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PLoS Biology Oct 2018This Editorial introduces a Collection of articles in which the authors explore the challenges and pitfalls of communicating the science of climate change in an...
This Editorial introduces a Collection of articles in which the authors explore the challenges and pitfalls of communicating the science of climate change in an atmosphere where evidence doesn't matter.
Topics: Animals; Aquatic Organisms; Arctic Regions; Climate Change; Communication; Denial, Psychological; Humans
PubMed: 30300346
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000033 -
Current Opinion in Neurology Dec 2014The experience of ourselves as an embodied agent with a first-person perspective is referred to as 'bodily self'. We present a selective overview of relevant clinical... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
The experience of ourselves as an embodied agent with a first-person perspective is referred to as 'bodily self'. We present a selective overview of relevant clinical and experimental studies.
RECENT FINDINGS
Sharing multisensory body space with others can be observed in patients with structurally altered bodies (amputations, congenital absence of limbs), with altered functionality after hemiplegia, such as denial of limb ownership (somatoparaphrenia) and with alterations in bodily self-consciousness on the level of the entire body (e.g. in autoscopic phenomena). In healthy participants, the mechanisms underpinning body ownership and observer perspective are empirically investigated by multisensory stimulation paradigms to alter the bodily self. The resulting illusions have promoted the understanding of complex disturbances of the bodily self, such as out-of-body experiences. We discuss the role of interoception in differentiating between self and others and review current advances in the study of body integrity identity disorder, a condition shaped as much by neurological as by social-psychological factors.
SUMMARY
We advocate a social neuroscience approach to the bodily self that takes into account the interactions between body, mind and society and might help close the divide between neurology and psychiatry.
Topics: Humans; Illusions; Interpersonal Relations; Perceptual Disorders; Self Concept
PubMed: 25333602
DOI: 10.1097/WCO.0000000000000151 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2022In this paper, we propose to account for the blame addressed to vaccine skeptics and "anti-vax" (VS and AV) by considering their attitude as the result of the...
In this paper, we propose to account for the blame addressed to vaccine skeptics and "anti-vax" (VS and AV) by considering their attitude as the result of the psychological mechanism of denial, understood in a psychodynamic manner. To that effect, we draw on a secondary account of our clinical experience in two hospital units (psychiatry and intensive care unit), and on openly available media material. First, we lay out how VS and AV can be understood as the result from fetishist risk denial, a specific psychological transaction with an object by which VS and AV people feel intimately protected; this object is viewed as so powerful that its protection makes the vaccine appear irrelevant. Second, we show how this mechanism can explain the specific content of the blame frequently addressed to VS and AV, who are reproached with being selfish by vaccinated people and caregivers. We contend that, contrary to common belief, they are thus blamed because they force others (and especially caregivers) to compensate their lack of self-protection and preservation, which derives from their exclusive relation to an almighty object. While such a relation accounts for the unwillingness to consider vaccination, it also explains the harshness of the blame voiced by caregivers, who feel helpless in most situations as they cannot effectively force VS and AV to take care of themselves and others.
PubMed: 35910972
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.886368 -
Advances in Psychosomatic Medicine 2012The Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) are a diagnostic and conceptual framework that aims to translate psychosocial variables that derived from... (Review)
Review
The Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) are a diagnostic and conceptual framework that aims to translate psychosocial variables that derived from psychosomatic research into operational tools whereby individual patients could be identified. A set of 12 syndromes was developed and grouped in the clusters of abnormal illness behavior (health anxiety, disease phobia, thanatophobia, and illness denial), somatization (functional somatic symptoms secondary to a psychiatric disorder, persistent somatization, conversion symptoms, and anniversary reaction), irritability (type A behavior, irritable mood), demoralization, and alexithymia. This chapter aims to illustrate the criteria for each of the 12 DCPR syndromes and how to diagnose them with the aid of the DCPR Structured Interview, as illustrated in a clinical example.
Topics: Affective Symptoms; Comorbidity; Conversion Disorder; Diagnosis, Differential; Helplessness, Learned; Humans; Illness Behavior; Interview, Psychological; Irritable Mood; Mental Disorders; Motivation; Psychophysiologic Disorders; Quality of Life; Somatoform Disorders; Type A Personality
PubMed: 22056901
DOI: 10.1159/000330009 -
Drug and Alcohol Dependence Jun 2015Despite harmful consequences of drug addiction, it is common for individuals with substance use disorders to deny having problems with drugs. Emerging evidence suggests...
BACKGROUND
Despite harmful consequences of drug addiction, it is common for individuals with substance use disorders to deny having problems with drugs. Emerging evidence suggests that some drug users lack insight into their behavior due to neurocognitive dysfunction, but little research has examined potential neurocognitive contributions to denial.
METHODS
This study explored the relationship between denial, cognitive performance and functional connectivity in brain. The participants were 58 non-treatment-seeking, methamphetamine-dependent participants who completed the URICA precontemplation scale, a self-report measure of denial of drug problems warranting change, as well as a cognitive test battery. A subset of participants (N = 21) had functional MRI scans assessing resting-state functional connectivity. Given literature indicating roles of the rostral anterior cingulate (rACC), anterior insula and precuneus in self-awareness, relationships between denial and resting-state connectivity were tested using seeds placed in these regions.
RESULTS
The results revealed a negative relationship between denial and an overall cognitive battery score (p = 0.001), the effect being driven particularly by performance on tests of memory and executive function. Denial was negatively associated with strength of connectivity between the rACC and regions of the frontal lobe (precentral gyri, left ventromedial prefrontal cortex, left orbitofrontal cortex), limbic system (left amygdala, left hippocampus and left parahippocampal gyrus), occipital lobes and cerebellum; and between the precuneus and the midbrain and cerebellum. Anterior insula connectivity was unrelated to denial.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that denial by methamphetamine users is linked with a cognitive and neural phenotype that may impede the development of insight into their behavior.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Amphetamine-Related Disorders; Brain; Brain Mapping; Central Nervous System Stimulants; Cognition; Denial, Psychological; Female; Frontal Lobe; Gyrus Cinguli; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Methamphetamine; Middle Aged
PubMed: 25840750
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.03.004 -
BMC Psychiatry Apr 2022Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a global public health concern that is notably underdiagnosed and undertreated due to its complexity and subjective diagnostic...
BACKGROUND
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a global public health concern that is notably underdiagnosed and undertreated due to its complexity and subjective diagnostic methods. A holistic diagnostic procedure, which sufficiently considers all possible contributors to MDD symptoms, would improve MDD diagnosis and treatment. This study aims to explore whether personality and coping styles can predict MDD status and differentiate between depressed patients and healthy individuals.
METHODS
Seventy healthy controls (N = 54 females) were matched to 70 MDD patients for age, sex, ethnicity, and years of education. MDD severity was measured using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, while personality traits and coping styles were measured by the Ten-Item Personality (TIPI) and Brief COPE questionnaires, respectively. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the diagnostic and predictive potential of personality and coping styles. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were also conducted to examine their discriminative ability to distinguish between depressed and healthy individuals.
RESULTS
Introversion, lack of organisation skills, and neuroticism were statistically significant in predicting MDD status. Dysfunctional coping strategies, such as denial and self-blame, were also shown to significantly predict MDD status. ROC analyses found both the TIPI questionnaire (AUC = 0.90), and dysfunctional coping (as measured by Brief COPE) (AUC = 0.90) to be excellent predictors of MDD.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings demonstrate the diagnostic and predictive potential of personality and coping styles for MDD in the clinical setting. They also demonstrate the remarkable ability of personality and coping styles to differentiate between depressed patients and healthy controls.
Topics: Adaptation, Psychological; Depressive Disorder, Major; Female; Humans; Male; Personality; Personality Disorders; Personality Inventory
PubMed: 35484526
DOI: 10.1186/s12888-022-03942-y -
Cerebrovascular Diseases (Basel,... 2009Anosognosia in stroke patients showed a relevant detrimental effect on the rehabilitation course and patients' quality of life, especially in those with brain injury.... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Anosognosia in stroke patients showed a relevant detrimental effect on the rehabilitation course and patients' quality of life, especially in those with brain injury. Although a number of reliable scales for the assessment of anosognosia in stroke and traumatic brain injury have been developed, at present no single measure fully explores the multifaceted nature of the phenomenon.
METHOD
A PubMed search with appropriate terms was carried out in order to critically review the issue.
RESULTS
The main dimensions to consider in the investigation of anosognosia in brain-injured patients are (a) awareness of deficit and related functional implications, (b) modality specificity, (c) causal attribution, (d) expectations of recovery, (e) implicit knowledge and (f) differential diagnosis with psychological denial. Time elapsed from stroke, aetiology, laterality, aphasia and clinical complications may influence all these characteristics and must be taken into consideration. Finally, an adequate association of the anosognosia evaluation with other neuropsychological and behavioural aspects is relevant for a modern holistic approach to the patient.
CONCLUSIONS
This review is meant to stimulate the development of a new comprehensive assessment procedure for anosognosia in brain injury and particularly in stroke, in order to catch the multidimensionality of the phenomenon and to shape rehabilitation programmes suitable to the specific clinical features of every single patient.
Topics: Agnosia; Aphasia; Awareness; Denial, Psychological; Diagnosis, Differential; Disability Evaluation; Functional Laterality; Hemiplegia; Humans; Neuropsychological Tests; Predictive Value of Tests; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Recovery of Function; Self Concept; Severity of Illness Index; Stroke; Stroke Rehabilitation; Surveys and Questionnaires; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 19202333
DOI: 10.1159/000199466 -
HealthcarePapers Jul 2023Despite notions of colour-blindness and denials of widespread systemic racism, anti-Black racism remains inherent in the political, economic, educational and healthcare...
Despite notions of colour-blindness and denials of widespread systemic racism, anti-Black racism remains inherent in the political, economic, educational and healthcare systems in Europe. We use the Netherlands as a case study to explore some of these mechanisms. Here, we discuss how a focus on cultural deficiency and the denial of racism allows the bearers of inequality and inequity to be blamed for their own disenfranchisement. Nonetheless, scholars in the Netherlands continue to show how everyday racism is negatively impacting marginalized people's lives and their access to the social determinants of health and well-being in society.
Topics: Humans; Racism; Antiracism; Delivery of Health Care
PubMed: 37887166
DOI: 10.12927/hcpap.2023.27195 -
Psychology in Russia : State of the Art 2023The COVID-19 pandemic is a multifaceted stressor. Its impact suggests long-term psychological effects. Self-determination promotes flexibility of goals and actions and... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
The COVID-19 pandemic is a multifaceted stressor. Its impact suggests long-term psychological effects. Self-determination promotes flexibility of goals and actions and helps to overcome the difficulties caused by stress.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic presented in Russian scientific studies (RQ1), and their relationship with self-determination (RQ2).
DESIGN
Relevant studies (2020-2022) were selected from the Russian citation index (RSCI) database. Strict selection criteria were used. Twenty-four articles were selected for the final review. For dynamic analysis, four stages of the pandemic were identified.
RESULTS
Prevailing coping strategies have changed over time. At the beginning of the pandemic, respondents used familiar coping mechanisms. Six months later, active coping strategies were more often used, but deprivation and avoidance strategies increased. A year later, there was an increase in denial and avoidance strategies. Using non-constructive coping strategies may indicate that, due to the long course of the pandemic, meeting basic psychological needs became increasingly frustrated, leading to helplessness, alienation, and lack of control. Later dynamics reflect the growth of effective coping strategies and confirm that when basic needs are blocked for a long time, people seek alternative ways to satisfy them.
CONCLUSION
The dynamics of coping strategies during the pandemic reflected their close relationship with basic psychological needs, as described in the theory of self-determination. The results confirmed the importance of self-determination as a dispositional variable in predicting coping mechanisms.
PubMed: 37818342
DOI: 10.11621/pir.2023.0201 -
Behavioral Sciences & the Law May 2022Victims of abuse might deny their traumatic experiences. We studied mnemonic effects of simulating false denial of a child sexual abuse narrative. Participants...
Victims of abuse might deny their traumatic experiences. We studied mnemonic effects of simulating false denial of a child sexual abuse narrative. Participants (N = 127) read and empathized with the main character of this narrative. Next, half were instructed to falsely deny abuse-related information while others responded honestly in an interview. One week later, participants received misinformation for the narrative and interview. In a final source memory task, participants' memory for the narrative and interview was tested. Participants who falsely denied abuse-related information endorsed more abuse-unrelated misinformation about the event than honest participants. Abuse-related false memory rates did not statistically differ between the groups, and false denials were not related to omission errors about (1) the interview and (2) narrative. Hence, victim's memory for abuse-related information related to their experience might not be affected by a false denial, and inconsistencies surrounding the abuse-unrelated information are more likely to take place.
Topics: Child; Child Abuse, Sexual; Communication; Humans; Memory; Mental Recall; Narration
PubMed: 35194828
DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2566