Things fall apart. The cultural complex in contemporary times1

These extraordinary months due to COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protests, set as they are against a backdrop of the increasingly worrying climate emergency, have brought fear, anxiety and discord across the globe. But we have also experienced a deepening of our understanding of our connectedness, protests against injustice, expressions of social concern and a demand for change. The concept of the cultural complex as developed by Singer & Kimbles (2004) offers a helpful means of connecting the psychology of the individual psyche and the political phenomena of power relations. Using a small example to illustrate how it might operate at a local level, I suggest that a fundamental shift is taking place raising profound levels of anxiety as we move from the known to the unknown. The bipolar nature of these complexes means the extremes are surfacing bringing fears of the very real possibility of more entrenched attacks on democracy from the far right and the hunkering down behind armed borders. But there is also hope that different ways of living together may be developing from the ground up, ways that are rooted in our sense of interdependence – with each other and our planetary home.     

Psychosis,symbol, affectivity 1: etiopathogenesis and treatment through analytical psychology

This is the first of two papers concerning our study into an integrated approach to psychotic disorders, conducted at the University of Palermo’s Psychiatry Unit Polyclinic over approximately 15 years. Here we will explore and reflect upon the acute psychotic condition mainly from a theoretical and conceptual perspective, while in the second paper we will explore the clinical perspective. From the point of view of psychopathology, and in the light of C.G. Jung’s conceptualization of analytical psychology, as well as calling on contributions from other authors from the systemic-relational and post-psychoanalytic field, we will clarify the ideas developed over these last few years by our team. From a more speculative perspective we will advance new interpretive hypotheses in an attempt to thoroughly understand the nature of the psychotic condition, both on a psychodynamic relational and a neuroscientific level. The paper describes how we revised our understanding of psychosis from a brain disease to a process aimed at the rearrangement of psychic functioning, as anticipated by John Weir Perry nearly 40 years ago.     

Intersections of personal vs. collective trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic: the hijacking of the human imagination

This paper explores how the deadly shadow of COVID-19 passing over the Earth constitutes a collective trauma that frequently opens up or ‘triggers’ un-remembered personal trauma, and it provides clinical examples of these intersections. The paper further explores how the human imagination, which we normally utilize to make meaning out of traumatic experience, can be hijacked by fear – leading to avoidance of suffering and to illusory formulations and alternative realities such as conspiracy theories. Alternatively, the imagination can be employed in more realistic and creative ways – leading through conscious suffering to healing and wholeness. Which path the imagination takes is shown to depend on the capacity of individuals to feel the full reality of the human condition in general and the exquisite vulnerability of our existence as fragile human beings at this moment in history. Ernest Becker’s analysis of our ‘denial of death’ and his urgency to embrace our common human vulnerability is explored in relation to Jung’s early tendency to deny the body. The author proposes that the more creative uses of the imagination, connected to a more humble and realistic apprehension of our common destiny, may be seen in the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement that swept the world in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak.     

Phenomenology of the trickster archetype,U.S. electoral politics and the Black Lives Matter movement

This paper examines the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in cultural, historical and relational contexts at the intersection of the U.S. Civil Rights movement, U.S. Civil Rights legislation, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and reforms thereto in the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision of Shelby County v Holder, 570 U.S.529 (2013). The intergenerational relations between the BLM movement and these ongoing movements for civil and human rights is underscored. In the wake of protests about the sadistic murder of George Floyd, an unarmed African American man, by a Caucasian police officer, the BLM movement has been mischaracterized as an affront to law and order by the Trump-led U.S. administration. The mischaracterization was a re-election campaign effort designed to ignite ‘white fear’, ‘white rage’ and to defend police brutality and systemic racism. Analytical psychology and the phenomenology of the trickster archetype, as amplified from the African-centric perspective in the Yoruba deity Esu-Elegba, are employed to interrogate partisan obstructionist behaviours that assault multicultural democracy in both contemporary U.S. electoral politics and the political economy. The paper concludes with a brief note on the social activism of Fair Fight Georgia and the integration of its agenda into the BLM movement.     

Gender detransition: a case study

Within the last decade, there has been a sharp global rise in the number of young people identifying as transgender. More recently, there appears to be an increase in the numbers of young people detransitioning or returning to identifying with their natal sex after pursuing medical transition. A case is presented of a young woman who pursued a gender transition and returned to identifying as female after almost two years on testosterone. The author considers and critiques the affirmative model of care for gender dysphoric youth in light of this case.     

The effectiveness of cognitive behavioral group intervention on depression and anxiety in patients with type II diabetes

IntroductionDepression and anxiety are important risk factors for diabetes and high blood pressure.ObjectiveThis study investigated the effectiveness of the Cognitive-Behavioral Group Intervention for Diabetes Disease (CBGI-DD) in reducing depression and anxiety in female patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).MethodThe CBGI-DD program includes 12 weekly 2.5 h sessions, spread weekly over the course of 3 months. The present study was semi-experimental and controlled, with assessments at pre-test and post-test. It included diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of T2D in the patient's medical records by a diabetes specialist. Participants (62 female volunteers aged 25 to 75 years) were randomly allocated to a control or test group. Both groups responded to the Second edition of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) before (pretest) and immediately after the intervention (posttest). Participants in the test group received CBGI-DD (from April up to the end of September 2018) at Mashhad Diabetes Center. The control group received only medical care during this period.ResultsAn analysis of covariance showed that compared to the control group, the test group had a significant reduction in anxiety and depression from pre-test to post-test (p < 0.05). It was compared post-test scores between the two groups, controlling for pre-test scores.ConclusionThe CBGI-DD program seems to be effective in reducing anxiety and depression in female patients with T2D. However, further research exploring the potential for long-term improvements in depression and anxiety is needed.     

Mindfulness-based programs,perceived stress and well-being at work: The preferential use of informal practices

IntroductionOrganizations which engage in the promotion of well-being are likely to prevent mental health issues in workers. Mindfulness-based interventions offer new perspectives to increase well-being at work. However, the issue of finding time and framework to practice at work is important. Recent studies suggested that informal mindfulness practices could be useful in reducing stress and increasing well-being.ObjectiveThe present study aimed to study how the duration and type of mindfulness practice may enhance employees’ well-being.MethodA multi-method (qualitative and quantitative), controlled pre/post design study (N = 72) was conducted to collect data about the type of preferred mindfulness practices used during an 8-week MBSR program, and to analyse the effects of the program on employees’ well-being. Number of sessions, number of days of practice, and practice time per day were used as moderators.ResultsParticipants reported a preferential use of brief, informal practices. Employees who followed the MBSR program reported higher levels of well-being compared to the wait-list control group (η² = .194). Those who preferentially used informal practices showed the same increase in well-being as those who reported preferentially using formal practices. The number of days of practice did not moderate the effect of the intervention on well-being.ConclusionBrief and informal mindfulness practices appear to be a promising means of increasing well-being in everyday life. Further research is needed to compare an 8-week mainly informal mindfulness-based program to a classical MBSR program to identify whether informal practices may be sufficient to increasing employees’ well-being.     

Psychometric properties of the French version of Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (B-SSS)

IntroductionA French version of the Briefing-Sensation Seeking Scale (B-SSS) (Hoyle et al., 2002) was developed according to a process of double reverse translation.ObjectiveTwo studies were then led to validate the psychometrics properties (validity and the reliability) of this French version of the B-SSS.MethodsIn the first study, 97 participants (14–24 years old) answered the original version (in English) and the translated version (in French). In the second study, 124 participants (14–24 years) answered the French version at two times measurement. Psychometrics analyses brings together reliability indices (Cronbach's alpha and temporal stability) and concurrent validity indices.ResultsFor both studies, Cronbach alphas were used to assess internal consistency, while intraclass coefficients (ICC) demonstrated temporal stability. In the second study, Pearson correlations between the French version and the ImpSS supported concurrent validity. Reliability is acceptable in the first study (α = .601 in, 674; ICC = .550–.895) and satisfactory in the second study (α = .734–.755; ICC = .650–.948). Pearson's correlation of the French version of the B-SSS and the ImpSS varies between .658 and .754.ConclusionPsychometrics properties of the French version of the B-SSS show that this scale can be used to measure sensation seeking with teenagers and for young adults.     

Factorial validation and measurement invariance of the French version of the multidimensional competitive orientation inventory (FVMCOI) in the sport field

IntroductionLittle is known about the importance of the adaptive, maladaptive and neutral facets of competitive orientations among French athletes.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to test the factorial validation and measurement invariance of the French version of the multidimensional competitive orientation inventory (FVMCOI) from the original version (MCOI, Orosz et al., 2018), which included 12 items and four factors (i.e., hypercompetitive orientation, self-developmental competitive orientation, anxiety-driven competition avoidance, and lack of interest toward competition).MethodA series of three complementary studies was carried out with a total sample of 891 competitors.ResultsFollowing cross-cultural validation methods a preliminary version of the FVMCOI was constructed and the clarity of its items was established (study 1). Then, exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) confirmed that the four-factor model for the FVMCOI was factorially valid, and consistent with the model of the original version. As such, the multiple-group invariance tests showed that the FVMCOI was partially invariant across both age and gender and fully invariant across type of sport, level of competition and over time (study 2). Finally, the concurrent validity of the FVMCOI was demonstrated through its expected relationships with achievement goals, competitive aggressiveness and anger in sport (study 3).ConclusionThe establishment of the FVMCOI extends the research in sport psychology by allowing an extensive psychometric study of the MCOI in the sport domain and providing deeper insights into the healthy, unhealthy, and neutral nature of competitive orientation in this context. The FVMCOI's potential practical applications in sport context, with some limitations and perspectives of this study, are also discussed.