Chronic Illness as Loss of Good Self: Underlying Mechanisms Affecting Diabetes Adaptation

The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of emotional variables in diabetes adaptation. This is in order to develop and test a conceptual model simultaneously involving emotional variables consistent with a conceptual framework looking at chronic illness as a loss of good self. A convenience sample of 59 participants with a diagnosis of type 1 (n= 26) and type 2 (n=33) diabetes mellitus (Mean age= 57.17, SD=16.82) completed measures of diabetes distress, psychological adjustment to diabetes, diabetes self-care (as outcomes of diabetes adaptation) and depression, alexithymia and damaged ego-related strategies (as emotional variables). Correlation analyses among the examined measures were performed; as well, regression analyses were used to test the role of such emotional variables (as potential predictors) in accounting for diabetes adaptation outcomes. The results overall suggest that lower depression and higher mania contribute to diabetes adaption to a statistically significant extent, despite mania not being associated with self-care behaviors. The study raises a controversial debate about the meaningfulness of the psychological process of adjustment to diabetes without considering the role of underlying symbolic and less conscious dynamics

Managing emotions and therapeutic alliance in Advanced fertility care: a qualitative study

It is scientifically recognized that fertility treatment is a source of stress and suffering for infertile patients, but less is known about the effects of the couples’ emotional experiences on the well-being of fertility staff. An interest regarding stress, job satisfaction and emotional health of fertility staff has only recently developed. An in-depth explorative research study was conducted on the health professionals of an Italian fertility hospital clinic (n=12). The interviewed group consisted of 3 gynecologists, 4 resident gynecologists, 2 embryologists, 2 nurses, and 1 midwife. A structured interview - created ad hoc for this study - was administered to the staff in order to explore the operators’ deepest feelings about their professional role and relationship with patients. Emotional text analysis, through aid of the T-Lab software, was conducted to analyze the corpus of their interviews, allowing the identification of five domains (clusters). They refer to the following emotional dimensions: the reference to the treatment’s technical aspects as a strategy aimed at perceiving control and reducing anxiety (cluster 1), great emotional investment on the treatment’s result (cluster 2), being completely in charge of patients (cluster 3), reference to the public identity of the fertility center (cluster 4), and self-definition as a symbolic incubator in which the couple and their desire are contained (cluster 5). Overall, the discursive factors seem to refer to adaptive strategies used by the specialists to face and contain the intense emotional involvement that derives from being the ones in charge of the couples’ procreative goals. In conclusion, the study suggests the importance of an integrative approach in fertility clinics, providing a space for the staff to express themselves and also obtain support in positively handling the complex relationship with their patients