Depression embodied: an ambiguous striving against fading

Although depression is associated to physical discomfort, meanings of the body in depression are rarely addressed in clinical research. Drawing on the concept of the lived body, this study explores depression as an embodied phenomenon. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, the analysis of narrative‐based interviews with 11 depressed adults discloses a thematic structure of an embodied process of an ambiguous striving against fading. Five subthemes elicit different dimensions of this process, interpreted as disabling or enabling: feeling estranged, feeling confined, feeling burdensome, sensing life and seeking belongingness. In relation to clinical practice, we suggest that the interdisciplinary team can focus on enhancing the enabling dimensions, for example through guided physical activities to support the patient to feel more alive, capable and connected. Moreover, we suggest that the treatment process benefits from an increased awareness of the ambiguity in the patient's struggle, acknowledging both destructive and recharging elements of the withdrawing, and the perceived conflict in‐between.     

HIV-negative children’s experiences and opinions towards parental HIV disclosure: a qualitative study in China

In HIV/AIDS research, few studies to date have evaluated ways to improve parental HIV disclosure practices using feedback from HIV-negative children who have recently experienced this event. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 20 children (aged 6–15) who were partially to fully aware of their parents’ HIV status in rural Guangxi, China. Of the 20 children, eight children who were of older age (11.38 years in average) endorsed parental HIV disclosure, five discouraged it and seven expressed uncertainty. Children’s different experiences and attitudes towards disclosure were seen to be associated with their family dynamics (especially the parent–child relationship), social support and care, experiences of stigma and discrimination, psychosocial suffering, comprehension of the disease and the children’s age. Our study contributes to building a child-centered comprehensive understanding for Chinese parental HIV disclosure. It is imperative that counselors and community advocates assess and help parents achieve optimal readiness preceding disclosure of their illness to their HIV-negative children.     

杜长海名老中医应用药对治疗功能性便秘的临床经验探析

功能性便秘的发生严重困扰着现代人群,进而影响人们的生活质量。杜长海名老中医认为功能性便秘究其内因为大肠传导失常,外因乃现代人的生活方式、紧张的生活氛围等等,因此杜老结合自己数十年的临床经验,根据中医辨证总结出临床常用药对,对有效治疗功能性便秘进行了经验总结。     

单兆伟运用温经汤治疗女性肾虚泄泻经验

全国名中医、孟河医派传人单兆伟教授擅长胃肠病诊治,临证擅用《金匮要略》温经汤治疗女性肾虚型泄泻。认为温经汤的主要适应证是肝肾虚寒型的女性腹泻和(或)月经不调,肝脾肾三脏虚寒、寒凝而瘀、虚瘀相因、寒热错杂是温经汤证的病机特点,泄下清谷、脉象沉细或细涩、舌质淡黯有齿痕或瘀点是温经汤的主要应用指证。     

Subjective leisure experiences of older Australians

Background:  Previous studies into leisure have employed methodologies that may understate the significance of experiential components. This exploratory study investigated the leisure experiences of retired Australians over 65 years of age.
Methods:  Five semistructured interviews were used to explore the leisure experience of older people from metropolitan Adelaide. Data were coded and analysed thematically.
Results:  Relaxation and engrossment emerged as commonly expressed experiences, yet were found to emerge as a result of engagement in occupations predefined as leisure. Experiences of freedom from both necessary duties and a sense of obligation were discussed as potential determinants of leisure consciousness.
Practice implications:  This study highlights a need for therapists to actively access clients' subjective leisure experiences to enable engagement in personally meaningful leisure occupations.     

Citizen minds,citizen bodies: the citizenship experience and the government of mentally ill persons

The concept of citizenship is becoming more and more prominent in specific fields, such as psychiatry/mental health, where it is constituted as a solution to the issues of exclusion, discrimination, and poverty often endured by the mentally ill. We argue that such discourse of citizenship represents a break in the history of psychiatry and constitutes a powerful strategy to counter the effects of equally powerful psychiatric labelling. However, we call into question the emancipatory promise of a citizenship agenda. Foucault's concept of governmentality is helpful in understanding the production of the citizen subject, its location within the ‘art of government’, as well as the ethical and political implications of citizenship in the context of mental health.     

Free tissue transfer at an army medical center

Free tissue transfer has been demonstrated to be an effective modality of treating a variety of wounds and conditions in the civilian population. The use of these procedures has been underreported by American military surgeons. Military surgeons face unique hurdles that make the effective performance of these procedures difficult. We report our experience with free flap reconstruction at an American Army medical center. We performed 44 free flaps in 38 patients; although operative times and hospital length of stay were comparatively long, our success rates were excellent with only one partial flap loss. The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.     

Doctoral Education in Nursing for Practitioner Knowledge and for Academic Knowledge: The University of Adelaide, Australia

Australian nursing has undergone rapid academization in the past 10 years and this radical change has tended to meld the somewhat different academic traditions of North America and Britain. The introduction of doctoral education in nursing in 1987 has led to a massive increase in scholarly activity and to the preparation of talented leaders. We concur with the view expressed by Henry (1997), "I am convinced that the problems we face in the nursing services would be much more creatively solved if the majority of our doctoral programs prepared young, energetic nurses, early in their career, for clinical practice, not for research and teaching" (p. 162).     

Credentialed Persons, Credentialed Knowledge

The vast experimental literature on human error agrees with history of medicine, folklore, and superstition In discrediting knowledge claims based solely on anecdotal impressions. Since clinical experience consists of anecdotal impressions by practitioners, tt Is unavoidably a mixture of truths, half-truths, and falsehoods. The scientific method is the only known way to distinguish these, and it is both unscholariy and unethical for psychologists who deal with other persons' health, careers, money, freedom, and even life itself to pretend that clinical experience suffices and that quantitative research on diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is not needed. Disputes about philosophy of science (e.g., logical positivism) are irrelevant to this issue, which is simply one of distinguishing knowledge claims that bring reliable credentials and others that do not.