Emotional Intelligence Components in Alcohol Dependent and Mentally Healthy Individuals

Objective. Emotional intelligence might play an important role in the onset and persistence of different psychopathologies. This study investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence and alcohol dependence. Methods. In this case-control study, participants included alcohol dependent individuals and mentally healthy inpatients. Each group consisted of 40 individuals (male/female: 1). The diagnosis was based on the criteria of the DSM-IV-TR using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-IV). All the participants completed Bar-On emotional intelligence test. Results. 20 males and 20 females were included in each group. Mean age of alcohol dependent participants and controls was 31.28 ± 7.82 and 34.93 ± 9.83 years in that order. The analyses showed that the alcohol dependent individuals had a significant difference compared with the control group and received lower scores in empathy, responsibility, impulse control, self-esteem, optimism, emotional consciousness, stress tolerance, autonomy, problem-solving, and total score of emotional intelligence components. Conclusion. Patients with alcohol dependence have deficits in components of emotional intelligence. Identifying and targeted training of the individuals with lower scores in components of emotional intelligence may be effective in prevention of alcohol dependence

Studying the Effect of Sertraline in Reducing Aggressive Behavior in Patients with Major Depression

Purpose: Depression causes dysfunction in various spheres of individual and social life, which is now considered as the fourth-leading cause of the global disease burden. Given that violence and aggression associated with depression in the community cause serious damage to the family, the prediction, early detection and effective treatment of aggressive and violent behavior are essential. The present study compared the severity of aggression before and after treatment with sertraline in patients with major depression. Methods: This is an intervention type study and the study population consisted of patients with depression and aggression. The sampling included 23 eligible patients. Data were obtained by SCID-I, SCID-II, STAXI-II, BDI-II and was also analyzed using SPSS 23 software. Results: The results showed that depression, anger mood, desire to verbally express anger, controlling anger and anger control before treatment was reduced but the desire for physical expression of anger increased. Conclusion: Obtained results in this research support the effect of Sertraline on reduction of severity of depression, reduction of severity of symptoms of aggression and anger (state of anger, anger feeling, and the tendency to express anger verbally), increased controlling external anger and significantly controlling internal anger. Hence, Sertraline can be found effective in the treatment of patients with depression and aggressive behaviors. Also Sertraline increases tend to cause physical representation of anger, then this issue supports the increase in the euthanasia behavior in primary days of treatment with SSRI that requires more assessments

Emotional Intelligence Components in Alcohol Dependent and Mentally Healthy Individuals

Objective. Emotional intelligence might play an important role in the onset and persistence of different psychopathologies. This study investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence and alcohol dependence. Methods. In this case-control study, participants included alcohol dependent individuals and mentally healthy inpatients. Each group consisted of 40 individuals (male/female: 1). The diagnosis was based on the criteria of the DSM-IV-TR using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-IV). All the participants completed Bar-On emotional intelligence test. Results. 20 males and 20 females were included in each group. Mean age of alcohol dependent participants and controls was 31.28 ± 7.82 and 34.93 ± 9.83 years in that order. The analyses showed that the alcohol dependent individuals had a significant difference compared with the control group and received lower scores in empathy, responsibility, impulse control, self-esteem, optimism, emotional consciousness, stress tolerance, autonomy, problem-solving, and total score of emotional intelligence components. Conclusion. Patients with alcohol dependence have deficits in components of emotional intelligence. Identifying and targeted training of the individuals with lower scores in components of emotional intelligence may be effective in prevention of alcohol dependence

Preventive Effect of Liothyronine on Electroconvulsive Therapy-Induced Memory Deficit in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder: A Double-Blind Controlled Clinical Trial

Introduction and Objective. Despite the effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in treating major depressive disorder (MDD), its cognitive side effects make it less popular. This study investigated the impact of liothyronine on ECT-induced memory deficit in patients with MDD. Methodology. This is a double-blind clinical trial, in which 60 patients with MDD who were referred for ECT were selected. The diagnosis was based on the criteria of DSM-IV-TR. Patients were divided randomly into two groups to receive either liothyronine (50 mcg every morning) or placebo. After the assessment with Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) before first session of ECT, posttests were repeated again, two months after the completion of ECT. Findings. By controlling the pretest scores, the mean scores of the experimental group were higher than the control group in delayed recall, verbal memory, visual memory, general memory, and attention/concentration scales (P<0.05). Conclusion. Liothyronine may prevent ECT-induced memory impairment in patients with MDD. This study has been registered in IRCT under IRCT201401122660N2

Assessment of Behavioral Approach and Behavioral Inhibition Systems in Mood Disorders

Introduction: Psychiatric disorders could be evaluated in terms of behavioral activation and inhibition systems. Dysregulation of these systems may lead to development of manic or depressive episodes in patients with mood disorders. This study aimed to identify Behavioral Approach System (BAS) and Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) hypersensitivity as the functional brain system behaviors in patients with major depressive disorder and bipolar mood disorder I, compared to healthy individuals. Methods: This case-control study was conducted in Razi Psychiatric Hospital, a mental health referral center in Northwest of Iran. The study consisted of two groups of patients, one with major depressive and the other with bipolar mood disorders and one healthy group. Each group had 40 patients (20 men and 20 women). The study data were collected through BIS and BAS questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS). The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS version 18. Results: The findings showed a significant negative correlation between BIS, BAS and BAS subscales with the severity of depression and positive correlation with mania symptoms (P<0.05). Conclusion: BAS and BIS dysregulations may predispose people to mood disorder symptoms. BAS is hyperactive during manic phase and may predict the symptom severity of bipolar mood disorder

Personality profiles and clinical syndromes of patients withtonic-clonic seizures

Introduction: Epilepsy is one of the chronic neurological disorders with an incidence rate of 3% in the normal population. Epilepsy may render behavioral changes so that affected people are prone to prolonged interpersonal difficulties. In order to evaluate co-morbidities and potential personality changes, the study was conducted among the patients with epilepsy in an Iranian population. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional one with a convenience sampling method. The data of 74 patients with epilepsy and 74 non-epileptic patients were collected by clinical interview and Millon clinical multiaxial inventory (MCMI-III) and were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: The average age was 31.70. The highest scores gained in epileptic patients were in narcissistic 14.04 (4.53%), obsessive 14.26 (4.30%), and negativistic domains 14.15 (5.24%), while histrionic 76.38 (28.54%) and obsessive 61.74 (24.03%) patterns were obtained in non-epilepticpeople. There were significant differences between the two groups in all areas except for the debasement index (Z score) and the negativistic personality disorder. There was a significant positive correlation between narcissistic and obsessive personality patterns and post-traumatic stress disorder with education, as well as between sex and drug dependency. Economic and marital status showed correlations with schizoid personality and sadistic personality, respectively. Conclusion: Patients with tonic-clonic seizures have although difficulties in personality (negativistic) and clinical syndrome areas but the results showed lower scores in subscales except for disclosure (X index) compared with non-epileptic individuals. They are more inclined to disclose the problems with worse mental health conditions than non-epileptic people

Correlates of impulsive and hostile behavior in patients with borderline personality disorder and bipolar II disorder

Introduction: Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) suffer from a higher degree of impulsive and hostile behavior, compared with other psychiatric disorders. On the other hand, the impulsive behavior in these patients is different from the patients with type II bipolar disorder (BMD II). This study aimed to investigate the differences between patients with BPD and patients with bipolar disorder in the aggressiveness and impulsivity scales. Methods: A descriptive-analytical study through a convenience sampling method was conducted on 117 patients with BPD (30 patients) and BMD II (87 patients) who completed the Buss and Perry’s Aggression Questionnaire as well as the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. The obtained data was analyzed in SPSS using Student’s t-test, and its results were considered significant at P < 0.05 level. Results: The two groups were significantly different in terms of attention and cognitive complexity of Barratt Impulsiveness Scales, hostility, physical aggression, as well as in the total score of Buss and Perry’s aggression and hostility questionnaire, in which the scores in patients with BMD in the above-mentioned scales were higher, compared with the BPD and finally, the marital status variable was significantly correlated with age, physical aggression, anger, anxiety, cognitive complexity, and perseverance.Conclusion: The patients with BMD II experienced a higher degree of excitement in terms of hostility, violence and impulsivity measures; it is also different from the patients with borderline disorder in terms of type of aggressiveness