The Journal of nervous and mental disease
July 1, 2006
Victor Igreja, Wim Kleijn, Annemiek Richters
42 citations
Prolonged exposure to civil war in central Mozambique leads to sequential traumatic experiences for most women, producing ill health that ranges from posttraumatic stress symptoms to episodes of spirit possession (gamba). These effects impair women's ability to conceive and raise children and marginalize their social position. The study assessed 91 women using quantitative and qualitative methods. The authors recommend careful analysis of women's specific problems and needs in postwar contexts, along with systematic examination of available resources that may aid trauma recovery.
The Journal of nervous and mental disease
September 1, 2000
G Milstein, E Midlarsky, B G Link et al.
36 citations
Rabbis and clinical psychologists distinguish among mental disorder, religious or spiritual problem, and pure religious problem in a similar way, supporting the validity of the DSM-IV category 'religious or spiritual problem' (V62.89). A national random sample of 111 rabbis and 90 psychologists evaluated vignettes describing schizophrenia, mystical experience, and mourning. Both groups agreed on the religious etiology, helpfulness of psychiatric medication, and seriousness of each problem. The V code enables finer distinctions among the range of issues people bring to clergy and mental health professionals, potentially fostering co-professional consultation.
The Journal of nervous and mental disease
April 1, 2023
Yuejuan Wang, Haichao Sun, Qiaoying Ji et al.
17 citations
Demoralization is a common mental health concern for people with cancer that requires attention from clinical staff. This systematic review examined 14 intervention studies and found that 10 had a positive effect on reducing demoralization. Two main types of interventions were effective: psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy and psychological interventions. The review summarizes current evidence and calls for future studies to use more rigorous methods to test interventions that may affect demoralization in cancer patients.
The Journal of nervous and mental disease
April 1, 2024
Wei Lin Toh, Neil Thomas, Susan Lee Rossell
1 citation
Visual hallucinations in people with psychosis typically occur daily, last a few minutes, appear directly in the line of sight, and most often involve seeing persons or animals. These hallucinations are difficult to control and usually cause negative emotions. Among participants who also experienced voice-hearing, 46.8% reported tactile hallucinations and 39.0% reported olfactory hallucinations. Those with affective psychosis were more aware of their hallucinations and had less functional impairment than those with nonaffective psychosis. The study describes common themes across these hallucination types and calls for more research on less-studied hallucination modalities.
The Journal of nervous and mental disease
February 1, 2023
Joshua Chiappelli, Tiffany Beason
1 citation
Psychotic disorders may arise from an abnormal deviation in the normal developmental process of forming a personal identity and worldview during late adolescence and early adulthood. Drawing on Erikson's theory, the authors argue that the typical drive to develop a meaningful sense of identity can be accelerated by aberrant salience, leading to delusion formation. This model places psychosis onset within the broader context of normal development, offering a humanistic approach to understanding new-onset psychotic disorders.
The Journal of nervous and mental disease
November 1, 2023
Nicole Lindsay, Laura O'Sullivan, Rosemary Gibson et al.
People who have had near-death experiences often report sleep changes, but objective measurements have been lacking. In a 14-day actigraphy study with 57 participants—26 who had an NDE, 12 who had a near-death event without an NDE, and 19 who had never come close to death—no significant differences in objective sleep measures were found between groups. However, comparisons of subjective and objective measures revealed significant differences in sleep onset latency, sleep duration, and sleep efficiency, particularly among the NDE group. These results suggest sleep state misperception, where perceived sleep quality differs from objective measures, which may have clinical relevance for understanding NDEs and sleep perception.
The Journal of nervous and mental disease
November 1, 2022
Swaran P Singh
A personal account describes a mystical experience that occurred after anesthesia, characterized by noesis—a profound sense of revelation and complete understanding. The author argues that while such experiences have a neural basis, their subjective meaning cannot be reduced to mere brain dysfunction. Reconciling the mechanism and meaning of mystical experiences remains a challenge for neuroscience and philosophy.