The neurally mediated syncope: a psychiatric evaluation and motivational systems

Journal title PSICOBIETTIVO
Author/s Alessia Zangrilli, Maurizio Brasini, Maria Giuseppina Mantione, Fabio Monticelli
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2015/1
Language Italian Pages 19 P. 89-107 File size 138 KB
DOI 10.3280/PSOB2015-001006
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

Three studies were conducted stemming from the hypothesis that the neuromediated syncope is rooted into a somatoform dissociative psychopathologic process. The first study was aimed at finding a linkage between a developmental history of early traumatic experiences, dissociative symptoms, and the presence of vasovagal syncope in a sample of 61 patients. In the second study, a psychiatric assessment of 31 patients suffering from vasovagal syncope was conducted, with a particular focus on the ability to identify one’s owns emotions (alexithymia). Finally, the motivational structure of 30 patients suffering from vasovagal syncope was assessed with the AIMIT method, in order to test the hypothesis that in such patients the focus on their somatic symptoms may become a way to compensate for an underlying tendence towards a dissociative breakdown. Pur preliminary seem to confirm the aforementioned hypothesis.

Keywords: Interpersonal Motivational Systems (ISM); neuromediated syncope; dissociation; alexithymia.

  1. American Psychiatric Association (2000) DSM-IV-TR. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Text Revision), Washington, DC: APA
  2. Bonadies M., Di Trani M., Solano L., Tumbiolo F., Piacentini F., Ammirati F. (2006) “Le caratteristiche psicologiche dei pazienti con diagnosi di sincope vasovagale: studio osservazionale su sessanta soggetti”, G. Ital. Cardiol., 7
  3. Bowlby J. (1989) Una base sicura, Raffaello Cortina, Milano
  4. Bromberg P.M. (2006) Clinica del trauma e della dissociazione, Raffaello Cortina, Milano
  5. Caretti V., Ducci G., Monticelli F., Porcelli P., Banchetti S., Bedeschi L.,
  6. Ciolfi A., Ciulla S., Crapraro G., Lepore M., Pietropaoli E., Zangrilli A.,
  7. Ricci R., Santini M., Schimmenti A. (2009) An empirical study through the use of TSI-A and SCID-D on affective dysregulation, traumatic experiences and dissociative phenomenons in patients with vaso-vagal sindrome.Affect Dysregulation, Traumatic Experiences and Dissociation in Patients with Vaso-vagal Syndrome, XX World Congress on Psychosomatic Medicine, Torino, Italy
  8. Caretti V., Porcelli P., Solano L., Schimmenti A., Bagby M., Taylor G.J. (2011) “Reliability and validity of the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia in a mixed clinical and nonclinical sample from Italy”, Psychiatry Res., 10.1016/j.psychres.2011.02.015
  9. Damasio A. (2003) Looking for Spinoza: Joy, sorrow, and the feeling brain, Harcourt, Orlando, Fl
  10. Fanselow M.S., Lester L.S. (1988) “A functional behavioristic approach to aversively motivated behavior: predatory imminence as a determinant of the topography of defensive behavior”, in Bolles R.C., Beecher M.D. (eds.), Evolution and learning, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 185-211 Janet P. (1929) L’evolution psychologique de la personnalitè, Chaine, Paris
  11. Kauhanen J., Kaplan G.A., Cohen R.D., Salonen R., Salonen J.T. (1994)
  12. “Alexithymia may influence the diagnosis of coronary heart disease”, Psychosomatic Medicine, 56: 237-244
  13. LeDoux J.E. (1996) The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life, Simon and Schuster, New York
  14. Liotti G. (1994/2005) La dimensione interpersonale della coscienza, Carocci, Roma
  15. Liotti G. (2004) “Trauma, dissociation and disorganized attachment: Three strands of a single braid”, Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 41, 4: 472-486
  16. Liotti G., Monticelli F. (2008) I sistemi motivazionali nel dialogo clinico. Il manual Aimit, Raffaello Cortina, Milano
  17. Nemiah J.C., Freyberger H., Sifheos P.E. (1976) “Alexithymia: a view of the psychosomatic process”, in Hill O.W. (ed.), Modern trends in psychosomatic medicine, Butterworths, London, vol. 3, pp. 430-439
  18. Nijenhuis E.R.S. (2007) La dissociazione somatoforme, Astrolabio, Roma
  19. Nijenhuis E.R.S. (2004) Somatoform Dissociation, Phenomena, Measurement and
  20. Theoretical issues, Norton & Company, W.W. New York
  21. Nijenhuis E.R.S., Vanderlinden J., Spinhoven P. (1998) “Animal defensive reactions as a model for trauma-induced dissociative reactions”, Journal of Traumatic Stress, 11: 243-260
  22. Sbardella A., Zangrilli A. (2009) “Mentalizzazione, trauma e patologia mentale: riflessioni teoriche e caso clinico”, in Di Sauro R., Pennella A.R., La mente nella mente. Teoria e clinica della funzione riflessiva, Aracne, Roma
  23. Solano L. (2001) Tra mente e corpo, Raffaello Cortina, Milano
  24. Solano L., Toriello A., Barnaba L., Ara R., Taylor G.J. (2000) “Rorschach interaction patterns, alexithymia, and closeness to parents in psychotic and psychosomatic patients”, Journal of American Academy of psychoanalysis, 28: 101-116
  25. Steinberg M. (2000) “Advances in the clinical assessment of dissociation: the SCID-D-R”, Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 64, 2: 146-163
  26. Steinberg M., Schnall M. (2001) The Stranger in the Mirror. Dissociation n the Mirror, Harper Collins, New York
  27. Stevenson R.L. (1886) Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Longmans, Green & co., London
  28. Taylor G.J. (1993) Medicina Psicosomatica e psicoanalisi contemporanea, Astrolabio, Roma
  29. Taylor G.J. (1994) “The alexithymia construct: conceptualization, validation, and relationship with basic dimensions of personality”, New Trends in Experimental and Clinical Psychiatry, 10: 61-74
  30. Taylor G.J., Bagby R.M., Parker J.D.A. (1997) Disorders of affect regulation: Alexithymia in medical and psychiatric illness, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
  31. Temoshok L.R. (1987) “Personality, coping style, emotion, and cancer: toward an
  32. integrative model”, Cancer Surveys, 837-57
  33. Van der Hart O., Nijenhuis E.R.S., Steele K. (2011) Fantasmi nel sé, Raffaello Cortina, Milano
  34. Veith I. (1965) Hysteria: The History of a disease, University of Chicago Press, Chicago
  35. Waldstein S.R, Kauhanen, J., Neumann S.A., Katzel L.I. (2002) “Alexithymia and cardiovascular risk in older adults: psychosocial, psychophysiological, and biomedical correlates”, Psychology and Health, 17: 597-610
  36. Experience of Shame Scale (ESS) (Andrews, Quian, Valentine, 2002)
  37. McGill Illness Narrative Interview (MINI) (McGill, 2006)
  38. Impact of Event Scale (IES-R) (Weiss, Marmar, 1997)
  39. Inventario delle Esperienze Traumatiche (TEC) (Nijenhuis, Van der Hart, Vanderlinden, Assen-Amsterdam-Leuven)
  40. Hopkins Symptom Checkist (HCSL 25) (Parloff et al. 1954; Rickels et al., 1980).
  41. Structured Clinical Interview for Dissociative for Disorders (SCID-D) (Steinberg, 2000)
  42. Dissociative Experiences Scale Revised (DES-II) (Carlson, Putnam, 1993)
  43. Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ-20) (Nijenhuis, 1999)
  44. Childhood Experiences of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA-Q) (Bifulco et al., 2005)
  45. Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA) (Bagby et al., 2006)
  46. 20 Items Toronto Alexythimia Scale (TAS-20) (Bagby, Parker, Taylor, 1994)

Alessia Zangrilli, Maurizio Brasini, Maria Giuseppina Mantione, Fabio Monticelli, valutazione psichiatrica e sistemi motivazionali nella sincope neuromediata in "PSICOBIETTIVO" 1/2015, pp 89-107, DOI: 10.3280/PSOB2015-001006