The lifestyles greatly changed as the social structure, the economic status and the features of diseases afflicting people have changed following rapid development of information technology, an aging society and the internationalization. Under these circumstances, there is an important need for individuals to make active efforts to find scientific methods for the primary prevention of diseases and search for positive methods to improve their quality of life (QOL) while still healthy. We think it is important that individuals voluntarily and actively commit themselves to modifying their lifestyles to make it more stress-resistant and healthier. The overall lifestyle of individuals, including smoking, drinking and physical exercise, has been found to be associated with physical health, mental health. We examined the health potentials using health-related questionnaires, general health-check-up data, and the measurements of typical biomarkers such as lymphocyte chromosome alterations, natural-killer (NK) cell activity and serum IgE or cortisol levels among workers, elderly people, general populations, and the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake victims. We selected the 8 healthy lifestyles based on our previous studies and the health-related habits reported by Breslow. The 8 healthy lifestyles are 1) not smoking, 2) not drinking too much alcohol, 3) doing physical exercise regularly, 4) sleeping 7 to 8 hr per night, 5) keeping nutritional balance in meals, 6) not working more than 10 hr per day, 7) eating breakfast every day, and 8) keeping mental stress levels moderately. The Health Practice Index (HPI) was calculated by the number of good lifestyles. According to the results of 6-yr follow-up of 2148 workers, the unhealthy workers were found to have had significantly higher risks for the developments of chronic diseases. The NK cell activity was found to be significantly higher in the good-lifestyle workers. The genetic health status was estimated by the frequency of chromosomal alterations (sister chromatid exchange ; SCE, chromosomal structural aberrations, and micronuclei) in the blood lymphocytes. Individuals having good lifestyles showed a significantly lower level of chromosome alterations compared to those with poor lifestyles. The persons having unhealthy lifestyles showed abnormally high IgE levels. Earthquake victims reporting poor lifestyles or high posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scores had lower natural killer (NK) cell activity and higher cortisol than those reporting healthy lifestyles. The data of the workers or the aged indicated the those people having good lifestyles or more human supports had higher quality of life scores in spite of having high job strain or low physical health status compared to those having poor lifestyles or low human supports. The reason why we recommended that people modify their lifestyles to a healthier life is that it is easier to achieve self-realization within our short life span, as one's lifestyle becomes healthier. In this sense, the creation of a healthier life will provide a source of reserve force, adaptive force, defensive force or resistive force against future loads which can destroy one's health.

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It is reported that patients suffering from depression are increased in these days. Especially, the increase of depression who mainly have somatic complaints are reported. These patients often see general physicians or primary care doctors. We had a question if these depressives with somatic complaints are same as depressives with psychiatric complaints. So we investigated about psycho-social background of depressive patients with somatic complaints. Subjects are 142 patients who visited our department at least 3 times and diagnosed as depressive disorder or adjustment disorder with depressive mood. We divided these patients in two groups, one was P group whose chief complaints were psychiatric symptoms, the other was S group whose chief complaints were somatic symptoms. We investigated their psycho-social backgrounds retro-spectively, which were age, sex, period for seeking hospital, family history, past history, personality, outcome, etc. Statisticaly significant difference found between these two groups were family history about fatal physical diseases and past history of psychiatric disorders. S group had statisticaly significantly high rates of fatal physical diseases in their family, and P group had statisticaly significantly high rates of psyhiatric past history. It was indicated that family history with fatal disease is a factor to promote somatization in depressives.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the psychophysiological characteristics of alexithymic subjects during recalling one's positive and negative emotional experiences. Alexithymia was assessed with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-26. Subjects were 23 undergraduate students. They were informed of the experimental contents by telephone, and the agreement was obtained. The subjects were divided into two groups based on TAS-26 total score : alexithymic group (N=12, TAS≩80) and non-alexithymic group (N=11, TAS≨64). The experimental flow can be described as follows : (1) Imaging practice in which subjects were asked to recall their positive and negative emotional experiencies as vividly as they can without time limits. (2) Five minutes adaptation period in which the baseline physiological measures were taken. (3) Four minutes imaging session. The imaging session consisted of five periods : (a) One minute resting period (PRE). (b) First 30-seconds imaging period (IMAGE). (c) Thirty seconds rest period (MID), in which the subject was instructed to count numbers from one slowly in silence in order to prevent to imagine any experience. (d) Second 30-seconds imaging period (IMAGE). (e) Ninery seconds rest period (POST). In the imaging session, subjects recalled their positive or negative emotional experience following the two different tone cues. The order of positive and negative imaging were counterbalanced. Half subjects recalled positive imaging in the first imaging period and negative imaging in the second imaging period. Throughout the experiment, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and facial EMG (zygomatic major and corrugator supercilii) were measured. After the adaptaion period and the imaging session, subjective ratings were measured by a check list, which evaluated imagery vividness and two basic emotional dimension : valence (pleasure/unpleasure) and activation (arousal/calmness). Subjective ratings were taken three times, after the adaptaion period and twice the imaging session concerning the positive imaging and negative imaging. Physiological data during imaging session were compared with the corresponding baseline values and used as the change score. Each measurement was analyzed by ANOVA with 2 groups (alex, non-alex) × 4 periods (PRE, P-IMAGE, N-IMAGE, POST). The data during the MID rest period were eliminated from all analyses. Subjective ratings were analyzed by ANOVA with 2 groups (alex, non-alex) ×3 occasions (Baseline, P-IMAGE, N-IMAGE). The results of ANOVAs revealed that groups did not differ in the degree of imagery vividness and two basic emotional dimensions. However, the alexithymic group showed lower physiological reactivity, especially wih the facial EMG activity, during positive and negative imaging periods compared with the non-alexithymic group. These findings suggested that the subjects in the alexithymic group have a low physiological reactivity accompany with emotional arousal. And low facial EMG activity during the imaging session corresponsed with alexithymic characteristics which often reported in clinical observation. This study experimentally demonstrated the characteristics of alexithymia with the psychophysiological approach.

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The long-term influences of aerobic exercise on both aspects of mental conditions and basal physical strength, as well as their inter-relationships and individual differences were examined in the same subjects. A total of 22 healthy female adults (age : 21-55, M±SD=38.7±8.87) who were usually sedentary did exercise twice a week for the duration of 1.5 hours each time over a period of 2 months. Mental and physical strength tests were administered at the initial and final stages of the exercise program. Mental tests were also administered to 27 young student athletes (age : 19-21, M±SD=20.2±0.83) as a control group for mental effects. Inter-relationships between and individual differences in these effects were investigated in the larger combined sample (46 healthy females ; age : 21-69, M±SD=40.1±10.29). Mental and physical effects were observed in the subject group. However, mental effects were not observed in the young female athletes control group. The mental effects observed were decreases in trait anxiety and depression, and increases in vigor. The mental effects were not in a parallel relationship with physical effects, but in an incompatible relationship. Mental effects were more remarkable among those with higher trait anxiety or in a higher age group. Exerise prescription is possible for the purpose of mental health without causing any improvement in physical strength. Mental effects tended to be more manifest among those in need of them.

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Using the equipment which can optionally transform the body shape incorporated in the computer, the ideal value of the body image of the eating disorder patients and normal controls was measured. The correlation between the ideal value of the waist and hip girth and the scores of the Eating Disorder Inventory was examined. Normal subjects thinned the ideal value of the waist and hip girth based on the drive for thinness. The patients with bulimia nervosa thinned the ideal value of waist and hip girth based on the body dissatisfaction. On the other hand, the patients with anorectic patients (bulimic/purging type) thinned the ideal value of the waist and hip girth based on the drive for thinness and bulimia. The patients with anorexia nervosa (restricting type) thinned the ideal value of the waist and hip girth not based on the drive for thinness but on the ineffectiveness, the fear of maturity and the interoceptive awareness. These results suggest that eating disorder patients were different criteria for the evaluation of the body image compared with normal subjects.

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Group therapy for bulimia nervosa is already approved in the Western countries. In Japan, however, it is still in the preliminary phase. In this study, we performed a group therapy for outpatients with bulimia in order to achieve the effective approaches for this disease. The subjects were composed of seven patients (Group 1) who underwent nine sessions from June to September in 1997, and the other four patients (Group 2) who had six sessions from April to May in 1998. All of them were female and individually treated along with the group therapy. The both groups were eclectic in approaches ; educational and cognitive elements were employed in Group 1, meanwhile, supportive and cognitive elements in Group 2, and non-verbal approach (bodywork therapy and art therapy) was utilized in both groups. Since it was difficult to develope cohesiveness in Group 1, we changed the format of the group structure and regarded interaction among the group members as important in Group 2. Therefore, in Group 2, cohesion became more enhanced and the drop-outs were fewer compared with Group 1. Furthermore, three months after completion of the sessions, the patients in Group 2 showed a tendency to improve in terms of binge/purge behavior and self-esteem. Our experience suggests that developing cohesiveness in a bulimic group is an essential consideration irrespective of treatment techniques.

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