The Link Between Hysterectomy and Depression

1979 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore J. Turpin ◽  
David S. Heath

This paper reviews the current literature on the possible link between hysterectomy and depression. Psychological hypotheses for such a link are discussed. The literature is divided fairly evenly into those papers which support a definite association between hysterectomy and post-operative depression and those which refute any such link. A summary of these papers is given with a critical discussion of the various methodologies and operational definitions used. No clear-cut association can be found on review of these studies, but in those papers which do suggest an association, the risk factors of a history of pre-operative depression, no organic uterine pathology and hysterectomy in young women of child bearing age are common to most. The point is made that depression occurring after hysterectomy is more likely to be associated with the social and psychological consequences of organ removal than with the operative procedure itself, and therefore, one may not expect the condition to become clinically obvious for anywhere from six months to two years post-operatively. The authors conclude that care should be taken in performing hysterectomy where the indications are equivocal, especially if the above alleged risk factors are present. A plea is made for more research in this area to determine whether hysterectomy is a factor in the etiology of depression in some women, and if so, which women are at risk.

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 83-100
Author(s):  
Ewa Nowicka

The subject of this article is the fate of the Greek political refugees – specifically personsforcibly resettled in Poland and other countries of the Soviet Bloc, evacuated from territoriesengrossed in the Civil War of 1946-1949. After a long period in exile, some returned to theirhome country and began a new life, struggling with economic, familial, social, linguistic and cultural problems. The history of the Greek refugees and their re-immigration illustrates the irreversibility and irreparability of the social and psychological damage done by forcedmigration. Returns to the homeland did not reinstate balance, and did not ease the dilemmasinitiated by the first resettlement. History is stuck in the memories as well as the everyday lives of the return migrants and their social milieus; this creates divides, mutual strangeness, and social tensions. Compulsory movement of populations – leading to the severance of connections with one’s fatherland, hometown, mother tongue, and home culture – causes subsequent conflicts and identity problems which continue to haunt those who returned to their birthplace.


1980 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-34
Author(s):  
Nancy Herman

Max Weber was one of the prominant social figures in this history of the social sciences for he made significant contributions to the development of anthropology, sociology and social theory as a whole. Weber's aim was explicit: he wanted to develop a 'scientific study of man and society:' he sought not only to delineate the scope of the discipline but also wanted to construct a clear-cut methodology whereby data could be rigorously studied in accordance with the testable procedures of science. This paper discusses the influence of the German idealist tradition upon Max Weber. Specifically, this study critically examines Weberion thought in terms of illustrating how he combined the Germanic emphasis on the search for subjective meanings with the positivist notion of scientific rigor, and in so doing was able to bridge the. dichotomy between the idealist and positivist traditions.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. C02 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice R. Bell

Rather than crystal ball gazing into the future of science journalism, this essay invites critical discussion over how much, if at all, has the web changed the way science is discussed in public? The short answer is no, or only slightly. Drawing on basic tenants of the social studies of technology, I argue there have always been more options than action when it comes to innovation in science writing. This essay takes three stories of the impact of the web on science journalism which I believe to be overstated, as well as three areas where I do think we can see change. None are clear-cut, as my chief aim here is to argue that our future is up for debate.


Author(s):  
Eugenio Lecaldano

The chapter starts with the history of Hume’s essay on suicide, and the sources and the social context of it in 1755. It also exposes the first reactions to the essay, particularly that of Adam Smith. The central sections present a critical discussion of the interpretation of the essay as a text of the philosophy of religion. The thesis of the chapter is that “On Suicide” is a text of moral philosophy. Hume refutes the Christian position and also the distinction between rational and irrational suicide; he advances—as resolutive—the positive moral principle of the natural liberty of all human beings and “the right to dispose of their own lives.” The essay has an influence in the contemporary bioethical literature just for this conception on the choices for the end of life.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjetil Bjørnevik ◽  
Trond Riise ◽  
Marianna Cortese ◽  
Trygve Holmøy ◽  
Margitta T Kampman ◽  
...  

Background: Several recent studies have found a higher risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) among people with a low level of education. This has been suggested to reflect an effect of smoking and lower vitamin D status in the social class associated with lower levels of education. Objective: The objective of this paper is to investigate the association between level of education and MS risk adjusting for the known risk factors smoking, infectious mononucleosis, indicators of vitamin D levels and body size. Methods: Within the case-control study on Environmental Factors In MS (EnvIMS), 953 MS patients and 1717 healthy controls from Norway reported educational level and history of exposure to putative environmental risk factors. Results: Higher level of education were associated with decreased MS risk ( p trend = 0.001) with an OR of 0.53 (95% CI 0.41–0.68) when comparing those with the highest and lowest level of education. This association was only moderately reduced after adjusting for known risk factors (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.44–0.83). The estimates remained similar when cases with disease onset before age 28 were excluded. Conclusion: These findings suggest that factors related to lower socioeconomic status other than established risk factors are associated with MS risk.


1972 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. N. Uzoigwe

One of the weaknesses of students of African development studies has been their inability to speak in the idiom of Africans. Anthropologists, despite their often magnificent contributions of earlier times in the field of ethnography must find a new role in the present state of African studies. The tendency to conceive precolonial developments in Africa in terms of primitivity, tribality, and feudality, has conveyed the erroneous impression that Africa is characterized by the static nature of its past. In other words, the dynamics of the growth of African societies has traditionally not been their concern. Unfortunately, the African historian who should have been particularly concerned with this aspect of study has, until recently, proved to be of little help. He has first to win the battle of African history, the mopping up operations of which are still going on. But he, too, must now realize that a history of specifically political developments is an anachronism: precolonial Africa had no clear-cut distinction between the political, the economic, and the social. To be meaningful, history must be conceived in its totality. Finally, the economist seems to speak least in the idiom of theAfrican. It is ‘fashionable’ for him, it has been pointed out, to assume that ‘the African economy’ ought not to work in a basically dissimilar fashion from ‘the Western economy’ and that something is wrong with it if it does. The problem of the African economist, then, is that of relevance, a problem that has to be satisfactorily solved if his readiness to offer his services as the specialist ‘doctor’ of African economic problems is to be taken seriously.


1959 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 51-79
Author(s):  
K. Edwards

During the last twenty or twenty-five years medieval historians have been much interested in the composition of the English episcopate. A number of studies of it have been published on periods ranging from the eleventh to the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. A further paper might well seem superfluous. My reason for offering one is that most previous writers have concentrated on analysing the professional circles from which the bishops were drawn, and suggesting the influences which their early careers as royal clerks, university masters and students, secular or regular clergy, may have had on their later work as bishops. They have shown comparatively little interest in their social background and provenance, except for those bishops who belonged to magnate families. Some years ago, when working on the political activities of Edward II's bishops, it seemed to me that social origins, family connexions and provenance might in a number of cases have had at least as much influence on a bishop's attitude to politics as his early career. I there fore collected information about the origins and provenance of these bishops. I now think that a rather more careful and complete study of this subject might throw further light not only on the political history of the reign, but on other problems connected with the character and work of the English episcopate. There is a general impression that in England in the later middle ages the bishops' ties with their dioceses were becoming less close, and that they were normally spending less time in diocesan work than their predecessors in the thirteenth century.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Mundy

Abstract The stereotype of people with autism as unresponsive or uninterested in other people was prominent in the 1980s. However, this view of autism has steadily given way to recognition of important individual differences in the social-emotional development of affected people and a more precise understanding of the possible role social motivation has in their early development.


Crisis ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sami Hamdan ◽  
Nadine Melhem ◽  
Israel Orbach ◽  
Ilana Farbstein ◽  
Mohammad El-Haib ◽  
...  

Background: Relatively little is known about the role of protective factors in an Arab population in the presence of suicidal risk factors. Aims: To examine the role of protective factors in a subsample of in large Arab Kindred participants in the presence of suicidal risk factors. Methods: We assessed protective and risk factors in a sample of 64 participants (16 suicidal and 48 nonsuicidal) between 15 and 55 years of age, using a comprehensive structured psychiatric interview, the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), self-reported depression, anxiety, hopelessness, impulsivity, hostility, and suicidal behavior in first-degree and second-relatives. We also used the Religiosity Questionnaire and suicide attitude (SUIATT) and multidimensional perceived support scale. Results: Suicidal as opposed to nonsuicidal participants were more likely to have a lifetime history of major depressive disorder (MDD) (68.8% vs. 22.9% χ2 = 11.17, p = .001), an anxiety disorder (87.5% vs. 22.9, χ2 = 21.02, p < .001), or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (25% vs. 0.0%, Fisher’s, p = .003). Individuals who are otherwise at high risk for suicidality have a much lower risk when they experience higher perceived social support (3.31 ± 1.36 vs. 4.96 ± 1.40, t = 4.10, df = 62, p < .001), and they have the view that suicide is somehow unacceptable (1.83 ± .10 vs. 1.89 ± .07, t = 2.76, df = 60, p = .008). Conclusions: Taken together with other studies, these data suggest that the augmentation of protective factors could play a very important role in the prevention of incidental and recurrent suicidal behavior in Arab populations, where suicidal behavior in increasing rapidly.


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