title: Why we recommend analytic treatment for some patients and not for others.
abstract: One hundred consecutive patients applying for analysis completed a comprehensive battery of structured interviews and self-report questionnaires assessing dimensions of psychopathology and psychological functions that analysts consider important when evaluating patients for analysis. Patients were evaluated for analysis by a candidate supervised by a training analyst. Fifty patients were accepted for analysis and fifty rejected. In both groups, psychiatric morbidity and psychosocial impairment were high, with a 50% current and 74% lifetime diagnosis of mood disorder, 56% current and 61% lifetime history of anxiety disorder. The mean Beck Depression Inventory score fell in the moderate range, 19.1 (SD = 11.0), mean Hamilton Depression score in the mild range, 14.1 (SD = 7.8), and the mean Hamilton Anxiety score in the moderate range, 14.6 ( SD = 8.1), with 57% meeting criteria for an Axis II diagnosis, and mean social adjustment in the moderate to high pathology range. Patients accepted and rejected for analysis did not differ with regard to any of these dimensions. Accepted patients scored lower on measures of impulsivity, aggression, and sociopathy, and on scores of personality rigidity, primitive defenses, and outward aggression. The major finding was the striking similarity between patients accepted and rejected for psychoanalytic treatment.
authors.affiliation: NYU School of Medicine, USA. eve.caligor@gmail.com
authors.forename: Eve
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Caligor
authors.forename: Barry L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: Verna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Maccornack
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wininger
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sneed
authors.forename: Steven P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Roose
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008611:Mentors; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D018579:Patient Selection; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods*; D011599:Psychopathology