

En España, los profesores universitarios de psiquiatría ¡cobran de la industria farmacéutica! En estas condiciones..., me daría vergüenza ser psiquiatra en España.

¿En el resto del mundo no es así?

También en Estados Unidos... Y me abochorna que dilapidemos fortunas buscando el gen de la locura, de la esquizofrenia: ¡no existe! No hay raíz biológica de la locura.

¿Dónde debemos buscar, pues?

En el propio relato del paciente, insisto. Darle drogas antipsicóticas... ¡sí es una locura!

¿Tan contraproducentes son?

Perjudican más que benefician, por lo que deberían prohibirse. ¡Acortan diez años la vida del paciente así medicado!

¿En qué casos sí benefician?

Sólo para tranquilizar al paciente durante una crisis: eso es sólo un tercio de los casos.

¿Aconsejaría a los pacientes abandonar ahora mismo los antipsicóticos?

¡Que nadie deje a solas la medicación! Es arriesgado. Dialogad con el psiquiatra y pedidle ayuda para contactar con grupos de terapias mentales sin fármacos, que los hay.

¿Cómo trata usted a sus pacientes?

Un caso: uno llevaba treinta años medicándose porque se sentía observado y espiado y quería convertirse en mujer. Me bastaron seis meses conversando con él para entrar en su lógica y ayudarle a mejorar.

¿Conclusión?

La buena calidad de la relación terapeuta-paciente es lo más curativo que hay. ¡No existe mejor medicina!

¿Algún consejo para el terapeuta?

Escucha al paciente con paciencia, sin hacerle sentir enfermo mental y sin juzgarle.

¿Alguna otra evidencia científica sobre lo que llamamos locura y su tratamiento?

En países africanos, es la propia locura la que cura: los chamanes provocan brotes psicóticos con drogas, con fines curativos...

¿Con qué resultados?

El dato científico es que dos tercios de los psicóticos se recuperan en África. Aquí sólo recuperamos a un tercio. ¡Aprendamos!

¿Qué le llevó a aprender psicología?

La necesidad de entenderme a mí mismo.

¿Qué le pasaba?

De los 11 a los 13 años fui víctima de abusos sexuales por parte del director de mi colegio. No entendía qué estaba pasando y me vengué del mundo suspendiéndolo todo...

¿Qué efectos tiene un abuso?

Si no se repara, es un trauma psíquico que puede derivar en psicosis y esquizofrenia.

¿Es muy frecuente el abuso sexual?

En Occidente, el 20% de las niñas y el 15% de los niños padecen abusos sexuales...

¿Con efectos iguales en niños y niñas?

La niña se aislará de otros niños. El niño abusará psicológicamente de otros niños.

¿Cómo debemos actuar ante un abuso?

Hay que alejar al abusador. Y preguntar al niño y escucharle. Y hacerle entender que él no ha actuado mal. Y ayudar a los progenitores inocentes. ¡Y dar mucho cariño y amor al niño! Si se hace así, se repondrá.

¿Puede pasarle algo peor a un niño?

También es muy traumático chillarle y reñirle y abroncarle continuamente..., y tanto peor cuanto más joven, porque se dañan más los reguladores neuronales del estrés.

¿Con qué consecuencias?

Tú dile al niño continuamente que es muy malo o un desastre... y será fiel a este relato, porque los niños creen íntimamente a sus padres. Y será malo y será un desastre. Y psicótico, depresivo... y eventual suicida.

Una de cada dos personas con trastorno bipolar no es diagnosticada

Aparece entre los 15 y los 25 años. Es padecida por entre el 2 y el 5 por ciento de la población.

Alrededor del 49 por ciento de las personas que sufren un trastorno bipolar no está diagnosticado y el 31 por ciento de los que conocen esta enfermedad han recibido un tratamiento equivocado de depresión mayor.

Al menos así lo aseguraron varios expertos reunidos en el XI Seminario Lundbeck 'Trastorno Bipolar: El desgobierno de la mente', llevado a cabo en Ibiza (España). Además, según los especialistas presentes en el evento, el 34 por ciento de estas personas ha vivido más de 10 años con síntomas de la enfermedad antes de su diagnóstico.

Y aunque las cifras que entregaron correspondían a España, de acuerdo con los psiquiatras y neurólogos, estas pueden extrapolarse a otras latitudes y es posible que reflejen lo que pasa en países en vías de desarrollo, como Colombia.

Según el psiquiatra Antonio Carlos Toro, coordinador del programa de salud mental del Hospital San Vicente y profesor de la Universidad de Antioquia, "esta enfermedad suele aparecer entre los 15 y los 25 años y se calcula que es padecida por entre el 2 y el 5 por ciento de la población mundial; sin embargo, a nivel local la estadística puede ser menor, pero por simple falta de consulta".

Toro afirma que como este trastorno se caracteriza por dos fases -una depresiva y otra maniaca que es de euforia o exaltación- , y la primera es más común que la segunda, "eso hace que muchas veces el paciente sea tratado como un depresivo y no responda al tratamiento o recaiga porque tiene es trastorno bipolar".

De ahí, el diagnóstico equivocado. Durante el seminario en España, los expertos recordaron que cada vez hay avances más grandes e investigaciones más completas sobre el tratamiento de este trastorno, pero sigue siendo muy difícil diagnosticarlo durante las primeras etapas de la enfermedad.

En concreto, el trastorno bipolar es una enfermedad mental que, con los medios actuales, es perfectamente tratable en la mayor parte de los casos.No afecta a la inteligencia, sino a la regulación de las emociones, y sus causas son una combinación de factores genéticos y ambientales.

Asimismo, su tratamiento es farmacológico y psicoterapéutico. Según la Programa de Trastornos Bipolares del Servicio de Psiquiatría en el Hospital Universitario La Paz de Madrid (España), Consuelo de Dios, "tiende a ser crónica y recurrente, y se puede manifestar con un conjunto de diferentes síntomas psicológicos, conductuales y físicos no siempre fáciles de diagnosticar y tratar.

No obstante, muchos pacientes adecuadamente tratados pueden llevar una vida y unas relaciones normales".

Se estima que el trastorno bipolar puede disminuir la esperanza de vida entre 13 y 30 años. Y, de acuerdo con la especialista De Dios, en esta enfermedad la mortalidad está relacionada con causas no naturales como el suicidio o los accidentes, pero, más aún, con causas naturales, entre las que se cuentan problemas cardiovasculares y endocrino-metabólicos.

"Las enfermedades que con más frecuencia se presentan en el paciente con trastorno bipolar son la obesidad mórbida, la diabetes mellitus y las enfermedades cardiovasculares -le dijo a la prensa de su país tras el evento-. Además, los problemas de abuso de sustancias, incluyendo el alcohol, son mucho más frecuentes en el paciente con trastorno bipolar que en la población general, y esto también conlleva un alto riesgo de morbimortalidad". 

* Con información de www.elmundo.es

Cine24.es - Alguien voló sobre el nido del cuco

(Link ver Online Español) Cine24.es - Alguien voló sobre el nido del cuco
Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), un violador de espíritu libre, que vive contracorriente, es recluido en un hospital psiquiátrico. La inflexible disciplina del centro acentúa su contagiosa tendencia al desorden, que acabará desencadenando una guerra entre los pacientes y el personal de la clínica con la fría y severa enfermera Ratched (Louise Fletcher) a la cabeza. La suerte de cada paciente del pabellón está en juego. 
Título en Latinoamérica: "Atrapado sin salida". (FILMAFFINITY)

Insomnio, producto de malos hábitos alimenticios y mala higiene del sueño.

Ingerir alimentos en  abundancia por las noches, además de que propicia sobrepeso y obesidad, interfiere con una buena calidad de sueño, señalaron académicos de los Departamentos de Salud y Psicología de la Universidad Iberoamericana

De acuerdo con investigaciones de la Clínica del Sueño del Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría "Ramón de la Fuente", 30 por ciento de los mexicanos padece insomnio. Una de las principales causas de éste es el ritmo acelerado de la vida que tiene la sociedad actual y los malos hábitos alimenticios.

El insomnio tiene múltiples causas, en algunos pacientes se relaciona por comer demasiado, acción que interfiere con una buena calidad de sueño porque se dificulta la digestión debido a la enorme carga de alimentos que debe procesar el organismo en una etapa del día que es para el reposo, precisó Alicia Parra Carriedo, coordinadora de la Clínica de Nutrición de esta casa de estudios.

A las personas que tienen insomnio les da mucho apetito y esto se relaciona con la ghrelina, una hormona que se secreta en el estómago que favorece la regulación del metabolismo energético. “Cuando las personas están despiertas, la ghrelina se secreta en mayores cantidades, es una hormona que produce apetito. Cuando las personas sufren de insomnio, la ghrelina se secreta y despierta el apetito por las noches”, subrayó.

Para no tener el proceso digestivo activo en el momento en que las personas van a dormir, recomendó tomar la cena “lo más temprano posible” para que puedan tener tiempo de realizar alguna actividad física como caminar antes de dormir, expresó.

Pacientes con sobrepeso y obesidad tienen el hábito de comer cuantiosamente en la noche, muchos de ellos sufren insomnio, “una de las recomendaciones cuando los pacientes sufren dispepsia o dificultades con la digestión es comer y salir a caminar”, apuntó.

El insomnio por estar emparentado con el estrés y el trastorno de ansiedad, provoca que las personas no ingieran alimentos en todo el día y al llegar en la noche a sus casas toman una cena cuantiosa, se recompensan comiendo grandes cantidades de alimentos o comen compulsivamente por el estrés acumulado del día y fomentan el insomnio.

Acotó que las nutriólogas de la Ibero como parte de sus actividades educativas y de atención a pacientes recomiendan que la cena sea el alimento más ligero del día: una ensalada, un cereal con leche ligera o descremada.

"Buscamos que las personas no omitan el desayuno, que lo hagan tomando en cuenta las verduras y frutas combinadas con cereales, leguminosas y alimentos de origen animal porque el desayuno aporta energía al organismo para que responda a todas las actividades del día", reiteró.

Por otro lado, el investigador del Departamento de Psicología, Óscar Galicia, afirmó que el sueño es vital y que el insomnio es un síntoma de otros trastornos como los malos hábitos alimenticios, el estrés, la ansiedad y la mala higiene de sueño.

Expuso que el insomnio no se define por el tiempo que las personas duermen, sino por la satisfacción que deja el sueño. “Las personas por dormir 10 horas no significa que duerman bien, si amanecen perezosos o cansados, significa que hay un problema”, dependiendo de la causa se corrige el sueño o los patrones alterados de conducta, afirmó.

La mala higiene del sueño se refiere a que el sujeto hace cosas incompatibles con el estado de sueño como hacer ejercicio pesado por las  noches, realizar actividades emocionantes, ingerir muchos alimentos, incluso tener sexo o ver la tele, estas acciones interrumpen el ciclo o la vigilia, enunció.

“Si pensamos que vamos a vivir 60 años, 20 de esos años la pasaremos dormidos y ocho de ellos soñando, desde la perspectiva de las neurociencias aún no sabemos para qué sirve el sueño, aunque el psicoanálisis lo tenga resuelto, lo único que sabemos es que si una persona no duerme, se muere”, explicó.

Fuente: Universidad Iberoamericana.

Universia México, Mayo 2012.

Espacio y Movimiento de la Locura: El péndulo de la Historia (Chile)

Por: Alfredo Roca.

Medico Psiquiatra, Universidad de Chile. Doctor en Medicina, Universidad Libre de Bruselas, Bélgica. Epidemiología. Universidad Católica de Lovaina, Bélgica. Profesor de la Universidad de Playa Ancha y Profesor asociado de la Universidad de Valparaíso. E-mail: aroca@upa.cl

Este artículo se referirá al espacio social de la locura y a sus movimientos, en Chile, desde la Colonia hasta el siglo XXI. Intentaremos en lo que sigue, referirnos a la psiquiatría en Chile, teniendo en cuenta el movimiento desarrollado en el tiempo largo, “la longue durée”. Esto nos permitirá observar los movimientos en la historia de la locura, en los últimos siglos. Por otra parte, abordaremos la locura desde su propio movimiento (intrínseco) en los espacios que  se le asignan. Decimos espacios, porque ellos son múltiples, pero los diferenciaremos en espacio interno, intramuros o institucional y espacio externo o extramuros.

Descarga

Open publication - Free publishing - More chile

Dibujo y Personalidad - Augusto Vels

Dibujo y Personalidad - Augusto Vels. Test Proyectivos Vels

Dr. Robert Spitzer Apologizes to Gay Community for Infamous ‘Ex-Gay’ Study

Dr. Robert Spitzer Apologizes to Gay Community for Infamous ‘Ex-Gay’ Study
April 25th, 2012 by John M. Becker. Truth Wins Out.

Today, in a letter to Dr. Ken Zucker obtained exclusively by Truth Wins Out, Dr. Robert Spitzer made an unprecedented apology to the gay community — and victims of reparative therapy in particular — for his infamous, now-repudiated 2001 study that claimed some “highly motivated” homosexuals could go from gay to straight:

Several months ago I told you that because of my revised view of my 2001 study of reparative therapy changing sexual orientation, I was considering writing something that would acknowledge that I now judged the major critiques of the study as largely correct. 

After discussing my revised view of the study with Gabriel Arana, a reporter for American Prospect, and with Malcolm Ritter, an Associated Press science writer, I decided that I had to make public my current thinking about the study. Here it is. 

Basic Research Question. From the beginning it was: “can some version of reparative therapy enable individuals to change their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual?” Realizing that the study design made it impossible to answer this question, I suggested that the study could be viewed as answering the question, “how do individuals undergoing reparative therapy describe changes in sexual orientation?” – a not very interesting question. 

The Fatal Flaw in the Study – There was no way to judge the credibility of subject reports of change in sexual orientation. I offered several (unconvincing) reasons why it was reasonable to assume that the subject’s reports of change were credible and not self-deception or outright lying. But the simple fact is that there was no way to determine if the subject’s accounts of change were valid. 

I believe I owe the gay community an apology for my study making unproven claims of the efficacy of reparative therapy. I also apologize to any gay person who wasted time and energy undergoing some form of reparative therapy because they believed that I had proven that reparative therapy works with some “highly motivated” individuals. 

Robert Spitzer. M.D.
Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry,
Columbia University

Zucker, to whom Spitzer’s letter is addressed, is the editor of the Archives of Sexual Behavior, the journal in which Spitzer’s study was originally published in 2001. At that time, the study was a surprise that created a media firestorm which captured the nation’s attention. Dr. Spitzer was the last person in America one would have expected to produce a study bolstering the claims of ‘ex-gay’ activists — after all, he had previously led the charge in 1972-73 to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association.

Earlier this month, Dr. Spitzer dealt “ex-gay” programs a fatal blow by officially renouncing his study in the American Prospect article he mentions in his letter above. That renunciation kicked out the final leg from the stool on which the proponents of ‘ex-gay’ therapy based their already shaky claims of success, or as Arana put it, removed from the ex-gay “fringe movement. . . its only shred of scientific support.”

Dr. Spitzer’s apology to the victims of “pray away the gay” therapy and the greater LGBT community marks a watershed moment in the fight against the “ex-gay” myth. We commend him for it, because not only will it solidify his legacy as a respected doctor and significant historical figure, but it will help to greatly hasten the day when the scourge that is reparative therapy is eradicated forever and LGBT people can live openly, honestly, and true to themselves.

Prosopagnosia: Whose face is that?

Prosopagnosia: Whose face is that?
Published on April 15, 2012 by Jenni Ogden, Ph.D. Psychology Today.
How many of you find movies and TV shows confusing because the same blonde woman appears to be both the murderer and the murdered? And then she appears again as the detective! If this is a common problem for you, and your partner is constantly having to explain who is who, you may have a mild form of prosopagnosia

Until quite recently, it was thought that this was a rare neurological disorder that occurred only after brain damage or disease, usually to the occipital (visual) lobes at the back of the brain, or to the adjacent temporal lobes. But it is now a matter of scientific record that mild forms of developmental or congenital prosopagnosia occur in the normal, healthy population. Oliver Sacks, the neurologist and author of so many amazing books about brain damaged patients, has quite a severe case of congenital prosopagnosia. He describes his symptoms in his book, “The Minds Eye,” in the chapter called “Face-Blind.” For example, on one occasion he was to meet his personal assistant of six years in his publisher’s office. He sat in the waiting room without realizing that the young woman also sitting there and smiling at him was his assistant! After about five minutes she told him who she was; she’d been testing him to see how long he took to recognize her. Like many people with prosopagnosia, Sacks also has a problem with recognizing places: he can go for a walk around the block his house is in, and then be unable to find it: he walks past it time and again. 

Sacks’s difficulties are at the severe end of the spectrum of congenital face and place recognition problems. Most non brain-damaged people with prosopagnosia will be much less affected. Probably people very well known to them will be readily recognized, and it is only when they meet people they don’t see very often that they have difficulty. If your only problem is keeping track of who is who in movies, then your prosopagnosia is at the very mild end of the spectrum, and would likely not even be significant enough to earn the prosopagnosia label .
Congenital face-blindness appears to be inherited, and affects around 1 in every 50 people. So if this is you, you are not alone: in the USA you join a group of more than 6 million. It behoves film makers to make their characters as different as possible, especially in those complex murder mysteries! If you think you might have this problem you can test yourself by signing on at www.faceblind.org/facetests/

My association with prosopagnosia has been with the rare, acquired form of the disorder, following brain damage. These cases are fascinating—at least to the researcher! Most patients with acquired prosopagnosia have damage to both occipital lobes, often extending to the pathways to the temporal “memory” lobes as well. I have a patient, Michael, who crashed his motorcycle and was in a coma for many months. On regaining consciousness, he was found to be totally blind, a consequence of damage to the visual cortex of both his occipital lobes. But, to everyone’s amazement, many years later Michael began to see dim lights, and an intensive rehabiitation programme was begun to try and bring back his sight. He slowly began to improve and soon could see quite well, but in his central vision only; his peripheral sight was lost. However, although he could describe the shapes of what he was seeing, and even copy pictures reasonably accurately (although painstakingly slowly), he had no idea what he was seeing or drawing. He had visual object agnosia; an inability to know what an object was on sight. He also had no idea whose face he was looking at. Show him a picture of a cat’s face and his mother’s face and he couldn’t tell them apart.


In stark contrast, he could read letters and words. In these rare cases of acquired prosopagnosia it has been found that some prosopagnosics also have dyslexia; that is they cannot recognize words (but can recognize objects), and other prosopagnosics have visual object agnosia (but can recognize words). One theory is that this depends on which occipital lobe is most severely damaged: if it is the right one, in the “‘visuospatial” hemisphere, then the patient will have visual object agnosia, and if it is the left one, in the language hemisphere, the patient will have dyslexia.


Prospagnosia and visual object agnosia are purely visual disorders. If Michael’s mother spoke, he immediately recognized her. If I showed him a bunch of keys, he didn’t know what they were, but if I jangled them or put them in his hand, he immediately recognized them.


Michael had other even rarer visual disorders; he couldn’t recognize colors or even imagine them from his past memories of what color an object or animal was. He said a sparrow—a common, nondescript brown bird— was blue. He had also lost his ability to form or "see" visual images: he had lost his mind’s eye. Related to this, he insisted he never dreamed, at least in visual images. But his most disabling problem was his loss of his entire past life: he could not remember any personal event that had ever happened to him, including his 21^st birthday, a large gathering with all his friends, with a live band, dancing, a feast, and an enormous birthday cake, just three years before his accident. After many experiments I finally concluded this dramatic autobiographical memory loss was a consequence of how he had stored his pre-accident memories; predominantly as visual images. Thus when he tried to recall them, because he had no visual imagery, it was as if he had no memory of the event. This theory was supported by the fact that he could remember sounds from his past; for example when he woke up from his coma, he was able to identify boats in the harbor nearby the hospital from the sounds of their individual fog horns (he had worked previously as a seaman).  He also remembered songs from his past, found the smell of motorcycles intoxicating and nostalgic, and told me he could remember what making love felt like (but had no recall of with whom he had made it)!


So what about his ability to form new memories? His brain damage did result in some separate problems with learning new information, but these were mild. For example, if I phone him out of the blue, perhaps years after we last talked, he immediately recognizes my voice and recalls many of our past experiments. He is able to store and recall new events, but they are non-visual memories, similar, I imagine, to the memories of a blind person. This is the way he described a barbeque he shared with friends four days earlier. “I had a ball. It was a beautiful, sunny day after all that rain we’ve been having. They had some really good spicy sausages and of course I got drunk later in the evening.” No amount of coaxing could bring forth any visual descriptions.


Michael had physical problems as well; he had lost an arm in the accident, and because of multiple fractures in his legs he walked with a severe limp. He had every excuse to lead an isolated, miserable existence, but there was never any chance of that. He proved a wonderful research participant; he loved participating in experiments and testing himself. He lived in his own small house, with a helper coming in daily, and his faithful friends took him places he couldn’t have managed by himself. A highlight was an overseas trip from New Zealand to the USA. With Michael in the sidecar, his friend Lou drove his Harley-Davidson the length of Route 66, including a few side trips. On their return, Lou gave him a photograph album to remind Michael of their trip, but then realized that was no use; Michael couldn’t recognize the pictures. So he put together a series of musical CDs beginning with “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” and including many songs like “New Orleans,” “Needles and Pins” (a reference to Michael’s numb backside when they’d been travelling for a long time), and “Grand Canyon.” The CD finished, of course with “Harley-Davidson Blues.”

Issues for DSM-V: Internet Addiction

Issues for DSM-V: Internet Addiction
Jerald J. Block

Internet addiction appears to be a common disorder that merits inclusion in DSM-V. Conceptually, the diagnosis is a compulsive-impulsive spectrum disorder that involves online and/or offline computer usage (1, 2) and consists of at least three subtypes: excessive gaming, sexual preoccupations, and e-mail/text messaging (3). All of the variants share the following four components: 1) excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives, 2) withdrawal, including feelings of anger, tension, and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible, 3) tolerance, including the need for better computer equipment, more software, or more hours of use, and 4) negative repercussions, including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation, and fatigue (3, 4).

Some of the most interesting research on Internet addiction has been published in South Korea. After a series of 10 cardiopulmonary-related deaths in Internet cafés (5) and a game-related murder (6), South Korea considers Internet addiction one of its most serious public health issues (7). Using data from 2006, the South Korean government estimates that approximately 210,000 South Korean children (2.1%; ages 6—19) are afflicted and require treatment (5). About 80% of those needing treatment may need psychotropic medications, and perhaps 20% to 24% require hospitalization (7).

Since the average South Korean high school student spends about 23 hours each week gaming (8), another 1.2 million are believed to be at risk for addiction and to require basic counseling. In particular, therapists worry about the increasing number of individuals dropping out from school or work to spend time on computers (5). As of June 2007, South Korea has trained 1,043 counselors in the treatment of Internet addiction and enlisted over 190 hospitals and treatment centers (7). Preventive measures are now being introduced into schools (9).

China is also greatly concerned about the disorder. At a recent conference, Tao Ran, Ph.D., Director of Addiction Medicine at Beijing Military Region Central Hospital, reported 13.7% of Chinese adolescent Internet users meet Internet addiction diagnostic criteria—about 10 million teenagers. As a result, in 2007 China began restricting computer game use; current laws now discourage more than 3 hours of daily game use (10).

In the United States, accurate estimates of the prevalence of the disorder are lacking (11, 12). Unlike in Asia, where Internet cafés are frequently used, in the United States games and virtual sex are accessed from the home. Attempts to measure the phenomenon are clouded by shame, denial, and minimization (3). The issue is further complicated by comorbidity. About 86% of Internet addiction cases have some other DSM-IV diagnosis present. In one study, the average patient had 1.5 other diagnoses (7). In the United States, patients generally present only for the comorbid condition(s). Thus, unless the therapist is specifically looking for Internet addiction, it is unlikely to be detected (3). In Asia, however, therapists are taught to screen for it.

Despite the cultural differences, our case descriptions are remarkably similar to those of our Asian colleagues (8, 13—15), and we appear to be dealing with the same issue. Unfortunately, Internet addiction is resistant to treatment, entails significant risks (16), and has high relapse rates. Moreover, it also makes comorbid disorders less responsive to therapy (3).

References:

1. Dell’Osso B, Altamura AC, Allen A, Marazziti D, Hollander E: Epidemiologic and clinical updates on impulse control disorders: a critical review. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2006; 256:464—475

 

2.

Hollander E, Stein DJ (eds): Clinical Manual of Impulse-Control Disorders. Arlington, Va, American Psychiatric Publishing, 2006

 

3.

Block JJ: Pathological computer use in the USA, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 433

 

4.

Beard KW, Wolf EM: Modification in the proposed diagnostic criteria for Internet addiction. Cyberpsychol Behav 2001; 4:377—383

 

5.

Choi YH: Advancement of IT and seriousness of youth Internet addiction, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 20

 

6.

Koh YS: Development and application of K-Scale as diagnostic scale for Korean Internet addiction, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 294

 

7.

Ahn DH: Korean policy on treatment and rehabilitation for adolescents’ Internet addiction, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 49

 

8.

Kim BN: From Internet to "family-net": Internet addict vs. digital leader, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 196

 

9.

Ju YA: School-based programs for Internet addiction prevention and intervention, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 243

 

10.

The more they play, the more they lose. People’s Daily Online, April 10, 2007

 

11.

Aboujaoude E, Koran LM, Gamel N, Large MD, Serpe RT: Potential markers for problematic Internet use: a telephone survey of 2,513 adults. CNS Spectr 2006; 11:750—755

 

12.

Block JJ: Prevalence underestimated in problematic Internet use study (letter). CNS Spectr 2007; 12:14

 

13.

Lee HC: Internet addiction treatment model: cognitive and behavioral approach, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction. Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 138

 

14.

Block JJ: Pathological computer game use. Psychiatric Times, March 1, 2007, p 49

 

15.

Ko CH: The case of online gaming addiction without other comorbid psychiatric disorders, in 2007 International Symposium on the Counseling and Treatment of Youth Internet Addiction, Seoul, Korea, National Youth Commission, 2007, p 401

 

16.

Block JJ: Lessons from Columbine: virtual and real rage. Am J Forensic Psychiatry 2007; 28:5—33