Iranian Journal of Psychiatry
Year:2007 | Volume:2 | Issue:2|Papers Count:5

Objective: Exposure to traumatic stressors lead to activation of arousal responses mediated by serotonergic and noradrenergic systems and it may cause a change in numerous neurotransmitters and neuroendocrine systems. There is ample experimental and clinical evidence to suggest that Ginkgo biloba extract is neuroprotective and has antioxidant properties and can restore stress-induced elevation in brain levels of catecholamines, 5-HT and plasma corticosterone to normal level.Method: In a 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, the efficacy and safety of adding-on a fixed-dose (200mg) of Ginkgo TD to the previous treatment regime of adults with PTSD were examined. Subjects were forty male and female outpatients from a public-owned psychiatric clinic who met criteria for PTSD seven month after a 6.3 Richter earthquake in Bam city on December 26, 2003. The changes in five symptom domains including posttraumatic stress, anxiety and affective symptoms, general health and subjective stress after trauma were assessed at weeks 0, 12 and 16 to examine effectiveness of the added-on Ginkgo TD and stability of its effects. Results: Ginkgo TD was associated with a significantly greater improvement than placebo in PTSD patients as measured by five symptom domain scales including: GHQ-28; Watson PTSD Scale; HAM-D; HAM-A and IES (p=0.02, 0.01, 0.001, 0.01, 0.02 respectively) Four weeks after the discontinuation of intervention, no significant difference was determined between the two groups in the five outcome measures (p=0.005, 0.01, 0.004, 0.005, 0.01 respectively). No significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of side effects.Conclusions: We found Ginkgo TD to be superior to placebo as an addingon in the treatment of PTSD. Although we did not examine the comparative efficacy of Ginkgo TD on the three main elements of PTSD, beneficial effects both on specific PTSD symptomatology and general conditions including anxiety, depression, general health and perceived stress were indicated.

Objective: The aim of the present study is to examine the factors related to aggression in Iranian and Indian school children. Method: Attachment security (dependency, availability, and total) was considered as the variable. The KSS questionnaire was administrated for 600 students in the 5th grade; 300 were Iranian and 300 were Indian (each consisted of 150 boys and 150 girls).Results: Attachment security demonstrated significant negative correlations with aggression in the boys, girls and the total Iranian sample. The girls’ dependency on mothers was the only case with insignificant correlation. In the Indian sample, attachment security was also found to be significantly negatively correlated with aggression. The only exception was the correlation between mother’s availability and aggression in girls, which was not significant Conclusion: It is important that parents treat their children in a tender, loving manner so that a secure attachment develop between them.

Objective: Although there are some reports of reduction of obsessive compulsive symptoms in manic episodes or its exacerbation during depressive episodes, this relationship has not been proved.Method: Clinical observations of six cases with co-morbidity of bipolar-I-disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder or symptoms. Results: The cases presented here show heterogeneity and variety of the relationships between the obsessions and bipolar-I-disorder. Limitations: Low sample size and non-random sampling. Conclusions: This variety of clinical presentations may indicate the presence of different clinical groups that their validity should be assessed through more systematized studies.

Objective: This study assessed the effect of paradox in family therapy. Paradox, as a therapeutic tool, has been developed by a number of therapists, especially Mara Selvini Palazzoli.Method: This study benefited from the Milan Systems Approach to family. Two clients (both females) were selected for this study. These two girls were the symptomatic members of their families. The families participated in 16 sessions of the therapies. Then, they were followed up for two years. All the family members filled the FAD and BDI questionnaires prior to the therapy, in the tenth session, after the therapy and three months later. Results: Results showed that in appropriate cases paradox had a satisfactory outcome. This method reduced the symptomatic behavior, and affected family system as a whole and also helped the family system to become more practical and functional. Case #1 was depressed and on medication for four years prior to the start of the family therapy. Two years later, she recovered and got married. Case #2, was also depressed. After the therapy, she did not need to take medication; she finished high school and entered university.Conclusion: Paradox is a powerful tool for family therapy. It is a creative and critical solution for long-term illnesses. However, we should keep in mind that this technique should be used as the last option in the course of family therapy and only after other techniques failed to be effective. Caution should be taken when using this technique in therapy.

Objective: To study the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Method: The data for this study was collected from the psychiatric clinic of Hafez hospital and 16 regular schools in four regions of Shiraz using stratified random sampling.The 25 items of the SDQ were completed for 379 boys and 377 girls. The 756 participants aged 3-18 were divided to 3 groups according to age classification. The SDQ was completed by parents, teachers and adolescents according to their age. Clinical interview was performed for 155 children and adolescents who referred to the psychiatric clinic. Results: The mean age of the children was 10.3 years (SD=3.6, range 3-18 years). Children were divided to 3 groups: 1) among the participants 17 (2.3%) were aged 3-4 years, 2) 409 (54%) were aged 4-11 years, and 3) 330 (43.7%) were aged 11-16 years. Good internal consistencies were found for the self report SDQ scales (mean a for subscales 0.628). For the teacher SDQ scales, the internal consistencies were lower than the self-report scales (mean α for subscales 0.454). The lowest internal consistencies were found for the parents SDQ scales. There was sufficient convergent and discriminant validity.Conclusions: The Persian translation of the self reported SDQ has acceptable to good psychometric properties. Internal consistency of the self-report SDQ was good. The mean inter-informant correlations of the SDQ scales were satisfactory. The Persian translation of the SDQ worked well.