Distraught Distraction

This case involves a middle-aged woman who is hyperventilating and appears to be suffering an acute anxiety reaction. Several individual and group biases are demonstrated in her management, including groupthink, fundamental attribution error, psych-out error, and gender bias. She is eventually correctly diagnosed and managed appropriately.

Comparative characteristic of manifestations of pathological anxiety in workers of the marine merchant and passenger fleets

Background. The activities of seafarers are extremely complex and at the same time risky professions; they put forward specific requirements for the crew of ships. Long seagoing are associated with the constant presence of crew members in a confined space, monotony of activity, a sharp narrowing of external social relations, an increased risk of emergency situations and etc. Scientific studies show the differentiation of the negative impact of occupational stress factors depending on the ranks of long-distance sailors. Objective – to study the specifics of manifestations of anxiety reaction of workers of the marine merchant and passenger fleets to determine the need to create specific systemic measures to protect mental health for this contingent. Materials and methods. During 2016–2019 we examined 120 workers of the Ukrainian navy. Of these, 90 were sailors, minders, and other merchant fleet workers, and 30 were passenger fleet workers. All examined were men, citizens of Ukraine. The study included the use of clinical, psychopathological, psychodiagnostic and statistical methods. Results. A significant part of the deck ratings (workers) of both merchant and passenger fleets has manifestations of a pathological anxiety reaction, mainly of medium-low intensity. Representatives of the working professions of the passenger navy are characterized by more intense manifestations of anxiety symptoms, the average severity of which approaches the upper limit of subclinical values, while among the representatives of the merchant fleet it approaches the upper limit of normative indicators. Conclusions. The data obtained should be taken into account when developing specific measures of psychotherapy and psychoprophylaxis for this contingent, which is the prospect of this study.

The Use of Multimedia as a Distraction to Reduce Anxiety Reaction among Paediatric Patients During Cast Removal at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan

Introduction: Cast removal procedures can be a daunting experience for children giving rise to anxiety. The objective of this study is to measure the level of anxiety in children during cast removal at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan. Materials and method: An experimental study was conducted with a sample of 40 paediatric patients with upper limb fractures and cast removal were randomly assigned into two groups: with multimedia distraction or without (control). Patient's heart rate was measured using a pulse oximeter before, during and after cast removal. Results: A total number of 20 children were randomized to multimedia distraction and another 20 to control with no distractions. The mean rise in heart rate between preprocedure and during procedure 5.3 beats/min in multimedia distraction group and 16.35 beats/min in control group (P = 0.001). The mean difference in heart rate between the pre-procedure and during the procedure was 5.64 beats/min in the multimedia distraction group and 13.13 beats/ min in the control group (P = 0.05). Conclusion: There was significant decrease in heart rate during cast removal with multimedia distraction. Therefore multimedia distraction is a useful tool in reducing anxiety among children during cast removal.