Evolutionary psychiatry is a branch of medical science concerning mental disorders, and also a multidisciplinary research field with close relation to psychology, anthropology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and ethology. Although evolutionary psychiatry is a promising area for further psychiatric studies, it is still in its infancy. Thus, there are no certain research methods using evolutionary approaches toward mental diseases. It is still at the level of adopting and applying the research methods of the aforementioned adjacent fields. We aim to investigate a variety of research methods proposed to date and then compare them, which will provide a glimpse of the future of evolutionary psychiatry in the upcoming era.
Anthropology ; Biology ; Ethology ; Mental Disorders ; Neurosciences ; Psychology

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the difference between the cognitive and control ability and the responsibility in forensic psychiatry evaluation. METHODS: To compare the results of the responsibility evaluation from 2001.1 to 2006.10 (the first period) with that of the cognitive and control ability evaluation from 2006.11 to 2010.10 (the second period). The admissibility opinions on court judgment and evaluation were investigated by return visit. The legal professions' opinions on forensic psychiatric issues from the police office, the procuratorate, the court, and the judiciary were investigated. RESULTS: There was no significant difference of the criminal types between two periods (P > 0.05). There was significant difference of the diagnostic types between two periods (P < 0.05). The proportion of normal range and part loss of the cognitive and control ability in the second period were higher than that in the first period, but the proportion of complete loss of the cognitive and control ability in the second period was lower than that in the first period (P < 0.05). Among the legal professions, 70.5% of them thought that "the evaluation of cognitive and control ability" was different from "the evaluation of criminal responsibility" and 94.9% of them thought that "to confirm the influence of the forensic psychiatric evaluation of mental disorder on the crime behavior" or "to assess of cognitive and control ability" met requirements of normative judicial expertise. CONCLUSION The evaluation of cognitive and control ability is more aligned with legal requirements and behavioral norms of own subject than the evaluation of responsibility.
Crime/psychology* ; Expert Testimony ; Forensic Psychiatry ; Humans ; Insanity Defense ; Mental Competency ; Mental Disorders/psychology*

Humans ; Mental Disorders ; psychology ; rehabilitation ; Music Therapy ; Phobic Disorders ; psychology ; rehabilitation ; Self Concept ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the teachers' attitudes, discrimination, and causes of prejudice towards people with mental illnesses. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was used and participants included 158 teachers who were recruited from four schools in S and G cities, Korea. From October to December, 2011, data on general characteristics, attitudes, discrimination and causes of prejudice towards people with mental illnesses were collected using self-administered questionnaires. SPSS/WIN 18.0 version was used for descriptive analysis, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation. RESULTS: The mean scores of teachers' attitudes towards people with mental illness were, authoritarianism, 3.24, benevolence, 2.96, social restrictiveness, 3.44 and community mental health ideology, 2.75. There were significant differences in benevolence according to age. The experience of meeting people with mental illness contributed to positive attitudes towards people with mental illness in the benevolence subscale. There were significant differences in social restrictiveness according to residence. There were significant differences in discrimination according to age. Subscales of attitudes were significantly correlated with discrimination. CONCLUSION: These results emphasize a need for continuous education not only of teachers but also of the general population.
Authoritarianism ; Beneficence ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Humans ; Korea ; Mental Disorders ; Mental Health ; Prejudice ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Previous studies have shown that hearing loss people are more likely to have not only abnormal speech communication, but also psychological problems especially emotional disorders, cognitive impairments and personality defects. Therefore, it is necessary to provide psychological support to patients during they accept medical therapy.
Communication ; Hearing Loss ; complications ; psychology ; Humans ; Mental Disorders ; Mental Health ; Speech

Testamentary capacity is one of the civil competences, it means that a natural person enjoys the capacity or qualification to establish testament and deal with his property. Recently, the cases of testamentary capacity assessment of the mentally disordered are increasing. This article firstly introduces the concepts of the testament as well as the testamentary capacity, and then summarizes the assessment standard of the testamentary capacity, by using the Banks v. Goodfellow case as a basis to make the standard criteria including: the understanding of the nature of a will and codicil, the knowledge of the general extent of one's assets, the knowledge of the natural object of one's bounty, the understanding of the impact of the distribution of the assets of the estate, and the absence of a delusion specifically affecting the distribution of the estate. The impact factors of the testamentary capacity, including dementia, mood disorder, schizophrenia, alcohol, drug, and undue influence, etc., are summarized. Lastly, the related assessment tools such as the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Clock-Drawing Test, and the Testament Definition Scale are introduced briefly.
Alcoholism/psychology* ; Dementia/psychology* ; Expert Testimony/standards* ; Forensic Psychiatry ; Humans ; Mental Competency/standards* ; Mental Disorders/psychology* ; Mental Status Schedule ; Wills/legislation & jurisprudence*

The study proposes to explore two alternative medicine therapies-qigong and yoga for balancing the essential duo of holistic mind-body and consequently offer a solution for stress, uncertainty, anxiety and depression. Qualitative research methods have been used to create a conceptual synthesis of yoga and qigong. It is suggested that an increased sense of control is the interface between these two modalities. This conceptual congruence of qigong and yoga is thought to be a selective, curative method, a prescription for ideal living and a ground of human essence existence. Furthermore, this essence is thought to enhance the mind's self-regulatory processes and prevent mental health disorders. The two alternative therapies can prevent mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression and, minimize mental health disruptions such as stress and poor quality of life. It is suggested that patients and/or clients can benefit from this fusion.
Breathing Exercises ; Concept Formation ; Humans ; Mental Disorders ; prevention & control ; psychology ; Mental Health ; Professional Practice ; trends ; Yoga ; psychology

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates lay beliefs about the etiology and treatments of tic disorder and Tourette's syndrome, as well as identifying sociodemographic and personality variables affecting these beliefs among South Koreans. METHODS: In total, 673 participants (mean age 41.77±12.03 years) completed an online survey regarding their beliefs about tic disorder and Tourette's syndrome. The factors related to their lay beliefs about the disorders were analyzed, and the correlates were investigated. RESULTS: Results indicated that lay people in South Korea held strong beliefs that the causes of tic disorder and Tourette's syndrome lie within the parenting/psychological and neurological/biological categories, compared to the dietary/environmental one. Among the sociodemographic variables, sex, age, and levels of subjective mental health knowledge were primarily associated with the aforementioned beliefs. Familiarity with tic disorder and Tourette's syndrome was also associated with these beliefs. Among the personality traits investigated, extraversion and conscientiousness had significant influences on the beliefs people had about tic disorder and Tourette's syndrome. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that both policy makers and mental health service providers should adopt a strategic approach for developing and implementing health education interventions about tic disorder and Tourette's syndrome because individual sociodemographic variables, familiarity with the disorders, and personality traits are all associated with the beliefs about these disorders.
Administrative Personnel ; Extraversion (Psychology) ; Health Education ; Humans ; Korea ; Mental Health ; Mental Health Services ; Recognition (Psychology) ; Tic Disorders ; Tics ; Tourette Syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To understand the assessment on the criminal responsibility of drug-induced mental disorders and judicial experts' opinions. METHODS: The judicial experts from institutes of forensic psychiatry in Shanghai were selected. They were asked to finish a self-made questionnaire of assessment on the criminal responsibility of drug-induced mental disorders by letters and visits. RESULTS: Most of experts knew the special regulation, "not suitable for evaluation" towards the criminal responsibility of drug-induced mental disorders of the guideline promulgated by Ministry of Justice. Before and after the guideline was issued, no expert made a no-responsibility opinion in such cases. After the guideline was issued, some experts made a full-responsibility or limited-responsibility opinion in such cases. There was a little disagreement among the experts in the case that the crime was unrelated with mental symptoms or the criminals used drugs even though he knew it could induced insanity. But there were still many obvious disagreements among experts in the case that crime was related to such symptoms and person was no ability to debate. Most experts agreed to settle the disagreements with improved legislative perfection. CONCLUSION Most experts are not strictly complying with the assessment guidelines during their practice, and there is still an obvious disagreement towards the criminal responsibility of drug-induced mental disorders.
China ; Crime/psychology* ; Criminals/psychology* ; Data Collection ; Expert Testimony ; Forensic Psychiatry ; Humans ; Liability, Legal ; Male ; Mental Competency ; Mental Disorders/psychology* ; Psychotic Disorders ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study compared the mental symptoms, especially symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of women who escaped prostitution, helping activists at shelters, and matched control subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We assessed 113 female ex-prostitutes who had been living at a shelter, 81 helping activists, and 65 control subjects using self-reporting questionnaires on demographic data, symptoms related to trauma and PTSD, stress-related reactions, and other mental health factors. RESULTS: Female ex-prostitutes had significantly higher stress response, somatization, depression, fatigue, frustration, sleep, smoking and alcohol problems, and more frequent and serious PTSD symptoms than the other 2 groups. Helping activists also had significantly higher tension, sleep and smoking problems, and more frequent and serious PTSD symptoms than control subjects. CONCLUSION: These findings show that engagement in prostitution may increase the risks of exposure to violence, which may psychologically traumatize not only the prostitutes themselves but also the people who help them, and that the effects of the trauma last for a long time. Future research is needed to develop a method to assess specific factors that may contribute to vicarious trauma of prostitution, and protect field workers of prostitute victims from vicarious trauma.
Adult ; Alcoholism/etiology/psychology ; Depression/etiology/psychology ; Fatigue/etiology/psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Mental Disorders/etiology/psychology ; *Mental Health ; Prostitution/*psychology ; Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Smoking/psychology ; *Social Work ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/complications/*psychology ; Stress, Psychological/complications