Scielo RSS http://scielo.isciii.es/rss.php?pid=0213-616320080004&lang=en vol. 22 num. 4 lang. en http://scielo.isciii.es/img/en/fbpelogp.gif http://scielo.isciii.es http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-61632008000400001&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en Background and objectives: Fibromyalgia (FM) and depression has been suggested to share a common underlying etiology. Few studies have investigated the role of emotional regulation processes in FM compared to depressive disorders.The purpose of the current study was to explore the use of defense mechanisms in FM patients with and without comorbid lifetime depressive disorder (LDD), and to compare their use of defenses to healthy control subjects and patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Methods: A total of 91 participants were included (17 with FM and LDD, 25 with FM but not LDD, 24 with MDD, and 25 healthy controls). Depressive disorders were identified by using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Axis I disorders (SCID-I). All diagnosis of FM were confirmed to meet the American College of Rheumatology's criteria for FM. The Life Style Index (LSI) was used to measure defense mechanisms. Results and Conclusions: Group comparisons indicated that MDD patients and FM patients with LDD made significantly more use of defenses than healthy controls, whereas FM patients without LDD made significantly less use of defenses than both MDD patients and FM patients with LDD, but did not differ from healthy controls. Follow up analyses indicated significant main effects for the defense mechanisms of regression, compensation and displacement. This study suggests that FM and depression do not share common risk factors in terms of restricted affects or avoidance of conflicted feelings. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-61632008000400002&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en Background and Objectives: Testosterone deficiency has been implicated in the etiology of depression although there is an ongoing debate on the nature of this association. There is a paucity of data about the psychological impact of hypogonadism in genetic disorders associated with testosterone deficiency. Methods: A 57-year-old male is described who was referred for treatment resistant depression. His history showed infertility and lowered testosterone. A selective literature review is given to clarify the patient's clinical condition. Results: Cytogenetic analysis demonstrated a Robertsonian translocation between chromosomes 13 and 14 that accounted for his infertility. The psychopathological picture did not meet the criteria for a major depressive disorder but was characterized by symptoms of apathy or avolition. These symptoms were most probably aggravated by previous long lasting treatment with antidepressants. Conclusions: Testosterone deficiency may be related to motivational deficits that should not be misunderstood for depressive illness. Apathy is probably an underestimated side effect of antidepressants. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-61632008000400003&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en Background and objectives: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms and other mental health problems appear early in life and proper treatment is essential for a positive long-term outcome. The present study examines the level of agreement, and potential gender differences, between parents' and teachers' reports of ADHD symptoms and other mental health problems in 305 Greek children aged between 6-9 years. Methods: Parents and teachers of 147 boys and 158 girls attending the first three grades of 10 primary schools in the wider area of Northern Greece completed the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ- Goodman, 1997) and the Child Attention Profile (CAP- Barkley, 1990). Results: The level of agreement between parents' and teachers' reports was low to moderate for the SDQ (0.16-0.34) and satisfactory for the CAP (0.60-0.66). Parents reported more hyperactivity, emotional, and conduct problems than teachers according to SDQ and more overactivity and attention-deficit with hyperactivity according to CAP. Gender differences in ratings were found as well, since boys were reported as being more hyperactive according to SDQ and as having more overactivity and attention-deficit with hyperactivity according to CAP than girls. Conclusions: Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of using multiple informants to gather data on disruptive behaviour through rating scales. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-61632008000400004&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en Background and objectives: Early investigators claimed that temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) was associated with a personality traits and psychiatric symptoms collectively known as the interictal behavioral syndrome or Geschwind's syndrome. Interictal behavioral alterations associated with TLE included affective dysregulation; irritability and impulsive aggression; anxiety and obsessive-compulsive symptoms; paranoia; abnormal patterns of social interaction; schizophrenic-like symptoms and dissociative states; hypergraphia; and hyperreligiosity. A number of psychiatric disorders are known to have subclinical variants. Are recurrent temporolimbic seizure-like events (as determined by a self-report symptom inventory-the LSCL-Limbic System Checklist) among non-clinical subjects also associated with TLE-related psychiatric symptoms/ syndromes and personality features? Methods: To test this, we examined the clinical/personality profiles of students who self-reported symptoms associated with temporolimbic seizures. Results: In two separate studies, we found that American and Turkish students reporting temporolimbic seizure-like symptoms had clinical/personality profiles resembling interictal clinical/personality features. Conclusions: Findings do not imply that high- or median-LSCL scorers are afflicted with an undiagnosed TL seizure disorder. Rather, the temporolimbic personality may be found, albeit in milder form, among individuals free of neurologic disease. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-61632008000400005&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en Background and Objectives: Several investigators reported that there is a gap between prevalence of mental disorders and utilization of mental health services. The trends in help -seeking from two Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) serving three boroughs in Athens and having identical organizational profile were examined. Method: Utilization rates were compared for the first four years of operation (1979-1983) of the first CMHC in Greece and the corresponding first years 2000-2004 of the most recent CMHC in the country. The sociodemographic characteristics of both catchment areas were almost identical. Results: In the years 2000-2003 the time of untreated mental disorders was found to be lower than that of 1979-1983. Moreover only 4.6% of clients of the first CMHC were self referred contrasting the 51.7% of their counterparts of the second Center. More than 50% of persons, who have visited the second Center reported that this Center was the first psychiatric service in their life. Additionally between the years 2000-2004, the treated prevalence of depression was found to be much higher than that in the years 1979-1983. Conclusions: Apparently these findings are probably linked with opinion changes towards psychiatry and mental illness, ability of early recognition of psychopathological symptoms, as well as, the attitudinal change in the need for help-seeking. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-61632008000400006&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en Background and Objectives: Community-based studies of stalking in European countries are scarce. The aim of the present study was to replicate the epidemiological study by Dressing and colleagues, which analyzed a sample drawn from a middle-sized German city (Dressing et al., 2005) by using a general population sample (urban as well as rural citizens) from Eastern Austria. Methods: In a survey of 401 persons from Eastern Austria we tried to replicate the study on the lifetime and point prevalence of stalking in a German urban community. The survey included a stalking questionnaire and the WHO-5 well-being scale. Results: Nearly 11% of the respondents (n = 43, 37 women, 6 men) reported having been stalked. Victims scored significantly lower on the WHO-5 well-being scale. We found no significant differences in stalking and well-being between rural and urban areas. Conclusions: Epidemiological data on stalking collected in an Austrian community closely resemble the data derived from a community-based sample in a middle-sized German city. We also inquired about the living environment of the participants (rural or urban), but found no difference between the two. Furthermore, the lifetime prevalence of being a stalking victim is associated with currently impaired psychological well-being as measured by the WHO-5 Well-being Index.