Psychiatric treatments involving religion: Psychotherapy from an islamic perspective

SUMMARY Religious thoughts and behaviors can play an important role in the relief or exacerbation of psychopathologic symptoms in Muslim patients; therefore, every successful psychotherapist needs to be familiar with Muslim culture in his or her country. Furthermore, some clinical trials show that adding religious psychotherapy to the usual secular therapy can accelerate clinical improvement in religious Muslim patients. In this chapter, I will (a) provide a short description of the basic tenets of Islam, (b) describe important points in initial assessment of Muslim clients, addressing transference and countertransference issues, and (c) discuss several Islamic concepts useful in treatment of depression, anxiety, and interpersonal problems in Muslim clients. Clinical examples are also provided to show how these concepts can be used in psychotherapeutic settings. Defining psychotherapy is difficult (pp. 6–7).(1) Although there are many kinds of psychotherapy(2) and many differences between them, it seems that all of them have at least one common goal: decreasing clients' overall suffering. Each client coming to a psychotherapeutic session has some problems, that is, some issues that cause (usually serious) negative feelings such as depression, anxiety, or anger. The more a psychotherapist succeeds in helping the patient overcome these negative feelings and prevent their recurrence, the more successful is his or her psychotherapy. There are about 1.2 billion Muslims in the world and Islam is the second largest religion in Europe and anticipated soon to be the second largest religion in the United States. © Cambridge University Press 2009

Cognitive therapy of religious depressed patients: Common concepts between christianity and Islam

The two most prevalent religions in the world are Christianity and Islam, each having more than one billion followers. It is well known that religious beliefs, including Christian and Islamic thoughts and beliefs, affect the feelings and behaviors of religious people. Many times, the psychopathological thoughts have religious contents. On the other hand, some studies have reported faster recovery of religious anxious and depressed patients by adding religious techniques, cognitions, and behaviors to the usual psychotherapy. This article discusses several religious thoughts and beliefs common to Christianity and Islam that the author has found useful in cognitive therapy of religious depressed patients and offers three case examples to illustrate how to use them. A set of such religious thoughts and concepts has important potential implications: more effective psychotherapy of religious Christian or Muslim patients, decreasing biases towards the patients from the other religion, and designing questionnaires and manuals for assessing the role of these thoughts in treatment or prevention of psychiatric disorders. © 2011 Springer Publishing Company

La percepción de los alumnos respecto de los cambios en las prácticas docentes. Un caso de incorporación de TICs en una materia de grado semipresencial

Se evalúan las percepciones de los alumnos participantes de una innovación didáctica, en el marco de una materia de grado de cursado intensivo y semipresencial, que consistió en la introducción de un Aula Virtual complementando las clases teóricas y prácticas de carácter presencial. Con este objetivo se identifican: la valoración de los alumnos sobre las TICs como herramientas didácticas, antes y después de participar en el Aula Virtual; la respuesta ante la introducción de esta modalidad en el repertorio de las prácticas docentes universitarias; las expectativas de los alumnos para el uso de las TICs en las carreras de grado. Para ello, se realizó un relevamiento en dos etapas: en la primera se administró un cuestionario semiestructurado a estudiantes participantes de la cursada semipresencial; posteriormente se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad a los casos atípicos detectados en la primera etapa. Los principales resultados indican que: la valoración de las TICs como herramientas didácticas está fuertemente influenciada por el acceso individual a las tecnologías y por el grado de manejo de las TICs, que resultó menor al esperado; que la introducción del Aula Virtual permitió ampliar su manejo de las TICs, particularmente los intercambios asincrónicos, aunque la resistencia al cambio es un factor importante; y que superada la resistencia se aprecia su potencial de aplicación en la carrera de grado.Fil: Bazán, Ariana. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales; Argentina.Fil: Estrella, Jorge Raúl. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales; Argentina.Fil: Romero, María Elsa. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales; Argentina.Fil: Rodríguez Iglesias, Germán. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales; Argentina

Utility of a Newly Designed Film Holder for Premolar Bitewing Radiography

INTRODUCTION: Bitewing radiography is a valuable technique for assessment of proximal caries, alveolar crest and periodontal status. Technical errors during radiography result in erroneous radiographic interpretation, misdiagnosis, possible mistreatment or unnecessary exposure of patient for taking a repeat radiograph. AIM: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a film holder modified from the conventional one and compared it with that of conventional film holder. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our study population comprised of 70 patients who were referred to the Radiology Department for bilateral premolar bitewing radiographs as requested by their attending clinician. Bitewing radiographs in each patient were taken using the newly designed holder in one side and the conventional holder in the other side. The acceptability of the two holders from the perspectives of the technician and patients was determined using a 0-20 point scale. The frequency of overlap and film positioning errors was calculated for each method. RESULTS: The conventional holder had greater acceptability among patients compared to the newly designed holder (mean score of 16.59 versus 13.37). From the technicians' point of view, the newly designed holder was superior to the conventional holder (mean score of 17.33 versus 16.44). The frequency of overlap was lower using the newly designed holder (p<0.001) and it allowed more accurate film positioning (p=0.005). CONCLUSION: The newly designed holder may facilitate the process of radiography for technicians and may be associated with less frequency of radiographic errors compared to the conventional holder

Validation of Persian version of PHQ-9 for diagnosis of major depressive episode in psychiatric wards in IRAN

Major depressive disorder is one of the most serious and disabling psychiatric disorders. It can be followed by medical problems, impaired individual functioning, reduced quality of life and mortality (1-3). The prevalence varies among different countries. This discrepancy depends on genetics, environmental parameters, racial factors, cultural differences in perceiving diagnostic parameters, psychometric characteristics of diagnostic tools and sampling protocol (3). Major depressive episode may happen during major depressive disorder (unipolar depression) and also in bipolar disorder type I and II patients

Testing Nano-Powder and Fused-Glass Mineral Reference Materials for In Situ Rb-Sr Dating of Glauconite, Phlogopite, Biotite and Feldspar via LA-ICP-MS/MS

Reference materials (RMs) with well-characterised composition are necessary for reliable quantification and quality control of isotopic analyses of geological samples. For in situ Rb-Sr analysis of silicate minerals via laser ablation inductively coupled plasma tandem mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS/MS) with a collision/reaction cell, there is a general lack of mineral-specific and matrix-matched RMs, which limits wider application of this new laser-based dating technique to certain minerals. In this work, pressed nano-powder pellets (NP) of four RMs, GL-O (glauconite), Mica-Mg (phlogopite), Mica-Fe (biotite) and FK-N (K-feldspar), were analysed and tested for in situ Rb-Sr dating, complemented by isotope dilution (ID) MC-ICP-MS Rb-Sr analyses of GL-O and Mica-Mg. In addition, we attempted to develop alternative flux-free and fused 'mineral glasses' from the above RMs for in situ Rb-Sr dating applications. Overall, the results of this study showed that among the above RMs only two NP (Mica-Mg-NP and GL-O-NP) were suitable and robust for in situ dating applications. These two nano-powder reference materials, Mica-Mg-NP and GL-O-NP, were thus used as primary RMs to normalise and determine Rb-Sr ages for three natural minerals: MDC phlogopite and GL-O glauconite grains, and also Mica-Fe-NP (biotite). Our in situ analyses of the above RMs yielded Rb-Sr ages that are in good agreement (within 8%) of published ages, which suggests that both Mica-Mg-NP and GL-O-NP are suitable RMs for in situ Rb-Sr dating of phlogopite, glauconite and biotite. However, using secondary RMs is recommended to monitor the quality of the obtained ages.ISSN:1639-4488ISSN:1751-908

Religious vs. Conventional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Major Depression in Persons With Chronic Medical Illness

Abstract: We examine the efficacy of conventional cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) versus religiously integrated CBT (RCBT) in persons with major depression and chronic medical illness. Participants were randomized to either CCBT (n = 67) or RCBT (n = 65). The intervention in both groups consisted of ten 50-minute sessions delivered remotely during 12 weeks (94% by telephone). Adherence to treatment was similar, except in more religious participants in whom adherence to RCBT was slightly greater (85.7% vs. 65.9%, p = 0.10). The intention-to-treat analysis at 12 weeks indicated no significant difference in outcome between the two groups (B = 0.33; SE, 1.80; p = 0.86). Response rates and remission rates were also similar. Overall religiosity interacted with treatment group (B = −0.10; SE, 0.05; p = 0.048), suggesting that RCBTwas slightly more efficacious in the more religious participants. These preliminary findings suggest that CCBT and RCBT are equivalent treatments of major depression in persons with chronic medical illness. Efficacy, as well as adherence, may be affected by client religiosity