The phenomenology of negative and positive imagery in early psychosis

This thesis is presented in three parts and focuses on intrusive cognitions in psychopathology, particularly the phenomenology of mental imagery in early psychosis. Part one is a systematic review which examines the impact of suppression, rumination and worry, hypothesised maintenance factors in cognitive models of PTSD, on trauma-related intrusions. The reviewed experimental studies provide support for increased intrusion frequency following suppression in clinical samples only with limited evidence of an adverse impact on affect. There was evidence of decreased mood following rumination in analogue studies. A number of methodological issues are discussed which warrant consideration in trauma-related experimental research. Part two is an empirical paper that investigates negative and positive mental imagery in early psychosis. Thirty-one service users from Early Intervention in Psychosis services participated in this study. The phenomenological characteristics, thematic content and appraisals of imagery in addition to participant’s ability to intentionally generate positive future-oriented images were investigated in this mixed-methods study. Negative imagery content reflected external threat, traumatic experiences and also depressive and anxious concerns. Positive imagery depicted affiliation and the achievement of personal goals. Idiosyncratic appraisals of imagery varied in terms of their perceived dangerousness, benefit and source. Furthermore, depression and social anxiety were associated with the vividness and perceived likelihood of intentionally generated, positive future-oriented images. Part three is a critical appraisal of the investigation presented in the empirical paper. It discusses challenges in the examination of cognitive and behavioural responses to intrusive imagery, an issue highlighted in the literature review. It concludes by considering the role of positive imagery in therapeutic interventions for individuals with psychosis

Mental Disorders

This book brings together an international array of stars of the mental health professions to create a cutting edge volume that sheds light on many important and heretofore poorly understood issues in psychopathology. Mental Disorders-Theoretical and Empirical perspectives will be an important addition to the libraries of scholars and clinicians

Measuring Brain Serine With Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy At 3.0 Tesla

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) non-invasively measures regional human brain chemistry in vivo, providing concentration estimates for several metabolites in a pre-selected region of interest. MRS has been applied to investigations of disease-related metabolic and neurochemical alterations in schizophrenia since the early 90’s. The objective of this research is to implement a metabolite-selective MRS method to quantify endogenous concentrations of human brain serine. Serine is a naturally-occurring amino acid and an important co-modulator of the N-Methyl D-aspartic Acid (NMDA) glutamate receptor. Glutamate abnormalities have been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, especially its so-called negative and cognitive symptoms, which can be relieved by D-serine supplements. Measurements of serine have been impossible using standard MRS due to its low concentration and strongly coupled spins. In this thesis, we implement and test an advanced MRS pulse sequence, called DANTE-PRESS, using a narrow band radiofrequency (RF) pulse to isolate the serine signals from the human brain spectra for the first time on a 3.0 Tesla clinical scanner. Test-retest reliability of in vitro serine measurements in brain-mimicking samples was verified using ten repeated acquisitions from two serine samples with concentrations of 0.732 mM (similar to “in vivo”) and 1.464 mM (“double in vivo”) at baseline and one week later. Within- and between-session reproducibility was measured with the coefficient of variation (CV) and one-way ANOVA, respectively. Average serine “in vivo” concentration at baseline, one week later, “double in vivo” at baseline, and one week later were 1.13 ± 0.09 (CV = 8.3%), 1.06 ± 0.10 (CV = 9.9%), 2.18 ± 0.13 (CV = 5.7%) and 2.23 ± 0.14 (CV = 6.5%), respectively. The thesis also presents a 3.0 Tesla application of DANTE-PRESS in a human brain region relevant to schizophrenia as proof-of-concept. Future studies can extend the work to implementation of DANTE-PRESS at 7.0 Tesla and in vivo test-retest

Criminal Narrative Experience and Emotional State of Schizophrenic Offenders

It is deeply rooted in the social consciousness that dangerousness in inherent in the mental disorder. Over recent years, few extremely violent crimes committed by individuals suffering from schizophrenia have had an adverse impact on public opinion enhancing the widespread social misconception. Considering there is limited research on crimes committed by offenders suffering from schizophrenia, the present study carried out in the interest of obtaining a better knowledge of schizophrenic offenders’ criminal actions and the etiological factors associated to the expression and maintenance of the violent behaviour in such populations. The general purpose of the present study was to investigate the Criminal Narrative Experience of the Schizophrenic Offenders by the application of the Criminal Narrative Experience framework proposed for non mentally ill offenders (Ioannou, 2006); and further explore the emotional state of that population in terms of moral emotions, depression and suicidal ideation regarding the CNE of these offenders. This is the first study to examine the CNE framework solely in schizophrenic offenders and the first one to explore the emotional state in terms of the above mentioned aspects in combination to schizophrenic offenders during incarceration. A total of 64 schizophrenic offenders who have been found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity and recruited from three Psychiatric Hospitals in Greece, were voluntary participated in the present study. All the participants completed the demographic questionnaires regarding their personal, psychiatric and criminal background and seven questionnaires regarding their Criminal Narrative Experience and their emotional state. The present research successfully implemented the Criminal Narrative Experiences model and revealed the internal motives and the emotional gratifications that lead to crime. The findings mirrored partially the findings of previous studies in non mentally and mentally ill populations. Specifically, the study identified three Criminal Narrative Experience themes the Displeased Victim, the Contradicted Revenger and the Pleased Hero. Furthermore, it was found that the most dominant criminal narrative experience was the Displeased Victim as the majority of the participants experienced negative emotions and felt as victims during the crimes they had committed. Last but not least, there were found differences between the three Criminal Narrative Experience themes in terms of their emotional state and there was found that the background characteristic of schizophrenic offenders do not play any significant role in the formation of their criminal experience