RFP Indian Journal of Medical Psychiatry

Introduction: Empathy is seen to be one of the key components of healthy doctor-patient relationships and is strongly linked to better patient outcomes. It is one of the personality traits that is thought to be crucial for the growth of interpersonal comprehension and for supporting communication skills. A crucial component of medical school is helping medical students who will one day practice medicine to become more empathetic. This study set out to determine the parameters that were connected with the mean empathy score of medical students at a private medical college. Aims: To find out the empathy scores using TEQ questionnaire and compare the scores with socio demographic profile. Materials and Methods: At mamata medical college, Khammam a cross-sectional study was carried out, study consists of 212 voluntary participants who are undergraduates studying MBBS with ages ranging from 16 to 27. Students belonging to the first, second, third, fourth year who are voluntarily willing to do the survey based on a questionnaire was sent to them to collect the data of the study. The 16 questions on the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire is used. Results: The study respondents comprised of 212 MBBS students. Their ages ranged from 16 to 27 years. Majority were females 132 (62.3%), males 80 (37.7%) The overall mean TEQ score was calculated to be 42.47±7.40, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.03. We assessed the association of various factors with empathy levels among these students. There was a significant association between empathy levels and year of study of the respondents. Analysis yielded a significant difference between mean. Conclusion: The average TEQ score among medical students at this Mamata medical college was 42.47±7.40. Higher Scores are seen in females (45.60±7.42), first years (48.92±8.05) and people belonging to Rural areas (44.13±6.55).

The term “Supernatural” connotes act of God, re-animating the dead with positive results, elements of ghosts, zombies, and vampires. The essence of the supernatural is that it is something beyond our understanding, though we may sneak glimpses of its truth. The basic understanding of the Supernatural is therefore “something which does not belong to the natural world and cannot exist in reality”. The idea of the Supernatural began to mean different things in different cultures. Different academic disciplines view it and make use of it with varying emphasis and meaning. Bhuta Vidya is the branch of Ayurveda which deals with the mental effects caused by the Supernatural such as Deva (God), Daitya (Monster), Gandharva (skilled singers from the heaven), Yaksha (demigods, spirits usually benevolent but sometimes mischievous and sexually aggressive, caretakers of natural treasures hidden in Earth and tree roots, protectors of forests, wealth and virility), Rakshasa (Demon or Evil Spirit), Pitru (Ancestral or Forefathers), Pisashi (Flesh Eating Demons and Devils), Naga (semi divine beings, half-man half-snake, dragons) and so on. This paper is an attempt to position the mental effects of the Supernatural and the methods to manage them in the realms of healing with due respect to the associated cultural and academic aspects. Consciousness is the generic term that accords a holistic perspective to the cultural, academic and the associated aspects of healing.

Background: Othello syndrome (OS) also known as morbid jealousy has been associated with substance use disorders, various psychiatric and neurological conditions. Case Summary: Here, we present a case of a 47 year old male who developed delusion of infidelity as sequelae of a right parietal lobe venous infarc. Discussion: Our patient had developed OS subsequently after right parietal lobe infarct. However, not many case reports have been previously documented wherein a patient developed delusion of infidelity with parietal lobe lesions. Conclusion: Hence, our case may be indicative of role of parietal lobe in the pathophysiology of delusion of infidelity, which warrants further research.

Background: Emotional lability is described as stereotypical affective outbursts which is not reflective of internal emotion. We present a case of caudate nucleus infarct presented as pathological crying. Case Description: A 56 year old man presented with abrupt onset history of pervasive episodes of crying since a week. His brain imaging had shown an acute infarct in right caudate nucleus. Conclusion: Our patient had episodes of pathological crying due to disruption in subcorticalthalamic-ponto cerebellar network. It is important to note that physicians and psychiatrist should be aware of unusual manifestation of right caudate nucleus infarct as pathological crying.

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder that affects 1% of population worldwide. Regarding specific substance tobacco, alcohols, cannabis & cocaine use disorders occur commonly in patients with schizophrenia. Importantly, this population is associated with violence, suicide and increased rate of hospitalization while the exact mechanism contributing to substance use in Schizophrenia are not known, a number of theories have been put forward to explain the basis of co-occurrence of these disorders.