1,721,046 research outputs found
The Evolutionary and Developmental Pathways of Obsessive Compulsive Rituals in Psychopathology
No full textIn this Special Issue, we promote a strictly dimensional approach to shed light on the clinical and developmental significance of Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms (OCS) across psychopathology [...
Primary delusional experiences in schizophrenia and the sacred: a qualitative study
No full textPsychopathology has highlighted the pivotal role of revelation in schizophrenic primary delusions. However, empirical studies on the topic remains limited. Therefore, this research aimed to explore the basic forms of subjectivity underpinning delusions in schizophrenia and to compare the experiential structure of these delusional phenomena with the experience of the sacred. The study involved eleven participants diagnosed with schizophrenia and adopted the qualitative methodology of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Participants’ accounts revealed four core experiential themes: 1) fragility of presence, 2) disposition to delusion, 3) apophany, and 4) eccentric existential reorientation. Primary delusional experiences may constitute a state-like phenomenon unfolding in four structural phases toward the formation of delusional contents: 1) a weakened bodily resonance with the world, 2) a predominance of the “physiognomic” properties, 3) an imposition of idiosyncratic and self-referential meanings, and 4) an active elaboration through delusion-like ideas. Formal similarities may be found with the “numinous” experience and with the specific articulations of the manifestation of the sacred or “hierophany.” Disembodiment may be posited as the common underlying scaffolding for both delusions in schizophrenia and the sacred, albeit persistent and forced upon the subject in the former, and transient, voluntarily sought, and socio-culturally integrated in the latter
Proximate and ultimate causes of ritual behavior
No full textRitual behaviour, intended as a specific, repetitive and rigid form of action flow, appears both in social and non-social environmental contexts, representing an ubiquitous phenomenon in animal life including human individuals and cultures. The purpose of this contribution is to investigate an evolutionary continuum in proximate and ultimate causes of ritual behavior. A phylogenetic homology in proximal mechanisms can be found, based on the repetition of genetically programmed and/or epigenetically acquired action patterns of behavior. As far as its adaptive significance, ethological comparative studies show that the tendency to ritualization is driven by the unpredictability of social or ecological environmental stimuli. In this perspective, rituals may have a “homeostatic” function over unpredictable environments, as further highlighted by psychopathological compulsions. In humans, a circular loop may have occurred among ritual practices and symbolic activity to deal with a novel culturally-mediated world. However, we suggest that the compulsion to action patterns repetition, typical of all rituals, has a genetically inborn motor foundation, thus precognitive and pre-symbolic. Rooted in such phylogenetically conserved motor structure (proximate causes), the evolution of cognitive and symbolic capacities have generated the complexity of human rituals, though maintaining the original adaptive function (ultimate causes) to cope with unpredictable environments
Obsessive-compulsive disorder followed by psychotic episode in long-term ecstasy misuse
No full textAim. We report the case of two young subjects who developed an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) during a heavy use of ecstasy. After several months of discontinuation of the drug, major depression with psychotic features developed in one subject and a psychotic disorder in the other individual. No mental disorder preceded the use of ecstasy in any subject. Findings. A familial and personality vulnerability for mental disorder was revealed in one subject, but not in the other, and all physical, laboratory and cerebral NMR evaluations showed normal results in both patients. Remission of OCD and depressive episode or psychotic disorder was achieved after treatment with a serotoninergic medication associated with an antipsychotic. Conclusions. The heavy long-term use of ecstasy may induce an alteration in the brain balance between serotonin and dopamine, which might constitute a pathophysiological mechanism underlying the onset of obsessive-compulsive, depressive and psychotic symptoms. The heavy use of ecstasy probably interacted with a vulnerability to psychiatric disorder in one subject, whereas we cannot exclude that an "ecstasy disorder" ex novo affected the other individual. © 2009 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved
Mood-congruent and mood-incongruent psychotic symptoms in major depression: The role of severity and personality
No full textBackground: Whether psychotic symptoms in major depression (MD) are better explained by a severity model or by a vulnerability model, with personality as a predisposing factor, is still debated. The aim of the present study was to evaluate in MD the relationship between the content of psychotic features (mood congruent (MC) or mood incongruent (MI)) and severity of depression or personality traits. Methods: 62 inpatients affected by MD with psychotic features were divided into three groups on the basis of the content of psychotic symptoms: MC, MI, mixed MC-MI. All subjects completed the SCID-IV, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Personality was assessed after MD remission. Results: MI psychotic symptoms were positively associated with schizotypal traits, whereas MC symptoms were positively related to obsessive-compulsive traits and severity of depression. Patients with both MC and MI psychotic symptoms were characterized by a personality profile and depression severity standing in a middle position between the MC and MI groups. Limitations: The main limitations of the study are represented by the small sample size, the time of assessment of personality and the inclusion of only unipolar depression. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that both depression severity and personality profile, independently from each other, model the content of psychotic symptoms, confirming the validity of subgrouping psychotic depression into two distinct MC and MI types and supporting the inclusion of a third mixed MC-MI type because of its intermediate position in personality profile and severity between the MC or MI group. © 2012 Elsevier B.V
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
- …
