• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.215-225
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• 1996

We studied the factors that would affect the severity of psychiatric symptoms of the Sampoong accident survivors. In this study, the analyzed factors are sex, age, marital status, educational level, loss of consciousness, witness of death, death of related person, duration until the rescue, duration of hospitalization, and psychiatric treatment after the accident. Although our study has some limitations, we found some factors that affect the severity of psychiatric symptoms after the severe traumatic accident.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.41-47
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• 2016

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common causes of dementia. It can exhibit a variety of clinical symptoms including cognitive decline, cognitive fluctuation, visual hallucinations, parkinsonism, REM sleep behavior disorder, hypersensitivity to neuroleptics and autonomic dysfunctions. Despite more well-known criteria for DLB, there are often misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment. It gives a lot of clinical burden to the clinician as well as to patients and families. When reducing the misdiagnosis, the burden of all will be reduced. The special concern and solicitation are needed in order not to miss the diagnosis when the cardinal features of DLB may not be volunteered by patients and the caregivers. To control the symptoms, clinicians must find and reduce drugs that can have the negative effects on DLB symptoms. There is limited evidence about specific interventions but available data suggest cholinesterase inhibitors improve the cognitive and behavioral symptoms and menmantine slightly improves the global impression.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.205-213
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• 1997

The aim of this study is to find the relationship between interictal psychiatric symptoms and seizure-related variables such as structural changes, regional interictal perfusion changes, the number of interictal epileptic discharges and the presence of accompanying generalized tonic clonic seizure(GTC). The subjects were 75 patients (47 males : mean age $28.3{\pm}7.7$) with intractable epilepsy, Interictal psychiatric symptoms were rated by Symptom Checklist-90-R(SCL-90-R). Each of 4 seizure variables was measured by MRI, $^{99m}TC-HMPAO$ SPECT and the prolonged EEG monitoring. The mean SCL-90-R subscale T-scores and the ratio of the patients with definite psychiatric symptoms(T-score > 65 at any one subscale of SCL-90-R) were compared among the groups with different seizure variables. Demographic variables and clinical variables were not statistically different among the groups with different seizure variables. The patients with right mesial temporal sclerosis had higher mean SCL-90-R scores for obsessive compulsive symptom, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, hostility and psychotic symptoms than the patients with left mesial temporal sclerosis, and they also showed higher ratio of definite psychiatric symptoms. The presence of interictal epileptic discharges was related with higher T-scores of paranoid subscale. The areas of hypoperfusion, the presence of the GTC, and other clinical seizure variables showed no significant influences on the mean SCL-90-R subscale T-scores. from these results, the authors speculated that interictal subictal epileptic dischrages may be related with psychiatric symptoms of the intractable epileptic patients, especially with right mesial temporal sclerosis.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.390-398
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• 2013

Objective : We determined whether the relationship between the neuropsychological performance of patients with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their psychopathological characteristics measured by disability evaluation are interrelated. In addition, we assessed which psychopathological variable was most influential on neuropsychological performance via statistical clustering of the same characteristics of mild TBI. Methods : A total of 219 disability evaluation participants with mild brain injury were selected. All participants were classified into three groups, based on their psychopathological characteristics, via a two-step cluster analysis using validity and clinical scales from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and Symptom Checklist-90-revised (SCL-90-R). The Korean Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (K-WAIS), Korean Memory Assessment Scale (K-MAS) and the Korean Boston Naming Test (K-BNT) were used to evaluate the neurocognitive functions of mild TBI patients. Results : Over a quarter (26.9%) experienced severe psychopathological symptoms and 43.4% experienced mild or moderate psychopathological symptoms, and all of the mild TBI patients showed a significant relationship between neurocognitive functions and subjective and/or objective psychopathic symptoms, but the degree of this relationship was moderate. Variances of neurocognitive function were explained by neurotic and psychotic symptoms, but the role of these factors were different to each other and participants did not show intelligence and other cognitive domain decrement except for global memory abilities compared to the non-psychopathology group. Conclusion : Certain patients with mild TBI showed psychopathological symptoms, but these were not directly related to cognitive decrement. Psychopathology and cognitive decrement are discrete aspects in patients with mild TBI. Furthermore, the neurotic symptoms of mild TBI patients made positive complements to decrements or impairments of neurocognitive functions, but the psychotic symptoms had a negative effect on neurocognitive functions.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2009

Objectives : Thyroid function is associated with psychiatric disturbance such as mood symptoms, cognitive functions, anxiety and sleep problem. We evaluate the effects of thyroid dysfunction on negative symptoms of schizophrenia, mood symptoms and somatic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Methods : Sixty five patients with schizophrenia were recruited. The patients were classified into two groups; the patients with the history of abnormal thyroid indices level(group of abnormal thyroid function) and the patients without the history of normal thyroid indices level(group of normal thyroid function). At baseline and 8 weeks later, psychiatric symptoms were assessed with the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms(SAPS), and Beck Depression Inventory(BDI), Somatosensory Amplication Scale(SSAS). Results : During 8 weeks, there were significant differences in the changes of SANS, BDI, SSAS between group of abnormal thyroid function and group of normal thyroid function. Compared to group of normal thyroid function, group of abnormal thyroid function showed greater reduction of the scores of SANS(23.3%), BDI (19.6%), and SSAS(16.2%), respectively. However, there was no significant correlation between the scores of SANS, BDI, and SSAS. Conclusion : Our study suggested that abnormal thyroid indices would predict the prognosis of negative symptoms, mood symptoms, and somatic symtpoms in patients with schizophrenia.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.219-222
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• 2009

Various somatic symptoms are known to be related to stress in a general population. Korean red ginseng has been used as a therapeutic agent for the treatment and prevention of many diseases in Oriental medicine. There exist no data, however, on the effect of Korean red ginseng on somatic symptoms in a general population. In this study, 21 normal subjects were randomly assigned to the Korean-red-ginseng group, and 18 subjects to the placebo group. The subjects took 3 g Korean red ginseng or placebo every day for three weeks. After the three-week treatment, there was a interaction effect of a greater reduction in the Symptom checklist-90-revised (SCL-90-R) somatization score (p=0.04) in the Korean-red-ginseng group. This study suggests that Korean red ginseng is effective for the management of somatic symptoms in a general population.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.28-33
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• 2016

Objective : One of the aims of this study was to confirm the relationship in firefighters who have a high risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder. We also explored the mediation effects of resilience and posttraumatic growth (PTG) on the association between traumatic experiences and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Methods : A total of 677 firefighters were assessed in terms of the intensity of job-related traumatic experiences using the Visual Analogue Scale. They completed the Korean version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), the Korean version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), and the Korean version of the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10). Results : The intensity of traumatic experiences was significantly negatively related to the CD-RISC-10 score, but it was positively related to the PTGI and the IES-R scores. The CD-RISC-10 score had a significantly positive correlation with the PTGI score, but it was negatively correlated to the IES-R score. Path analyses revealed that resilience and PTG independently mediated the association between traumatic experiences and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Conclusion : These results suggest that traumatic experiences contribute to posttraumatic stress symptoms and that these impacts may be mediated through resilience and PTG.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.61-63
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• 2004

We describe the case of a 73 year-old female patient, YSG, who initially presented with a manic episode without any previous psychiatric history and was later diagnosed as having a meningioma in the left frontal lobe. YSG's symptoms were characterized by hyperactivity, insomnia, aggressive behavior with an auditory hallucination. She showed no abnormal signs on a complete neurologic examination. A gadolinium-enhanced MRI study showed a huge, extra-axial mass with homogenous enhancement in the left high convexity of the frontal lobe. Her manic symptoms subsided after administration of risperidone 1mg and valproic acid 500mg daily, for three weeks without surgical resection of the tumor. These findings suggest that YSG's mania might have resulted from the left-sided frontal tumor, and that her symptoms were treated rapidly by small doses of risperidone combined with valproic acid. Medical staff who care for manic patients should be aware of this possibility of a organic lesion without evidence of neurologic disease.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.109-116
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• 2007

The objective of this review is to establish practice parameters for pharmacological treatment of children and adolescents with pervasive developmental disorders. We performed a detailed review of the literature, including a wide range of controlled clinical trials, open trials, case reports, and side-effect profiles of related drugs. Few medications have a treatment indication for pervasive developmental disorders, and few studies with well-controlled methodology are available for evaluating treatment results. Pharmacological treatments focus on associated target symptoms because symptom reduction may improve educational and social ability and enhance quality of life. Well-controlled trials have been conducted for some SSRI(selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants, risperidone, and methylphenidate, and showed reduction of some target symptoms. Since the medications are not specific to autism and do not treat core symptoms of the disorder, their potential side effects should be carefully considered. Family education is necessary to give proper information on target symptoms, limitation of drug treatments, and risks.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.194-200
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• 2007

Objectives:This study was performed to investigate the differences of the clinical feature between panic disorder with agoraphobic patients and panic disorder without agoraphobic patients. Methods:Two hundred nine patients meeting the criteria of DSM-IV panic disorder were recruited. One group was panic disorder with agoraphobia(n=78, 42 male(53.8%), mean age $37.6{\pm}9.9$ years), another was panic disorder without agoraphobia(n=131, 81 male(61.8%), mean age $40.5{\pm}10.3$ years). The numbers and frequency of panic symptoms were compared between two groups with t-test, and the logistic regression analysis were used for predicting panic disorder with agoraphobia. Results:The number of panic symptoms during panic attack was significantly higher in the group of panic disorder with agoraphobia than the group of panic disorder without agoraphobia(p<0.05).'Sweating','nausea or abdominal distress','fear of losing control of going crazy','chills or hot flushes'were more frequent in the group of panic disorder with agoraphobia(p<0.05). Among panic symptoms on logistic regression analysis,'sweating',' nausea or abdominal distress','fear of losing control or going crazy'turned out to correlate significantly with risk of development of agoraphobia in panic disorder. Conclusion:These results suggest that the frequency of some symptoms during panic attack may be a predictor of agoraphobia in patients with panic disorder.