Search Results

Eyes Wide Open

Asifa Hussain and William Miller

in Multicultural Nationalism: Islamophobia, Anglophobia, and Devolution

Majority Scots have less contact, friendship, and knowledge of the minorities than the minorities have of the majority. Minority perceptions of the majority are broadly accurate. In particular, they ... More

Majority Scots have less contact, friendship, and knowledge of the minorities than the minorities have of the majority. Minority perceptions of the majority are broadly accurate. In particular, they are aware that the majority doubts the loyalty of minorities (English and Muslim) to Scotland. The frequent exposure to ethnic jokes and intentional insults have a dramatic impact on minorities’ perceptions, even though the victims try hard to believe that their harassers are exceptional rather than typical. These personal experiences have significantly more impact on English immigrants’ perceptions of the majority’s Anglophobia than on Muslims’ perceptions of the majority’s Islamophobia. English immigrants suffered less harassment but coped worse and reacted more indignantly. Signals from the new Scottish Parliament to minorities were critically important in determining minorities’ perceptions of the majority. The Parliament’s inclusive, multicultural publicity campaigns may have greater impact on the minorities’ perceptions than on the majority’s actual prejudices.Less

Symptoms and syndromes of anxiety

Jeffrey A. Gray and Neil McNaughton

in The Neuropsychology of Anxiety: An enquiry into the function of the septo-hippocampal system

This chapter provides a typology of disorders of fear and anxiety — such as anxiety disorder, phobias including agoraphobia, panic, and social anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and ... More

This chapter provides a typology of disorders of fear and anxiety — such as anxiety disorder, phobias including agoraphobia, panic, and social anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder — mapping them to the two-dimensional framework provided by Chapters 2 and 6. It treats syndromes as resulting from unusual reactivity of structures and symptoms as resulting from unusual activity, with symptoms not providing a good guide to syndromes. Specific tests for some syndromes are derived from the theory.Less

The Power of Planning: Self-Control by Effective Goal-striving

Peter M. Gollwitzer, Caterina Gawrilow, and Gabriele Oettingen

in Self Control in Society, Mind, and Brain

As highlighted by Kurt Lewin, goal attainment is not yet secured solely by forming strong commitments to highly desirable and feasible goals. There is always the subsequent issue of implementing a ... More

As highlighted by Kurt Lewin, goal attainment is not yet secured solely by forming strong commitments to highly desirable and feasible goals. There is always the subsequent issue of implementing a set goal, and one wonders what people can do to enhance their chances of being successful at this second phase of goal pursuit. A promising answer seems to be the following: People may plan out in advance how they want to solve the problems of goal implementation. But what are these problems? There are at least four problems that stand out. These problems include getting started with goal striving, staying on track, calling a halt, and not overextending oneself. We will describe research showing that making if–then plans (i.e., form implementation intentions) on how to deal with these problems indeed facilitates solving the crucial problems of goal implementation. Thereafter, we will ask whether implementation intentions foster goal attainment even under conditions that are commonly viewed as not amenable to self-regulation attempts, such as succeeding on an intelligence test or overcoming spider phobia. Finally, we will report research showing that implementation intentions can even foster goal-striving in those samples (e.g., children with ADHD) that are known to suffer from impaired action control.Less

Mental and Physical Health Functioning

Peter J. Pecora, Ronald C. Kessler, Jason Williams, A. Chris Downs, Diana J. English, James White, and Kirk O'Brien

in What Works in Foster Care?: Key Components of Success From the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study

Based on alumni interviews, this chapter reports on the mental and physical health functioning of alumni, thus providing more empirical data about the short-term and long-term functioning of ... More

Based on alumni interviews, this chapter reports on the mental and physical health functioning of alumni, thus providing more empirical data about the short-term and long-term functioning of maltreated youth who were placed in foster care. The primary hypothesis was that alumni would exhibit mental and physical health difficulties that would be more severe than those of the general population.Less

The orbitofrontal cortex and anxiety disorders

Mohammed R. Milad and Scott L. Rauch

in The Orbitofrontal Cortex

This chapter reviews contemporary neurocircuitry models of anxiety disorders, with a focus on the role of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). In addition to human neuroimaging studies, findings from ... More

This chapter reviews contemporary neurocircuitry models of anxiety disorders, with a focus on the role of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). In addition to human neuroimaging studies, findings from animal research are also considered, with emphasis on fear conditioning and extinction paradigms. The anatomical distinction between medial and lateral OFC is highlighted; medial OFC has been implicated in rewards and conditioned fear extinction recall, whereas reciprocally the lateral OFC has been implicated in evaluating punishers and mediating negative affects. As similarities and differences across the anxiety disorders are explored, the distinction is made between: 1) exaggerated ‘bottom-up’ amygdala responses; 2) failure of ‘top-down’ control by the medial OFC; and 3) excessive lateral OFC activity in concert with striatum. In this way, the clinical phenomena associated with the various anxiety disorders are linked to sub-territories of OFC, and understood in terms of their anatomical connections and the normal functions these neural circuits subserve.Less

Needle phobia

Allan M Cyna and Marion I Andrew

in Handbook of Communication in Anaesthesia & Critical Care: A Practical Guide to Exploring the Art

Needle phobia describes an anticipatory fear of needle insertion, and is a well-recognized clinical entity of particular relevance to the anaesthetist. It ... More

Needle phobia describes an anticipatory fear of needle insertion, and is a well-recognized clinical entity of particular relevance to the anaesthetist. It may affect up to 10 % of the general population, is more common in the young, and can prevent patients from seeking medical care by avoiding immunizations, necessary blood tests or hospital procedures. The development of trust, a perception of control and an understanding of the conscious–subconscious aspects of the problem can help patients. In addition, patience, time and recognized communication skills are frequently needed if this distressing problem is to be managed effectively . Needle phobia is usually a learned response. Trust, control and perceptions rather than the pain itself are the key issues in needle phobia. Nevertheless pain reduction strategies such as EMLA, ice , premedication such as dexometomidine, stress-reducing medical devices and hypnosis, may have a role in management. Anaesthetists have traditionally used reassurance, EMLA and avoidance of needle insertion in the awake patient by giving inhalational inductions. However, this approach tends to reinforce the avoidance behaviour of both anaesthetist and patient! In addition, it wastes a valuable opportunity to educate patients in ways that can provide them with the necessary skills to manage future blood tests, drips and the like more easily. In some cases avoiding IV access prior to inducing anaesthesia—for example, at a Caesarean section — can put patients at increased risk of complications. Patients with needle phobia are like all patients only more so! At one level they function consciously and logically and are amenable to reason. However, in the context of hospital procedures such as blood tests and IV cannulation, subconscious responses take over. These patients often recognize that their behaviour is silly or even stupid, but find that they just can’t help themselves. They may describe their predicament as being in ‘two minds about it’ or ‘beside themselves’. This mind set illustrates, probably more clearly than any other, the conscious–subconscious basis of the problem. Less

Afterword

Minjeong Kim

in Elusive Belonging: Marriage Immigrants and "Multiculturalism" in Rural South Korea

The concluding chapter situates local marriage immigrants within Korea’s immigrant communities across the country. It also discusses recent developments of “multicultural fatigue” and its ... More

The concluding chapter situates local marriage immigrants within Korea’s immigrant communities across the country. It also discusses recent developments of “multicultural fatigue” and its implications and the new policies related to marriage immigrants and international marriages.Less

Russian Phobia

KLAUS HENTSCHEL

in The Mental Aftermath: The Mentality of German Physicists 1945-1949

Nazi propaganda had fanned fears of the Soviet threat from the East (Russian phobia). Scientific experts were particular targets of recruiters from all four Allied powers. This chapter focuses on the ... More

Nazi propaganda had fanned fears of the Soviet threat from the East (Russian phobia). Scientific experts were particular targets of recruiters from all four Allied powers. This chapter focuses on the position of German experimental physicists who stood directly in the crossfire of the emerging Cold War.Less

“All the Best Jockeys of the West Are Colored”

Maryjean Wall

in How Kentucky Became Southern: A Tale of Outlaws, Horse Thieves, Gamblers, and Breeders

Isaac Murphy, an African American who was born during the Civil War and raised in Lexington, made his career path paralleling the success of Longfellow. He was ranked as the highest-paid athlete in ... More

Isaac Murphy, an African American who was born during the Civil War and raised in Lexington, made his career path paralleling the success of Longfellow. He was ranked as the highest-paid athlete in the United States. Toward the end of his riding career, he also became a racehorse owner. Murphy's story illustrates how black jockeys and horse trainers who gained national prominence and respect in the sport eventually found themselves shuffled to the rear of the bus. Black horsemen had never dominated in numbers at racetracks in the North, as they had in Kentucky and the South, but Northerners had afforded them a professional respect. In Lexington, a great fear of “Negro rule” resulted in white supremacist tactics entering the political sphere. Democrats played on these phobias by instilling a fear of “Negro rule” in the white population.Less

Varieties of Shyness in Adolescence and Adulthood

Jonathan M. Cheek and Elena N. Krasnoperova

in Extreme Fear, Shyness, and Social Phobia

This chapter offers data and a model that may shed light on the developmental course of shyness and social inhibition. It describes the various psychological literatures to explore the short and ... More

This chapter offers data and a model that may shed light on the developmental course of shyness and social inhibition. It describes the various psychological literatures to explore the short and long-term effects of three constructs commonly used to describe social reticence (behavioral inhibition, social isolation, and shyness) and their relationship to social phobia. It begins with a conceptualization of shyness. There is evidence for stability of behavioral inhibition over time, even though the associations are only moderate. In addition, correlates of behavioral inhibition include theoretically related constructs and disorders such as shyness, specific fears, separation anxiety, and social isolation. It is noted that there is much overlap in behavioral inhibition and social phobia, as well as some differences. However, it is likely that at least some of the children in these various categories suffer from the same condition, and the model proposes one heuristic conceptualization of the relationships among these constructs.Less

Commentary on Part III Developmental Outcomes and Clinical Perspectives

Lynne Henderson and Philip G. Zimbardo

in Extreme Fear, Shyness, and Social Phobia

This chapter addresses the treatment of social phobia and compares and contrasts it with the treatment of panic disorder. It also reports the most current methods for treating shyness and ... More

This chapter addresses the treatment of social phobia and compares and contrasts it with the treatment of panic disorder. It also reports the most current methods for treating shyness and anxiety-related problems in children and adults. Although most studies so far have not determined corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis abnormalities in social phobia, results from animal studies and from human studies of fear and behavioral inhibition indicate that more work is important to clarify the functioning of this system. In general, the data on treatment of social phobia and panic disorder indicates similarities and differences between the two disorders. Both social phobia and panic disorder have been shown to be responsive to several classes of medications. However tricyclic antidepressants are highly effective for panic but disappointing for social phobia.Less

Detestable Residue: From Psychoanalysis to Blanchot and Lyotard

Simon Morgan Wortham

in Resistance and Psychoanalysis: Impossible Divisions

This chapter traces Freud’s interest in yet apparent aversion to phobia, from his earliest writings on the topic in the 1890s through to his reinterpretation of the 1909 Little Hans case study in the ... More

This chapter traces Freud’s interest in yet apparent aversion to phobia, from his earliest writings on the topic in the 1890s through to his reinterpretation of the 1909 Little Hans case study in the 1920s. Here, it is possible to detect something like a phobic reaction to phobia itself: what might be called Freud’s phobophobia. It is also be possible to find, in the subsequent literature on the case of Little Hans, traces of this phobic reaction contaminating sometimes sharply critical readings: in Deleuze’s markedly hostile attitude to this Freudian text, we find an aversion to what is in fact most ‘phobic’ about it. Through exploring the Lacanian idea that phobia prevents the onset of psychosis in the event of a certain lapse of the paternal metaphor, phobia seems to operate precisely through a certain resistance to itself, a doubleness that renders Freud’s phobophobia not just a psychological curiosity but perhaps a feature of the very structure of phobia from the outset. Psychoanalytic approaches to phobia with are contrasted with other ways to think about its subject-matter, notably in the writings of Blanchot and Lyotard.Less

Selective Memory Effects in Anxiety Disorders: An Overview of Research Findings and their Implications

Colin Macleod and Andrew Mathews

in Memory and Emotion

This chapter examines how memory might be influenced by a variety of emotional states and conditions experienced by people with anxiety disorders. It ... More

This chapter examines how memory might be influenced by a variety of emotional states and conditions experienced by people with anxiety disorders. It reviews research performed with people who describe themselves as generally anxious (without formal diagnosis), as well as with people who have been diagnosed as experiencing generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and panic disorder. In the context of research on “mood congruent” memory, one might expect that these individuals will better remember stimuli that “fit” with their anxious thoughts and beliefs. In some cases, anxious people do show evidence of anxiety-related memory bias, but these probably result from special instances of emotional interpretation of events with ambiguous meaning. Under conditions less prone to interpretive ambiguity, anxious people tend not to remember in emotionally special ways.Less

Anxiety and obsessional disorders

Rebecca McKnight, Jonathan Price, and John Geddes

in Psychiatry

In the community, the term ‘anxiety’ is frequently as­sociated with a stressful Western lifestyle and thought of as a modern phenomenon— but this is far ... More

In the community, the term ‘anxiety’ is frequently as­sociated with a stressful Western lifestyle and thought of as a modern phenomenon— but this is far from the case. Anxiety disorders were clearly described as early as the writings of Hippocrates, and have been preva­lent in literary characterization to the present. Anxiety disorders are the most common type of psychiatric disorder, with one in three people experiencing them during a lifetime. They are characterized by marked, persistent mental and physical symptoms of anxiety, that are not secondary to another disorder and that impact negatively upon the sufferer’s life. Anxiety dis­orders may be primary psychiatric conditions, or a sec­ondary response to the stress associated with physical illness and its treatment. Many people with anxiety disorders never seek medical attention, but these are commonly seen conditions in both primary and sec­ondary care, and they may present with either mental or physical complaints. Obsessive– compulsive disorder is also considered in this chapter. Its relationship to anxiety disorders is uncertain— classification systems currently separate the two— but there are some important common features. Normal anxiety is the response to threatening situ­ations. Feelings of apprehension are accompanied by physiological changes that prepare for defence or escape (‘fight or flight’), notably increases in heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and muscle tension. Sympathetic nervous system activity is increased, causing symptoms such as tremor, sweating, polyuria, and diarrhoea. Attention and concentration are fo­cused on the threatening situation. Anxiety is a bene­ficial response in dangerous situations, and should occur in everyday situations of perceived threat (e.g. examinations). Abnormal anxiety is a response that is similar but out of proportion to the threat and/ or is more pro­longed, or occurs when there is no threat. With one exception, the symptoms of anxiety disorders are the same as those of a normal anxiety response. The ex­ception is that the focus of attention is not the external threat (as in the normal response) but the physio­logical response itself. Thus in abnormal anxiety, at­tention is focused on a symptom such as increased heart rate. This focus of attention is accompanied by concern about the cause of the symptom. Less

Something Wrong with the Label

Edward Shorter

in How Everyone Became Depressed: The Rise and Fall of the Nervous Breakdown

How did everyone become depressed? A depression needed to be created that could be applied to everyone. The drafters of the third edition of the American Psychiatric ... More

How did everyone become depressed? A depression needed to be created that could be applied to everyone. The drafters of the third edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) DSM series did this in 1980 by creating major depression. At the same time, the drafters completed the demolition of the nerve syndrome, which had been slowly unraveling. The analysts had removed neurotic depression from the nervous syndrome; psychiatry removed anxiety from the larger nervous picture with the diagnosis mixed anxiety-depression. And DSM-III completed the job by separating completely anxiety and depression, and fragmenting anxiety into a volley of meaningless microsyndromes. Fatigue was left completely out of the picture and ceased to be a psychiatric ailment. And obsessive thoughts had long vanished from the nervous picture into the vast anxiety basin, where they would tumble about with social anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and the like. Like moving pieces of furniture from the room, all the furniture was removed from the nervous room except depression. Of the unitary diagnosis of nerves, a disease of the entire body, nothing was left except major depression, an expandable diagnosis that could be applied to almost the entire population—and a series of minianxiety diagnoses pseudospecific for different settings in which anxiety might arise: parties (social anxiety disorder), trauma (posttraumatic stress disorder), public places (agoraphobia), and so forth. The shattering of the nervous syndrome was complete. In February 1973 the Board of the American Psychiatric Association decided that in the forthcoming edition of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases, scheduled for 1979, some minor terminological clarifications were necessary in the input of American psychiatry, including issues such as “problem-oriented records” and how, exactly, to classify levels of disabilities. These were not big problems, but they would necessitate another edition of the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual , the second edition of which has appeared in 1968 ; the Board asked the APA’s Reference Committee to get cracking, and in April the Reference Committee asked the Council on Research and Development to appoint a Task Force to revise DSM-II. Less

Behavioral and Cognitive Manifestations of Celiac Disease

Helmut Niederhofer and Klaus Pittschieler

in Cognitive and Behavioral Abnormalities of Pediatric Diseases

Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by permanent gluten intolerance in genetically susceptible ... More

Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by permanent gluten intolerance in genetically susceptible individuals. Exposure to gluten perpetuates an enteropathy leading to malabsorption with chronic diarrhea, weight loss, and abdominal distension. The small intestine mucosa is abnormal, and jejunal biopsy demonstrates various degrees of villous atrophy, absence of surface mucosa, and crypt hyperplasia. The diagnosis is based on the demonstration of a more or less pronounced villus atrophy in a jejunal biopsy. The villous atrophy improves after withdrawal of gluten from the diet. If undetected or neglected, CD may cause considerable late complications from malabsorption or secondary autoimmune diseases (Feigbery 1999; Maki and Collins 1997; Holmes 1996). The therapy consists of permanently excluding gluten from the diet and allows the healing of the mucosal lesion. Abnormalities of humeral and cell-mediated immunity suggest that celiac disease is an immunologic disorder (Walker-Smith 1996). It is caused by inappropriate immune response to the gliadin component in the dietary gluten (Dieterich 1997). Genetic susceptibility is present, and 90% of the patients have HLA DRG 3 DQ-2 haplotype, and some have the HLA DR4 DQ8 gene (Hadjivassiliou 1998). A close relationship exists between the biochemical properties of tissue transglutaminase and the basic molecular mechanisms responsible for CD, and possibly with the neuropsychiatric manifestations of CD (Gentile 2002). Anti–tissue transglutaminase antibody assay has been used as a serologic screening test for CD. In addition, antiendomysial, antigliadin, and antireticulin antibodies are associated with the disease. Nevertheless, the clinical symptomatology affecting the gastrointestinal (GI) system, histological abnormalities on gut biopsy, and presence of antiendomysial antibodies do not always coexist. Also, presentation with minor symptoms, such as irritable bowel syndrome, anaemia, slight weight loss, and fatigue, has become increasingly common, and in many cases the disease may be clinically silent, despite manifest small-bowel mucosal lesions. Therefore, CD is underdiagnosed (Catassi et al. 1996; Feigbery 1999; Holmes 1996; Kolho et al. 1998; Maki and Collins 1997). Less

Afraid of the Dark

Nathan H. Lents

in Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animals

Fear is one of the most primal emotions in animals and humans. Hardwired as a reflex, it is very difficult to consciously control or overcome.