Ental Health Research Articles

Communication with Health Personnel and Human Rights: A Perspective from People with Mental Disorders

AbstractMental health care has focused on participation, which, in addition to improving recovery processes, constitutes a tool to defend the human rights of people with mental disorders. For this participation, communication is a fundamental element. The objective of the present research was to analyzed the perception of the human rights and communication with healthcare personnel in care processes, from leaders of mutual aid groups or support groups in various contexts of Colombia. It is expected that the generated information can contribute to the evaluation of the quality of mental health services from a human rights and health participation perspective, in contexts similar to the one being analyzed. A qualitative approach has been used, which takes information from six leaders of support groups for mental health, in four regions of Colombia. Said information was analyzed through a thematic analysis, contrasting with the vision of the researchers and with the current theory. It is found that the subject of communication was made up of categories such as Previous ineffective treatments and Perception of a violation of dignity. Communication barriers are pointed out, such as attitudes of mental health professionals, but the influence that the health system and social and political barriers can have on the same communication is recognized. From the perception of leaders of mental health support groups, it is concluded that it is necessary to improve aspects of communication in health personnel. In addition, clinical mental health care could also be a space for the promotion of human rights.

Perceptions of Mental Health and Mental Health Care in Luxembourg: A High-Income Country

AbstractMental health care in high-income countries can have various rates of usage due to differences in accessibility, modality of psychotherapy, and potential stigma surrounding mental health (Alonso et al., 2004). This study aimed to explore perceptions of mental health and mental health care, stigma for mental illness, and perceived change in mental health due to COVID − 19 pandemic in a high-income country with relatively easy access to basic mental health care. An anonymous survey was sent to individuals who are 18 years and older and resident of Luxembourg, a small country in Europe (N = 56). Participants were asked a series of open-ended and forced choice questions. Descriptive statistics were calculated for forced-choice questions and inductive content analysis was used to analyze the open-ended responses. Participants defined mental health in a variety of different ways, and a majority reported receiving mental health services. There was no significant difference in participants’ ratings of mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health professionals were relatively easy to find and were considered somewhat helpful, though participants also reported some stigma towards mental illness. Benefits and challenges of in-person and virtual therapy showed points of crossover and potential for further research. The current findings inform the broader literature on mental healthcare with implications for improving care in high-income countries.

Bridging gaps at key intersections: Strategies to improve early intervention and treatment access for eating disorders

ABSTRACTMental health is at the forefront of discussions in healthcare, education, and social settings, yet eating disorders remain poorly understood and inadequately treated. This paper presents evidence on risk factors for insufficient recognition and intervention for eating disorders across clinical and community healthcare settings and proposes actionable strategies to improve awareness and early intervention for eating disorders. Specifically, gaps in eating disorder awareness and treatment access are exacerbated at two key intersections within health and social systems. First, eating disorders manifest themselves at the intersection of mental and physical categories of health, which places them at risk of being misunderstood, poorly diagnosed, and insufficiently intervened upon. Second, the peak onset of eating disorders falls at the intersection of adolescence and young adulthood, which is a period of rapid developmental, social change, and transitions in care. This analysis highlights how systemic issues within existing social and health systems underlie these intersections and contribute to the continued stigmatization and inadequate treatment access for eating disorders. Given their increased incidence and severity, there is an urgent need to address both the individual and societal burden of these disorders. Healthcare systems must prioritize coordination between physical and mental health practices and improve transitions in care from pediatric and adult healthcare services. Identifying gaps at intersections provides the opportunity to make concrete progress toward improving awareness and treatment.

‘I Can't See Myself Seeking Help’: The Influence of Clinical Placements on Nursing Students' Stigmatising Beliefs and Intentions to Seek Help for Their Own Mental Health Issues: A Prospective Cohort Study

ABSTRACTMental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and psychosis represent a global health challenge. Stigma surrounding mental health continues to hinder help‐seeking behaviours for people with mental illness and as this study demonstrates, nursing students as well. However, if student nurses are reluctant to seek help for mental health issues, how can others be expected to do so? This reluctance poses challenges in mental health nursing, impacting both care provision and nursing education. The present study seeks to explore the influence of traditional versus non‐traditional mental health clinical placements on second‐year nursing students' stigmatising beliefs and intentions to seek help for mental health issues. Employing a prospective cohort design using the TREND checklist, the study sampled second‐year nursing students assigned to either traditional hospital‐based or non‐traditional recovery‐focused mental health clinical placements. Using validated scales, stigmatising beliefs and help‐seeking intentions were measured before and after the placements. Statistical analyses were conducted to assess changes in these variables over time and across placement settings. A significant impact of placement setting on help‐seeking intentions was observed, with students in non‐traditional placements showing an increased willingness to seek help. Additionally, non‐traditional placements were found to significantly reduce stigmatising beliefs in all measured domains, suggesting that these settings may provide a more conducive environment for fostering positive attitudes towards mental health. Recovery‐focused placements appear to offer experiences that can diminish stigma and encourage more positive perceptions and intentions related to mental health support.

Enhancement of Psychosocial Competence and Well-Being of Chinese High School Students under the COVID-19 Pandemic: Tin Ka Ping P.A.T.H.S. Project in Mainland China

AbstractMental health problem is a growing problem in mainland China and the situation has worsened under the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides focusing on tertiary and secondary prevention strategies, there is an urgent need to enhance the well-being of adolescents through primary prevention programs. During the pandemic, a positive youth development program entitled “Tin Ka Ping P.A.T.H.S. Program” was implemented in schools in mainland China. In 2022/23 academic year, students were invited to write a weekly diary on their experience about the program after completion of the program (N = 2,337). Qualitative evaluation showed that 98.2% of the students perceived the program was beneficial to their well-being in different domains. Specifically, students perceived the program enhanced their sense of community, school and academic adjustment, interpersonal relations (family relations and peer relations), and intrapersonal competence (including optimism, resilience, positive coping with stress, spirituality, life meaning and cherishing one’s life). In conjunction with other quantitative and qualitative evaluation findings, the triangulated findings strongly suggest Tin Ka Ping P.A.T.H.S. Program is a promising program that enhances the psychosocial competence and quality of life of adolescents.

Universal mental health curricula in public schools: Integrating mental health into physical education

AbstractMental health problems are ubiquitous, yet public schooling lacks comprehensive mental health curricula. The purpose of public education, in part, is to prepare people to face life and contribute to society. In the same vein as physical education (PE), we argue that a universal mental health curriculum could benefit the entire population. Schools across the globe, including in the United States, are beginning to explore universal mental health curricula, which could yield benefits that reach beyond mental health and wellness, to improve physical health, reduce behavioral problems, and increase academic performance. But the road ahead is marked with considerable economic and political barriers. We argue for incorporating mental health into the PE curriculum to gain traction toward a more comprehensive mental health curriculum.

Country Differences in the Effects of Individual Traits on Depression in Women in Europe

AbstractMental health and, in particular, depression are of great global concern today, especially in middle- and high-income countries. These health issues show an unequal gender prevalence as they are more common in women than in men. The aim of this work is to use micro-econometric models to analyze the prevalence of depression in women in 27 European countries, as well as to quantify the effects of certain individual characteristics on the probability of experiencing depression and the degree to which it occurs. In addition, measures are proposed to assess how each country differs from the total sample. The data used proceed from the European Health Interview Survey wave 2 (EHIS-2). The results show that higher educational levels and incomes are protective factors, while older age and being unemployed have a positive effect on the probability of having depression, particularly on the probability of severe depression. Furthermore, from the calculation of ratios, notable differences are detected in the effects of these characteristics in different countries. Although the direction of the effect of each characteristic is similar in all countries, the size of the effect in each country varies significantly from the sample average. The results highlight the importance of identifying which individual traits generate a higher propensity to experience depression in women. The proposed procedure leads to the conclusion that the detection of differences and similarities between countries could allow the extrapolation of successful practices in prevention and mental health care.

Easy access to youth mental health services in the Netherlands

AbstractMental health problems have increased following the pandemic and are associated with considerable health, economic and societal outcomes, particularly affecting youth. In co-creation with young people several European prevention and early intervention strategies to promote mental wellbeing of youth are currently being developed. The development and implementation of easy-access youth mental services across Europe will be presented and discussed. In addition pilot data of online, hybrid treatment platforms and self-management ecological momentary intervention apps will be presented. Ultimately the aim is: 1) to develop clinical guidelines, best practices, and policy recommendations to mitigate the youth mental health challenges and 2) improve (cost-) effectiveness of early intervention strategies for promotion and prevention in mental health, including enhancing mental health literacy, resilience and self-management, while 3) actively involving young people in the process of these innovative developments. To amplify the reach, campaigns designed in co-creation with young people, to increase awareness, literacy, wellbeing and help-seeking among young people, targeting schools, further-education colleges, universities and other specific settings will need to be developed, specifically paying attention to high-risk groups within this young population, including children of parents with mental disorders, migrants, young people growing up in poverty, those in/leaving care, and the LGBTQ+ community, with coordination across domains: schools, general practitioners, and specialized mental healthcare facilities.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

The role of technology in users’ wellbeing: Conceptualizing digital wellbeing in hospitality and future research directions

ABSTRACTMental health concerns due to excess use of technology, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, require increased research studies that explore the role of technology in users’ wellbeing. This article aims to provide a conceptualization of digital wellbeing (DWB) in hospitality, or wellbeing in digital settings. An integrative literature review was used to identify three main enablers of DWB in hospitality: digital devices, digital interfaces, and digital applications. A conceptual model of DWB in the hospitality industry was created emphasizing the importance of designing digital experiences that foster positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement of users to support their hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. The paper provides insights for the hospitality sector to enhance DWB. Future research should focus on empirical analyses of users’ perceptions to refine and validate the proposed model and examine ethical issues concerning digital wellbeing.

Conceptual framework of mental health literacy: Results from a scoping review and a Delphi survey.

Mental health literacy (MHL) has been identified as a factor influencing early help-seeking for mental health problems (MHPs) and stigmatizing attitudes. However, the lack of consensus on its definition has led to considerable heterogeneity in measurement and, consequently, methodological challenges in comparing data. In this way, the present study was conducted with the following objectives: in Phase I, mapping the existing literature through a scoping review; in Phase 2, 28 experts in the field of mental health participated to develop a consensus statement on the relevance and importance of the findings from Phase 1. A total of 37 articles were included for review. Notable nuances were identified in the conceptualization of MHL, particularly with regard to the fact that it should not be limited to mental disorders but should also encompass mental health. Furthermore, the sociocultural influence was highlighted as shaping MHL, recognizing it as a modifiable competence that adapts to different contexts and life stages, involving both individual and collective levels. The experts deemed the findings pertinent and relevant with a high degree of consensus, except for factors related to MHL. This framework provides a refined definition of MHL and related factors that should be taken into account to guide nursing and other disciplines' studies and interventions on MHL. The evolution of this concept includes dimensions to be considered in future research, especially when developing new measurement instruments or implementing educational programmes. This knowledge and skills cannot be determined globally without considering the context and development of the individual.

Art and the Lived Experience of Pain

AbstractMental health has become a key concern within social discourse in recent years, and with it, the discussion about the lived experience of pain. In dealing with this experience there has been a shift away from merely relying on medical care towards more holistic approaches involving community support, public awareness, and social change. However, little if any attention has been paid in this context to the contribution of aesthetic experience engendered by art that expresses and publicly shares with others the lived experience of pain. With reference to Phantom Limb, an art exhibition curated by Euan Grey and held at the Victoria Galleries and Museum Liverpool in 2016, I argue that aesthetic experience plays a crucial role in making sense of pain and suffering, thus breaking new ground in the appreciation of the significance of art for public mental health and holistic approaches towards patients.

Mental health analysis for college students based on pattern recognition and reinforcement learning

AbstractMental health education for college students is an important part of ideological and political work in colleges and universities, which is related to the physical and mental health and long‐term development of college students. In particular, the nature of the work of counselors endows them with unique advantages in psychological education. Based on the insufficiency of unimodal data features, we propose a method for analyzing the mental health of college students based on multimodal social‐affective classification. At the same time, we design a multimodal data fusion model, which takes text data as the main body and uses text and images to jointly classify the main body's emotion. First, we use the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) pre‐training model to extract text features and obtain corresponding text vectors. Second, we utilize the Visual Geometry Group (VGG16) model trained on the ImageNet dataset as a pre‐training model to obtain image features. Third, we combine the modality features extracted by the two models to complete the final mental health classification task. Experimental results show that our proposed multimodal feature fusion model exhibits good performance on both constructed and public datasets.

Enhancing mental health and well‐being outcomes for psychotherapy and counselling through idiographic analysis: A four‐quadrant approach

AbstractMental health and well‐being outcomes in psychotherapy and counselling have largely been studied through the use of standardised nomothetic measurement. A key limitation is that nomothetic measurement and current statistical analyses do not necessarily capture the outcomes of the complicated and individual psychotherapy processes. There is an increased interest in the use of idiographic patient‐reported outcome measures (I‐PROMs), which are uniquely useful because they may explore areas of importance that are unexplored by nomothetic outcome measures. We argue that to optimise the value of I‐PROMs, it is necessary to consider their contribution alongside standardised nomothetic measures. However, there are important considerations with respect to whether or not I‐PROMs from different clients, or indeed from the same client, can be meaningfully explored at a team/service level, and alongside standardised nomothetic outcomes. We provide worked examples on real client data to show that delineating four quadrants of analysis is important to explore the breadth of information: (a) individual progress on single items, (b) individual progress by aggregated scores, (c) team/service‐level progress by goal item/theme and (d) team/service‐level progress by aggregated scores.

Investigating a deep breathing intervention to promote mental health in P‐12 schools

AbstractMental health factors can impact student academic performance and success. Student mental health concerns such as depression and anxiety and are a growing concern within P‐12 school systems. The dual pandemics of COVID‐19 and racial injustice have increased concerns about student mental health and exacerbated existing traumas particularly for students from marginalized populations. Trauma‐informed interventions that promote mental health in schools may be useful. Researchers utilized Consensual Qualitative Research to identify student mental health needs and outcomes for the implementation a deep breathing intervention in several schools in a large metropolitan city. The reasons for implementation, anticipated outcomes, reactions to intervention, perception of impact, and related personal experiences, as well as implications for practice and research, are all discussed.

Predictors of burnout for immigrant mental health professionals in the United States

AbstractMental health professionals who identify as immigrants encounter personal and professional barriers that can impact overall wellbeing. The current study conducted a survey of 108 licensed mental health professionals who identify as immigrants practicing in the United States. The survey included demographics as well as assessments of burnout, social support, and migratory grief and loss. The results of this study highlighted that a combination of higher migratory grief and lower perceived social support significantly predicted higher levels of burnout in mental health professionals. Implications for mental health programs, supervisors, and mentors and suggestions for future research are provided.

Cost-effectiveness of psychotherapies and pharmacotherapies for mental disorders

AbstractMental health problems have a substantial economic impact across the world. Those who have their problems detected may receive therapies (usually medication or psychological) or who packages of care (for example, early intervention or residential support). Some problems are transient while others will remain across the life course. Costs are closely associated with care received and it may be that costs need to rise in order to provide adequate support. Economic costs also occur due to lost opportunities such as work and leisure. This talk will summarise recent estimates of the cost of mental health problems in a number of countries.Establishing total costs does not tell us how to use limited resources. This requires the use of economic evaluation methods such as cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analyses. There is a growing evidence base from such evaluations for many psychological and pharmacological interventions and recent key findings will be discussed. The need for long-term, life course approaches to economic evaluation of mental health interventions will be proposed.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Exploring the use of body-worn cameras in acute mental health wards: A qualitative interview study with mental health patients and staff

BackgroundBody-worn cameras are increasingly being used as a violence prevention tool in inpatient mental health wards. However, there is a dearth of research on their use in these settings, particularly when it comes to patient perspectives. ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the perspectives of patients, mental health staff, and senior management on body-worn cameras to identify the possible impacts of this technology in inpatient mental health settings. DesignThis was an exploratory qualitative study. SettingWe undertook interviews online and in-person on a number of acute inpatient wards across five mental health hospitals in England. Participants were recruited in-person, online via social media, and through professional networks. ParticipantsThis study recruited 24 patients from acute wards, 25 staff from acute wards, six Mental Health Nursing Directors, and nine community-based patients. MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted online and in-person. Interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Ethical approval was granted by the Health Research Authority. ResultsThe subjective nature of how violence and aggression is defined shapes how staff and patients view the prospect of using body-worn cameras. Both staff and patients cited issues resulting from an underlying culture of mistrust in inpatient settings that leave staff and patients feeling unsafe. Body worn cameras may intensify power dynamics and undermine therapeutic relationships. Participants felt that engaging existing interventions and addressing systemic causes of violence and aggression should take priority over introducing body-worn cameras. ConclusionsThere is no indication that staff or patients believe body-worn cameras will deter violence and aggression on inpatient mental health wards. They may serve as a tool for safeguarding and staff training, but there are still unexplored ethical concerns about their use and a lack of evidence to support use of this technology to deter violence in NHS mental health settings. Tweetable abstractMental health patients & staff have complex perspectives on controversial body-worn camera technology @thekeiranwilson @unafoye @maddych4dwick @gbrennancafc @cityalan.

Self‐efficacy, sympathy, and attributions: Understanding helping intentions towards disclosers of mental health concerns on social media

AbstractMental health disclosures increasingly occur on online platforms. In a moderated‐mediation analysis, we assessed an adapted Corrigan's attribution model (2003) including factors such as the sincerity of online disclosure and support self‐efficacy to predict helping intentions on social media. Participants (N = 177) were randomly allocated to one of three conditions and presented with a social media vignette experimentally manipulating controllability attributions (low, high, neutral controllability). Participants completed controllability, sincerity, sympathy, self‐efficacy, and helping intentions questionnaires. While preliminary exploratory analyses revealed that the proposed model significantly explained helping intentions, the proposed mechanisms of serial‐mediation via sincerity of disclosure and sympathy was not supported, nor was this dependent on self‐efficacy. Nonetheless, sympathy and self‐efficacy uniquely and significantly explained helping intentions. Thus, an intervention that upskills individuals in online support provision offers promise in terms of accessible, online, community‐based treatment initiatives.

Preventing and responding to harm: Restorative and responsive mental health regulation in Victoria

AbstractMental health systems are built on imperfect foundations. Rather than reflect the “dark old days” of psychiatry, mental health systems, still, commit wide‐spread breaches of mental health and human rights laws. During such time, mental health regulators have failed to adequately enforce mental health laws and respond to harms in ways that are transparent and include the community. The Victorian mental health system, with the Mental Health Complaints Commissioner as the principal regulator, provides a case‐in‐point. Following a Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System, the state government will dissolve the current regulator and establish a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, with enhanced powers. This paper argues that this new regulator should adopt a more conscious implementation of restorative justice and responsive regulation, termed here restorative and responsive regulation. Of particular value is the use of restorative practices such as conferences and an augmenting of sentencing circles within a broader responsive regulatory framework.

Yoga to improve maternal mental health and immune function during the COVID-19 crisis (Yoga-M 2 trial): study protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: Mental health of women is adversely affected during pregnancy. Stress and depression during pregnancy negatively impact birthweight and neuro-cognitive development of the fetus. The current crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic further adds to the stressful situation. Yoga practiced during pregnancy has beneficial effects on improving stress and depression and preliminary evidence suggests that yoga-based interventions can improve immunity. This study aims to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a Yoga -based intervention for maternal M ental health and i M munity (Yoga-M 2) in a rural community in India. Methods: The study design will be a single-blind individual randomized parallel group-controlled pilot trial with 1:1 allocation ratio. Adult pregnant women, with gestational age between 12–24 weeks will be randomly allocated to either the Yoga-M 2 group or the Enhanced Usual Care (EUC) group. Participants in the Yoga-M 2 arm will attend weekly group yoga sessions for 12 weeks and will be encouraged to practice yoga at home. In the EUC arm, participants will receive a single session of health education. Eligibility of the participants, recruitment, retention-in-care, and study completion rates will be estimated and feasibility of delivering Yoga-M 2 and acceptability of this intervention by the participants will be assessed. Change in the scores of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), EuroQoL 5 Dimensions Score (EQ-5D-5L), Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Severity Scale (WURSS-21), and serum C-Reactive Protein at three-months from baseline will be used to assess preliminary efficacy. Discussion: The key outputs of this trial will be a structured intervention manual and evidence about the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the intervention, establishing the foundation to undertake an explanatory randomized controlled trial to assess efficacy and cost-effectiveness of Yoga-M 2 intervention. Trial registration: CTRI/2022/01/039701. Prospectively registered with the Clinical Trials Registry of India on 25 January 2022.