OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between marital adjustment and coping strategies in married women with breast cancer.
METHODS: This research was carried out by way comparing a group of women with breast cancer with a non-cancer control group bearing similar attributes. The sample of study included 50 women who have been treated in Hacettepe University Oncology Hospital and 50 in the general surgical service of the same hospital treated non-cancer women breast. In the study three instruments were used: Descriptive Knowledge Form, Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and Ways of Coping Inventory. The data were evaluated chi square test, Mann Whitney-U and Correlation Analysis.
RESULTS: It was found that there were not statistically significant differences between the socio demographic characteristics of the women with breast cancer and non-breast cancer except the living city characteristic. A positive correlation was found between the scores of marital adjustment and effective coping way in the correlation analysis. (r=0,32, p<0,05). There is also a negative correlation between the scores of marital adjustment and ineffective coping way with the percentage %38. (r=-0,38, p<0,05)
CONCLUSION: The women with breast cancer can cope more effectively and less ineffectively when the marital adjustment of the couples increases. The nursing assessment about marital adjustment and coping strategies of the patients can be helpful about the better adjustment to cancer experiences.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine internalized stigma and self-esteem in outpatients with psychiatric illness.
METHODS: As a descriptive quality, this study was carried out on 160 volunteer outpatients who came to the psychiatry clinic of a university hospital between 1 October and 31 December 2009. In the study, the data were collected with Personal Information Form, The Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Percentage distribution, t test, Pearson correlation analysis and ANOVA test were used in evaluating the data.
RESULTS: It was determined that there was a significant relationship between stigma and self-esteem in patients and self-esteem scores decreased as stigma scores increased (r=–.684, p=.000). It was found out that there wasn’t a statistically significant difference between stigma and self-esteem scores as to patients’ place of residence, marital status, diagnostic group and study group (p>0.05). It was also determined that there was a statistically significant difference between stigma scores of patients as to sex, education status and annual frequency of hospitalization (p>0.05) and stigma scores were high in the patients who are male gender and illiterate and who has at least one admission to hospital yearly.
CONCLUSION: In this study, it was found that psychiatric patients experiences stigma, there was a close relationship between stigma and self-esteem, self-esteem scores decreased as stigma scores increased, sex, education level and annual frequency of hospitalization influenced the stigma level. As stigma multi-influenced the adaptation to the disease and social life of an individual, health care professionals, especially those working in community health care should determine the stigma and self-esteem levels perceived by the psychiatric patients, should support self-esteem of the individual and should make plans to struggle against stigma in community.

OBJECTIVE: Although nonadherence with the antipsychotic medication regimen is a common barrier to the effective treatment for schizophrenia, knowledge is limited about how to improve medication adherence in short term hospitalization of psychiatric patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of “Medication Management Module” of “Social Skills Training Programme” in short term hospitalization of psychiatric patients.
METHODS: The study included 8 patients using antipsychotic medicine and who had admitted to the inpatient psychiatry unit in a university hospital. No control group was chosen in this one-group pre-post test quasy-experimental designed study. “Medication Management Module” of “Social Skills Training Programme” were modified and applied to the participants during seven days. The module was applied as daily group sessions which takes an hour for each. In first session, the group was formed and pre-tests and data collection tool were applied. In second and third session “Treatment with Antipsychotic Medicine”, in fourth and fifth session “Learning the Side Effects of Antipsychotics”, in sixth and seventh session “Assessing the Treatment” themes were discussed and post-tests were applied. The data was collected by data collection tool and pre/post-tests which was offered in the guideline of “Social Skills Training Programme” to be used to assess the effectiveness of the education given within “Medication Management Module”.
RESULTS: Among the 8 patients, five were under the age 27 and were graduated from high school, seven were married and one had a family member diagnosed as psychotic disorder. None of them were educated about the drugs before module. The mean pretest scores of participants (14.8 ± 2.2) were significantly higher when compared with that of posttest scores (18.0 ± 1.1) (p=0.01). The increase in mean score refers to the education given contributes to the level of knowledge. During the programme the patients discussed about psychosis, the effects of antipsychotic medication in group sessions and obey medication time without warning. Medication side effects and contact details of the doctors were taken by the patients as a list. It is observed that the patients started to state the problems related to medication better.
CONCLUSION: The application of Medication Managemet Module of Social Skills Training Programme in short term hospitalization of psychiatric patient which use antipsychotic medicine is effective on their knowledge and behavior of medicine use.

OBJECTIVE: Determining the factors affecting alcohol dependents’ process of psychotherapy is important to determine the course of the therapeutic process to be followed and to evaluate the factors specific to individuals.
METHODS: Research was performed with the assistance of 63 alcohol dependent patients who were received the individual psychotherapy. Data was collected with Introductory Information Form and Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Sociotrophy-Autonomy Inventory, Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, State Trait Anger Expression Scale, Problem Solving Scale from scales used to evaluate the process of psychotherapy with cognitive behavioral treatment approaches.
RESULTS: 73% of patients dropped out before they reach the treatment goals. In the six-month follow-up period, 57.1% of patients didn’t have any lapse; 20.6% once, 17.5% twice, 4.8% experienced the lapse three times. The statistical significant differences were found between patients’ anger-in, internal-external locus of control, thinking approach, estimator approach who dropped out and who not dropped out. There were significant differences between patients’anger control points according to situations of lapse.
CONCLUSION: It can be said that the factors affectýng the process of psychotherapy of alcohol dependents are anger include, anger control, internal-external LOC, thinking and estimator approach.

THE EFFECTS OF INFERTILITY ON WOMEN’S MENTAL HEALTH and ROLE OF PSYCHIATRIC NURSING
Family is an important institution in maintaining human existence and raising individuals in line with society’s expectations. Reproduction and fertility are seen as universal functions peculiar to individual and family and having children turn out to be the expected result of family institution. Even though not being able to have a child affects both sexes emotionally, the amount of stress, pressure, anxiety and depression women feel is more than men do. Recent studies have shown that 50 % of infertile women indicated this process as the most challenging situation they have ever experienced. Moreover, psychosocial suffering they have had is similar to that of fatal disease such as cancer and coronary failure. It has been indicated that the most important underlying cause of high levels of stress and anxiety that infertile women experience is the loss of maternity, reproduction, sense of self and genetic continuity. The aim of this compilation is to provide a new perspective into the effects of infertility, a situation which has become widespread recently and can turn into a life crisis for couples, on women’s mental health and also into the role of psychiatric nurses in infertility.
Key words: infertility, woman, mental health, stigmatization and psychiatric nursing

Depression is a syndrome in which an individual experiences symptoms such as slowness of speaking, thinking and movement, calmness, worthlessness, weakness, reluctance, pessimism in a state of feeling of deep sadness and slowness in physiological functions. Depression is one of the most common disorders among the emotional disorders. The prevalence of depression seen in society is reported to be 5–10% and it is seen as the second disease among the disorders that will cause loss of ability in the world in 2020.
Depression may affect negatively patient and his or her family. Nurses have an important effect in treatment and nursing of depression and in adaptation of the patient to the treatment of the disease by cooperating with the patient and his or her family. Therefore, nurses should carefully monitor the patient with depression and his or her family, support the patient to continue health care in hospital and society, effectively evaluate individual’s physiological condition, mental symptoms and medication state. In this article, depressive patient’s characteristics and basic nursing approaches were handled.

Crisis is an acute and short-term upset of the individual’s equilibrium as a result of various sources of emotional stres. Life-events that are expected to occur during the individual’s life cycle constitute developmental crises while situational crises emerge out of events that threaten an individual’s biological, psychological or social integrity. Patients who suffer from both types of crises are frequently encountered in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, especially when in collaboration with the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department. DS, a 30-old-female patient, developed an ectopic pregnancy after nine weeks of IVF treatment and was admitted to the hospital’s inpatient unit for 34 days while efforts terminate the pregnancy with intensive drug and surgical interventions continued. The patient is at high risk of losing her left ovary. She is also suffering from a series of situational crises including recent loss-of-employment, deterioration of family and spousal ties, her sister’s death following suicide, loss of the right ovary, trauma experienced during childhood and adolescence, a history of violence during her first marriage, a suicide attempt and her divorce. This paper describes the crisis intervention process for DS.