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Aim. The paper describes the relationship between the symptoms of exercise addiction, behavioral strategies in situations of limited workout possibilities and mental health state in exercising individuals. Methods. The study included 391 participants, 286 women (73.1%) and 105 men (26.9%), aged 18 to 68 years. The respondents were surveyed online after 17-19 days of barriers to routine training due to greatest COVID-19 restrictions in Poland. Subjects completed the Exercise Dependence Scale, General Health Questionnaire - 28 (GHQ-28) and questionnaires enabling the collection of demographic and clinical data as well as data related to exercise behaviors. Results. The variables related to exercise addiction and some related to behavioral changes are predictors of mental health, especially in terms of anxiety, insomnia and somatic symptoms. All the introduced variables accounted for 27.4% to 43.7% of the variation in the mental health status of the subjects, depending on GHQ subscales. Breaking the restriction rules by outdoor training protected against symptoms of psychological disorders, especially in relation to somatic symptoms (Beta = -0.23; p< 0.001). Individual assessment of stress induction in a given situation was a predictor of results in all GHQ subscales, which was the strongest for symptoms of anxiety and insomnia (Beta = 0.37; p< 0.001). Conclusions. Individuals with features of exercise addiction are at risk of deterioration of their well-being during forced abstinence. In addition, the subjective level of stress induction in a given situation is an important determinant that conditions psychological well-being, especially the aggravation of depressive symptoms. People who ignore restrictions and have low levels of stress, experience lower psychological costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sense of humor has a positive influence on mental and social functioning of humans by supporting interpersonal competences and effective coping with difficult situations. The aim of this study was to present research conducted to this date and concerning processing of humoristic content by people with schizophrenia in relation to cognitive deficits associated with this illness and their neurobiological background. Understanding of humor and its effective use require many linguistic and extralingustic skills, including processing of signals from social environment, such as correct recognition of emotional messages, understanding of a context of a humoristic situation, or drawing correct conclusions on a mental status of other people. An efficient use of the metaphorical language allows experiencing amusement resulting from inaccuracies, different semantic interpretations, irony, and sarcasm. A tendency for excessive concretism reflected in problems with understanding nonliteral content and semantically complex language structures, as well as other cognitive deficits observed in schizophrenia patients, frequently hinder the use of humoristic messages. Better understanding of mechanisms controlling the effective use of humor may help to develop therapeutic tools to improve the communication efficiency of schizophrenia patients, as well as positively influence their social functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. To establish the differential criteria for Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and Food Addiction (FA) Methods. We performed a detailed analysis of comparative diagnostic criteria for BED and Substance use disorder contained in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-V. We applied the diagnostic criteria for both disorders to scientific publications on the issue of excessive eating in obese people, during the years 2005-2016, available on PubMed. We isolated specific similarities and differences between Binge Eating Disorder and Food Addiction. We formulated differential criteria for BED and FA. Results. In BED as well as FA the following characteristics are apparent: preoccupation with food, excessive eating, loss of control over the amount of food and manner of eating, inability to change behavior, continuing behavior despite negative consequences, increased impulsiveness and emotional imbalance. Differences between BED and FA relate to the function of food, reaction to omitted food, psychological mechanisms of coping with excessive eating and body image, the issue of tolerance, withdrawal syndrome and the correlation between excessive eating and other areas of life. Conclusions. The criteria of differentiation between BED and FA concern the following: function of food, eating circumstances, reaction to the unavailability of food, awareness of the problem. Appropriate diagnosis of these disorders and their differentiation increases the chances of adequate treatment of obese patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the ego-state of obese people in terms of transactional analysis and to determine the relationship between coping with overweight strategies, Ego-structure, global self-esteem, and body self-esteem levels. Methods: One-hundred-seventy-one overweight and obese adult females were examined by a general practitioner and a specialist in obesity management. The ego-state, global self-esteem, and body self-esteem were assessed using the Ego State Questionnaire (ESQ), the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, and the Body-Esteem Scale, respectively. Results: Participants were divided into three subgroups: A - no attempts at weight loss currently (35.1%), B - self-attempted weight loss (33.9%), C - professional obesity treatment (31.0%). Age, education level, professional status, marital status, and number of children, along with the onset of being overweight/obese were similar in all subgroups. Subgroups B and C statistically and significantly made frequent attempts at weight loss (p<0.001) and experienced yo-yo effect (p<0.001) more than subgroup A. Effective weight loss attempts were observed significantly more often in subgroups C (p<0.001). Only mean lies scale results were significantly higher in subgroups A and C compared to B (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). While self-esteem, sexual attractiveness, weight concern, physical condition and ego-states were similar in all study subgroups. Conclusions: Structure of the Ego-states, self-esteem and body-esteem did not influence the strategies of coping with overweight. Self-esteem is related to spontaneous Ego-child and Ego-adult levels, while the sense of sexual attractiveness is affected only by Ego-spontaneous child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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