Experience Of Mental Distress Research Articles

Mental health struggles of social work students: Distress, stigma, and perseverance

Growing evidence reports that social work students experience financial hardship and negative impacts on their health and wellbeing as they juggle study, paid work, and family commitments. Social work qualifying programmes require extended compulsory field placements, which increase students’ financial stress and potentially exacerbate mental health vulnerabilities. A national survey of social work students and recent graduates in Aotearoa New Zealand, was conducted in 2019, gaining 353 responses, augmented by 31 semi-structured interviews. We report the analysis of both open-question survey and interview data related to students’ experience of mental distress. The survey revealed that 58.4% of respondents had sought medical advice on mental health while a social work student. At the same time, 60% of participants who experienced significant anxiety, stress, or depression chose not to seek medical advice for their mental health. Cost and access were among the main reasons for not seeking help. However, more than one in four (28%) identified stigma and fear of career consequences as reasons for not seeking help. This finding has implications for social work education and needs further research and policy development.

The experience of maternal mental distress in The Gambia: A qualitative study identifying idioms of distress, perceptions of contributing factors and the supporting role of existing cultural practices.

Maternal mental health problems are experienced frequently in the perinatal period and can be up to twice as common in women from low- and middle-income countries. The terms used to describe mental illness symptoms and the factors that contribute to developing these symptoms are affected by culture and context. Based on 14 focus group discussions held with pregnant women, health professionals and cultural leaders, this qualitative study aimed to understand women's experiences of mental distress during the perinatal period in The Gambia. To do this it aimed to 1) identify the most commonly used idioms of distress, 2) identify the factors believed to affect women's perinatal mental health and 3) explore the role of existing cultural practices, including musical practices, that were identified as locally significant in supporting maternal and mental health. Sondomoo tenkung baliyaa (Mandinka) and xel bu dalut (Wolof) were identified as the most commonly used idioms of distress which roughly translate to lack of a steady mind/heart. Using thematic analysis, six themes (Poverty of the healthcare system, Shifting cultural context, Economic factors, Social factors, Spiritual factors, and Cultural practices involving music) were identified to describe the factors that shape women's experience of mental health during the perinatal period. Lack of economic resources, the prevailing poverty of the health system, an unsupportive husband and spiritual attack by evil spirits or witches were common reasons given for a woman experiencing maternal mental distress. Various existing cultural practices involving music, such as fertility societies, naming ceremonies and community music-making, were recognised as valuable for supporting women's mental health during the perinatal period. This work emphasises that initiatives to support perinatal mental health should be grounded in an understanding of local community cultural practices, knowledge, and experiences.

Conceptualizing the peer contribution in Open Dialogue practice.

In English mental health services, people with their own experience of mental distress have trained as Open Dialogue practitioners and have been employed as peer practitioners, co-working as equals alongside workers with professional backgrounds in Network Meetings. The conceptual underpinnings of the peer practitioner role have been drawn from the principles and relational approach of Intentional Peer Support. These have significant similarities with Open Dialogue, in terms of philosophical and theoretical orientations, with a particular focus on what happens in the "between" of a relational encounter. However, there are also significant differences in how practice principles are conceptualized, particularly around areas such as mutuality and self-disclosure. This article offers an analysis of this conceptual territory drawing on the relevant literature. This is then taken forward with the teasing out of specific practice principles that capture the unique contribution that peer practitioners can bring to Open Dialogue practice. These are derived through discussions that took place in an Action Learning Set for peer practitioners who have been involved in delivering Open Dialogue services in mainstream mental health service settings. This was part of a wider research study entitled Open Dialogue: Development and Evaluation of a Social Network Intervention for Severe Mental Illness (ODDESSI). The principles address how peer practitioners may be particularly well-placed to offer attunement, validation, connection and mutuality, and self-disclosure - and hence how they may be able to contribute an additional dimension to dialogical practice.

Experiences of Every Mind Matters, Public Health England’s adult mental health literacy campaign: a qualitative interview study

BackgroundEvery Mind Matters (EMM) is a publicly funded health campaign, launched in England in 2019, to equip adults to look after their mental health, and that of others, by offering online information about common problems: anxiety, low mood, sleep, and stress. This study is one component of an independent evaluation of EMM conducted by the NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit. Its aim is to explore individuals’ experiences of the EMM campaign and website.MethodsFour researchers, including three with lived experience of using mental health services, conducted 20, one-off, semi-structured, online interviews with a range of adult participants, including a sample of EMM users and a purposively recruited sub-sample known to have severe or long-term mental health conditions. A codebook thematic analysis was undertaken, and four main themes were identified.FindingsThere was an expectation from the name Every Mind Matters that its advice would address everyone. Almost all participants had experience of mental distress and looked to EMM for help with a current problem for themselves. All participants were complimentary about the EMM website and found it to be user-friendly (theme 1) and personalised (theme 2) especially the interactive feature Your Mind Plan quiz which responds with suggested actions to improve wellbeing and follows up with reminder emails. A few participants found the website information and/or Mind Plan suggestions to be life changing. Some participants wanted EMM to better acknowledge the contexts in which they live (theme 3) such as the limitations of health conditions and health services, and difficulties of crowded housing, social policy, and climate change. Many participants would like EMM to do more (theme 4), offer more interactivity, more choice, more information about available treatments, and more stratified advice to cover more severe mental health conditions.ConclusionEMM is available to all, including people with common or severe mental disorders. In the context of overwhelmed mental health services, people with severe mental illness expect more from EMM than advice about common problems. EMM could build on its success by extending its remit to address a wider range of needs so that everyone is included.

Occupational stress among armed forces and police personnel: a review

In today’s world, stress is a word which is hard to avoid. If someone asks people about their stress and specifically how they know it exists- two general types were described. First, there are experiences of mental distress, - often accompanied by feelings of not being able to cope, that things are falling apart, that the person is not in control of themselves and their situation or is just a general case that without specific reasons that all is not well. Secondly, the physiological manifestations of less appetite, sleeplessness, sweating, ulcers and physical illness of various degrees. Different people have different views about it from various, sources. Occupational stress can be explained as the physiological and emotional responses that originate when personnels feel an imbalance between their work demands and their capability and response to meet these demands. Purpose of this paper is to provide a general review on “occupational stress among armed forces and police personnel of India” with the help of available literature. The home ministry commissioned conducted a study to look into the reasons for premature retirements of paramilitary forces. The findings of the study revealed that lack of sleep, manpower crunch, no leaves and lack of motivation were some of the reasons responsible for people quitting the jobs. However, to the best of my knowledge, no specific research study has been carried-out in India till date to assess the rate and reason of suicides among armed forces and even the home ministry’s official statement revealed that, in most of the cases of suicides, the reasons are more personnel than work related.

Doing together: reflections on facilitating the co-production of participatory action research with marginalised populations

ABSTRACT Recognising the limited literature detailing the practical application of co-production principles and practices within sport, exercise and health research, critical reflections on co-production principles and practice are shared here, drawing on two participatory action research (PAR) projects in the United Kingdom (UK). Co-production and PAR are distinguished, and their commonalities discussed. Both projects were facilitated by occupational therapists and concerned with health inequities and social justice. The Voices for Inclusive Activity project brought disabled people together online to explore more accessible and inclusive approaches to evaluate disability sport and physical activity. The Positive Mental Attitude project took place with a community-based football league for people with experience of mental distress and explored the nature and value of participation. Both projects involved researching with people who are often excluded from research. Addressing power imbalances can function to engage marginalised people in processes of knowledge production and enable social justice. Co-production offers useful principles that are democratic, inclusive, collaborative, and participatory, but the process is not straightforward. The reflections within this paper focus on the challenges and opportunities the first and second authors faced as facilitators of co-produced research. Participant and co-researcher quotes reveal how participatory methods and approaches address gaps in experiential knowledge of exclusion and marginalisation. The potential for co-produced research to influence policy and practice is outlined.

Burden of mental distress in the US associated with trust in media for COVID-19 information.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, news and social media outlets have played a major role in dissemination of information. This analysis aimed to study the association between trust in social and traditional media and experiences of mental distress among a representative sample of US adults. Data for this study came from National Pandemic Pulse, a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey that sampled participants on the Dynata platform. Participants included 6435 adults surveyed between 15-23 December 2020. Ordinal logistic regression analyses examined the associations of trust in (i) social media, (ii) print media, (iii) broadcast TV and (iv) cable TV, for COVID-19-related information with self-reported mental distress (4-item Patient Health Questionnaire), controlling for sociodemographics and census region. Compared with those who distrusted social media, those who trusted social media had 2.09 times (95% CI = 1.84-2.37) greater adjusted odds of being in a more severe category of mental distress. In contrast, compared with those who distrusted print media, those who trusted print media had 0.80 times (95% CI = 0.69-0.93) lower adjusted odds of being in a more severe category of mental distress. No significant associations were found between mental distress and trust in broadcast or cable TV for accessing news about COVID-19. Trust in different news outlets may be associated with mental distress during public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. Future studies should explore mechanisms behind these associations, including adherence to best practices for crisis reporting among different media sources and exposure of individuals to misinformation.

The impact of working as a peer worker in mental health services: a longitudinal mixed methods study

BackgroundPeer workers are increasingly employed in mental health services to use their own experiences of mental distress in supporting others with similar experiences. While evidence is emerging of the benefits of peer support for people using services, the impact on peer workers is less clear. There is a lack of research that takes a longitudinal approach to exploring impact on both employment outcomes for peer workers, and their experiences of working in the peer worker role.MethodsIn a longitudinal mixed methods study, 32 peer workers providing peer support for discharge from inpatient to community mental health care - as part of a randomised controlled trial - undertook in-depth qualitative interviews conducted by service user researchers, and completed measures of wellbeing, burnout, job satisfaction and multi-disciplinary team working after completing training, and four and 12 months into the role. Questionnaire data were summarised and compared to outcomes for relevant population norms, and changes in outcomes were analysed using paired t-tests. Thematic analysis and interpretive workshops involving service user researchers were used to analysis interview transcripts. A critical interpretive synthesis approach was used to synthesise analyses of both datasets.ResultsFor the duration of the study, all questionnaire outcomes were comparable with population norms for health professionals or for the general population. There were small-to-medium decreases in wellbeing and aspects of job satisfaction, and increase in burnout after 4 months, but these changes were largely not maintained at 12 months. Peer workers felt valued, empowered and connected in the role, but could find it challenging to adjust to the demands of the job after initial optimism. Supervision and being part of a standalone peer worker team was supportive, although communication with clinical teams could be improved.ConclusionsPeer workers seem no more likely to experience negative impacts of working than other healthcare professionals but should be well supported as they settle into post, provided with in-work training and support around job insecurity. Research is needed to optimise working arrangements for peer workers alongside clinical teams.

Levelling the playing field: Exploring inequalities and exclusions with a community-based football league for people with experience of mental distress.

IntroductionSport workforce strategy in the United Kingdom (UK) has identified the occupational therapy profession as being ideally positioned to contribute to public health agendas relating to tackling physical inactivity amongst marginalised populations, such as disabled people and people with experience of mental distress. However, a robust understanding of the enablers, restrictions, and exclusions such groups encounter when seeking to participate in sport and physical activity is currently lacking.MethodsThis study aimed to gain an in‐depth understanding of the different ways people with experience of mental distress talked about their participation in a community‐based football league in England, in the UK. Nine people took part in this strand of a larger participatory action research (PAR) study, which used go‐along interviews as the method of data collection. In alignment with PAR seeking to address power imbalances, the data from the go‐along interviews were analysed through a Foucauldian lens using a collaboratively produced analytic framework.FindingsParticipants constructed the community‐based football league as fostering feelings of purpose and belonging, against a backdrop of them describing experiencing stigma and exclusion when seeking to be active in their wider communities. They used the concept of occupational marginalisation to further interpret their situation.ConclusionUnderstanding why and how people participate in football extends beyond seeing it as an individual exercise to shared social lives and occupations. With this perspective, occupational therapists could address occupational marginalisation in partnership with community sports organisations, collaborating for wider social change beyond specialist services.

"It's easy to dismiss it as simply a spiritual problem." Experiences of mental distress within evangelical Christian communities: A qualitative survey.

Evidence suggests that faith communities can support psychological wellbeing but can also potentially diminish wellbeing through stigma, imposed spiritualization, and marginalization. In particular, for evangelical Christianity, whose theological praxis typically accentuates literalist spiritual onto-etiologies, including the belief that mental distress can be treated solely through spiritual intervention (prayer, fasting, and deliverance), there may be negative implications for Christians with mental distress. The current qualitative survey examined the responses of 293 self-identified evangelical Christians, concerning their experiences of mental distress in relation to their church community. An inductive thematic analysis revealed five themes: 1) Tensions between Faith and Suffering; 2) Cautions about a Reductive Spiritualization; 3) Feeling Othered and Disconnected; 4) Faith as Alleviating Distress; and 5) Inviting an Integrationist Position. Findings reveal stigma and the totalizing spiritualization of mental distress can be experienced as both dismissive and invalidating and can problematize secular help-seeking. This lends support to previous research which has suggested that evangelical Christian communities tend to link mental distress to spiritual deficiencies, which can hold potentially negative consequences for their wellbeing. Nevertheless, a degree of complexity and nuance emerged whereby spiritual explanations and interventions were also experienced as sometimes helpful in alleviating suffering. Overall, findings suggest evangelical communities are increasingly adopting integrationist understandings of mental distress, whereby spiritual narratives are assimilated alongside the biopsychosocial. We argue that church communities and psychotherapeutic practitioners should support movement from a position of dichotomizing psychological suffering (e.g., spiritual vs. biopsychosocial) towards a spiritually syntonic frame, which contextualizes distress in terms of the whole person. Considerations for psychotherapeutic practice and further research are made.

Predictive Factors for Depression and Anxiety in Men During the Perinatal Period: A Mixed Methods Study.

The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors associated with paternal perinatal mental distress in a sample of Australian men. A mixed-methods design was used. The qualitative component (N = 13) using thematic analysis identified maternal depression, marital distress, masculine gender role stress, unplanned pregnancy, work–family conflict, and sleep disturbance as risk factors for paternal perinatal mental distress. The quantitative component (N = 525) expanded on the qualitative findings and examined the associations between the identified risk factors and mental distress of fathers in the perinatal period measured by Edinburgh postnatal depression scale. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed six significant predictors of paternal perinatal mental distress with masculine gender role stress being the most significant risk factor for paternal perinatal mental distress. The results from this study provide an insight into how masculine gender role may affect the expression and experience of mental distress in fathers within the perinatal period. Implications of research findings are discussed.

From Whence Cometh My Help? Psychological Distress and Help-Seeking in the Evangelical Christian Church.

Seeking professional help for psychological distress is generally associated with improved outcomes and lower levels of distress. Given the saliency of religious teachings, it has been shown that aspects of Christian belief may influence adherents’ attitudes towards mental health help-seeking. Based on existing research on American Evangelicals, it was hypothesised that religious social support would positively predict attitudes towards mental health help-seeking, whilst fundamentalism, mental distress, and the belief that psychopathology is caused by immoral or sinful living would negatively predict participants’ attitudes. On a convenience sample of 252 British Evangelicals, our hypotheses were supported and these variables significantly predicted participants’ attitudes towards seeking mental health help, F(7,243) = 9.64, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.195. These findings together suggest that whilst religious support positively predicts help-seeking attitudes, Evangelical fundamentalism, in addition to beliefs that mental illness has a spiritual cause, as well as experiences of mental distress may be associated with more negative attitudes towards psychotherapeutic intervention. Thus, mental health practitioners should be aware of clients’ religious worldviews and tailor interventions appropriately, acknowledging that working with religious organisations may yield the most positive outcomes for patients.

Redefining help through peer support.

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Traditional mental health services are not meeting the needs of service users. Peer support is an alternative approach of providing support founded on relationship where there is respect and shared responsibility. Peer support relationships are mutual and reciprocal. WHAT THE PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: The experience of peer-led care can be transformative. A key aspect is the validation and valuing of lived experience and being seen as a person not as an illness. The nature and quality of relationships is paramount and needs to be based on equity. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR MENTAL HEALTH NURSING?: Nurses have a key role to advocate and promote peer support services. Relationships need to be based on respect and "being alongside" service users in their recovery journey rather than trying to "fix the problem." ABSTRACT: Introduction Peer-led services provide an approach to support based on mutuality, respect and shared experience. Aim To provide an understanding of my experiences of receiving help from a peer-led service. Method Journaling experiences captured in detail the reality of my experiences at the time and were used to inform this paper. Results The Narrative describes entering a Peer-Led Acute Alternative Service when I was amid a mental health crisis and feeling broken. Here, relationships were based on connecting with others who have experienced similar struggles, being seen as an individual rather than a patient, treated with dignity and respect, being heard, having my feelings acknowledged rather than medicated and feeling understood. This created a shift in me to a place of healing and finding meaning in my experiences of mental distress which led to me training in peer support. Discussion Peer-led services can be a transformative experience which redefines the relationship and shifts the person from being a passive recipient of help to an active participant in their recovery. Choice and increased options for peer services as an integral aspect of services available for individuals on their mental health journey is critical.

Respawn, Reload, Relate

Games have the potential to not only entertain and immerse people, but can be used as vehicles for meaning-making. Given these qualities, games are approached as inspiration for caring technologies, especially for mental health. This transformative process often prioritises learning from games as systems, but not necessarily from the experiences of people with mental distress who play games for self-care. In this paper, we report on a participatory workshop series that sets out to further illuminate the connection between games, self-care and mental health from a humanistic, person-centred perspective. Over four workshops, we engaged 16 people with experiences of mental distress in speculative making activities and discussions of how self-care technology inspired by games could be re-envisioned. By thematically analysing our discussions and collective sense-making, we showcase how participants actively "re-frame" games for self-care. Finally, we sketch out how game developers and makers of gameful self-care technologies could build on our findings.

Experiences of Mental Distress during COVID-19: Thematic Analysis of Discussion Forum Posts for Anxiety, Depression, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on coronavirus patients, health care workers, and the general population is clear. Relatively few studies have, however, considered the impact of the pandemic on those with pre-existing mental health conditions. Therefore, the present study investigates the personal experiences of those with anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder during COVID-19. We conducted a qualitative study utilising Reddit discussion forum posts. We conducted three separate thematic analyses from 130 posts in subreddit forums aimed for people identifying with anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. We identified a number of similar discussion forum themes (e.g., COVID-19 intensifying symptoms and a lack of social support), as well as themes that were unique to each forum type (e.g., hyperawareness and positive experiences during the pandemic). Findings should guide future practice and the support provided to those living with mental distress.

Uncovering the emotional labour of involvement and co-production in mental health research

This article explores the emotional labour of involvement and co-production in mental health research as experienced by service user/survivor researchers and research managers. It is based on a consultation aiming to explore some of the emotional implications raised by bringing lived experience into mental health research, through interviewing people with experience on all sides of the challenges raised. The aim was to develop a research proposal on the basis of the issues raised. Our analysis identified themes describing the negotiation of identity, the emotional work of using and embodying lived experience, and aspects of the working environment. This consultation highlights the intersectional complexities of identity and alienation experienced by people who bring their lived experience of mental distress or using services into unprepared workplaces. It also sheds light on the structural factors that mitigate against the successful integration of lived experience into mental health research. Points of interest In this article, we explore the emotional implications of being known to have experience of mental distress within the workplace and being expected/expecting to use this experience in your role as researcher. The following themes were identified from interviews: the need to negotiate a ‘mental illness’ identity alongside an identity as researcher; the emotional work needed to use lived experience in research; the emotional implications of being known to have experience of mental distress and of being expected to use that experience as part of your role as researcher; the implications of competitive working environments; and strategies for managing these complex experiences. We highlight the additional challenges affecting people from Black and minority ethnic communities working in predominantly white workplaces. We highlight the hierarchical and competitive features of academic institutions that prohibit the successful integration of lived experience into mental health research.

A reflection on the value of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for promoting good mental health in the workplace: a service user perspective

ABSTRACT Many people with mental health issues are workless; despite this, good quality work is often promoted as beneficial for wellbeing. In this article, I explore my personal reflections about managing my experiences of mental distress in the workplace, whilst working as a senior lecturer in social work in the UK. The potential of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to support the improvement of my mental wellbeing in the workplace is discussed alongside the central role of the therapist in delivering this intervention. The opportunities ACT offers to support a person with mental health issues to manage the impact of mental health symptoms in the workplace are highlighted, and its potential for wider implementation across mental health services is considered.

The Walls Have Ears: Accessing Participant Narratives amid Silence, Secrecy, and Mistrust

Eritreans have long been considered a close-knit community bound by the memorialisation of history and the preservation of cultural practices. My anthropological enquiry into the everyday experiences of mental distress among diasporic women revealed that the depth of their exclusivity was a response to the continual and unsystematic surveillance of the Eritrean state. Government spies targeted outspoken critics, either forcing them into exile or pushing them into perpetual silence. In this essay, I explain how the perceived looming presence of secret agents created widespread mistrust and pervasive silence that complicated relationship-building among diasporic women. I then describe how negative perceptions of the term ‘mental health’ required an alteration of my lexicon and methodological approach, revealing the embodiments of silence and distress in everyday interactions. By reflexively and critically engaging with women’s everyday experiences, silence emerges as a central theme in my work, eventually becoming a conceptual anchor that has helped me understand and connect with a politically silenced diaspora. Through these ethnographic encounters, the complexities of the social, cultural, and political interactions gave meaning to simple utterances.

An occupational justice perspective on playing football and living with mental distress

ABSTRACT Physical inactivity is a global public health priority, yet people living with a disability or long-term health condition, such as those who experience mental distress, continue to face inequalities and barriers to participation in sport and physical activity. These inequalities are considered an occupational injustice, in terms of participation in health enhancing occupations being restricted for these groups of people, despite them wanting to be more active. This study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the nature and value of participating in a UK based community football project, for people with experience of mental distress. Twenty-three people took part in this first strand of a larger participatory action research study, which used the World Café as a method for structuring and recording conversations. Data from the three World Café events were analysed collectively and thematically. The study’s findings reveal tensions, nuances, and subtleties that exist in relation to the reciprocal relationship between playing football and people’s health and well-being. The complexity of enabling participation in sport and physical activity amongst marginalised groups, such as people with experience of mental distress, is highlighted.

Gegenseitige Unterstützung Psychiatrieerfahrener in Krisenunterkünften – ein Scoping Review

ZusammenfassungZiel Als Alternative zur psychiatrischen Versorgung gibt es v. a. im angloamerikanischen Raum sogenannte Crisis Respites (CR), in denen sich krisen- und genesungserfahrene Menschen (Peers) gegenseitig unterstützen. In dieser Arbeit wird untersucht, wie CR aufgebaut sind und mit welchen Ansätzen und Ergebnissen sie evaluiert werden.Methodik Systematische Literaturrecherche. Studien wurden eingeschlossen, auch der „grauen“ Literatur, sofern sie empirisches Material enthielten.Ergebnisse Auswahl von 12 Publikationen mit Bezug zu insgesamt 10 CR. Die Arbeits- und Organisationsformen von CR sind sehr heterogen. Es wurden unterschiedliche Evaluationsansätze (RCT, qualitativ, Mixed-Methods) genutzt.Schlussfolgerung CR sind kein Ersatz für die psychiatrische Versorgung, sondern eine eigene, wirksame Unterstützungsform. Der Einfluss von Peers bei der Umsetzung und Evaluation ist von zentraler Bedeutung, damit ihre Eigenheiten erhalten bleiben.