OBJECTIVES: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the most useful techniques for assessing localized changes in cerebral blood flow and oxygenation using diverse challenge paradigm. This review presents the results of BOLD contrast fMRI studies relating to various psychiatric disorders. METHODS: A number of fMRI articles on this subject in psychiatric journals were surveyed. RESULTS: Even with some methodological limitations, most studies showed that BOLD changes appeared with differences between psychiatric patients and control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Undoubtedly, fMRI will extend our understanding of neurobiological basis of psychiatric disorders and offer an unprecedented opportunity for the assessment and management of brain pathology.
Brain Diseases ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Oxygen

The author reviewed the relationship between psychotherapy and ego growth from psychoanalytic point of view. The effect of psychotherapy represents itself in ego growth. To illustrate this claim, the author reviewed Freud's concept on the effect of psychotherapy first and the concepts discussed in literatures after Freud. The main stance of this paper is that the effect of psychotherapy manifests itself in ego growth through therapeutic relationships. The author deduced that since the major part of the therapeutic process takes place unconsciously, one is unaware of his/her ego growth. Through psychotherapy, the immature part of the personality, which stoped growing in the course of development, starts to grow. It may be the ego growth either through gaining insight or the growth derived from the therapeutic relationship with the analyst. Mental illness can be looked upon as the loss of human nature, and the remedy lies in recovering the human nature. The lost human nature is recovered when one is in a therapeutic environment, that is very much maternal in nature. Psychotherapy may result in some changes in brain physiology or neurochemistry. It may take some time to bring about anatomical changes of the brain. If this assumption is correct that psychotherapy inflicts anatomical changes of the brain for it's positive effects, it should be accomplished through a long period of working-through of the problem. Some studies on this theme of neurophysiology and anatomical research are already in process and I hope to be able to explain the processes of psychotherapy in the near future.
Brain ; Ego ; Hope ; Human Characteristics ; Neurochemistry ; Neurophysiology ; Physiology ; Psychotherapy*

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this review article is to consider conceptual models of psy-chotherapy aff-ecting the brain. METHODS: Discuss the article by Eric R. Kandel describing the influence of psycho-therapy on the brain. CONCLUSIONS: Psychotherapy effects on memory system(conscious or unconscious) and other areas of the brain bringing structural and/or functional changes. It means that the brain and mind is not two but one, that is "mind is the function of the brain". The future task of 21st century psychiatrists is the integration of the brain biology and psycho-ther-apy: to explore the "biology of psychotherapy" or "psychotherapeutic effects of biological therapies".
Biology ; Brain* ; Memory ; Psychiatry ; Psychotherapy

It is doubtless that the mind or behaviors could be modified through biological interventions, either invasive or noninvasive. Those changes may be negative or pathological, and may be positive or normalizing. However, further advances in psychiatry and neurosciences they could be more and more desirable, variaous, and specific in direction. Researchers in the fields of psychiatry and neurosciences focused and are focusing their activities mainly on causes of and risk factors for mental illnesses. Some persons with high risk for mental illness, genetically or environmentally, cope very well without psychiatric manifestations. Our future studies should include resilience or invulnerability which is thought to protect the predisposed persons from mental illnesses.
Brain ; Humans ; Neurosciences ; Risk Factors

Mental illnesses were understood for centuries as affliction of spirit or mind. There were many efforts to reveal the nature of mind. In the past century, however, physicians recognized that psychiatric disorders are primarily diseases of the brain and that many mental illnesses are caused by abnormalities in the brain. For the evolution and development of psychiatry in the New Millenium, understanding the relationship between the brain and mind is inevitable. To understand the nature of mind, we must understand the nature of brain. The more we know the brain, the better understood are the truth of mind and it's disorders.
Brain Diseases* ; Brain*

Freud once emphasized the importance of both temperamental and environmental factors as the cause of mental illness while he discussed about 'the Nature and the Nurture'. And because of the limitation to discover the nature of the constitutional factor, he said, he focused on the environmental factor as the way through which we better approch to treat patients. As a psychoanalyst originally from neurological background, he though believed that there should be 'the biological bedrock' in every psychological phenominon. And one good example is that 'ego' comes from 'body ego'. Before and after him, in the history of psychiatry, the most popular idea is that body(brain) and mind are inseparable. During the past half century, there has been remarkable progress in the biological psychiatry field, which gives us a great opportunity to investigate the relationship between body and mind more in detail. So many biological psychiatrists suggest hypothetical theories to define the cause and the nature of mental illness. Some of them(like E Kendal) even darely propose the explanation of the psychological phenomena in biological terms. However, as Freud once hinted, we may never explain the nature of mental phenomena as a whole since there always will remain what we may never know no matter how hardly we try to know. It is because that is exactly the very nature of 'the unconsciousness' that is the most mystical part of brain.
Biological Psychiatry ; Brain ; Humans ; Psychiatry ; Temperament

Mental functions, both normal and abnormal, are closely related to the brain function. On the other hand, it is also true that postnatal education and personal experiences could change the brain activities both chemically and physiologically and structurally. However, the relationships between the brain and mind are far from clear understanding, even though a variety of advanced knowledges and techniques, including brain imagings, neurochemistry and neuropsychopharmacology, and basic neurosciences, are at hands of scientists. In this special issue, the 5 psychiatrists took parts in elucidating the relationship between brain and mind from the point of cause of and therapeutic intervention for mental illnesses: 1) mental illness: disease of mind? 2) mental illness: disease of brain? 3) the role of biological interventions in mind 4) effect of psychological treatment: through brain change? and 5) effect of psychotherapy: through emotional growth?
Brain* ; Education ; Hand ; Humans ; Neurochemistry ; Neurosciences ; Psychiatry ; Psychotherapy

OBJECTIVES: This study examined feasibility and reliability of a mobile application to measure depression in breast cancer patients. METHODS: Forty-two breast cancer patients from the Department of Surgery at Asan Medical Center were included in the study. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), EuroQol Five Dimensional Questionnaire, and EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale were assessed at baseline and twice after surgery at regular intervals. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was delivered by as a push notification via mobile application every two weeks for 12 months. Feasibility was calculated using number of respondents and total number of PHQ-9 completed. Reliability was calculated from the relationship between PHQ-9 and BDI scores obtained within each two week period. Agreement between PHQ-9 and BDI scores in the diagnosis of depression was evaluated by kappa statistic and McNemar's test. RESULTS: One thousand and ninety-two notifications for PHQ-9 were sent, and 622 responses were reported (compliance rate=57%). The compliance rate was not related to demographic factors except for the date of the first use of the application. Pearson's r between PHQ-9 and BDI scores was 0.599 (p<0.001), and kappa analysis demonstrated moderate level of agreement in diagnosis of depression (κ=0.431). CONCLUSION: The compliance rate for patients reporting their symptoms by mobile application is high and the scores of PHQ-9 and BDI are correlated, which suggests that the mobile data measuring depression is reliable. However, this is a preliminary study and further study is needed to determine other factors that influence compliance rate.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Compliance ; Demography ; Depression* ; Diagnosis ; Feasibility Studies ; Humans ; Mobile Applications* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: This study compares single and repeat suicide attempts, and evaluates the risk factors associated with suicide re-attempts. METHODS: Two hundred and seventy-nine patients admitted to emergency rooms in four university hospitals in Daegu after suicide attempt were included in this study (n=179 single suicide attempters, n=100 repeated attempters). A structured interview focused on demographic, clinical, suicidal and psychological characteristics was administered to these patients after recovery from physical and psychological impairments. RESULTS: Individuals with repeated suicide attempts were younger, more highly educated, had more history of psychiatric treatments, took more psychiatric medications, and had more sustained suicidal ideations, bipolar disorders and personality disorders than individuals with single suicide attempt. Individuals with repeated suicide attempts marked significantly higher scores in the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. Multivariate logistic regression showed that below the sixties, history of psychiatric treatments, personality disorders, substance use disorders and sustained suicidal ideations were significantly associated with predictive factors for subsequent suicide attempt. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that repeat suicide attempters have different clinical characteristics from single suicide attempters, and some risk factors raise the risk of further suicide attempts. It is necessary for suicidal prevention program planners to be aware of these risk factors, especially for first-time suicide attempters.
Bipolar Disorder ; Daegu ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Personality Disorders ; Risk Factors ; Substance-Related Disorders ; Suicidal Ideation ; Suicide*

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates the prevalence of depressive symptoms and co-variates among university students in Honam district, Korea. METHODS: One thousand seven hundred and thirty (792 male and 938 female) university students were randomly selected to participate in a survey. Subjects were administered self-report questionnaires : Beck Depression Inventory, Life Experience Survey, Satisfaction with Life Scale. RESULTS: The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 14.9% overall, and 10.8% in males, 18.3% in females. In stepwise multiple regression analysis, satisfaction with life (β=-0.405, R²=0.257, p<0.001), stress (β=0.212, R²=0.312, p<0.001), suicidal attempt (β=0.133, R²=0.349, p<0.001) and female gender (β=-0.108, R²=0.358, p<0.001) were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Among life stress factors, worry about employment, maladaptation of major field of study, appearance and body shape, lack of time and academic achievement were significantly associated, over r=0.25 with depression in sequence (r=0.256 to r=0.321). CONCLUSION: This study showed very high prevalence of depressive symptoms among university students in Honam district, Korea. Intensive mental health promotion programs to prevent depression and early detection of depressive symptoms appear needed to improve mental health status for university students.
Depression* ; Employment ; Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Life Change Events ; Male ; Mental Health ; Prevalence* ; Stress, Psychological