• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.67-79
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to report the effect of Korean medicine treatment on a patient with somatic symptom disorder hospitalized after a traffic accident. Methods: The subject for this study was a patient diagnosed with somatic symptom disorder that worsened after a traffic accident. During hospitalization, herbal medicine, acupuncture, psychotherapy, and other treatments were performed. Clinical effect was evaluated using Heart Rate Variability (HRV), BDI (Beck Depression Inventory)-II, BAI (Beck Anxiety Inventory), Global assessment (G/A), and Numerical rating scale (NRS). Results: After 36 days of treatment, BDI-II score was reduced from 17 to 5. BAI score was reduced from 23 to 8. Overall somatic symptoms and pain showed decreases. Conclusions: Korean medicine treatment might be effective for somatic symptom disorder that is worsened after a traffic accident.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.241-250
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• 2008

Depressive Disorders are widespread and increasing recently. Somatic-symptom Group in Major Depressive Disorders are treated with current medical treatment but the results are not satisfactory. We tried to apply more effective and satisfactory oriental medical treatment. We treated 2 depression patients accompanying somatic-symptom treated with herbal medication and Meditation of the retaining needle. The Meditation of the retaining needle(鐵膜想), which combines Meditation and Acupuncture is a kind of medical meditation originating from Oriental Medicine. After our treatments, various somatic-symptoms were improved and Beck's depression Inventory(BDI) decreased from 28 and 27 to 14 and 12. This result suggests that meditation of the retaining needle(鐵膜想) is effective on somatic symptom and able to be developed as a useful way of oriental medical psychological care.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.256-261
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• 2007

Objectives : The aim of the present study was to examine whether anxiety and depression of children and mothers were associated with the children's medically unexplained somatic symptoms in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD). Methods : 83 clinic-referred boys with ADHD and 52 boys without ADHD were included in this study. The frequency of the medically unexplained somatic symptoms, such as general-ache, headache, nausea, eye problems, skin problems, abdominal pain, vomiting was evaluated using the somatic symptom domain of the Child Behavior Checklist(CBCL). Children's anxiety and depression were evaluated using Kovacs Children's Depression Inventory(CDI) and Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI) for children. Maternal anxiety and depression were measured by Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI) and Beck's Depression Inventory(BDI). Stepwise linear regression analysis was used to examine the hypothesis. Results : Score of maternal state anxiety affects the T score of the somatic symptom domain in CBCL significantly(adjusted $R^2$=0.057 ; p=0.026). Conclusion : The frequency of medically unexplained somatic symptom of children perceived by mothers was associated with the high level of maternal state anxiety in ADHD. Frequent maternal report of the children's somatic symptom may be a warrant for the evaluation and management of the maternal state anxiety in ADHD.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.79-87
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between depression, alexithymia, social support and somatic symptom in adolescents. Methods: The subjects were 1,519 adolescents in Seoul. Radloff's CES-D (The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale) for depression, Bagby, Parker and Taylor's TAS (Toronto Alexithymia Scale) for alexithymia, Park's social support and Derogatis's SCL-90 (Brief Symptom Inventory & Matching Clinical Rating Scale) were used. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficients, t or F test, and stepwise multiple regression. Results: Depression and somatic symptom were lower but social support was higher when compared to mean score. The somatic symptom was significantly positive correlations to age, depression, alexithymia but no correlation to social support. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that 21.8% of the somatic symptom was significantly accounted for depression, alexithymia, social support, gender, economic status, living alone, and living with parent. Conclusion: These results suggest that depression, alexithymia, living alone can be potential risk factors for somatic symptom in the adolescents. Therefore, these findings will give useful information for developing a promotion program focused on social support in the adolescents.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.55-66
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• 2020

Objectives The goal for this study is to find out the recent trends of the Korean medicine treatment on children and adolescents' somatic symptom and related disorder by reviewing case studies. Methods We found case study reports relevant to 'Korean medicine treatment on somatic symptom and related disorder' through Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), National Discovery for Science Leader (NDSL) and Research Information Sharing Service (RISS). The age of the patients was limited to under 20. Results All reported articles showed that the treatments were selected based on both emotional problems and physical symptoms. Herbal medicine was the most commonly used method, and the other methods including acupuncture and psychotherapy were also used. Conclusions This study shows that the common Korean medicine treatment can be widely used for children and adolescents' somatic symptom and related disorder. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatments, and to develop guidelines for the treatment.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.89-97
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• 2020

Objectives : We investigated heart rate variability (HRV) patterns in patients with somatic symptom disorder (SSD) and the relationships of these patterns with alexithymia. Methods : In total, 42 patients with SSD and 33 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Demographic, psychological, and HRV data were assessed at baseline, and 24 patients with SSD were reassessed after 6 months of treatment. The psychological data included somatic symptoms and levels of depression, anxiety, and alexithymia as indicated by the somatic symptom subscale of the Symptom Checklist 90-Revision (SCL-12), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale 20 (TAS-20), respectively. Results : Patients with SSD had a lower standard deviation of normal-to-normal R-R intervals (SDNN) and lower proportions of adjacent R-R intervals greater than 50 milliseconds (pNN50) compared with controls. These HRV parameters were negatively correlated with alexithymia severity. After treatment, patients exhibited significantly decreased levels of somatic symptoms and reduced anxiety and depression, but there were no significant differences in the HRV parameters. In patients with alexithymia, a high baseline SDNN and pNN50 were associated with a decrease in somatic symptoms. Conclusions : Patients with SSD have different HRV patterns, and several HRV parameters are associated with alexithymia severity. These findings suggest that ANS regulation is involved in the pathophysiology of SSD, mediated by alexithymia. Furthermore, these results suggest that certain HRV parameters may be associated with clinical outcomes of SSD.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.127-134
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was done to identify the effects of stress management program on perceived stress, geriatric depression, and somatic symptom in elderly Korean subjects. Methods: A pre-post test design with a nonequivalent control group was used. Fifty elderly Korean subjects with mild depression were recruited from the registerants at four public senior citizen centers within S-gu in Seoul. They were randomly allotted to the experimental group(n=25) and control group(n=25). The intervention was performed for one hour each week at each center for 5 weeks. The effects were measured by Perceived Stress Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale-Korean, and Patient Health Questionnaire-15. Results: Perceived stress and depression were significantly reduced in experimental group. The somatic symptom was not significantly different in the experimental group. Conclusion: The stress management program may have merit in improving mental health of elderly Koreans, although this conclusion is equivocal pending further well-controlled studies that include mediation techniques such as conversion therapy and health gymnastics.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.409-417
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to find out how individual, family, and school factors influence adolescents' depression, and to explore the long-term influence between somatic symptom and depression. To do this, data from two points of the 4th wave (year of 2013) and the 6th wave (year of 2015) of the first-year middle school panel survey (KCYPS) were used and structural equation model analysis was conducted on 1,668 adolescents. As for results, frist, in terms of individual factors, gender, physical health status, and self-resilience significantly affected depression in adolescents. Second, among school factors, learning activities and peer relationship significantly affected depression in adolescents. Third, somatic symptom and depression had effects and auto-regressive effects over time. Based on these results, the prevention and intervention measures for somatic symptom and depression of adolescents were discussed. Future study is needed include varaiables of parental mental health that affect depression in adolescents.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.95-101
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• 2021

Patients complaining with somatic symptoms are very common in clinical practice, and are often consulted to medical department. But it is difficult to treat well. The treatment of somatic symptom disorder is multi-modal as none of the methods on their own provide a satisfactory outcome. The treatment of somatic symptoms disorders is complicated by lack of boundary, conceptual clarity, and overemphasis on psychosocial causation and effectiveness of psychological treatments. In clinical practice all classes of psychotropics are used to treat somatic symptoms disorder. Drugs such as tricyclic antidepressants, serotonin reuptake inibitors(SSRI), serotonin and noradrenalin reuptake inhibitors (SNRI), atypical antipsychotics are studied. The evidence indicates that these drugs are effective in somatic symptom disorders. All classes of antidepressants seem to be effective against somatic symptom disorders. SSRIs are more effective against hypochondriasis and body dysmorphic disorder, and SNRIs appear to be more effective than other antidepressants when pain is predominant. The author suggest that psychiatrists should know how to treat patients complaining with somatic symptoms by using not only psychotherapeutic approach but also pharmacological treatment. It will be helpful to reduce suffering and increase quality of life of these patients.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2011

Objectives : We examined the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Depression and Somatic Symptom Scale (DSSS) in Korean patients with depressive symptoms. Methods : Participants were 55 outpatients diagnosed with major depressive disorder, a depressive episode of bipolar I disorder, somatoform disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder according to the DSM-IV criteria. We assessed them using the Korean versions of the DSSS, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), and Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Self Report (QIDS-SR). Results : The Korean version DSSS had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.90. Moreover, each item's correlation with the total score was statistically significant (r=0.24-0.71, p<0.01). The test-retest correlation coefficient (r=0.83, p<0.01) was relatively high, and the DSSS correlations with the HDRS and QIDS-SR were 0.77 and 0.74, respectively. Conclusion : These results demonstrate that the Korean version of the DSSS could be a reliable and valid tool for screening and assessing depressive patients. The Korean version of the DSSS will be a useful tool for screening both depressive and somatic symptoms in Korea.