-
Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology Sep 2020Recently, greater attention has been paid to the care of gender dysphoric and gender incongruent individuals. Gynecologists may be called upon to care for individuals...
Recently, greater attention has been paid to the care of gender dysphoric and gender incongruent individuals. Gynecologists may be called upon to care for individuals who were assigned female at birth throughout or following social, medical, or surgical gender transition. Thus, gynecologists need to be aware of language regarding sex and gender, treatment typically used for the care of gender dysphoric or incongruent individuals, and aspects of well gynecologic care necessary for these individuals. This review highlights these aspects of care for transgender males to aid the general gynecologist in the care and treatment of these individuals.
Topics: Female; Gender Identity; Gynecology; Health Services for Transgender Persons; Humans; Male; Patient Care; Transgender Persons; Transsexualism
PubMed: 32568802
DOI: 10.1097/GRF.0000000000000549 -
AMA Journal of Ethics Mar 2020In September 2019, a prominent dictionary recognized as a proper pronoun for nonbinary individuals. This change can be seen as a source of newfound legitimacy for...
In September 2019, a prominent dictionary recognized as a proper pronoun for nonbinary individuals. This change can be seen as a source of newfound legitimacy for students and trainees self-advocating for nonbinary pronoun recognition in health care practice and training. This article considers one student's experience after coming out as nonbinary and voicing that their pronouns are they/them.
Topics: Cultural Competency; Delivery of Health Care; Dictionaries as Topic; Education, Medical; Female; Gender Identity; Humans; Language; Male; Physician-Patient Relations; Social Justice; Students; Transgender Persons; Transsexualism
PubMed: 32220274
DOI: 10.1001/amajethics.2020.255 -
Med (New York, N.Y.) May 2021Radix and Harris discuss the current state of transgender health and the challenges to equitable medical access experienced by transgender and gender-diverse patients....
Radix and Harris discuss the current state of transgender health and the challenges to equitable medical access experienced by transgender and gender-diverse patients. Transgender medicine has evolved significantly since the first clinical practice guidelines were developed more than 40 years ago, but important research gaps exist.
Topics: Gender Identity; Humans; Medicine; Plant Roots; Transgender Persons; Transsexualism
PubMed: 35590227
DOI: 10.1016/j.medj.2021.04.025 -
Psychiatria Polska Aug 2020The issue of power is an important area of reflection in family and couple therapy, as well as afrequent object of practical impact. The article focuses on two... (Review)
Review
The issue of power is an important area of reflection in family and couple therapy, as well as afrequent object of practical impact. The article focuses on two fundamental perspectives showing power as acomplex phenomenon: systemic and gender, which in combination allow amore holistic approach to the issue. The article discusses the contemporary systemic approach to the discussed problem by outlining the limitations associated with the early understanding of circularity and neutrality. On the other hand, it presents agender perspective -increasingly visible in family therapy - which emphasizes the cultural discourses of femininity/masculinity, recognizes the privileges and limitations associated with them, and describes the inequalities of the position of women and men in society reproduced in relationships and in the family. In this sense, the struggle for power, usually translated into difficulties in the family, is not only an expression of the difficulties of the couple, related to experiences from families of origin, but also reflects cultural messages, internalized expectations about relations between sexes and their functioning in gender roles.
Topics: Couples Therapy; Family Characteristics; Family Therapy; Female; Femininity; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Masculinity; Power, Psychological
PubMed: 33386727
DOI: 10.12740/PP/115438 -
Perspectives on Psychological Science :... Mar 2021On the basis of converging research, we concluded that the controversial topic of unconscious blockage of psychological trauma (i.e., repressed memory) remains very much...
On the basis of converging research, we concluded that the controversial topic of unconscious blockage of psychological trauma (i.e., repressed memory) remains very much alive in clinical, legal, and academic contexts. In his commentary, Brewin (this issue, p. 443) conducted a cocitation analysis and concluded that scholars do not adhere to the concept of unconscious repression. Furthermore, he argued that previous survey research did not specifically assess repression. Here, we present critical evidence that runs counter to his claims. First, we inspected his cocitation analysis and found that some scholars support notions that are closely related to unconscious repression. Furthermore, we conducted another analysis on the basis of articles' similarity. Again, we found examples of scholars specifically endorsing unconscious repressed memories. Second, as opposed to what Brewin reports, recent survey research now exists that bears directly on people's beliefs regarding unconscious repression. This work reveals that large percentages of people (e.g., students and eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing [EMDR] clinicians) endorse the concept of unconscious repressed memories. The belief in unconscious repressed memory can continue to contribute to harmful consequences in clinical, legal, and academic domains (e.g., false accusations of abuse).
Topics: Humans; Male; Memory Disorders; Psychological Trauma; Repression, Psychology
PubMed: 33709851
DOI: 10.1177/1745691621990628 -
The Lancet. Public Health Feb 2024
Topics: Humans; Gender Identity; Health Inequities; Sexual and Gender Minorities
PubMed: 38307680
DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00006-9 -
BMJ Open Respiratory Research Jul 2023Epidemiological and clinical studies have indicated an association between particulate matter (PM) exposure and acute and chronic pulmonary inflammation, which may be... (Review)
Review
Epidemiological and clinical studies have indicated an association between particulate matter (PM) exposure and acute and chronic pulmonary inflammation, which may be registered as increased mortality and morbidity. Despite the increasing evidence, the pathophysiology mechanism of these PMs is still not fully characterised. Pulmonary alveolar macrophages (PAMs), as a predominant cell in the lung, play a critically important role in these pathological mechanisms. Toxin exposure triggers events associated with macrophage activation, including oxidative stress, acute damage, tissue disruption, remodelling and fibrosis. Targeting macrophage may potentially be employed to treat these types of lung inflammation without affecting the natural immune response to bacterial infections. Biological toxins, their sources of exposure, physical and other properties, and their effects on the individuals are summarised in this article. Inhaled particulates from air pollution and toxic gases containing chemicals can interact with alveolar epithelial cells and immune cells in the airways. PAMs can sense ambient pollutants and be stimulated, triggering cellular signalling pathways. These cells are highly adaptable and can change their function and phenotype in response to inhaled agents. PAMs also have the ability to polarise and undergo plasticity in response to tissue damage, while maintaining resistance to exposure to inhaled agents.
Topics: Humans; Macrophages, Alveolar; Air Pollution; Gases; Lung; Defense Mechanisms
PubMed: 37479504
DOI: 10.1136/bmjresp-2022-001589 -
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) Dec 2021Weight stigma is associated with impaired health, attributed in part to reductions in health-promoting behaviors. This review analyzed evidence of the association... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
Weight stigma is associated with impaired health, attributed in part to reductions in health-promoting behaviors. This review analyzed evidence of the association between weight stigma and physical activity (PA) in adults and youth.
METHODS
Three databases were searched for terms related to weight stigma and PA. Eligible studies reported the quantitative association between at least one measure of weight stigma and one behavioral measure of PA.
RESULTS
A total of 38 studies met eligibility criteria. Of the 29 studies of adults, 3 used objective PA measures, and 79% used an observational, cross-sectional design. Findings of the relationship between weight stigma and PA were mixed. Everyday weight discrimination and internalizing weight stigma were associated with reduced PA in most studies. Several studies found indirect, and not direct, effects of weight stigma on PA when analyses included other individual-level factors. In the nine studies of youth, two used objective PA measures, all were observational, and only one study was longitudinal. Most youth studies found a relationship between weight-based teasing and reduced PA.
CONCLUSIONS
Weight teasing, everyday discrimination, and internalization were associated with reduced PA. However, associations were inconsistent and often indirect. Future studies should include objective PA measures with larger samples and longitudinal assessments.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Databases, Factual; Defense Mechanisms; Exercise; Humans; Social Stigma; Weight Prejudice
PubMed: 34747131
DOI: 10.1002/oby.23274 -
International Journal of Environmental... Oct 2022Emotion regulation is an important aspect of psychological functioning that influences subjective experience and moderates emotional responses throughout the lifetime....
Emotion regulation is an important aspect of psychological functioning that influences subjective experience and moderates emotional responses throughout the lifetime. Adaptive responses to stressful life events depend on the positive interaction between explicit and implicit emotion regulation strategies, such as mindfulness and defense mechanisms. This study demonstrates how these emotion regulation strategies predict psychological health during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. A convenience sample of 6385 subjects, recruited via snowball sampling on various social media platforms, responded to an online survey assessing psychological reaction to social restrictions imposed to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Italy. Psychological distress, post-traumatic stress symptoms, mindfulness, and defense mechanisms were assessed using SCL-90, IES-R, MAAS, and DMRS-30-SR, respectively. Higher mindfulness was significantly associated with higher overall defensive maturity and a greater use of high-adaptive defenses ( < 0.0001). Both mindfulness and defense mechanisms acted as good predictors of psychological health (R = 0.541) and posttraumatic symptoms (R = 0.332), confirming the role of emotion regulation in protecting against maladaptive responses to stressful situations.
Topics: COVID-19; Defense Mechanisms; Emotional Regulation; Humans; Mindfulness; Pandemics; Psychological Distress
PubMed: 36231993
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191912690 -
Research in Psychotherapy (Milano) Dec 2023Defense mechanisms are adaptative processes that are related to mental health and psychological functioning and may play an important role in adaptation to distress, as...
Defense mechanisms are adaptative processes that are related to mental health and psychological functioning and may play an important role in adaptation to distress, as well as in mental health interventions. The present study aimed to compare the use of defense mechanisms and their relationship to mental health symptoms across six countries. In a large-scale descriptive study, we collected data from community- based individuals (N=19,860) in the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom about the use of defense mechanisms and experienced mental health symptoms during the early phase of the pandemic. We found that the use of defense mechanism categories was similar across countries. Moreover, lower defensive functioning, specifically, neurotic and immature defenses were related to experiencing higher distress across countries, whereas mature defenses were generally inversely related to symptoms. Furthermore, these findings were relatively similar across the six countries. Cross-cultural research on defense mechanisms and mental health has important clinical implications. Our results are consistent with the goal of promoting more adaptive defensive functioning to increase psychological well-being and mitigate the detrimental impact of situational stress.
PubMed: 38226792
DOI: 10.4081/ripppo.2023.729