Pathologic gamblers show higher novelty seeking and self-transcendence, and lower self-directedness and cooperativeness, compared with both non-pathologic gamblers and control subjects. A positive correlation exists between gambling severity and both novelty seeking and self-transcendence scores. Pathologic gamblers with a family history of gambling have even higher novelty seeking. These personality dimensions may help identify individuals at risk for problem gambling and inform treatment approaches.
A 23-year-old man developed a substance-induced psychotic disorder after intravenously injecting an unspecified amount of methoxetamine (MXE), a ketamine derivative hallucinogen. Clinically, he showed blunted affect, diminished social drive, loss of sense of purpose, and detachment from the environment. Psychometric tests revealed severe dissociation, lack of motivation, and mild impairments in verbal fluency, working memory, and attention. Brain scans using 18F-FDG PET/CT showed significantly reduced tracer uptake in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a region critical for goal-oriented cognition, working memory, and attention. This case indicates that a single acute MXE intoxication can cause severe brain impairment.
People with anorexia nervosa-restrictive subtype experience more anomalous self-experiences (ASEs), such as a disturbed sense of self, than healthy controls. These ASEs directly contribute to eating disorder severity, and this relationship is partly explained by an abnormal body image attitude. The findings suggest that a disturbed self-experience may underlie both body image distortions and eating disorder symptoms in this condition, pointing to the need for broader exploration of self-disorder as a transdiagnostic feature.