Cross-cultural views of self in the treatment of mental illness: disentangling the curative aspects of myth from the mythic aspects of cure

Journal ArticleTHIS paper compares Eastern and Western concepts of self within the context of the healing process. I draw upon the work of Sudhir Kakar and Heinz Kohut to illustrate differences in how mental illness is expressed and treated in India and the United States. I propose that cultural variances in the way that illness is expressed and treated relate to differences in culturally determined "myths" of the self. In India, where Kakar lives and works, the self is conceived as fluid and interdependent; in the West, the self is conceived as more solid and autonomous

Differential outcomes among adolescent fathers: understanding fatherhood as a transformative process

ManuscriptIn response to the rising numbers of mother headed households, there is a great debate about whether to encourage young unwed parents to marry. Policies designed to pursue and/or punish fathers who do not meet their legal and financial responsibilities and to promote marriage, carte blanche, are referred to as "the marriage agenda." This agenda is reactive to the social costs of single motherhood, which have included high rates of poverty and a heavy reliance on public programs for economic support (Carlson, McLanahan & England, 2001; Coley, 2001; Furstenberg, 1995)

Hostile personality traits and coronary artery calcification in middle-aged and older married couples: different effects for self-reports versus spouse ratings

Journal ArticleTo examine the association between hostile personality traits and coronary artery disease (CAD) and the role of aspects of hostility, method of assessment, and age as influences on its magnitude, as prior studies of hostility and coronary artery calcification (CAC) have produced conflicting findings. Methods: Participants included 300 married couples (mean age = 54.4 years) free from diagnosed CAD. Participants completed four measures of hostility-self-reports and spouse ratings of angry hostility (i.e., tendency to experience anger) and antagonism (i.e., argumentative, mistrusting, and cold interpersonal behavior)

Mourning the loss of "self as father": a longitudinal study of fatherhood among the druze

Journal ArticleIT is within the context of the parent-child relationship - through the processes of attachment, loss, separation and individuation - that we grow and develop interpersonally and intrapsychically (Bowlby 1969, 1980; Mahler et al. 1975; Pollock, 1989). Most developmentalists agree that changes in the parent-child relationship continue to influence both parents and children throughout the life cycle (Cohen et al. 1984; Colarusso and Nemiroff 1982)

Макрофагальная активность в коже больных псориазом при NB-UVB (311 нм) терапии

Досліджено 55 пацієнтів хворих на псоріаз. Пацієнти були розділені на 2 групи. Група 1 – 27 пацієнтів, які отримували тільки стандартне лікування і група 2 – 28 пацієнтів, які отримували стандартну і NB-UVB терапію. NB-UVB призначалась 3 рази в тиждень, при цьому використовували стартову дозу 0,1-0,3 J/cm2 , середня кумулятивна доза від 30 до 60 J/cm2 . Рівень макрофагальної активності в біоптатах шкіри досліджували за допомогою імуногістохімічного методу на 1 і 21 добу. NB-UVB терапія призовдить до зниження рівня експресії CD68 – маркера макрофагів, більшою часткою якої є функціонально-активні клітини, що свідчить про адекватність імуної відповіді і зниження запальної реакції.There were researched 55 psoriasis patients. Patients were divided in two groups. Group 1 – 27 patients who received only standard therapy and Group 2 – 28 patients who received standard and NB-UVB therapy. NB-UVB treatment was applied three times weekly. Starting UVB dose 0.1-0.3 J/cm2 , the mean cumulative UVB dose was 42.0 J/cm2 . The level of macrophage activity in skin biopsy was investigated by an immunohistochemical method on 1 and 21 days. NB-UVB therapy is linked to decline of level of CD68 expression with predominant of functionally active cells which testifies to adequacy of immune reactions and decline of inflammatory reaction