Connotative Interpretations of the “Sex” Word in a Sample of Iranian Students: A Pilot Study

Objective: Sex is a ubiquitous word which is widely used in other languages with a meaning somewhat different from the English one. This study plan to examine the attributes assigned by a group of Iranian Farsi speakers to “sex” constructs.Method: the total of 33 women and 31 men (45 single and 19 married mean, age= 28.26), of medical students of Tehran University participated in this study which was done at 2020. Our measurement scale has been borrowed from Osgood; fifteen bipolar items in seven-point Likert that arranged in odd and even order is offered to participants. Some of poles are: “Cold-Warm”, “Weak-Strong”, “Secure-Unsecure”, “Hidden-Obvious”, “Up-Down”, “Funky-Fragrant”. Results: this sample evaluated “sex” as warm, strong, up, fragrant, beautiful, sweet, white, good taste, good and active. Interestingly, there are more agreement than disagreement in comparison of two genders. However, there is a significant difference between male and female in the item of “unsecure-secure”. Also, regarding the marital status no significant difference was found between single and married students. The only marginal was Hidden-Obvious and Bad Taste-Good Taste.Conclusion: When communication involves the use of sexuality-related words, semantics may play a particularly important role. Therefore, exploring the meaning of sex assigned by users seems necessary

Development and Testing of a Modified Version of Stroop Test for the Assessment of Sexual Functioning: A Modified Sexual Stroop Test in Persian Language (MSST-Persian)

Aim: Modified versions of the Stroop task have been used in various kinds of clinical conditions. The aim of this study was to develop a Sexual Stroop Task.Method: This study consists of two phases. First phase included designing the sexual Stroop task after searching and selecting Persian sexual and neutral words, and the second phase was related to the pilot study. For finding Persian sexual words, we used four different methods but for neutral words we used the words used in other Stroop studies. Then, we came up with 2 general categories as neutral and sexual words which were randomly specified as green and red colors. The developed computerized version of the Sexual Stroop Task was run on 69 participants as a pilot study. Results: Participants (N=69) had longer response times for words related to sex in comparison to neutral words. And the total time which was spent on sexual words was more than the total time for neutral words. The percentage of the correct neutral words was also higher than correct neutral words.Conclusion: This preliminary study presented a new version of emotional Stoop test that seems to be a promising instrument to study the neuropsychological aspects of sexuality

Is There A Relationship Between The Components Of Metabolic Syndrome And Depression?

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome is characterized as, have at least 3 of the following 5 criteria: high waist circumference, high blood pressure, high Triglyceride, low HDL (High Density Lipoprotein), and elevated Fasting Blood Glucose. The International Diabetes Federation estimates that 25% of the world's population has metabolic syndrome. Specially, metabolic syndrome is more prevalence in depressed people and other psychiatric patients, but some studies do not confirm it. So, we decided to evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome criteria and depression as a most common psychiatric disorder. Method: Our study was a cross sectional design of 130 participants aged 18-65 years. We assessed the metabolic syndrome based on International Diabetes Federation criterion and depression by using the criterion of DSM-IV. Results: After an adjustment for important confounders (Physical activity, calorie intake, history of depression, the depression score, menopausal status, body mass index and dietary patterns) depressed patients significantly had more waist circumference. Conclusion: Maybe visceral obesity results in depression or vice versa. So, we suppose more studies to clarify this relationship

Lived Experience of Patients with Sex Addiction: A Qualitative Study

Sexual addiction is a growing disorder which is accompanied with many personal and social consequences. The current fundamental study aims to investigate and discover the factors affecting the development of sexual addiction, with a qualitative view at the experience, thoughts and feelings of patients with sex addiction. Using a qualitative method, 13 patients with sex addiction (10 male and 3 female) aged 21–50 were selected by purposeful sampling and interviewed in 2019 in Tehran with a semi-structured interview. Then, the data was analyzed by using a seven-step Colaizzi method. The results were categorized into three main categories including personal issues, family inefficiency and inattentiveness of the society about sex education, and further categorized into 11 subcategories. Our findings provide invaluable insights into sex addiction for physicians and other mental health providers. Given the lack of community planning and policy regarding the sex education for teachers, parents and youth, we emphasize the responsibility of parents in teaching healthy sexual behaviors to their children and adolescents

Combination of Citalopram and Nortriptyline in the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Double – Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Objective: The fact that some antidepressants with strong effects on serotonin reuptake blockade fail to relieve obsessive-compulsive symptoms has caused growing interest in investigating noradrenergic function in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) . In light of the above, we undertook a trial to investigate whether the combination of citalopram with nortriptyline is more effective in treating obsessive-compulsive symptoms than citalopram alone. Method: 40 patients who met the DSM-IV criteria for OCD were included in the study. Patients were allocated in a random fashion: 20 patients to citalopram 40mg /day plus nortriptyline 50mg /day, and 20 patients to citalopram 40mg /day plus placebo. Results: Both protocols significantly decreased the scores of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) over the trial period, but the combination of citalopram and nortriptyline showed a significant superiority over citalopram alone in the treatment of OCD. Conclusion: As this study indicates, nortriptyline improves the efficacy of citalopram. In addition, a rapid onset of action is one of the advantages of this combination. This study supports further investigation of the noradrenergic– serotonergic hypothesis in OCD

Effects of Herbal vigRX on Premature Ejaculation: A randomized, double-blind study

Objective :   "nWe conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study todetermine the efficacy of an herbal sexual supplement (vigRX) on premature ejaculation (PE). Method: "nA randomized double blind study was conducted on a fixed dose of herbal vigRX at Roozbeh Psychiatry Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The sample consisted of 85 married patients diagnosed withprimary PE according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Each patient underwent diagnostic evaluation by one trained psychiatrist, using Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR. Each patient was evaluated by researchers to exclude the organic sexual dysfunctions. The patients were randomly assigned in to two groups: group 1 consisting of 42 patients receiving placebo, and group 2 consisting of 43 patients receiving 540 mg herbal vigRX for a 4-week treatment course. The effects of the drug on the ejaculatory function in each group were assessed by the intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT), and the Chinese Index of Premature Ejaculation (CIPE) before and at the end of the treatment course. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (15th version).      Results: "nThe mean IELT increased 22.4 and 32.0 seconds in the placebo and the vigRX group respectively after the treatment course. The mean IELT differences between the two groups was not significant. The mean CIPE score increased 2.40 and 4.37 in the placebo and the vigRX group respectively .The mean CIPE score differences between the two groups was not significant.No side effect was reported by the subjects in neither groups during the treatment course. "nConclusion: Although the improvement in IELT and CIPE scores in the herbal vigRX group was more than the placebo group, this difference was not statistically significant. The increasing of IELT and CIPE score in the placebo group may be due to the placebo effects. Further studies with higher vigRX doses, greater sample size and longer treatment courses are warranted

Effects of Passion Flower Extract, as an Add-on Treatment to Sertraline, on Reaction Time in Patients ‎with Generalized Anxiety Disorder: a Double-blind Placebo-Controlled Study

Objective: Because of functional impairment caused by generalized anxiety disorder and due to cognitive side ‎effects of many anti-anxiety agents, in this study we aimed to evaluate the influence of Passion ‎flower standardized extract on reaction time in patients with generalized anxiety disorder.‎ Method: Thirty patients aged 18 to 50 years of age, who were diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and ‎fulfilled the study criteria, entered this double-blind placebo-controlled study. Reaction time was ‎measured at baseline and after one month of treatment using computerized software. Correct ‎responses, omission and substitution errors and the mean time of correct responses (reaction time) in ‎both visual and auditory tests were collected. The analysis was performed between the two groups ‎and within each group utilizing SPSS PASW- statics, Version 18. P-value less than 0.05 was ‎considered statistically significant.‎ Results: All the participants were initiated on Sertraline 50 mg/day, and the dosage was increased to 100 ‎mg / day after two weeks. Fourteen patients received Pasipy (Passion Flower) 15 drops three times ‎daily and 16 received placebo concurrently. Inter-group comparison proved no significant difference ‎in any of the test items between assortments while a significant decline was observed in auditory ‎omission errors in passion flower group after on month of treatment using intra-group analysis.‎‎ Conclusion: This study noted that passion flower might be suitable as an add-on in the treatment of generalized ‎anxiety disorder with low side effects. Further studies with longer duration are recommended to ‎confirm the results of this study.

Female Sexual Function During the Menopausal Transition in a Group of Iranian Women

Objective: To determine the prevalence of sexual problems in Iranian women and association of sexual dysfunction with menopausal symptoms. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, 151 married women with the age of 40-60 yearsold who were referred for treatmentto Department of Gynecology in Vali-e-Asr Hospital (Tehran, Iran) from April to July 2012, were recruited. They were evaluated concerning their sexual function in the domains of desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain with the female sexual function index (FSFI) questionnaire.Menopause rating scale (MRS) was developed for the diagnosis and quantification of climacteric symptoms. Results: Total frequency of sexual dysfunction was 53% with the domains of lubrication, arusal and desire being commonly affected 62%, 70% and 98.5% of cases respectively. There is a relationship between severity of somatic and urogenital symptoms with sexual dysfunction (p = 0.03, p = 0.00 respectively). Conclusion: A considerable percentage of women experienced sexual dysfunctions in this period. Somatic and urogenital symptoms during the menopausal period could be a factor to maintain or intensity of sexual dysfunctions

Evaluation of Depression and Mental Health Status in Women with Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome

Objective: Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine condition that affects up to one fifth of the women of reproductive age. The overall prevalence of the depressive disorders has been shown to be about 12% in a large multi-centric study of obstetric-gynecologic patients. This study was designed to evaluate the distribution of depression and mental health status in women with PCOS. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 100 women with PCOS who were selected among patients attending the gynecologic and obstetric clinics of two referral centers. They completed Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). Results: The prevalence of depression in women with PCOS was 45% according to BDI. According to GHQ-28, 30% of our patients were considered as possible cases of mental disorder. Conclusion: We found that the prevalence of depression was significantly high in women with PCOS. We believe that the treatment of PCOS must include psychological treatment to improve mental health status as well