• Anxiety and mood
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.42-47
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• 2009

Recently, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) was given the status of an approved form of psychotherapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. However, its effectiveness in the treatment of other anxiety disorders such as phobia is yet to be determined given that controlled studies have provided mixed results. This report summarizes the case of a child with a specific phobia (i.e. nighttime fear) which was successfully treated with two sessions of EMDR. This result suggests the further and thorough evaluation of this technique for use in childhood phobic disorders.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.159-165
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• 2014

Background and objectives : Social phobia is a nervous anxiety characterized by one or more constant fear in social activity or specific situation which causes serious damage to individual's social functions leading to chronic functional impairment when it is untreated. The objective of this study is to report a new finding of a possible subtype of social phobia according to a case survey and study of sufferers found via online support group. Methods : A single case review using survey and interview on patient was employed. Following a no-treatment baseline period for examination and interview, biweekly acupuncture treatment with interview for in-depth examination was delivered for 6months. Also, for in-depth investigation of peripheral vision phobia, survey questionnaire was done by the members of a Korean support group on on-line social group forum. Result : A new type of social phobia which has not yet been reported nor mentioned in any journals, namely called 'peripheral vision phobia' has been identified. Biweekly acupuncture treatment reached a comfort state of mental status on one case of patient with social phobia. Limitation : Due to the shift of environment on patient's part, the termination of the school session at where the phobia occur the most, the reoccurrence of the phobia is yet to be examined. Also, the generalization of the new type of phobia as a subtype only by reviewing one case alone with survey interview of on-line social group has limitation. Conclusion : The result of the case review suggests that 'peripheral vision phobia' is strictly concentrated on malfunctioning of peripheral vision without functional or organic hindrance of pupils or of any parts of eyes including eye muscles due to peripheral vision phobia. PVP is similar to social phobia and it may be a subtype of social phobia, however, since etiology, diagnosis, medical treatment methods are under researched, investigation is yet to be done.

• The Journal of the Korean life insurance medical association
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 2010

Anxiety disorders Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent mental disorders in the general population. Anxiety disorders can be viewed as a family of related but distinct mental disorders, which include following as classified in the text revision of fourth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Disorders(DSM-IV-TR): (1) panic disorder with or without agoraphobia; (2) agoraphobia with or without panic disorder; (3) specific phobia; (4) social phobia; (5) obsessive-compulsive disorder; (6) posttraumatic stress disorder; (7) acute stress disorder; (8) generalized anxiety disorder. An acute intense attack of anxiety accompanied by feeling of impending doom is known as panic disorder. The term phobia refer to an excessive fear of a specific object, circumstance, or situation. Obsessivecompulsive disorder is represented by a diverse group of symptoms that include intrusive thoughts, rituals, preoccupations, and compulsions. Posttraumatic stress disorder is a condition marked by development of symptoms after exposure to traumatic life events. Generalized anxiety disorder is defined as excessive anxiety and worry about several events or activities for most days during at least a 6-month period.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.62-67
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• 2008

Objectives : Gender differences in demographic characteristics, symptom presentation, and severity may influence the selection of target behaviors as well as the course and outcome of therapeutic interventions for patients with social phobia. The purpose of this study was to explore the gender differences in the symptomatic characteristics of Korean patients with social phobia. Methods : A total of 256 outpatients with social phobia at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital were included in this study. All subjects were evaluated using the Korean version of the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview Plus. Potential differences in demographic characteristics, severity of anxiety, and situational fear and avoidance were examined. Self-report questionnaires and interviewer-administered instruments, including the Social Phobia Scale (SPS), Social Phobia subscale of the Fear Questionnaire (FQ-social), Appraisal of Social Concerns (ASC), and Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), were used to evaluate the severity of the patients' symptoms. Results : There were no gender differences in demographic characteristics, age, age at onset of social phobia, total SPS score, FQ-Social score, ASC score, and LSAS score. In addition, there was no gender difference in the severity of fear in specific social situations. However, women reported significantly higher total scores on the social helplessness category of the ASC than men (p=0.009). Conclusion : Previous studies reported that the severity of social phobia symptoms is greater in women than in men, but our results suggest that there are no significant gender differences in the severity of social phobia symptoms. Thus, gender differences among patients with social phobia are discussed in the context of traditional sex-role expectations.

• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.127-135
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• 2024

This study is an instrumental case study based on a theoretical proposition on animal phobia as a single case, Six categories were derived for the purpose of psychological analysis of the father of a female research participant suffering from the earthworm phobia. They are 'a fearful existence', 'problems with the woman who is always by her father's side', 'secret adultery and shock', 'fear of punishment', 'symbol for earthworm and fear displacement', and 'earthworm phobia'. Anxiety about punishment from a fearful father was the cause of the phobia. For the study participant, the earthworm phobia was the displacement of her father's fear of earthworm, and the earthworm phobia was interpreted as a substitute for her father. In other words, earthworm phobia should be understood as an escape and defense process as it replaces the re-emergence of long-repressed fearful feeling toward her father, and its symbolism can be seen as a metaphorical transformation of the pathological family atmosphere.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2005

Objective:The purposes of this study were to investigate heart rate variability(HRV) in patients with generalized anxiety disorder(GAD) compared with major depressive disorder in Korea. Methods:Fifty-six GAD patients(20 male and 36 female) was classified into their comorbid psychiatric illness. Among them, Twenty-five patients(10 male and 15 female) who do not have any psychiatric comorbidity were compared with 30 major depressive disorder patients(12 male and 18 female). Clinical symptoms, HRV and MMPI were analysed between two group. Results:Comorbid psychiatric illnesses of GAD were ranked into no diagnosis(44.6%), MDD(32.1%), panic disorder(10.7%), social phobia(5.3%), PTSD(1.7%), OCD(1.7%), MDD+panic disorder(1.7%) and MDD+specific phobia(1.7%). GAD patients showed low functioning in HRV, but degree of decreasing HRV is not so severe compared with MDD patient. Balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve tone is more severely impaired in GAD patients compared with MDD patient. The score of MMPI did not reveal any differences between two groups. Conclusions:The result showed that HRV can differenciate GAD and MDD patients. GAD patients could show decreased HRV functioning, less than MDD patients. But autonomic imbalance could be more severe in GAD than MDD patients.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.106-112
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• 2020

Objective : Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by fear of social threat and exhibits limbic hyper-reactivity toward social stimuli such as emotional faces. A previous study identified the uncinate fasciculus (UF) sub-tract as particularly related to facial memory. To explore the white matter tract relating to face-specific brain regions, we investigated the UF sub-tract in SAD. Methods : The diffusion tensor images of 22 patients with SAD and 20 healthy controls were analyzed with tractography. The UF sub-tract was delineated using the regions of interest of face patches in the anterior temporal lobe and the orbitofrontal cortex, and fractional anisotrophy (FA) and total number of streamlines (ST) were analyzed. We examined the group comparison of FA and ST of the UF sub-tract and correlations of FA and ST with the social anxiety symptoms such as the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and the Fear of Negative Evaluation scale (FNE) in SAD. Results : There were no group differences in FA and ST of the UF sub-tract. However, negative correlations were observed between ST of the right UF sub-tract and severity of social anxiety symptoms (LSAS, r_s=-0.480, p=0.024; SIAS, r_s=-0.580, p=0.005; SPS, r_s=-0.590, p=0.004; FNE, r_s=-0.675, p=0.001) in patients with SAD. Conclusion : Although patients with SAD did not show quantitative abnormalities in the UF sub-tact connecting face-specific brain regions, this structure seems to play a role in the symptom severity of SAD.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.59-67
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• 2014

Objective : To obtain the incidence rate of anxiety disorders among the active duty Korean military personnel, who visited the military hospitals from 2011 to 2013, this descriptive epidemiological study was performed. Methods : After acquiring the data for the anxiety disorders from Defense Medical Statistics Information System, the annual incidence rates were analyzed by forces, position status, and specific disease entities. Results : One thousand, nine hundred and thirteen (1,913) active duty male military personnel were diagnosed with any kinds of anxiety disorders in their first visit to the psychiatric outpatient department (OPD). The total OPD visit counts were 7,870 during the same period. Anxiety disorder, NOS was the most frequent disorder, followed by panic disorder. While the incidence rate for anxiety disorder, NOS decreased, panic disorder displayed increasing tendency. Stress-related disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder were positioned third and fourth, respectively, for the number of first visit and they both showed decreasing tendency in annual incidence rates. Social anxiety disorder, specific phobias, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and mixed anxiety-depressive disorder followed next. The annual incidence rates for anxiety disorders showed decreasing tendency, particularly evident in army soldiers. However, naval officers showed higher anxiety disorder incidence rate compared to those of the army and the air forces. Conclusion : Comparing to general population, panic disorder was higher while specific phobias and GAD were lower in the Korean military. It is interesting to observe higher incidence rate for anxiety disorder in naval officers and warrants further evaluation.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.130-139
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• 2016

Objectives The objective of this study is to investigate differences of clinical characteristics between a healthy female control group and female panic disorder (PD) patients with early sexual abuse history (PD+S) and without early sexual abuse history (PD-S). Methods We examined data from 83 patients diagnosed with PD and 20 healthy control subjects. We divided the patients with PD into PD+S (32 patients) and PD-S (51 patients) to compare demographic and clinical characteristics. The following instruments were applied: the Stress coping strategies, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Panic Disorder Severity Scale, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised (ASI-R), the Albany Panic and Phobia Questionnaire (APPQ) and the NEO-neuroticism. Results Compared to the PD-S, the PD+S group showed higher scores in neuroticism and the APPQ. And, in the PD+S group, the scores of neuroticism were correlated with the ASI-R and APPQ subscale scores and the APPQ total scores were associated with the scores of BDI. Conclusions This study shows that female PD+S patients have higher scores in neuroticism and the APPQ than the PD-S group, and these factors are associated with the panic-related symptoms severity. It emphasizes the need of specific strategies considering the childhood abuse history such as early sexual abuse in clinical approach among patients with PD.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.607-620
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the overall research trends and factors influencing dental fears in the last 10 years (2007-2017) and provide recommendations for future research. Methods: The literature review focused on dental fear research in Korea. Inclusion criteria of selected studies were as follows: studies that examined fear in middle school students or older, studies undertaken between 2007-2017, and studies that examined trends and factors relating to dental fears. Results: Findings from this literature review showed that the most commonly used tool for measuring dental fear was the Dental Fear Survey (DFS). A lack of trust towards the dentist increased dental fear among patients. Women managed fear better than men. Past pain experiences increased dental fear. The most frequent intervention for reducing fear was sound (41.7%). Most of the intervention studies demonstrated a reduction of fear, with the exception of interventions using ear plugs. Fear was increased in studies involving ear plugs. Conclusions: Based on the results of the study, specific measures should be taken to alleviate past pain experiences, such as the fear of anesthetic injections and sensations of the dental drill. Continuous research is needed to reduce dental fear.