1,721,130 research outputs found

    Trazodone Augmentation in OCD: A Case Series Report

    No full text
    Based on previous evidence that trazodone may have antiobsessional properties, the authors assessed trazodone augmentation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) therapy in five cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder. All patients showed symptomatic improvement after trazodone was added to treatment with various SSRIs, and in many cases, trazodone also improved the tolerability of SSRI therapy

    PSYCHOLOGICAL RESOURCES AGAINST THE TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE OF COVID-19

    No full text
    Psychological resources, such as defense mechanism and mindfulness practice, can mediate the individual reaction to traumatic experiences as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. A novel self-reported measure based on the DMRS (DMRS-SR-30), has been developed with the aim of assessing potential adaptive defensive strategies against the traumatic experience of COVID-19. Preliminary validation of the DMRS-SR-30 showed good internal consistency in both overall defensive functioning and subscales. Combining adaptive defense mechanisms and mindfulness practice could prevent psychological distress due to the effect of COVID-19 losses and quarantining

    Perceptually Visible but Emotionally Subliminal Stimuli to Improve Exposure Therapies

    No full text
    Subliminal stimuli are gaining growing interest due to their capability to induce desensitization to pathologically feared (e.g., phobic) pictures without inducing exaggerated emotional reactions. However, unresolved methodological issues cast significant doubt on the reliability of these findings and their interpretation. The studies most robustly assessing stimulus detection found that ~30% of the supposed‐to‐be‐subliminal stimuli were, in fact, detected, suggesting that the beneficial effects attributed to subliminal stimuli may result from those actually seen. Nevertheless, a deeper analysis of the data underlying this misinterpretation unveils theoretical and clinical implications. Since the purpose of subliminal stimulation is to reduce the aversiveness of exposure therapies while maintaining their efficacy, researchers should measure the emotional relevance of supposed‐to‐be‐subliminal stimuli that are, in fact, detected. A distinction is needed between perceptually‐ and emotionally‐subliminal stimuli: the former is not consciously detected; the latter just fails to elicit emotional reactions. Emotionally‐subliminal stimuli could represent an intermediate step of exposure in addition to those involving perceptually subliminal or supraliminal stimuli. Importantly, emotionally subliminal stimuli could make patients able to sustain a conscious exposure to feared stimuli without exaggeratedly reacting to them: if confirmed by empirical data, this unexpected disconfirmation of patients’ beliefs could pave the way for successful therapy while increasing their self‐efficacy and compliance to treatment

    Awareness of everyday effects of climate change: The climate change perceptual awareness scale (CCPAS)

    No full text
    Climate change is intrinsically complex and demands a certain degree of abstraction. However, different individuals report a wide range and degree of tangible and sensory experiences of climate change. As perceptual and sensory awareness of climate change has important consequences for the promotion of sustainable behaviors, pro-climate policies, and clinical interventions for climate-related disorders such as climate anxiety, new specific tools are required: herein we detail the development of a psychometric measure of perceptual awareness of climate change, as well as provide evidence for its discriminant, convergent, and predictive validity for sustainable behaviors. The administration of this scale on a representative sample of the UK population (Study 1) yielded a 4-factor structure, with items measuring perception of temperature changes and those measuring perception of humidity changes loading on separate factors, and two additional factors identifying the awareness of own feelings and perception of media attention on climate change. A second administration (Study 2) to an independent sample gathered from the Italian population supports the reliability of this factorial structure. As the rising field of climate neuroscience starts to investigate the determinants of perceptions of climate change, this novel scale will allow assessing the perceptual features affecting awareness of climate change

    The psychological impact of sars-cov-2 quarantine: Observations through the lens of the polyvagal theory

    Full text link
    According to the polyvagal theory, quarantine and social distancing following COVID-19 pandemic may dampen nucleus ambiguuus (NA) activity in the brainstem and hinder homeostatic cardiorespiratory functioning, emotional self-regulation and health. In addition, enduring quarantine may foster heightened implicit vigilance for social threat, emotional dysregulation, poor sleep and immune response, potentially increasing the chance of infections. Promoting activities aimed at increasing NA functioning, like self-compassion, may support emotional self-regulation, adequate immune response and health

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

    Full text link
    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

    Full text link
    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
    corecore