Psychological Management Strategies Research Articles

Factors associated with psychological distress in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A retrospective medical records study

ObjectiveAlthough psychological distress is a prevalent issue among patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and can impact survival, the risk factors contributing to this distress remain insufficiently understood. MethodsPatients with ALS who completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS) between June 2017 and March 2022 were included. Participants with moderate to severe cognitive decline were excluded, resulting in the recruitment of 121 patients. The associations between POMS profiles and clinical characteristics were analyzed. Physical motor symptoms were evaluated using the Revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R) for objective measurement and the 40-item ALS Assessment Questionnaire (ALSAQ-40) for subjective assessment. ResultsOur model, employing the ALSFRS-R, revealed significant predictors of overall psychological distress, as assessed by the POMS. These predictors included upper limb symptoms, the presence of sleep apnea syndrome, older age at onset, and male sex, with an inverse association with tracheostomy. The POMS subscale scores revealed that anger and depression were significantly associated with upper limb symptoms. The second model, which employed subjective scales, yielded similar results, reinforcing the robustness of our findings. Moreover, subjective bulbar symptoms on the ALSAQ-40 were significantly associated with psychological distress, particularly in female patients. ConclusionThis study identified the main clinical characteristics as significant predictors of psychological distress in patients with ALS. Our findings may be useful in developing individualized psychological management strategies for these patients.

The Impact of Traditional Bullying on Adolescent Mental Health: A Comprehensive Review

Traditional bullying refers to the physical, verbal or social aggression that takes place offline, often within school or community settings. Despite the increasing attention given to cyberbullying in recent years, traditional bullying remains a prevalent issue that can have profound consequences for the well-being of adolescents. This paper examines various aspects of traditional bullying, including its characteristics, psychological effects on victims, individual factors that contribute to resilience in the face of traditional bullying and intervention programs. Additionally, it explores the different psychological management strategies in mitigating the negative impact of traditional bullying. By synthesizing existing research findings, this paper offers insights into the multifaceted nature of traditional bullying and its implications for mental health, thereby contributing to the development of effective prevention and intervention programs.

In Conversation With Chronic Pain: An Integrative Framework for Understanding and Treating Chronic Pain

Chronic pain as an entity presents a challenge across many domains of life. It fails to serve adaptive or physiological functions. Beyond the exorbitant economic burden and strain on our healthcare system, chronic pain takes a heavy toll on the psychosocial and emotional wellbeing of sufferers and their relationships. As a complex biopsychosocial condition, routine treatments can ignore important variables, rendering them insufficient in relieving patient suffering. Research examining psychological management strategies for chronic pain is largely dominated by cognitive-behavioural models of therapy. Psychodynamic psychotherapeutic models have been substantially less explored. Through a relational lens, this theoretical essay explores aetiological influences of chronic pain. Consideration of the intersection of trauma, attachment, and pain then grounds an argument for a psychodynamic approach to chronic pain management.

‘I don’t want to die. That’s not why I do it at all’: multifaceted motivation, psychological health, and personal development in BASE jumping

ABSTRACTThis study explored a veteran female BASE jumper's experiences in relation to (a) participation phases, motivations and emotions; (b) risk perceptions and psychological management strategies; (c) psychological effects of accidents and fatalities on risk appraisals and her protective frame; and (d) psychological health and personal development benefits of extreme sport participation. Interview data revealed multifaceted motivations for BASE jumping that evolved over time. Emotion induction and pleasant psychological experiences associated with BASE jumping contributed to psychological health, well-being and personal development, while coping with negative experiences and dynamic risk perceptions fostered mental strength and resilience. Continued participation following negative experiences highlighted the importance of protective frames in facilitating positive extreme sport experiences. Findings suggested that BASE jumping motivations and experiences may be more complex and multifaceted than currently conceptualized, and that extreme sport has the potential to promote psychological health and personal development in ways that are often overlooked.

Prospective Audit of a Pathway for In-Patient Pain Management of Chronic Abdominal Pain: A Novel and Cost-Effective Strategy.

Unexplained abdominal pain is a common cause of hospital admission and utilizes significant resource. Current in-patient pain management of acute exacerbation of chronic abdominal pain is primarily directed at pharmacological and psychological management strategies in this group of complex patients. We adopted a novel approach that proved to be both clinically effective and cost-effective. Adult patients admitted to a surgical ward with acute exacerbation of chronic abdominal pain referred to in-patient pain management were prospectively audited over a two-year period at a single tertiary centre. Management strategy focused on a somatic source as the predominant pain generator. Patients were offered ultrasound-guided trigger point injection with steroids within 48 hours of referral and were discharged when pain control was achieved. Subsequent care by the pain physician included targeted treatment of somatic component (repeated trigger point injection with steroids or pulsed radiofrequency treatment of trigger points). We audited 43 patients referred to the inpatient pain management service over a two-year period. Four patients refused to undergo the diagnostic trigger point injection. Three patients with active visceral disease had a transient response to the injection. Thirty-six patients were diagnosed with abdominal myofascial pain syndrome, and two-thirds of these patients were discharged home within 36 hours of the intervention. Abdominal myofascial pain syndrome is a poorly recognized cause of chronic abdominal pain, especially in patients with a past history of visceral inflammation. The novel strategy resulted in a significant reduction in opioid consumption, length of stay, and readmission rate.

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Factors associated with reporting classic menopausal symptoms differ

ABSTRACTObjectives To investigate how symptoms experienced in midlife cluster and to identify factors independently associated with hot flushes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness.Methods A questionnaire was sent to 8206 women aged 45–54 years, recruited from family practices in north-east Scotland, UK. Using data collected about 23 symptoms, we conducted factor analysis for premenopausal, perimenopausal, postmenopausal and surgically menopausal women. Forward stepwise logistic regression was used to identify sociodemographic, lifestyle and psychological variables independently associated with the classic menopausal symptoms.Results Overall, 4407 women responded. Hot flushes were experienced by 46.7% (95% confidence interval (CI) 45.2–48.2) of women, night sweats by 46.4% (95% CI 44.9–47.9) and vaginal dryness by 28.2% (95% CI 26.9–29.6). Seven factors including 20 symptoms emerged from factor analysis. Hot flushes were associated with: being perimenopausal or postmenopausal; low education; obesity; low social support; reporting night sweats, musculoskeletal, bloating, menstrual and sexual symptoms; using complementary alternative medicines, lifestyle (e.g. exercising) or psychological management strategies (e.g. talking to family or friends) for menopausal symptoms. Night sweats were associated with: lower body weight; smoking; possible depression; reporting sleep difficulties, hot flushes and sexual symptoms; using lifestyle strategies for menopausal symptoms. Vaginal dryness was associated with: being postmenopausal; high education; high social support; below average physical health, reporting hot flushes, somatic symptoms and decreased sexual interest; using psychological or lifestyle strategies for menopausal symptoms.Conclusion It is important to investigate each classic menopausal symptom separately. Combining menopausal symptoms into categories such as vasomotor symptoms may lead to inaccurate conclusions about variables associated with these symptoms.

'Perfect skin', the media and patients with skin disease: a qualitative study of patients with acne, psoriasis and atopic eczema

The relationship of skin disease with societal ideals of beauty, and the role of the media in this relationship, has not previously been researched. The overall objective of this study was to explore the psychological effects of skin disease. The theme of the ideal of perfect skin and the role of the media in generating this ideal arose via an inductive study methodology and was explored in the context of respondents' psychological morbidity. A qualitative study, 62 semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents with acne, eczema or psoriasis recruited from both general practice and specialist dermatology practice in an Australian regional city. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis employing a process of constant comparison in which data collection and analysis were cumulative and concurrent. The themes of perfect skin, societal ideals and media influence emerged from this iterative process. Respondents identified a societal ideal of flawless skin, largely mediated by media portrayals of perfection. Failure to meet this ideal precipitated psychological morbidity in female, but not male, respondents. An appreciation of the pervasive pressures of society and media upon females with skin disease may inform management strategies, particularly psychological management strategies, in patients with skin disease.

The effectiveness of psychometric schedules in measuring dental fear treatment outcome in children

Objectives: This study tries to assess the effectiveness of the DFSS-SF in measuring treatment outcome in children managed using psychological techniques. Methods: Seventy four children aged 8-13 years who were attending the dental clinic for the first time were recruited into the study. The Short Form of the Dental Subscale of the Child Fear Survey Schedule was administered to them before and after dental treatment. During the treatment procedure the children were managed with various forms of psychological management strategies. Results: Fear level in these children decreased significantly post treatment (p

The role of community nurses in the management of depression

Today one in six people in England suffer from a mental health disorder equating to around eight million people being affected in UK. Mental health problems are very common with depression ranked as the third most frequent cause of consultation in general practice. Depression is a common condition with 9 of every 10 cases is treated in primary care. The costs of treating depression have been shown to outweigh those of treating psychoses. It is now widely seen to be a burden for those who suffer from the condition including the economic and health costs. In clinical practice, it is important for clinicians to identify and accurately assess depression and have an awareness of some of the pharmacological treatment and psychological management strategies available. This article focuses on the concept of depression, assessment or screening, considers treatment options, management and educational preparation for specialist community public health nurses. Community nurses especially name professionals have a crucial role in identifying mental health problems, tackling stigma and developing models of collaborative working with mental health specialists to promote the overall mental wellbeing across the whole population lifespan from young children to older people

Prostate Cancer: Psychosocial Implications and Management

This review summarizes some of the key psychosocial issues related to prostate cancer, both generally and for an older adult population. It focuses on three main areas: quality-of-life issues, psychosocial implications and management of these psychosocial issues. Broadly, the article presents information on the general background, screening guidelines, common side effects of treatment and current psychiatric and psychological management strategies in prostate cancer. The article addresses the clinical approaches, as well as the complexities that surface when deciding the treatment for patients with prostate cancer. Clinical and future implications are also discussed.

Bodily symptoms: a new approach

As medicine deals increasingly with chronic disease and acknowledges the importance of patients’ quality of life, there is an increasing need to address patients’ symptoms. The traditional way of considering symptoms is only as indicators of disease pathology. In medicine, the focus is on bodily pathology and in psychiatry on psychopathology. The assumption is that the patients can then be categorized as medical or psychiatric and that treatment of bodily pathology and psychopathology respectively will effectively relieve their symptoms. This simple model is, however, increasingly proving to be inadequate. There is a new more integrated way of thinking about bodily symptoms. Rather than start with the pathology and then consider the symptoms, it suggests that we actively address both pathology and the symptoms themselves. The available evidence tells us that chronic symptoms usually have multiple causes and that to effectively treat them we often need combined physical and psychological management strategies. Consequently, symptom focussed care requires that we develop new systems for assessing and managing symptoms that run parallel with existing systems for managing bodily pathology. It is also driving a new area of research, symptom research. Finally, the symptom perspective should make us think about how we organise our currently fragmented approaches to symptom management and combine the pain medicine, palliative medicine and liaison psychiatry services into a more coherent approach to symptom management.

Effect of psychological management techniques on specific item score change during the management of dental fear in children

The aim of the study is to determine how specific fear inducing items contribute to the overall dental fear level in Nigerian children. In addition, it looks at the specific changes that psychological management produces on each item and how variables like age, gender and type of treatment received contribute to these specific changes observed. The dental fear level of 75 children, who were attending the dental clinic for the first time were assessed pre and post-treatment using the short form of the dental subscale of the child fear survey schedule. During treatment, the children were managed using various forms of psychological management strategies. The effect of age and the gender of the children on the dental fear level were analyzed. The effect of the type of treatment received, categorized into either invasive or non-invasive, on the dental fear level was also determined. Results showed that with the use of psychological management strategies, dental fear level of the children decreased significantly post treatment (13.45 vs 12.59; p = 0.009). However, no statistically significant dijfference was noted in the dental fear scores based on age, gender and type of treatment received. On the other hand, the aggregate scores for each of the possible fear inducing items highlighted in the psychometric scale varied and so did the effectiveness of psychological techniques in significantly reducing dental fear scores for each of the items. Age, gender and type of treatment did have significant effect on the fear level changes that occur with specific items. It was concluded that although a significant change occurred in the dental fear level score of the child post management with psychological techniques, this does not necessarily translate to significant changes in the scores for each fear inducing item assessed by the psychometric scale. Age, gender and the type of treatment the child received also influence the change that could occur for each item. The dental fear level of the children decreased significantly post treatment (13.45 vs 12.59; p = 0.009).

Psychological management strategies for functional disorders.

Psychological management strategies for functional disorders.