Mental Health Support Groups Research Articles

A multilevel modeling analysis of community-based mental health and psychosocial support group intervention for refugee newcomers in the United States.

A multilevel modeling analysis of community-based mental health and psychosocial support group intervention for refugee newcomers in the United States.

Supplemental Material for A Multilevel Modeling Analysis of Community-Based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Group Intervention for Refugee Newcomers in the United States

Supplemental Material for A Multilevel Modeling Analysis of Community-Based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Group Intervention for Refugee Newcomers in the United States

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.

Awareness and use of support services following mass violence incidents

Mass violence incidents (MVIs) result in significant psychological distress for survivors and the broader community. Support services (mental health services, support groups, religious support) can buffer negative effects of MVIs and facilitate recovery. However, the extent to which community members are aware of and use support services post-MVIs is unknown. A probability sample of 5991 adults (Meanage = 45.6, SD = 17.6), mostly female (53%) and White (71%), were recruited from six communities that had experienced an MVI. Participants answered questions on their awareness and use of support services after the MVI and completed measures assessing predisposing, enabling, and need factors that may influence service use. Approximately 20% of participants reported they were aware of mental health services, 20% reported awareness of support groups, and 16% reported awareness of religious support. Younger participants with higher income (predisposing factors), high social support (enabling factor), and direct MVI exposure and psychological distress (need factors) were more likely to report awareness of support services. Of those aware of services, approximately 21% reported using support services. Those with direct MVI exposure and psychological distress were more likely to use each type of service. Otherwise, use of mental health services, support groups, and religious support varied across predisposing factors (race, age, income). Overall, findings suggest there is limited awareness of support services post-MVI, despite the well-documented mental health burden after these incidents. This suggests the need for improved communication about available services after MVIs.

Self-reported mental health effects of changing migration policies on immigrant health and allied care professionals in the UK

This study explores the impact of changing migration policies on the mental health of immigrant health professionals in the UK and their access to mental health services. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among ninety-six immigrant health professionals and allied health and care workers in the UK’s health and social care sector. The mental well-being of study participants was measured using the Warwick-Edinburgh Well-being Scale (WEMWBS). Mood changes post-migration, use of mental health services and perceived effectiveness of these services were assessed using direct survey questions. The majority of respondents reported average levels of mental well-being. A significant portion of the study participants experienced a decline in mental health post-migration. The study found a strong association between ethnicity and mental well-being, with certain ethnic groups reporting worse outcomes (p=0.003, p<0.05). Despite reported mental health concerns, only a few sought professional help from mental health services or support groups, and even fewer found these effective. This study shows significant mental health challenges and poor service access faced by immigrant health professionals in the UK, exacerbated by changing migration policies. Addressing these challenges is vital for the affected individuals and ensuring a thriving, diverse UK healthcare workforce.

Compliance to Medication Management and Mental Health Status of Elderly Hypertensive Patients: Basis of Educational Health Program

Objective: The study aimed to assess medication management compliance and mental health in elderly patients with hypertension. Method: The study evaluated medication compliance and mental health status of elderly hypertensive patients in China using simple random sampling. Data was collected using the Morisky Medication Compliance Questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and a checklist. Ethical practices were strictly observed. Results: A study of 100 elderly hypertensive patients found poor drug management compliance, with female patients showing worse compliance. Female patients were more vulnerable to anxiety and depression. The study also found no significant association between gender, age, education level, marital status, living standards, and medication compliance. Barriers to medication management included food and daily necessities, lack of awareness about the importance of drug treatment, and basic family needs. The lowest-ranked barriers were lack of support from government health clinics, low income, and lack of family support. Conclusion: Based on the results, the study proposes an educational plan for elderly hypertensive patients and their families, to be evaluated and implemented by the hospital and township community service center. The plan aims to improve medication management and lifestyle modification compliance, encourage active participation, and provide access to medical and mental health clinics, support groups, and counseling services.

Evaluation of the Friendship Bench’ Circle Kubatana Tose (CKT): an add-on support group intervention – a mixed-methods pilot interventional cohort study protocol

IntroductionMental disorders are endemic. However, the mental health treatment gap remains high, especially in low-resource settings. Task-shifting is a universally recommended strategy to mitigate the care gap. The Friendship Bench...

Conflict resolution in online mental health support groups

Abstract The literature on online mental health support groups usually stresses the harmonious side of users’ interactions. However, differences regarding the experience of the illness might escalate into social conflict. The aim of this study is to explore acts of conflict resolution in an online Spanish mental health forum for recovery from an eating disorder (ED). Focusing on a specific long dispute between one regular contributor and several other members, I perform a micro-analysis of the discursive moves deployed in this polylogue by those who act as informal mediators to mitigate negative emotions, to rephrase participants’ perspectives and to promote relational empathy within the group. The goal of mediation in the forum is to reinstate the social order of acceptable recovery practices and discourses.

Penguatan Perilaku Pasien Rehabilitasi Mental Melalui Group Therapy Tentang Bahaya dan Dampak Merokok

Background: The issue of mental health has become a global concern, including in Indonesia. In 2022, according to the World Health Organization, there were 24 million cases of schizophrenia globally, with a prevalence rate of 7% in Indonesia. The primary focus of schizophrenia treatment involves antipsychotic medication therapy and mental rehabilitation. Individuals with schizophrenia often undergo perceptual changes due to smoking behavior. Method: This community service activity took place on October 28, 2023, involving the formation of a group therapy as a mental health support group. Education was provided through a method involving lectures and simulations through demonstration. This activity was attended by 19 individuals, consisting of 12 patients, 1 speaker, 1 leader, 9 facilitators, 1 minute-taker, the head of the room, and 4 room nurses. The socialization activity took place for 55 minutes. Results: Findings from the identification indicate that 30% of active smokers among the patients prefer kretek cigarettes. Additionally, 85% of the patients experience lip irritation, and 80% exhibit yellowing of the skin and fingernails due to smoking. After conducting pre-test and post-test activities, there was an increase in participants' knowledge about the understanding of the dangers and impacts of smoking, rising from 33% to 92%. Additionally, the attitude towards quitting smoking increased from 17% to 83%. Conclusion: The increase in knowledge and attitude among participants was observed through the formation of group therapy focusing on the dangers and impacts of smoking during mental rehabilitation.

The Lived Experiences of Anxiety and Depression Support Philippines’ (ADSP) Members amid Public Stigma: A Phenomenological Hermeneutic Study

The study is a qualitative phenomenological hermeneutic that explored the lived experiences of Anxiety and Depression Support Philippines' (ADSP) members amid public stigma and the role of ADSP in these experiences. The main purposes of the study are (1) to fill the gap in the literature on the role of local mental health peer support groups in the lives of its members amid public stigma and (2) to highlight the role of local mental health support groups. Six participants were interviewed with a semi-structured interview protocol through Zoom. A step-by-step procedure of Creswell's thematic analysis was employed. The emerging themes and subthemes were the following: Major Textural Theme 1, Day-to-Day Personal Challenges (with subthemes, Somatic Symptoms and Costly Treatment), Major Textural Theme 2, Stigma Experienced from the Public (with subthemes, Invisibility of Mental Health Condition, Imposement of Spiritual Beliefs, Pill Shaming Phenomenon, and Deregatory Stereotypes), Major Structural Theme, Meaning (with subthemes, Shared Struggles, Acknowledgment of Proper Treatment, and Being Unbothered), and Major Textural Theme 3, Role of ADSP (Providing Emotional Support, Preventing Suicide, Assisting in Help-Seeking, and Actualizing Potential). Some of the recommendations were future research to examine and explore the structure and dynamics of Filipino-based mental health support groups to further address the needs of individuals with mental health conditions or psychological disorders (particularly anxiety and depression) and national-level encouragement of the development of accessible Filipino–based mental health support groups. The research will also contribute to the pool of local research exploring the same topic or related topics.

Implementation Evaluation of Community-Based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Intervention for Refugee Newcomers in the United States

Refugee newcomers resettled in the United States face numerous challenges impacting their mental health and overall well-being. Despite extensive research on clinical interventions, multimodal interventions with peer-based group models in resettlement contexts remain scarce. Adopting a realist evaluation approach, this study aims to conduct a comprehensive implementation evaluation of a complex community-based mental health and psychosocial support (CB-MHPSS) group intervention, examining its mechanisms and processes while considering the interplay among context, implementing agents, and community settings. Qualitative and quantitative data on the implementation process were collected from 11 refugee agencies, involving trained resettlement staffers (n = 32) and refugee community facilitators (n = 31) who implemented the 31 CB-MHPSS psychosocial groups in 2021. The analysis included fidelity reports, process reflections, and follow-up survey responses, utilizing a structured template based on the CB-MHPSS Theory of Change (ToC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) guidance. Results of an in-depth exploration of complex relations between context and implementation processes reveal the vital role that adaptability to socio-ecological circumstances during the global coronavirus pandemic played in achieving successful implementation of psychosocial group interventions. Striking a balance between fidelity and refinement of intervention of the intervention curriculum emerged as crucial factors for aligning facilitation goals with newcomer needs. This approach maintained the integrity and appropriateness of the intervention, requiring implementers to utilize local knowledge of community resources and their understanding of lived experience of forced migrants and their within the community. Furthermore, exploring intervention barriers and facilitators revealed merits aligned with program change theories and areas for adjustment, while cataloged guidelines addressed community needs, showcasing competence beyond standard checkboxes. Strategic dissemination guidance provided by the central office in a supportive and nonintrusive manner facilitated uptake in a participatory and context-specific manner. This study emphasizes the importance of leveraging community partnerships and local knowledge to result in sustained improvements in the mental health and well-being of refugees.

Exploration of orthorexia nervosa and diagnostic overlap with eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is characterized as obsessional healthy eating that results in malnutrition and/or psychosocial impairment. Yet, ON shares theoretical overlap with eating disorders (EDs), especially anorexia nervosa (AN), as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This study aimed to further understand ON and its overlap with related disorders by assessing the ability of ON for detecting the presence/absence of threshold ED, AN, and OCD symptoms. An observational survey was completed by 197 participants recruited through eating disorder, dieting, and mental health support groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses determined the predictive ability of ON symptoms (assessed by Eating Habits Questionnaire [EHQ] orthorexia nervosa [OrNe] and healthy orthorexia [HeOr] subscales, and the Orthorexia Nervosa Inventory [ONI]) for detecting disordered eating symptoms (determined by Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire [EDE-Q] global cut-scores), probable AN (determined by EDE-Q cut-scores and body mass index [BMI] <18.5), and OCD symptoms and obsessional thinking (assessed by the Revised Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory [OCI-R]). Results showed both the ONI and EHQ OrNe measures are able to adequately predict ED symptoms and AN; however, both were poor to moderate at detecting OCD symptoms and obsessional thinking. Healthy orthorexia was poor to moderate at detecting outcomes. These results suggest that ON, as it is currently operationalized, may be more closely related to EDs than OCD, and that ON may represent a subtype of AN. Results also support healthy orthorexia as a distinct construct to ON. While results are limited by the lack of definitive ON diagnostic criteria, findings suggest that treatments developed for EDs might be most suited to ON. ON has been proposed as a psychiatric disorder, and it shares theoretical overlap with several existing disorders. This study adopts a novel approach to assessing and exploring the overlap of ON with EDs, AN and OCD. Results suggest that ON shares more overlap with EDs and might best be understood as a subtype of EDs or AN.

Kohl's donates $6M to NAMI to increase MH services, resources

Kohl's Corporation announced last week a $6 million donation to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to help expand mental health support groups, programming and resources for individuals across the country, with a focus on reaching BIPOC communities, the press release news agency, Business Wire, reported on Aug. 15.

Investigating COVID-19's Impact on Mental Health: Trend and Thematic Analysis of Reddit Users' Discourse.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in heightened levels of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues due to sudden changes in daily life, such as economic stress, social isolation, and educational irregularity. Accurately assessing emotional and behavioral changes in response to the pandemic can be challenging, but it is essential to understand the evolving emotions, themes, and discussions surrounding the impact of COVID-19 on mental health. This study aims to understand the evolving emotions and themes associated with the impact of COVID-19 on mental health support groups (eg, r/Depression and r/Anxiety) on Reddit (Reddit Inc) during the initial phase and after the peak of the pandemic using natural language processing techniques and statistical methods. This study used data from the r/Depression and r/Anxiety Reddit communities, which consisted of posts contributed by 351,409 distinct users over a period spanning from 2019 to 2022. Topic modeling and Word2Vec embedding models were used to identify key terms associated with the targeted themes within the data set. A range of trend and thematic analysis techniques, including time-to-event analysis, heat map analysis, factor analysis, regression analysis, and k-means clustering analysis, were used to analyze the data. The time-to-event analysis revealed that the first 28 days following a major event could be considered a critical window for mental health concerns to become more prominent. The theme trend analysis revealed key themes such as economic stress, social stress, suicide, and substance use, with varying trends and impacts in each community. The factor analysis highlighted pandemic-related stress, economic concerns, and social factors as primary themes during the analyzed period. Regression analysis showed that economic stress consistently demonstrated the strongest association with the suicide theme, whereas the substance theme had a notable association in both data sets. Finally, the k-means clustering analysis showed that in r/Depression, the number of posts related to the "depression, anxiety, and medication" cluster decreased after 2020, whereas the "social relationships and friendship" cluster showed a steady decrease. In r/Anxiety, the "general anxiety and feelings of unease" cluster peaked in April 2020 and remained high, whereas the "physical symptoms of anxiety" cluster showed a slight increase. This study sheds light on the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and the related themes discussed in 2 web-based communities during the pandemic. The results offer valuable insights for developing targeted interventions and policies to support individuals and communities in similar crises.

Period poverty and mental health of menstruators during COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons and implications for the future.

Menstruation is a naturally occurring phenomenon; however, millions of adolescent girls and women, as well as nonbinary persons who bleed every month, are deprived of menstruating safely and respectfully. Those belonging to marginalized sections face the brunt of lack of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities; affordable menstrual supplies; and inequitable distribution of menstrual health education and are victims of period poverty. Their preexisting suffering was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which negatively affected the mental health of those menstruating. Adolescent girls and women in communities found it persistently challenging to access and afford menstrual products while deprived of menstrual hygiene education. These put them under immense stress and elevated financial liability, predisposing them to period poverty. Interventions addressing period poverty rely on mustering collective community voices and deploying adequate policy tools. All the efforts and solutions must provide social and financial protection nets and psychological aid through mental health support groups. It is core to drive menstrual health equity for all menstruators, irrespective of who they are, what they do, and where they live.

Visibility Beyond Fidelity Well-timed and Well-situated Community Health Worker Support for Mental Health

We here present the implementation of three instructional modules developed by and for community health workers (CHWs) to support mental health groups as a component of broader resource and support activities in their communities. The innovative conceptual framing is presented in an extended introduction, with a focus on the distinction between academic and community perspectives and a ground for visibility into community dynamics that comes from providing and tracking responsive support. CHWs have drawn considerable academic attention as potential agents of change, but we believe they are limited by top-down insistence on fidelity to expert opinion. We highlight the specific framing of their activities in terms of engaged support that generates its own type of visibility beyond compliance and fidelity. Section 2 details the development of the modules and the methods that were applied to drive the design of the encompassing interventions. The modules were used to help form 10 mental health support groups, within the larger context of individual resource navigation support, and we report some of the responses to those activities in section 3. The CHWs were embedded in their communities as part of a long-term research project designed to describe the capacity and impact of self-directed and empowered CHWs. The final discussion in section 4 ties the evidence of the stories back to the conceptual framing and proposes a responsive framing of expertise within the community setting that would allow creative engagement with individuals to guide the emerging understanding of the social dynamics. Section 5 concludes our presentation.

Building Neurodiversity-Inclusive Postsecondary Campuses: Recommendations for Leaders in Higher Education.

Building Neurodiversity-Inclusive Postsecondary Campuses: Recommendations for Leaders in Higher Education.

“Even if I’m undetectable, I just feel like I would die”: a qualitative study to understand the psychological and socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women living with HIV (WLWH) in Chicago, IL

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has affected the health and well-being of people worldwide, yet few studies have qualitatively examined its cumulative effects on ciswomen living with HIV (WLWH). We aimed to explore how the pandemic has impacted WLWH, including challenges related to HIV care, employment, finances, and childcare. We also investigated how HIV status and different psychosocial stressors affected their mental health.MethodsWe performed 25 semi-structured qualitative interviews with WLWH regarding the ways in which COVID-19 impacted their social determinants of health and physical well-being during the pandemic. 19 WLWH who received care at the University of Chicago Medicine (UCM) and 6 women who received care at Howard Brown Health, a federally qualified health center (FQHC) in Chicago, were interviewed remotely from June 2020 to April 2021. All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Interviews were thematically analyzed for commonalities regarding HIV-specific and general experiences of WLWH during the pandemic.ResultsThe majority of participants reported COVID-19 impacted their HIV care, such as appointment cancellations and difficulties adhering to antiretroviral therapy. In addition to HIV care obstacles, almost all participants described perceived heightened vulnerability to or fear of COVID-19. The pandemic also affected the socioeconomic well-being of participants, with reported financial strains and employment disruptions. Some mothers took on additional childcare responsibilities, such as homeschooling. Increased mental health concerns and negative psychological effects from the social isolation associated with the pandemic were also experienced by most participants.ConclusionsWe gained invaluable insight into how WLWH were challenged by and adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic, including its destabilizing effects on their HIV care and mental health. Women described how they undertook additional childcare responsibilities during the pandemic and how their HIV status compounded their concerns (e.g., perceived heightened vulnerability to COVID-19). Strategies to better support WLWH in maintaining their overall health throughout the pandemic include childcare assistance, access to affordable mental health services, support groups, and education from HIV care providers. These findings have significant implications for examining future health crises through the perspective of potential gender inequalities.

Misinformation in Italian Online Mental Health Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Protocol for a Content Analysis Study.

BackgroundSocial media platforms are widely used by people suffering from mental illnesses to cope with their conditions. One modality of coping with these conditions is navigating online communities where people can receive emotional support and informational advice. Benefits have been documented in terms of impact on health outcomes. However, the pitfalls are still unknown, as not all content is necessarily helpful or correct. Furthermore, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and related problems, such as worsening mental health symptoms, the dissemination of conspiracy narratives, and medical distrust, may have impacted these online communities. The situation in Italy is of particular interest, being the first Western country to experience a nationwide lockdown. Particularly during this challenging time, the beneficial role of community moderators with professional mental health expertise needs to be investigated in terms of uncovering misleading information and regulating communities.ObjectiveThe aim of the proposed study is to investigate the potentially harmful content found in online communities for mental health symptoms in the Italian language. Besides descriptive information about the content that posts and comments address, this study aims to analyze the content from two viewpoints. The first one compares expert-led and peer-led communities, focusing on differences in misinformation. The second one unravels the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, not by merely investigating differences in topics but also by investigating the needs expressed by community members.MethodsA codebook for the content analysis of Facebook communities has been developed, and a content analysis will be conducted on bundles of posts. Among 14 Facebook groups that were interested in participating in this study, two groups were selected for analysis: one was being moderated by a health professional (n=12,058 members) and one was led by peers (n=5598 members). Utterances from 3 consecutive calendar years will be studied by comparing the months from before the pandemic, the months during the height of the pandemic, and the months during the postpandemic phase (2019-2021). This method permits the identification of different types of misinformation and the context in which they emerge. Ethical approval was obtained by the Università della Svizzera italiana ethics committee.ResultsThe usability of the codebook was demonstrated with a pretest. Subsequently, 144 threads (1534 utterances) were coded by the two coders. Intercoder reliability was calculated on 293 units (19.10% of the total sample; Krippendorff α=.94, range .72-1). Aside from a few analyses comparing bundles, individual utterances will constitute the unit of analysis in most cases.ConclusionsThis content analysis will identify deleterious content found in online mental health support groups, the potential role of moderators in uncovering misleading information, and the impact of COVID-19 on the content.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/35347

'It's made me feel less isolated because there are other people who are experiencing the same or very similar to you': Men's experiences of using mental health support groups.

This article explores men's experiences of using peer support groups for coping with mental distress. Support groups are organised groups in which people come together to mutually support each other with a shared health concern. There has been increasing research on men's mental health help seeking, but men's use of support groups for mental health difficulties, and the ways support groups could benefit men, is not well understood. Drawing upon 19 interviews from a South Wales, UK qualitative study which explored men's mental health help seeking, coping and management, this article explores the perceived benefits of support groups for men experiencing emotional difficulties. Findings highlight how men who attended groups valued the sense of shared understanding of experiences and the mutual respect that group settings presented them with. Support groups provided a safe space with opportunities to reconstruct traditional masculine norms through reciprocating unique and tailored mental health support to others and developing a certain role within that group. This gave men a sense of purpose which further facilitated mental health management. Findings also indicated the social benefits that support groups can have to men who may have limited social networks or be experiencing isolation. This article adds to the growing literature that focuses on men's mental health experiences and illustrates the benefits of support groups for men in distress. The author suggests that primary services need to be aware of how support groups can positively support men and promote them as an opportunity for connection and unique support.