In order to clarify the prevalence and clinical features of so‐called “maternity blues” and the relationship with depression after delivery, we conducted a prospective study on 220 mothers using the Zung's Self‐Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS) 4–7 days after childbirth and again one month after childbirth. Their physical condition during their pregnancy had been evaluated earlier. As in a previous epidemiological study conducted in Japan, we classified subjects with a ZSDS score of 60 and over as a high scoring group. Eighteen mothers (8.18%) fell into this group (“maternity blues” group) in the one week post‐partum evaluation. Comparing the ZSDS scores one month after childbirth with the earlier scores, in 10 women (4.5%), their scores decreased from 60 and over to below 60 (a “maternity bines” core group), and in 8 women (3.6%), their scores were still over 60 (a prolonged “maternity blues” group). Eleven (5.0%) out of the 202 women whose scores at one week after childbirth were below 60 showed a high score (60 and over) one month after childbirth (a potential depression group). All in, 191 women scored below 60 in both evaluations. Although we could divide the subjects into 4 groups as described above, we could not find any clinical symptoms to distinguish between the 3 groups with “maternity blues” or depression in the evaluation one week after childbirth. However, one finding suggests that these three groups may have different features.
We conducted a comparative study of symptoms and social adjustment of schizophrenic patients on offshore islands and one urban region in Japan. In the evaluation of symptoms and social behavior by family members, no differences were observed between the two regions. Looking at social adjustment in the two regions, no differences were observed by family members either in the performance level or in the expectation level of socially expected activities. However, on the offshore islands, the expectation level of socially expected activities by family members was significantly higher than the level of self‐accomplishment set by schizophrenic patients themselves. As for leisure activities, both family members and patients on the islands evaluated the level of performance to be significantly higher than in the urban region, and the level of satisfaction of the patients themselves was also higher on the islands. Considering both these findings and Japanese traditional views of work and leisure, it is believed that on the islands patients are required to engage in more productive activities and less leisure activities than in the urban region. Further it seems that patients on the islands compared to patients in the urban region may have greater difficulty in social adjustment.
This study investigated the course of negative symptoms by examining the psychiatric symptoms of 59 new schizophrenic patients at the first consultation and again two years later using a structured interview–the Present State Examination. An examination of the total score of the nine negative symptoms, included in the “Chronic Schizophrenic Syndrome” by Wing, showed that 27 out of the 59 patients (45.8%) had lower symptom scores two years later than they did at the first consultation (“negative symptom improvement” group), while 20 patients (33.9%) had higher scores two years after the first consultation (“negative symptom deterioration” group). There were 12% more patients in the improvement group than in the deterioration group. No significant differences were observed between the “improvement group” and “deterioration group” in relation to the following factors–subclassification of schizophrenia, mode of onset, age at the first consultation, marital status at the time of onset, academic history, employment status prior to the onset, the history of hospitalization after the onset and maintenance therapy of neuroleptics. In relation to psychiatric symptoms at the first consultation, the patients in the “improvement group” had a variety of symptoms compared to the patients in the “deterioration group,” and the presence of “incoherence of thought,”“delusion of reference” and “special features of depression” was significantly higher in the improvement group than in the deterioration group.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.