Patientensuizid im psychiatrischen Fachkrankenhaus

Suicide prevention especially with psychiatric inpatients is traditionally a very important aspect of psychiatric treatment. During the 1970s and 1980s there was a noticeable increase in so-called hospital suicides in Germany, especially suicides of schizophrenic inpatients. The number of psychiatric inpatient suicides has currently decreased again and a shift to more depressive suicides has also been observed. Furthermore questions which are asked in court are presented and discussed.     

The relation between infant freezing and the development of internalizing symptoms in adolescence: A prospective longitudinal study

Given the long‐lasting detrimental effects of internalizing symptoms, there is great need for detecting early risk markers. One promising marker is freezing behavior. Whereas initial freezing reactions are essential for coping with threat, prolonged freezing has been associated with internalizing psychopathology. However, it remains unknown whether early life alterations in freezing reactions predict changes in internalizing symptoms during adolescent development. In a longitudinal study (N = 116), we tested prospectively whether observed freezing in infancy predicted the development of internalizing symptoms from childhood through late adolescence (until age 17). Both longer and absent infant freezing behavior during a standard challenge (robot‐confrontation task) were associated with internalizing symptoms in adolescence. Specifically, absent infant freezing predicted a relative increase in internalizing symptoms consistently across development from relatively low symptom levels in childhood to relatively high levels in late adolescence. Longer infant freezing also predicted a relative increase in internalizing symptoms, but only up until early adolescence. This latter effect was moderated by peer stress and was followed by a later decrease in internalizing symptoms. The findings suggest that early deviations in defensive freezing responses signal risk for internalizing symptoms and may constitute important markers in future stress vulnerability and resilience studies.     

Changes in the gangliosides of erythrocyte membranes of schizophrenic patients

The pattern of gangliosides in membranes of erythrocytes was examined in healthy donors, in acute schizophrenics without neuroleptic treatment and in alcohol-dependent patients. 7 different gangliosides could be detected after extraction, purification by column chromatography and fractionation by TLC. Healthy donors were characterized by the following pattern of gangliosides: GX = 5.8%, GT1b = 6.7%, FucGD1b = 5.2%, und GD1a = 12.6%, GD3 = 9.2%, SPG = 43.5% and GM3 = 17.0%. In schizophrenic patients the GM3- and GD3-fraction were increased. No difference was found between the control group and the alcoholics.     

Endogenous psychoses in relation to absent phenylalanine hydroxylase activity in thrombocytes

Out of 100 psychotic patients who underwent neurobiochemical examination, in 24 cases activity of phenylalanine hydroxylase in the thrombocytes was found to be absent. 38% of these cases were susceptible to stimulation in vitro by means of folic acid derivative, without actually reaching a normal level of activity. The patients are presented first as a homgeneous group, then in the two major diagnostic divisions, and divided according to the biochemical data. An account is given of early experiences in the treatment of the more intractable cases.     

Using motor tasks to quantitatively judge 3-D surface curvatures

The primary objective of this study was to quantitatively investigate the human perception of surface curvature by using virtual surfaces and motor tasks along with data analysis methods to estimate surface curvature from drawing movements. Three psychophysical experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, we looked at subjects’ sensitivity to the curvature of a curve lying on a surface and changes in the curvature as defined byEuler’s formula, which relates maximum and minimum principal curvatures and their directions. Regardless of direction and surface shape (elliptic and hyperbolic), subjects could report the curvature of a curve lying on a surface through a drawing task. In addition, multiple curves drawn by subjects were used to reconstruct the surface. These reconstructed surfaces could be better accounted for by analysis that treated the drawing data as a set of curvatures rather than as a set of depths. A pointing task was utilized in Experiment 2, and subjects could report principal curvature directions of a surface rather precisely and consistently when the difference between principal curvatures was sufficiently large, but performance was poor for the direction of zero curvature (asymptotic direction) on a hyperbolic surface. In Experiment 3, it was discovered that sensitivity to the sign of curvature was different for perceptual judgments and motor responses, and there was also a difference for that of a curve itself and the same curve embedded in a surface. These findings suggest that humans are sensitive to relative changes in curvature and are able to comprehend quantitative surface curvature for some motor tasks.     

On the theory of uniqueness in measurement

This paper describes problems in the theory of uniqueness which occur when there are two different measurement homomorphisms f and g with g not attainable from f by a transformation on the range of f. In this case, the theories of scale type and of meaningfulness of statements using scales are in trouble. It is shown that unless extreme care is taken in the definitions, it is possible for two measurement homomorphisms of the same fixed relational system to have different scale type and it is possible for seemingly meaningless statements to be judged meaningful.     

Prognosis, chronification and therapeutic relations in unsatisfactorily improved secondary faulty developments with cardiovascular affections

In a group of 36 neurotic women with unsatisfactory psychotherapy results, prognostic criteria, chronifying factors in the course, therapeutist-patient relations, test data, and social and clinical criteria were ascertained for an assessment of success by neutral examiners and statistically correlated. The significance of common prognostic criteria is relativised and the therapeutist-patient relation is determined as an influencing factor through which prognostic and chronifying factors are translated into the therapeutic process. The relevance of the paranoid scale of the MMPI as an objective prognostic sign is particularly noted.     

Selbsthilfegruppen im Rahmen stationärer psychotherapeutischer Behandlungen

Psychosomatic in-patient treatment applies a combination of various methods in order to facilitate learning by insight and corrective emotional experiences in a therapeutic community. The establishment of a self-help group on the ward can be a useful complementary element in such a comprehensive approach. However, empirical research on this specific topic does not yet exist. Based on clinical experience, necessary preconditions as well as the pros and cons of integrating self-help into professional treatment are described. The assessment of 850 patients in a clinic for psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy concerning a self-help group on the ward are presented. Relationships between patients’ evaluation of the self-help group and various other variables as well as the overall treatment effect were studied. Empirical data provide evidence of a differential effect of the self-help group on the ward: the majority of the patients experienced the self-help group as useful. Whether the patient is able to benefit from group therapy seems to be an intermediate variable and the therapists’ attitude towards self-help groups also seems to play an important role.