Awareness Of Mental Disorders Research Articles

Battling The Social Stigma Of Mental Illnesses In Pakistan; What Needs To Be Done?

Dear madam, Awareness of mental disorders in adolescents is becoming increasingly important in global health and safety concerns, where anxiety disorders play an important role. Mental illnesses, also known as mental health disorders, refer to various mental health conditions that affect mood, thoughts, and behaviour. Examples of mental illnesses include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and addictive behaviours [1]. Early diagnosis is the key to proper management of these conditions. Over 20 million Pakistanis (10% of the country's population) suffer from mental illness [2]. However, the disorders are not investigated due to the reluctance of patients to visit doctors and psychiatrists, which is attached to the social stigma and cultural barriers to mental health in Pakistan, thereby delaying the diagnosis. Like other South Asian societies where mental illnesses are thought to be linked to supernatural and religious phenomena [3], Pakistan’s predominantly conservative and orthodox communities are also dominated by similar beliefs. . A person with emotional symptoms is seen as a sign of weak faith. In traditional societies, mental illnesses are sometimes viewed as a result of social or moral transgression and is thought of as divine punishment, demonic possession, or witchcraft [4] [3]. The mentally ill are also perceived as dangerous, crazy, and incapable of friendship. This belief might also cause more social distancing and contribute to stigmatizing attitudes and stereotyping. When living in a society with these perceptions, the mentally ill often face shame and social exclusion [5]. The social impact of this stigma affects patients and threatens the entire social status of their families [5]. The fact that one's beliefs, religion, and morality are separate from their health must be embedded in society. The best way to spread this idea is through social media, mass media and awareness campaigns. Radio and television should popularize this idea and also educate people about the warning signs and symptoms of mental illnesses, such as lack of concentration to do something and feelings of invalid fear. Awareness campaigns should be targeted at rural areas where both education and medical care lack. Public presentations and discussions should be encouraged and promoted to increase awareness. Healthcare students as well as well as professionals should be enlightened of the importance of this field and encouraged to pursue their education in it. The social stigma associated with mental illnesses must be addressed and considered. ---Continue

Exploring Barriers to Mental Health Services Utilization at Kabutare District Hospital of Rwanda: Perspectives From Patients.

Barriers to mental health interventions globally remain a health concern; however, these are more prominent in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The barriers to accessibility include stigmatization, financial strain, acceptability, poor awareness, and sociocultural and religious influences. Exploring the barriers to the utilization of mental health services might contribute to mitigating them. Hence, this research aims to investigate these barriers to mental health service utilization in depth at the Kabutare District Hospital of the Southern Province of Rwanda. The qualitative approach was adopted with a cross-sectional study design. The participants were patients with mental illnesses seeking mental health services at the hospital. Ten interviews were conducted in the local language, recorded, and transcribed verbatim and translated by the researchers. Thematic analysis was applied to analyze the data collected. The results revealed that the most common barriers are fear of stigmatization, lack of awareness of mental health services, sociocultural scarcity, scarcity of financial support, and lack of geographical accessibility, which limit the patients to utilize mental health services. Furthermore, it was revealed that rural gossip networks and social visibility within the communities compounded the stigma and social exclusion for patients with mental health conditions. Stigmatization should be reduced among the community members for increasing their empathy. Then, the awareness of mental disorders needs to be improved. Further research in Rwanda on the factors associated with low compliance to mental health services with greater focus on the community level is recommended.

College Students’ Awareness of Mental Disorders and Resources: Comparison across Academic Disciplines

ABSTRACT Mental Health Disorders (MHDs) are an increasingly pervasive issue on college campuses. The aim of the present investigators was to identify differences in the frequency of attendance in counseling, recognition of warning signs, and awareness of resources for mental distress between and within college students enrolled in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) majors and in mental health majors. Significant differences emerged in students’ attendance in counseling, recognition of warning signs, and awareness of resources by academic major, gender, and past attendance in counseling. Our findings both complement and extend the extant literature on the importance of outreach and consultation as key roles of college counseling practitioners.

Opening the door: inviting youth and parent perspectives on youth mental health emergency department use

BackgroundCanadian Emergency Departments (EDs) have seen increasing use by children and youth for mental health concerns in recent years. This trend is likely a result of several complex factors, and researcher-posed potential explanations include gaps or access problems in primary care or mental health services, increasing prevalence or awareness of mental disorders and fear of potentially harmful outcomes, or expectations of need for urgent specialist care. Youth, parent, or caregiver perceptions and reasons for increasing mental health ED use may differ, and to date have been underrepresented in informing research directions. We sought to engage with youth and parents or caregivers served by a Canadian tertiary paediatric health centre to: 1) inform research directions for an emerging program of research in child and youth ED use for mental health care; and 2) develop strategies to support ongoing patient engagement in our research.MethodsYouth and parents were consulted to inform the development of a research engagement strategy. Partnerships with local community agencies facilitated supported engagement with both youth and parents. Group and individual in-person engagement opportunities were offered, as well as opportunities for written submissions and information sharing.ResultsYouth and parents identified specific mechanisms to support engagement and for sharing ongoing opportunities and progress, including providing multiple platforms for engagement, offering separate opportunities for youth and parents or caregivers, and minimizing the potential for distress by ensuring appropriate supports and providing alternative opportunities for feedback, including written submissions. They identified lack of timely access to mental health care in primary care and community mental health settings, and accessibility, dependability, and familiarity of the ED as areas for further research.ConclusionsStrategies to mitigate potential concerns regarding distress, readiness for participation, literacy, and protection of privacy were highlighted as important considerations. Youth and parents were interested in ongoing research engagement through consultation and information sharing. Youth and parents identified areas of interest for research and refined the research team’s proposed research directions by adding contextualizing information.Trial registrationNot applicable.

Awareness of mental disorders among youth in Delhi

Awareness of mental disorders is also known as Mental health literacy which can be defined as knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management or prevention. Young generation and college going students have unique perceptions about mental illness in every section of the society. They are the future adults of this society and windows of modern India, so their opinions are important indicators of mental health literacy. Aim of the study was to assess the mental health literacy among students of university of Delhi. The study was conducted using a descriptive, exploratory, cross sectional survey design on 100 (50 males and 50 females) postgraduate students from the University of Delhi, India. A semi-structured interview, with a standardized tool, Mental Health Literacy (MHL) questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge, awareness, and attitudes of students towards patients with mental disorders like depression and psychosis. Results: Most of the subjects had well awareness about identification of the patients with mental disorder, whereas as more than half of the subjects had exact awareness to identify depression. Most of the subjects had adequate knowledge and identified poor outcome and prognosis for patients with psychosis as compared to depression if not treated. Stigmatization of subjects towards patient with depression and psychosis was present and was higher for psychosis. Most of the subjects rated psychiatrist and immediate community members as the most reliable help for the patients with depression and psychosis. Conclusions drawn from the study were, overall mental health literacy of the university students in Delhi was found to be adequate, but not satisfactory in the area of risk factors and stigmatization.

Clinical variables and factors affecting duration of hospitalization in a sample of patients with affective and nonaffective psychoses

Backgrounds Duration of hospitalization (DOH) and length of stay in psychiatric hospitals are important factors affecting psychiatric patients and their families, in addition to their impact on the healthcare system policy and budget. Objectives The aims of this study were to identify the sociodemographic and clinical factors implicated in determining DOH and to study the effect of global functioning and insight on length of stay in psychiatric hospitals. Patients and methods A total of 129 inpatients diagnosed with affective and nonaffective psychoses were recruited from Minia Psychiatry Hospital. Data regarding their demographic and clinical manifestations were collected, including previous and current admissions. Their severity of illness was assessed with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, the level of initial functioning was evaluated by Clinical Global Impression Scale, and the details of their insight were measured by Scale to assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder. Results Female participants tended to have longer DOH than males, whereas males tended to have higher number of previous hospitalizations than females. Divorced and single patients had significantly longer DOH than married patients. DOH of current admission was found to increase with increasing severity of mental illness, decreased awareness of mental disorders, deceased awareness of achieved effects of medications, and decreased awareness of social consequences of mental illness. Number of hospitalizations was found to significantly increase with younger age at onset, longer duration of illness, higher number of previous episodes, whereas it was found to decrease with higher total number of received electroconvulsive therapies. Conclusion Sex and marital status have an effect on DOH. Increased severity of mental illness and disturbance of insight increase DOH and so does the initial decrease in global functioning.

"A constant struggle to receive mental health care": health care professionals' acquired experience of barriers to mental health care services in Rwanda.

BackgroundIn Rwanda, many people are still mentally affected by the consequences of the genocide and yet mental health care facilities are scarce. While available literature explains the prevalence and consequences of mental disorders, there is lack of knowledge from low-income countries on health care seeking behavior due to common mental disorders. Therefore, this study sought to explore health care professionals’ acquired experiences of barriers and facilitators that people with common mental disorders face when seeking mental health care services in Rwanda.MethodsA qualitative approach was applied and data was collected from six focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted in October 2012, including a total of 43 health care professionals, men and women in different health professions. The FGDs were performed at health facilities at different care levels. Data was analyzed using manifest and latent content analysis.ResultsThe emerging theme “A constant struggle to receive mental health care for mental disorders” embraced a number of barriers and few facilitators at individual, family, community and structural levels that people faced when seeking mental health care services. Identified barriers people needed to overcome were: Poverty and lack of family support, Fear of stigmatization, Poor community awareness of mental disorders, Societal beliefs in traditional healers and prayers, Scarce resources in mental health care and Gender imbalance in care seeking behavior. The few facilitators to receive mental health care were: Collaboration between authorities and organizations in mental health and having a Family with awareness of mental disorders and health insurance.ConclusionFrom a public health perspective, this study revealed important findings of the numerous barriers and the few facilitating factors available to people seeking health for mental disorders. Having a supportive family with awareness of mental disorders who also were equipped with a health insurance was perceived as vital for successful treatment. This study highlights the need of improving availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of mental health care at all levels in order to improve mental health care among Rwandans affected by mental disorders.

Underdiagnosis of depression in an economically deprived population in Macao, China.

Previous literature revealed an association between low income and depression. Despite the availability of effective treatments, depression is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. This study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and their impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a low-income population in Macao. This cross-sectional study targeted the adult beneficiaries of local food bank program. The program was established to provide food assistance to the residents who had low income but were ineligible for government financial assistance. All data were collected through interview and questionnaires. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used for assessing depressive symptoms. Information about depression diagnosis was obtained by the self-report method. HRQoL levels were measured by the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey, Version 2.0. A total of 272 study participants were included for analysis. Based on the PHQ-9 scores, 27.6% of the participants suffered from moderate to severe depressive symptoms. Among them, 76% were not diagnosed with depression. Those with moderate to severe depressive symptoms had significantly lower levels of HRQoL (P < 0.001). Anxiety disorders (OR = 9.71, 95% CI = 2.36-40.06), migraine (OR = 3.88, 95% CI = 1.55-9.73), and poor to fair self-rated health (OR = 6.30, 95% CI = 1.95-20.40) were the independent factors associated with moderate to severe depressive symptoms. Underdiagnosis of depression was prevalent in this low-income population. There is a need to raise their awareness of mental disorders and improve their access to mental health services.

Community attitudes and awareness of mental disorders. A key informant study in two Nicaraguan towns.

Attitudes towards mentally ill people were studied in two Nicaraguan towns through interviews with key informants. They were presented 8 case histories originally developed in a World Health Organization collaborative study. Alcoholism and depressive neurosis were considered the most common disorders, while the schizophrenic case was generally judged as the most severe. The methodology was found useful and valid.