Mental Illness Issues Research Articles

Issues and Challenges Concerning Mental Health in India: Time to Brood Over

Good mental health is obligatory for a high quality of life. One’s wellness is tested by the daily life-challenging situations relating to family, work and environment. Everyone experiences stress and strain throughout their life. Mental health issues continue to be a sombre issue that affects individuals of all age groups and communities throughout the orb. The fundamental cause of mental health issues is societal and cultural norms and practices that affect the individual as well as their relatives. This article highlights the factors contributing to mental illness and socio-economic, cultural, religious and legal challenges in dealing with mental health. The article also discusses all the significant provisions along with their real spirits with which they have been made under the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. The Act not only makes the provisions in the light of nationwide scenario but also takes into account the global perspective concerning mental health. Also, this article provides some suggestions that will help deal with the issues of mental illness.

Book Review 'The Orchid Project: There Is Still Love’

The stories in this book are written by mental illness fighters, carers and support groups. The events narrated involve sensitive issues such as attempted self-harm, suicide, sexual harassment, bullying and violent acts. If the reader faces problems related to mental illness or is at risk of being affected by knowing this kind of situation, the reader is not advised to read this book and immediately seek the help of mental health professionals such as psychologists, psychiatrists and certified counselors. Mental illness should not be taken lightly and the lack of knowledge or sharing to deal with this problem has led to an increase in many such cases in Malaysia. The issue of mental illness is not a new issue in Malaysia. However, the increase in cases related to mental health is very worrying. The reason for this increase is possible because many people think that mental problems such as stress, depression, extreme anxiety and so on are only temporary and will pass away. Not many people know what treatment can be taken, the therapy that can be used and the importance of strong support from family members, friends and employers in helping mental patients. This book is the result of the experience of patients who faced mental health problems but managed to overcome these challenges and rise again. All writers who are willing to share their stories and life experiences are not something to be ashamed of but rather a bravery and will be a guide and guideline to other patients who have the same problem. This book can inspire anyone who goes through a similar experience.

Committing to Trauma-Informed Social Work Education in Chronic Syndemic Times

ABSTRACT COVID-19 has revealed and intensified economic and health disparities, prompting a profound national and global examination of racist systems perpetuating such disadvantage. The historic confluence of COVID-19 with movements for social justice offers a window, which COVID fatigue may already be closing, for us to enact true change in the process and content of a graduate social work education. This moment calls for re-envisioned process and content that addresses issues of oppression, social justice, trauma, mental illness, and health. As social work educators with a specialization in trauma, we are thinking deeply about how to harness this juncture to shape a more rigorous and responsive social work educational process. We believe trauma-informed principles must be applied across the social work curriculum, beyond trauma-focused or clinical courses, and to our social work educational institutions. We offer examples of how we have revisioned social work training for ourselves and our students, from our multiple standpoints as faculty, administrator, and field advisor, for the complex challenges and opportunities of chronic syndemic times. We conclude with an invitation to shift away from the social work education status quo and truly practice what we teach.

Social domains of poor mental health: A qualitative pilot study of community stakeholders' understanding and demarcation of mental illness and its interpretations in rural Nigeria.

Although previous studies on mental health/illness in Nigeria have explored knowledge and attitude of community members using quantitative approaches, few studies have engaged stakeholders within rural communities on the issue of mental illness using qualitative approaches. Community stakeholders play a critical role in influencing health behaviors. The objective of this pilot study was to explore community stakeholders' understanding and demarcation of mental illness, and its interpretations in a rural Nigerian town. This is with the aim of shaping stakeholders understanding of people when they experience mental distress within the community. The study was conducted in Ijebu-Igbo town of Ogun State in south-west Nigeria. In-depth interviews were conducted among two religious' leaders: a Pastor and an Imam, a traditional healer, a medical doctor, and a registered nurse, and a focus group discussion was held in a church with members of its advisory committee. The findings showed that community stakeholders gave multiple interpretations of mental illness and many attribute mental illness to spiritual attack, ancestral curse, anger of the gods, and personal affliction (Ogun-Afowofa). This has been categorized as familial and individual attributes in this study which is part of the main themes derived. The study findings also show that the understanding of community members regarding the root causes of mental illness is somewhat vague based on their poor knowledge of mental illness. This is because of the various interpretations they gave to explain mental health is based on their cultural orientation, socialization, and belief system, and not based on any medical knowledge. This pilot study was conducted to justify the main study. There is therefore a need for health education interventions to enlighten and educate community stakeholders with requisite knowledge for better understanding and interpretation of mental illness. Also, through mental health education interventions, community members will gain clarity on what mental health is and what it is not.

Controversial Issues and their Impact on the Construction and Reshaping of EFL Learners' Habitus

The following study aims to explore Bourdieu’s notion of habitus and its shaping and re-shaping through exposure of authentic oral input. The study used podcasts as an EFL teaching strategy where learners were expected to confront their dispositions. For the purpose of this study, the mental illness issue was employed as a controversial topic. The research used a grounded theory approach and multi-case study design where three unstructured interviews were implemented in each case along the teaching process. Content analysis was applied and research generated categories emerged from the coding process. The results reveal that the EFL learning process has the potential to become a subversive form of defying culturally dominant dispositions and to enhance the learners’ probabilities of re-shaping habitus as well as learning a foreign language. According to the findings of this study, the inclusion of authentic controversial podcasts as listening comprehension tasks, which challenge EFL students’ habitus, can become a successful strategy to modify their cultural dispositions along with learning English as a foreign language.

Expert Psychological Testimony in the Capital Trial Penalty Phase: A Content Analysis of Trial Transcripts

ABSTRACT We know little about what constitutes “typical” testimony offered by psychological experts in capital sentencing trials. Experts may address mitigating factors to the jury during the penalty phase, but the mitigators typically offered, as well as the evidence presented to support the relevance of the mitigators, remains poorly understood. A sample of 94 capital trial transcripts were content analyzed. Findings suggest that expert presence was unrelated to sentencing judgments. Analysis of testimony content revealed that testimony concerning childhood abuse, mental illness, and family issues (i.e., a parent in prison or witnessing domestic violence) occurred in over 50% of the cases involving experts and that intelligence tests and personality assessments were the most frequently used assessment tools. The type of mitigating evidence presented (i.e., whether the testimony focused on the individual’s characteristics or the environmental factors that influenced the individual during development) varied considerably across cases. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Introduction

Introduction

A Shrewd Artificial Neural Network-Based Hybrid Model for Pervasive Stress Detection of Students Using Galvanic Skin Response and Electrocardiogram Signals.

Mental illness issues are a very common health issue in youths and adults across the world. The usage of real-time data analytics in health care has a great potential to improve and enhance the quality of health care services, including diagnosis and medical prescription. Stress is one of the major health issues these days, which leads to many acute and sometimes incurable diseases to the students of very young age. Stress affects physiological parameters of the human body; due to these, human emotions may also change. This research paper proposes a hybrid model for pervasive stress detection, which deals with imbalance class problems using real-time data analytics and Internet of Things and it also presents a new stress analysis system to detect stressful conditions of the student, and to diagnose whether they are stressed or relaxed by using a designed set of experimental tasks. Regular monitoring of students'/professionals' health, including measurement of Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and Electrocardiogram (ECG) data, provides a good understanding of their stress level. Data are acquired by using GSR and ECG sensors for 34 participants while undertaking five different tasks discussed in the proposed experiment. The graphical relationship between heart rate, blood pressure, and skin conductance across various experimental activities highlights the fact as to how physiological parameters of the human body get affected along with the mental status of the students. This article performs accuracy computation by using different machine-learning models such as Logistic Regression (LR), Support Vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN), Bagging Classifiers (BAG), Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting (GB), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) followed by tuning with the best set of hyper parameters for each model. The proposed hybrid classification model deals with the class imbalance problem by using the Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique. The shrewd ANN-based hybrid model achieves 99.4% accuracy on the self-generated dataset for the mental state classification of the students, which is best among other classifiers such as LR, SVM, KNN, BAG, RF, GB, and ANN. The prediction result of all 34 participants of the experiment is also classified into four categories: relaxed, stressed, partially stressed, and happy.

Deinstitutionalization Through Optimism: The Community Mental Health Act of 1963.

Deinstitutionalization Through Optimism: The Community Mental Health Act of 1963.

Suicide prevention and media reporting: an evaluative study from Chandigarh

Background: Responsible reporting represent an evidence-based population-level strategy for suicide prevention.Methods: The present investigation aimed to evaluate the print media news items in leading newspapers from Chandigarh between January 2015 to December 2016 in terms of compliance to desirable media reporting guidelines issued collaboratively by WHO and International Association of Suicide Prevention.Results: A total of 284 news item from English and Hindi newspapers were evaluated for compliance using a 12 item checklist. The data was analysed for frequency in terms of compliance to each item of checklist. The compliance was also compared in English and Hindi news papers. 92% of the news items failed to educate public on the complex issue of suicide and related mental illness. 60% news items portrayed it in a sensationalizing way. 98.5% news items revealed the identity of the suicide victim, much in contradiction to what guidelines promote.Conclusions: There is overall poor compliance to media reporting guidelines. The present study highlights a strong need for a country like India to develop and implement media reporting guidelines at a policy level.

No Assistance Necessary: Arab Men’s Attitudes towards Health Issues and Help-Seeking

To what extent do gender and culture impact people’s attitudes towards help-seeking? It has been well documented that gender plays a large role in determining the likelihood that an individual will look to external agencies in order to remedy issues of physical or mental health and that women tend to have more positive attitudes towards help-seeking than do men. However, this paper looks to investigate the intersection between gender and culture to understand the impact that different societies have on the formation and maintenance of attitudes towards help-seeking. In order to do this, this study utilised thematic analysis to highlight the attitudes of 3 Muslim Arab men, aged 24 - 32, in the United Arab Emirates, towards issues of mental illness and physical injury (as both are often temporary and treatable). Although much of the findings of this study were consistent with previous studies using Western participants, there were also cultural repertoires utilised which suggested that social stigma and cultural practices may further impact men’s tendency to seek help from external agencies. Recognition of these differences may impact upon the promotion and delivery of healthcare in Arab countries by suggesting that providing Western treatments to Arab men, particularly for mental illness, is unlikely to be effective without cultural-specific adaptations.

Responding to Adolescent Violence in the Home – A Community Mental Health Approach

Family violence perpetrated by adults is increasingly understood as a health issue, and we argue that this pertains even more strongly to violence by adolescents. The co‐dependence of the parent–child bond, lack of maturity in the adolescent, and often related issues of disability or mental illness make these young people both complex and also vulnerable. This research paper reviews the current literature relating to adolescent violence in the home, identifies known best practice, and evaluates the importance of taking a family‐focused, therapeutic approach to adolescent family violence, in place of a punitive one. It describes the use of a co‐design workshop to unpack gaps in service provision and develop a potential family focused model of care to address the needs both of young people who use violence, and their families. The findings indicate that an inclusive family approach is a key element in addressing adolescent violence in the home across a spectrum of behaviours and mental health care needs. The use of a coordinated, family‐inclusive response through mental health care services is recommended to address the complexity of this issue, as well as to provide support both to adolescents and to their families and carers.

Mental Health Challenges and Psycho-social Interventions amid COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call to Action for Pakistan.

The increase in death and spread-related coronavirus (COVID-19) has shifted the world focus to the containment of the disease by emphasising measures to prevent spread in the general population. Such a complex, threatening, and unprecedented situation has left the psycho-social wellbeing needs of general public unaddressed. This paper aims to review the current COVID-19 scenario and its effects on the psycho-social wellbeing of people; and an attempt to shed some light on the aforementioned questions. Furthermore, the review will propose some recommendations for overcoming the mental illness issues, during and after the COVID-19 outbreak. We extracted information from reliable published international and national literature and reviewed anecdotes from media content from January to June 2020. The mental health implications of this outbreak will be long-lasting; however, by prioritising, investing diligently, and taking a collective approach, this challenge can be dealt with in a promising manner. Key Words: Mental health, Psycho-social interventions, COVID-19, Pakistan.

Experimental Theatre as a Method to Identify the Early Signs of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

This article addresses the process of experimental theatre performed among the community and also Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) patients and the types of experimental theatre that are most suitable for identifying the step ladder of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The study was conducted because, in essence, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disease with a potential problem not only in Malaysia but also worldwide. Although this is so, when the issue of mental illness is raised, there are still individuals who do not understand the true state of an OCD patient, and some even think negatively about those who suffer from OCD mental illness. Society should play a role in reducing the negative perception of OCD patients. Of course, in this case, one of the ways to convey the strong message of understanding OCD patients is by performing experimental theatre in the community. In terms of the approach, a mini experimental theatre was performed based on the theatre of two worlds’ concept developed by Peter Brook, combined with the application of symbolic interaction theory by Herbert Mead. Data collection was conducted by using qualitative methods to show the processes involved in the experimental theatre which should be tailored to the community level of ability and knowledge of OCD. So, based on the process of experimental theatre, it was found that various forms or genres, such as physical theatre, playback, surrealism, and realism. These genres appear which could assist the community in identifying the step ladder of the OCD mental illness. However of the four genres, the most appropriate is physical theatre after that playback theatre can also provide an adequate solution. Apart from that, these experimental theatres could also be used to help change people’s views on mental illness and also make a positive impression on OCD patients in the community.

Decentralisation and central-local relations: the case of policing and mental health in England

Over the last decade, British governments have advocated a combined policing and health policy based on the premise that everyday more people come to police attention due to mental illness issues. Central authorities emphasise co-produced local community initiatives including street triage and clinical liaison and diversion programmes as mechanisms for better managing mental health issues. The model of governance of policing and mental health developed by the Conservative governments emphasises a decentralisation of services as a means of better managing local demands. Consequently, much of the policy burden falls upon local police forces and the austerity-afflicted NHS overstressing the front lines of delivery. We argue that this rationale challenges the traditionally established model of central-local governance which saw local authorities implementing national policy. However, whilst central government has shifted responsibility for services to local deliverers, the structural and policy barriers to an integrated approach to mental health and policing have proven difficult to change when directed from the centre of government. The executive’s continuous direction of policy in a climate of austerity politics triggers not only a debate on the sustainability of local governance but also with regard to what power of delivery local institutions have. We conclude that the nature of governmental decentralisation on cross-sectorial policymaking can jeopardise the creation of sustainable local governance practices.

Lawyers, mental illness, admission and misconduct

ABSTRACTSince 2004 in Australia, there has been a significant amount of interest in the issues of lawyers and mental illness. As a result there is now a substantial body of literature that examines legal education and its links to lawyer distress. In the profession, there has been a growing awareness of lawyer mental illness and the growth of professional development and lawyer support. Less attention, however has been paid to the links between mental illness and misconduct and the ways in which mental illness is treated in disciplinary proceedings. This article seeks to address this gap by examining cases of disciplinary misconduct over the past 10 years in which mental illness is raised as a causal or a contributing factor. We have found that the law relating to mental illness and misconduct is still developing. Our analysis finds that courts and tribunals are, overall, sensitive to lawyer mental illness and that they are achieving an appropriate balance between the rights of the lawyer and protecting those of the public and the reputation of the legal profession. The paper will draw out the principles currently being used by the courts to assess the effects and implications of a lawyer’s mental illness on claims of misconduct.

Rates and occupational characteristics of international seafarers with mental illness.

Seafarers enable 90% of global commerce, working in isolation from social support and medical care. While occupational conditions of isolation may suggest possible excess risk of mental illness and suicide, research on seafarer mental illness is limited. To describe seafarers with mental illness and associated incidence rates in a large population of international seafarers. We used mental illness claims data from a large international marine insurance provider arising from working seafarers during the years 2007-15. We used descriptive statistics and calculated mental illness incidence rates in this seafarer population. There were 278 seafarer mental illness claims in the study data. Claims were more often reported in deck workers (46%) and ratings (58%). The crude mental illness rate was 3.9 per 100 000 person-years. Using objective data on a large seafaring population, our analysis highlights the important issue of mental illness in this isolated and underserved international workforce. The low observed mental illness claims rate is likely due to the high threshold for claims reporting.

State of the Society: A Solid Foundation, A Bright Future

In presenting her “State of the Society” report at the annual conference of AMDA — The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine in March, outgoing president Cari Levy, MD, PhD, CMD, started with a comment that likely resonated strongly with her audience. She said, “When I came to AMDA in 2002, I felt as if I had found my people, my family.” She went on to share the organization’s plans for the future and its efforts to support, nurture, promote, celebrate, and care for this “family” and the important work they do. “Last year, I spoke about the light shining on us,” she said, “and now we are at a point of inflection. We are being recognized, and we have the ability to let others know the importance of our work.” The Society’s latest strategic plan, she said, “will put wings on the work we do.” The plan includes four goals:•Ensure that the Society is a good steward of its resources: human, financial, time, infrastructure, and systems.•Develop and deliver timely, relevant education and clinical tools for post-acute and long-term care medicine clinicians to improve patient/resident care and attract more members.•Define and promote the unique roles and skills of PALTC medicine.•Advocate for public policy that facilitates the optimal delivery of PALTC medicine for the benefit of patients and residents. Dr. Levy stressed the importance of and the organization’s commitment to spreading the word about the Society and the good work its members do every day. “We will do it in ‘elevator’ speeches, whenever and wherever we have an opportunity. We are complex care specialists, and we need to communicate well and proudly.” The Society will continue to support PALTC practitioners with education, advocacy, certification and competency opportunities, tools and resources, innovative ideas, and more. For example, Dr. Levy said, “We hope to create practical tools to help you work better and help those around you to work better as well.” Dr. Levy highlighted some of the Society’s accomplishments in the past year, including:•Launch of the AMDA On-The-Go podcast, with more than 30 episodes and over 17,000 downloads to date.•Establishment of a nurse practitioner/physician assistant council to better understand their needs and explore the possibilities of further opening up our membership.•Efforts to advocate for and promote telehealth in PALTC, an issue of particular import to our rural members.•Beginning work on developing a playbook on severe mental illness issues.•Establishment of a PALTC “influenza honor roll,” paying tribute to those nursing homes that have made mandatory staff vaccinations a goal. Dr. Levy urged her audience to get involved, noting that member volunteers are essential and welcome. This is a critical time, she noted, but she also expressed optimism and hope for the organization’s — and the profession’s — future. “We have to focus our energy and resources on those issues that matter the most,” she said. “The timing is perfect.” Senior contributing writer Joanne Kaldy is a freelance writer in Harrisburg, PA, and a communications consultant for the Society and other organizations.

Personality, belief in a just world, and attitudes toward criminal responsibility defenses: a preliminary study

PurposeIn Canada, if it can be proven that a defendant was suffering from a mental disorder at the time they committed an offense, they can be found Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder (NCRMD). These cases are often decided by jury. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the dark triad (DT), social dominance orientation (SDO) and belief in a just world (BJW) on undergraduate students’ attitudes toward the NCRMD defense.Design/methodology/approachA total of 421 undergraduate students completed questionnaires measuring SDO and the DT. After being primed for high, low or neutral BJW, they indicated their attitudes toward NCRMD.FindingsThe BJW manipulation had no effect on attitudes. High-SDO/DT participants held less favorable attitudes toward NCRMD than participants who scored low on these variables, F(1, 420)=20.65, p<0.01, . Psychology and criminology students had significantly more favorable attitudes toward NCRMD than business students.Practical implicationsThis study can be helpful in improving jury impartiality in trials involving mental illness and criminal responsibility; assessment of SDO and the DT; awareness of career roles relating to insanity defense bias; and improving the voir dire process.Originality/valueThe results of this study may be used to improve the voir dire process in trials involving the issue of mental illness and criminal responsibility and to preserve the impartiality of the jurors selected for these trials.

Emotional Intelligence As A Mediator Between Personality and Happiness Among Adolescents In Malaysia

Adolescent stage is a duration whereby an individual experiences gradual changes physically and emotionally from childhood to adulthood. During this stage, they will encounter a lot of challenges, ambiguities, obligations, expectations and influences which may affects them emotionally and make them feel unhappy. Individuals who are not happy are more likely to experience severe mental illness and other serious psychological issues that may affect their functioning in the form of social, cognitive and emotional. Present study was carried out to determine the role of emotional intelligence as a mediator between personality and happiness among adolescents in Malaysia. 384 adolescents (13 to 17 years old) from four private institutions were selected as the respondents of this study. The data collected with using Goldberg's International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) Big-Five Factor Marker, Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ). Emotional intelligence partially mediates extraversion and conscientiousness to happiness, and fully mediates agreeableness and neuroticism to happiness. However, emotional intelligence does not mediate openness and happiness. All the Big Five personality, except for openness were significantly correlated to happiness. A significant correlation was found between personality and emotional intelligence. Lastly, emotional intelligence is positively correlated to happiness. Emotional intelligence does play a role in mediating personality and happiness. In order to come out with a more comprehensive and informative outcome, future researcher should replicate this study by using various assessments when evaluating an individual's happiness for their study.