Video: About Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Video: About Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
By JOHN M. GROHOL, PSYD
Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Joseph Burgo, one of our bloggers here at Psych Central, has recently inaugurated a new series of videos about psychodynamic psychotherapy, aimed at people who may be considering treatment and don’t know quite what to expect from this particular type of therapy.

His first video deals with the intake or initial consultation, focusing on the anxieties felt by both client and therapist as they embark upon a new relationship with a total stranger. His next video will focus on the types of issues that come up during the first few sessions; in future, he plans to cover other issues such as: the emergence of the transference, vacation breaks, the role of humor, therapist errors, etc.

These videos will appear on his YouTube channel and Dr. Burgo will announce each new one via his Therapy Case Notes blog. Even if you’re already familiar with psychodynamic psychotherapy, his thoughts about first sessions apply to all types of treatment and may be of interest:

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Good Foods Boost Moods

New research reveals that some common foods enhance moods with a striking similarity to valproic acid, a widely used prescription mood-stabilizing drug.

“Molecules in chocolate, a variety of berries and foods containing omega-3 fatty acids have shown positive effects on mood. In turn, our studies show that some commonly used flavor components are structurally similar to valproic acid,” said Karina Martinez-Mayorga, Ph.D., leader of the research team, which presented its findings at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Valproic acid, which is sold under brand names such as Depakene, Depakote and Stavzor, is used to smooth out the mood swings of people with manic-depressive disorder and related conditions, she said.

“The large body of evidence that chemicals in chocolate, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, teas and certain foods could well be mood-enhancers encourages the search for other mood modulators in food,” she added.

While people have recognized the mood-altering properties of food for years, Martinez-Mayorga’s team is looking to identify the chemical compounds that moderate mood swings, help maintain cognitive health, improve mental alertness and delay the onset of memory loss.

Her study involved the use of techniques associated with chemoinformatics ― the application of informatic methods to solve chemical problems ― to screen the chemical structures of more than 1,700 food ingredients for similarities to antidepressant drugs and other agents with reported antidepressant activity.

She noted her team plans to move from analyzing the database to actually testing the flavor/mood hypothesis experimentally. The end result may be dietary recommendations or new nutritional supplements with beneficial mood effects, she said.

“It is important to remember that just eating foods that may improve mood is not a substitute for prescribed antidepressive drugs,” Martinez-Mayorga cautioned.

She added that eating specific foods and living a healthful lifestyle can generally boost moods for people who don’t require medication.

Karina Martinez-Mayorga, Ph.D., who described research done while working at the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, is now with the Chemistry Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Source: The American Chemical Society

Strawberries dipped in chocolate photo by shutterstock.

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Prozac May Have Antiviral Properties

The antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac) appears to have antiviral properties, especially against human enteroviruses — a group of more than 60 viruses that includes poliovirus.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles discovered the unexpected property while conducting laboratory tests on cell cultures.

Although immunization has kept poliovirus under control around the world, other enteroviruses remain a primary cause of certain types of meningitis, encephalitis, conjunctivitis, and several other diseases. 

Second only to the common cold virus, enteroviruses cause an estimated 15 million infections each year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Currently there are no treatments for enterovirus infections, and physicians can only offer supportive care and allow an infection to run its course.

An effective antiviral would be able to prevent millions of sicknesses annually, said the UCLA researchers. Vaccines are most effective if the immune system is taught to recognize and attack a virus. But enteroviruses have so much genetic variety that it would be too difficult to create a vaccine to prevent them.

So, in search for antiviral properties, the researchers turned to high-throughput screening (HTS), a method that allows scientists to test tens of thousands of chemical compounds in a single day using robotics.

The group recruited Dr. Robert Damoiseaux, the scientific director of UCLA’s Molecular Screening Shared Resource (MSSR), who specializes in HTS. Together they tested a collection of approved drugs and other chemical compounds and discovered several compounds that restrain enterovirus production.

Surprisingly, fluoxetine stood out from the crowd. In a series of follow-up tests, the researchers found that fluoxetine interferes with the growth and replication of coxsackieviruses, a prominent subtype of enteroviruses.

The researchers repeated the experiment on several kinds of coxsackieviruses with recurring success. Without the ability to reproduce, these invading viruses simply would die off.

Yet even with all this evidence, taking Prozac may not be the best way to clear a viral infection.

“We do not yet understand the mechanism of action, and we do not yet have any proof of antiviral effectiveness in humans or animals,” said lead researcher Paul Krogstad, M.D., professor of molecular and medical pharmacology.

Also, fluoxetine is linked to an increased risk of internal bleeding, and so too are some enteroviruses. The extra risk of hemorrhaging could possibly worsen the infection.

Krogstad said his group needs to gain a better understanding of how, exactly, fluoxetine stops viral reproduction. Overall, these findings could open the door to new drugs that target viral replication without the side effects of Prozac.

Source:  Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

 

Prozac pill bottle photo by shutterstock.

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I always prioritize my prestige. I choose to hide under shell and do nothing because I’m afraid to know what

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