Turning Up the Heat: Inflammation as a Mechanism Linking Chronic Stress, Depression, and Heart Disease

ABSTRACT— Mounting evidence indicates that chronic stressors and depressive symptoms contribute to morbidity and mortality from cardiac disease. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms responsible for these effects or about why depressive symptoms and cardiac disease co-occur so frequently. In this article we outline a novel model that seeks to address these issues. It asserts that chronic stressors activate the immune system in a way that leads to persistent inflammation. With long-term exposure to the products of inflammation, people develop symptoms of depression and experience progression of atherosclerosis, the pathologic condition that underlies cardiac disease.     

The Effects of Emotional (Non-)Expression in (Chronic) Disease: A Meta-Analytic Review

Research on emotional (non-)expression is characterized by two facets; it has mainly focused on healthy individuals and it has failed to explore the relationships between the different concepts describing expression and non-expression. A meta-analysis was conducted in order to identify the differential effects of emotional expression and non-expression in patient samples. Results showed that neither expression, nor non-expression of emotions was related to perception of disease severity. Psychological distress increased in relation to emotional non-expression, but no effect was shown for emotional expression. Emotional non-expression was also related to adopting a helpless attitude towards the disease. The conceptual and methodological disparities identified in the retrieved studies undermined the validity of the emerged relationships. Reported changes in physical and psychological outcomes were related to the kind of research design, operationalization of (non-)expression and the clinical and psychological condition of the recruited samples. Implications for improving future research are discussed.     

What Works for the Gander Does Not Work as Well for the Goose: The Effects of Leader Behavior

This study examines the effects of leader behaviors and leader gender on employees' perceptions of support from the organization and employee commitment to the organization. Ninety-one employees completed a survey measuring leader behaviors, perceived organizational support, and organizational commitment. Results confirmed the hypothesis that a high interpersonal orientation and high task orientation had the most positive effect on employee attitudes. However, the high interpersonal orientation and high task orientation were not equally effective for both female and male leaders. Employees perceived more support from the organization when their supervisors, either female or male, used a high consideration–high initiating structure style than when they used a low consideration–low initiating structure style. On the other hand, only those employees who work for a male supervisor who is high in consideration and high in initiating structure were more committed to the organization.     

论诠释在中医经典化形成中的意义——以《温病条辨》为中心

中医经典化的形成受多种因素的影响,以《温病条辨》为例,探索诠释在中医经典化的形成过程中的作用。结果表明,《温病条辨》作为一部重要的中医典籍,本身就是在阐释早期中医经典的基础上,经过了后世医家的诠释、研究和实践,才逐步确立了中医经典的地位。诠释在《温病条辨》经典化的形成过程中发挥了重要作用：吴鞠通通过“以论释经”的传统性诠释、“以病诠经”的临床实践性诠释、社会性传播诠释和学术性传播诠释,使其根于经典、成于临床、要在革新、广泛流传、普遍接受,创造性地促进了《温病条辨》经典化的形成。

     

综合医院非专科心理障碍诊治的现状、困难及对策

毋庸置疑,随着社会的迅速变迁,心理障碍正成为影响人类健康的主要疾病之一,综合医院也逐渐成为心理障碍诊治的主要战场,但与之相应的是我们还没有充分准备好应对之策,综合医院尤其是心理非专科医生,作为面对这新一轮疾病浪潮的主体更是无所适从,其结果在临床上造成心理障碍的漏诊误治屡见不鲜,这也是一个全球性的问题,对此虽然也有不断的呼吁要重视和加强相关措施的改进,但经过数年努力,问题并没有得到根本改善,所以,需要从观念上的突破和方法的创新才能扭转这一状态.笔者结合自己长期的研究结果及临床经验,将就此对综合医院特别是心理非专科面临心理障碍的现状、遇到的困难以及如何有效应对的策略进行阐述,提出了一些较新的观点和方法,希望有所启示.     

The Discovery of the Self: A Study in Psychological Cure,by Elizabeth Severn,edited by Peter L. Rudnytsky,Routledge, Abingdon and New York, 2017, 149 pp.

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Understanding the Effects of Unemployment in Indian Graduates: Psychological,Financial and Social Perspectives

The present research attempts to examine the psychological impact of unemployment and understand the individual experiences of unemployed Indian graduates. It seeks to address three possible effects of unemployment, which are psychological, financial and social, along with a necessary scrutiny on how these individuals cope with their present unemployed situation. A qualitative analysis method has been employed to investigate the research objectives through employment of a semi-structured interview schedule among graduates in the age group of 21–23 years. The research findings suggest that unemployed graduates are psychologically impacted and sometimes experience feeling of worthlessness, social embarrassment and high level of stress. Some individuals also reported a lack of motivation and meaning in their life. Although, a majority of the participants agreed to have a decline in their psychological well-being, not all share the similar experiences of unhappiness and worthlessness owing to their unemployment. Therefore, this research also hopes to underline differences in the individual experiences due to unemployment.     

The Role of Spiritual Experiences and Activities in the Relationship Between Chronic Illness and Psychological Well-Being

Our research explores the correlates of spiritual experiences over a 2-year period in a sample of older adults (N = 164; mean age 81.9 years) living in a continuing care retirement community. Utilizing responses to the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale, scores were analyzed for changes over time and for their hypothesized moderating effect in the relationship between chronic illness impact and markers of psychological well-being (as measured by the Geriatric Depression and Life Satisfaction scales). Repeated measures ANOVA indicated a significant decline (P < .01) in the reported spiritual experiences over a 2-year period of time, and t tests showed a significant difference by gender (P < .01) in years 1 and 2, with women reporting higher levels of spiritual experiences than men. Analyses found low spirituality scores associated with low life satisfaction in all years (baseline: r = ?.288, P < .01; year 1: r = ?.209, P < .05; year 2: r = ?.330, P < .001). Only weak associations were detected between low spirituality and the presence of depressive symptoms at baseline (r = .186, P < .05) and year 2 (r = .254, P < .01). Moderation effects of spirituality on the relationship between chronic illness impact and markers of psychological well-being were explored in all years, with a statistically significant effect found only for the presence of depressive symptoms in year 2. Higher impact of chronic illnesses is associated with more depressive symptoms under conditions of low spirituality. Future research may center upon longer-duration evaluation of reliance upon spiritual practices and their impact in care management models.     

The Experience of Abandonment and Adoption,as a Child and as a Parent,in a Psychological Motivational Perspective

Abstract

The publication of the relationship between Sabina Spielrein and Carl Jung in 1980 gave rise to a veritable cottage industry of mythomania at the expense of historical truth. The fictions grafted upon the historical facts have conjured up a sensational aura of scandal and gossip about the protagonists. The arch fiction is that Spielrein and Jung had a sexual relationship during her analysis by Jung. At the very least, based on documents published by the author, this opinion can no longer be maintained beyond reasonable doubt. After 1905, Spielrein was no longer Jung's patient but continued as Jung's medical student, whereupon Jung sought her out as friend. In addition, it was Spielrein herself who fell passionately in love with Jung, and analysed this relationship as a case of mutual oedipal dynamics. The author further pursues the oedipal analysis of and links it to (1) love as reality and transference, (2) the reality of Jewish and Gentile relationships in Europe, and (3) mutual ethnic transferences between Spielrein and Jung. Jung, who was also passionately drawn to Spielrein, displaced his marital problems owing to a “Don Juan complex” to concocted problems in treatment, deceiving both himself and Freud out of the dread of social consequences.     

The Role of Darwin in Elizabeth Grosz's Deleuzian Feminist Theory: Sexual Difference,Ontology, and Intervention

In this article on Elizabeth Grosz's philosophy and its implications for discussions about feminist theory, I first suggest that Charles Darwin plays a particular role in Grosz's recent ontological thought. This role is to provide help in joining together two incompatible sources in her work: Gilles Deleuze's monistic ontology of a constant flow of new differentiations, on the one hand, and Luce Irigaray's thought of sexual difference as the primary ontological difference, on the other. I argue that Grosz's intellectual project has developed into a grand general theory of change in which both Darwin and Irigaray are turned into ontologists in a Deleuzian vein. I then point out that Grosz's ontology also includes a political aspect, which manifests in the fact that Grosz redescribes Darwin through interpreting him primarily as a theorist of “event” and the unexpected. However, through an analysis of the discussion on Grosz between Luciana Parisi and Jami Weinstein, I speculate whether Grosz's ambition to provide a total and complete explanation of change encourages the tone of feminist discussion toward one of explanation rather than intervention.     

The Effects of Social and Physical Functioning and Self-Management Abilities on Well-Being Among Patients with Cardiovascular Diseases,Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease,and Diabetes

To increase our understanding of relationships between well-being and social/physical functioning and self-management abilities (SMAs) among chronically ill patients. The cross-sectional questionnaire-based study included 1,254 patients with cardiovascular diseases, 725 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and 253 with diabetes (total, 2232/4200; 53 % response rate). Social and physical functioning correlated significantly with SMAs and well-being (all p?≤?0.001). After controlling for background characteristics, multiple regression showed that social and physical functioning were still related to SMAs (β?=?0.32–0.12; both p?≤?0.001) and well-being (β?=?0.39–0.14; both p?≤?0.001). The strengths of relationships between well-being and social (β?=?0.39 vs. 0.20) and physical (β?=?0.14 vs. 0.07) functioning declined significantly (both p?≤?0.001) when the SMA mediator was included in the equation. SMAs of chronically ill are related to their social and physical functioning. We found indications that chronically ill patients reporting lower levels of social and physical functioning are worse self-managers than are those with higher levels of functioning. Furthermore, SMAs may mediate the relationships between social and physical functioning and well-being. Self-management interventions aiming to enhance SMAs more broadly than traditional interventions aiming only to prevent functional decline are expected to improve SMAs and enhance well-being among chronically ill patients.     

Taking Up the Threads: The Aesthetic,Temporal, and Political Dimensions of Teaching

Studies in Philosophy and Education -     

王龙溪、邹东廓等集所见王阳明言行录佚文辑录

前　言阳明先生语录 ,生前由薛侃在虔州曾刻《传习录》 ,收其四十六岁以前讲学语。阳明死后 ,钱德洪、王畿讣告同门 ,并约定三年后将各门人弟子所录语录 ,统一汇寄于钱德洪处 ,以便编辑刻行。后来 ,王门弟子依照约定 ,陆续将各自所录寄钱德洪。钱德洪收到这些语录后 ,又增入他自己和王畿平时所录。这样 ,在阳明死后三、四年 ,其讲学语录已由钱氏大致收罗完毕。但是 ,钱德洪与编辑《朱子语类》的朱门后学不同。朱熹后学黎靖德把朱熹的全部语录编辑为《朱子语类大全》加以刊印 ,钱德洪却没有把收集到的全部阳明语录刊印出来 ,而是在他所得到的…     

The End of the Incarnation: John Owen,Trinitarian Agency and Christology

Recent interpreters of John Owen incorrectly argue that Owen's trinitarian theology undermines the doctrine of inseparable operations (Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa). On the contrary, this article argues Owen upheld this doctrine like his Reformed Orthodox contemporaries, using the incarnation as a test case. Owen maintained the incarnation was an undivided act of the Trinity, which had its appropriative terminus on the Son alone – a pattern of thought he extended to the Spirit's work on the Son's humanity. Owen's creative use of the tradition is an example for contemporary theologians who would emphasize the Spirit's role in Christology.