• Anxiety and mood
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.101-107
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• 2006

Object : Since autonomic nerve system dysfunction was known as the mechanism of panic disorder, many researchers used heart rate variability (HRV) as means of measuring autonomic nerve function of patients with panic disorder. We aimed to examine the effect of paroxetine medication for 3 months on symptom improvement and change of heart rate variability of the patients with panic disorder. Methods : The subjects were patients with panic disorder who visited the psychiatric outpatient clinic of Samsung Medical Center in Seoul. We included panic disorder patients who were aged from 20 to 50 and in normal BMI range (from 18 to 30) to minimize the effect of age and weight on HRV data. We excluded the patients with EKG abnormalities, hypertension or other major psychiatric disorders. They took 20-40 mg paroxetine medication a day for 3 months. Alprazolam was used only during the first month to control the acute panic symptoms and was tapered off after that. We measured the acute panic inventory (API), Hamilton rating scale for anxiety and depression (HAM-A & HAM-D), Spielberger state-trait anxiety inventory (STAIS, STAIT), and Beck depression inventory (BDI) in order to assess clinical improvement of the patients. And we measured time and frequency domain HRV in the resting, standing and cognitive stress states to assess the change of HRV. All measurements were done before and after paroxetine treatment. Result : After paroxetine medication, patients showed significant improvement in all psychiatric scales. In time domain of HRV, standard deviations of all R-R intervals (SDNN) were significantly increased in all states. In frequency domain of HRV, the ratio of high frequency to total power (HF/TP) in the standing state was significantly increased. Conclusion : After 3 months paroxetine medication, panic disorder patients showed significant clinical improvement and change in HRV data such as SDNN in all states and HF/TP ratio in the standing state. This result suggests that paroxetine medication is effective for the improvement of autonomic nerve system dysfunction in panic disorder patients.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.62-67
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• 2008

Objectives : Gender differences in demographic characteristics, symptom presentation, and severity may influence the selection of target behaviors as well as the course and outcome of therapeutic interventions for patients with social phobia. The purpose of this study was to explore the gender differences in the symptomatic characteristics of Korean patients with social phobia. Methods : A total of 256 outpatients with social phobia at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital were included in this study. All subjects were evaluated using the Korean version of the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview Plus. Potential differences in demographic characteristics, severity of anxiety, and situational fear and avoidance were examined. Self-report questionnaires and interviewer-administered instruments, including the Social Phobia Scale (SPS), Social Phobia subscale of the Fear Questionnaire (FQ-social), Appraisal of Social Concerns (ASC), and Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), were used to evaluate the severity of the patients' symptoms. Results : There were no gender differences in demographic characteristics, age, age at onset of social phobia, total SPS score, FQ-Social score, ASC score, and LSAS score. In addition, there was no gender difference in the severity of fear in specific social situations. However, women reported significantly higher total scores on the social helplessness category of the ASC than men (p=0.009). Conclusion : Previous studies reported that the severity of social phobia symptoms is greater in women than in men, but our results suggest that there are no significant gender differences in the severity of social phobia symptoms. Thus, gender differences among patients with social phobia are discussed in the context of traditional sex-role expectations.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.204-211
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• 2017

Objectives In this study, we identified the symptoms of insomnia, anxiety, and depressed mood in newly diagnosed women breast and thyroid cancer patients. Methods The subjects of this study were 1794 women patients who visited the Ewha Womans University Cancer Center for Women. They included 1119 newly diagnosed primary breast cancer patients and 675 newly diagnosed primary thyroid cancer patients. The patients completed the National Cancer Center Psychological Symptom Inventory (NCC-PSI) during their first follow-up visit after surgery, before starting chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The NCC-PSI is composed of the modified distress thermometer (MDT) and the modified impact thermometer (MIT) for insomnia, anxiety, and depressed mood. Results Anxiety severity was found to be greater in breast cancer patients than in thyroid cancer patients. Significant levels of anxiety, depressed mood and insomnia were present in 28, 24.5, and 20.7% in all the subjects, respectively. Moreover, anxiety symptoms, depressed mood and insomnia interfered with the daily lives of 20, 18.4, and 14.2% of all the subjects, respectively. Dealing with anxiety (18.8%) was found to need the most help, followed by dealing with insomnia (8.9%) and depressed mood (8.7%). Conclusions A significant level of distress was found in about 40% of the total subjects. Nearly 30% of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients reported significant anxiety symptoms and interferences with daily living caused by anxiety, which most commonly needed special care. Early assessment and management of psychological distress, especially anxiety, in breast and thyroid cancer treatment are very important to establish integrated cancer care.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3487-3493
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• 2014

Background: This research was planned with the aim of determining the effect of symptom frequency of children with cancer on the quality of life of their parents. Materials and Methods: In gathering the research data, the Child and Parent Information Form, the Symptom Evaluation Form and the Family Version of Life Quality Scale in Cancer Patients were used. Evaluation was made by using percentage calculations, Kruskal Wallis test, Bonferroni adjusted t-test and Bonferroni adjusted Mann-Whitney U test. The significance level was accepted as 0.005. Results: Some 37.6% of the participant children were female and 62.4% were male, with an average age of $10.2{\pm}4.5$. While 41.0% were newly diagnosed, 46.2% were in remission and 12.8% was in relapse. Highly significant differences were detected according to the symptom frequency with parent physical and psychological health, social anxiety, and spiritual wellness sub-dimensions, as well as total point averages. Conclusions: It is thought that following up the symptoms that might develop depending on cancer diagnosis and treatment and implementing nursing initiatives aimed at reducing the symptoms, knowing the importance of life quality, maintaining measures aimed at life quality and planning initiatives to increase the life quality will play a key role in maintaining and developing the health of Turkish paediatric oncology patients and their parents.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.136-141
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• 2006

Objectives : This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of combined biofeedback training with pharmacotherapy for patients with anxiety disorder. Methods : 12 patients with panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder were enrolled this study. They were tested for State Trait Anxiety Inventory-State (STAI-S), State Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait (STAI-T), Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) and Symptom CheckList-90-Revision Somatization (SCL-90-R-SOM) before and after the biofeedback training program. Results : The score of STAI-T (p=0.023) and BDI (p=0.0018) were the significantly decreased after the biofeedback training program. In Female group, the score of STAI-T (p=0.028), STAI-S (p=0.028) and BDI (p=0.009) were significantly decreased after the biofeedback training program. In the group which age is lower than 40 years old, the score of BDI (p=0.046) were significantly decreased after the biofeedback training program. In Panic disorder group, the score of STAI-S (p=0.046) were significantly decreased after the biofeedback training program. Conclusion : The result of this study is useful for the treating the anxiety disorder patients using the biofeedback training program.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.161-169
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• 1998

A clinical analysis was carried out for 19 patients who was treated in Dept. of Neuropsychiatry of Taejon Oriental Medicine Hospital from I aug. 1997 to 31 Jul. 1998 and was ruled out as anxiety disorder. The results were summarized as follows. 1. In the distribution of the sex, ratio between female and male was 1:2.8, distribution of the age was even each age, and the primary motive of the onset were psychological trauma, question of money, discord of a household. 2. As for the duration in disease, the duration from a week to a month had a majority of all, and the most duration of the addmission-treatment was a week. 3. The most common symptom were palpitation ·anxiety, headache·dizziness, chest discomfort, the cases of generalized anxiety disorder and atypical anxiety disorder was a large number. 4. In the aromatherapy of absorptive method, the sort of many used essential oil were Lavenda and Rosewood, in the massage, that were Peppermint and Rosemary. 5. The most used recipes were BUNSIMKIYEM(分心氣飮) HACHULBOSIMTANG(夏朮補心湯), CHUNGGANSOYOSAN(淸肝逍遙散), BANHABAEKCHUCHUNMATANG(半夏白朮天麻湯), CUIBIONDAMTANG(歸脾溫膽湯) etc. 6. In the judgement of efficacy, 9 cases showed good efficacy, 9 cases showed no change, 1 case showed excellent efficacy.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.134-137
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• 1998

Authors report a case of separation anxiety disorder, which developed as a side effect during haloperidol treatment of Tourette syndrome(TS). In this case, 14 years old boy developed attention deficit symptoms during his infancy. At 4th grade of primary school, he developed vocal tic, motor tic, and coprolalia. With 5mg/day of haloperidol treatment his symptoms of TS were subsided. During the treatment, he developed features of separation anxiety disorder, including dependence, pleading, clinging, and sadness. Symptoms of attention deficit and separation anxiety disorder were improved by 25mg/day of imipramine treatment. During haloperidol treatment of TS, careful observation may be needed whether separation anxiety disorder-like symptom develops.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.46-52
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• 2009

Objectives : The goal of this study was to compare the clinical characteristics of panic disorder respiratory subtype(PD-R) and non-respiratory subtype(PD-NR). Methods : 84 patients with panic disorder were enrolled and divided into 2 groups, 29 PD-R and 55 PD-NR. Diagnosis of panic disorder was evaluated using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders $4^{th}$ edition and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. They were also measured with Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety(HAM-A), Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression(HAM-D), and Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS). Results : PD-R group showed significantly higher scores in PDSS than those of PD-NR group(p=.027). After controlling for the severity of panic disorder and gender, PD-R group showed higher HAM-D and somatic anxiety subscale of HAM-A than those of PD-NR group. Furthermore, results of logistic regression analysis suggested that the somatic anxiety was a possible risk factor of PD-R(OR=1.404,p=0.009). Conclusion : These results suggest that somatic anxiety and depressive symptom would be important clinical characteristics of PD-R.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.106-112
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• 2020

Objective : Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by fear of social threat and exhibits limbic hyper-reactivity toward social stimuli such as emotional faces. A previous study identified the uncinate fasciculus (UF) sub-tract as particularly related to facial memory. To explore the white matter tract relating to face-specific brain regions, we investigated the UF sub-tract in SAD. Methods : The diffusion tensor images of 22 patients with SAD and 20 healthy controls were analyzed with tractography. The UF sub-tract was delineated using the regions of interest of face patches in the anterior temporal lobe and the orbitofrontal cortex, and fractional anisotrophy (FA) and total number of streamlines (ST) were analyzed. We examined the group comparison of FA and ST of the UF sub-tract and correlations of FA and ST with the social anxiety symptoms such as the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and the Fear of Negative Evaluation scale (FNE) in SAD. Results : There were no group differences in FA and ST of the UF sub-tract. However, negative correlations were observed between ST of the right UF sub-tract and severity of social anxiety symptoms (LSAS, r_s=-0.480, p=0.024; SIAS, r_s=-0.580, p=0.005; SPS, r_s=-0.590, p=0.004; FNE, r_s=-0.675, p=0.001) in patients with SAD. Conclusion : Although patients with SAD did not show quantitative abnormalities in the UF sub-tact connecting face-specific brain regions, this structure seems to play a role in the symptom severity of SAD.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.137-144
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• 2022

Objectives : This study was designed to investigate the effect of sleep quality on depression symptoms and the mediating effect of interpretation bias and anxiety symptoms in psychiatric patients. Methods : Data accumulated for outpatients and inpatients in the Department of Mental Health Medicine at Hanyang University Guri Hospital were used. The measurement tools were Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Ambiguous/Unambiguous Situations Diary-Extended Version (AUSD-EX), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Correlation analysis and bootstrapping analysis were conducted using SPSS 25.0 and SPSS Macro based on 162 patient data. Results : As a result of the study, the double mediating effect of interpretation bias for Ambiguity and anxiety symptoms was significant in the relationship between sleep quality and depression symptoms. Conclusions : In this study, it was confirmed that low sleep quality sequentially affects anxiety and depression symptoms through interpretation bias for ambiguity. Based on this, it is expected that the development of other psychiatric symptoms can be prevented by preferentially performing therapeutic intervention on preceding symptoms.