Struggle For Health Research Articles

Co-creation and recovery in mental health services: a lived experience perspective.

This article explores the shift in mental health recovery from mere symptom management to a holistic approach via the CHIME framework. It delves into the author's experience, beginning with the loss of his father, a war veteran with mental health struggles, at 16, thrusting him into the role of primary caregiver for his mother, who also battled mental health issues and eventually took her own life. These events spotlight the shortcomings of traditional mental health care and the urgent need for empathetic, multifaceted services. Advocating for co-creation in mental health services, the article outlines a transition towards a system that integrates recovery principles through stages from co-ideation to co-evaluation, emphasising holistic, person-centred care. It calls for a reimagined mental healthcare system that respects individual journeys and is rooted in co-creation, signalling a critical move towards systemic change.

Ken's best friend: masculinities in Barbie

Greta Gerwig's Barbie (2023) has predominantly been labelled either as anti-man propaganda or as a paragon for women's empowerment. I suggest that such positions miss a crucial point: Barbie is not anti-man; it is pro-man and is not necessarily a revolutionary film for women, at least not as much as it is for men. This is because Barbie espouses non-hegemonic masculinity through cultural critiques that are rare to see in popular media, especially with the immense commercial success that the film has had . I postulate that Barbie can be utilised as a blueprint for men through its representation of queered masculinity and intimate heterosexual male homosocial relationships. The film portrays heterosexual deviance that can be used as an alternative thinking of how masculinity can be performed sans patriarchy and hegemony. This subversive representation is paramount, and the ramifications of such an analysis can hopefully result in future media representations of non-hegemonic masculinity and can also lend to the effort in normalising the existence of men's emotions and mental health struggles, and in underlining discussions of what it means to be man enough; or better yet, what it means to be Kenough.

Youth Engagement and Perceptions of the LGBTQ Community

This paper explores youth engagement and perceptions of the LGBTQ community. It delves into highlighting their attitudes toward LGBTQ rights and inclusion. The study has used a mixed-methods approach, where the data is collected from 30 participants aged 18-30 through online questionnaires, both quantitative and qualitative. The findings have been presented thematically. They indicate that while many young individuals support LGBTQ rights, there are gaps in awareness, especially regarding legal protections and policies. It was noted that social media is a dominant source of information for LGBTQ issues, while more structured educational resources were found to be less influential. Also the study reveals a significant level of ambivalence toward LGBTQ individuals, particularly within societal and cultural norms. Challenges faced by LGBTQ youth, including discrimination, mental health struggles, and social exclusion, were also identified.

Effects of adverse childhood experiences on university students' ability to lead healthy lives: an exploratory qualitative study in Lahore, Pakistan.

Adverse Childhood Experiences are a significant global public health concern as these experiences have adverse effects on all the health determinants. The interpretive phenomenological research design was used to explore the implications of adverse childhood experiences on the adult life of university students. An interpretive thematic analysis method was employed to analyze this study. Five major themes emerged after a comprehensive review of the information obtained from the interviews with the ten selected participants. These were (1) Chronic health struggles (2) Mental health disorders (3) Emotional and social difficulties (4) Paranoia and distrust and (5) Academic and professional under-performance. This study concludes that adverse childhood experiences have long-lasting negative effects on university students' health and behaviour, preventing them from leading healthy lives and excelling academically and professionally.

The Nitty Gritty of Stress and Mental Health: The Role of Grit in Moderating the Relationship Between Stress, Anxiety, and Depression

ABSTRACT College students in the United States contend with unprecedented mental health difficulties. College-specific challenges and stressors associated with emerging adulthood exacerbate these mental health struggles. In the ABC-X model of stress, cognitive appraisal or perception mediates the relationship between stressful events and degraded mental health. In this model, a resource, such as grit, may strengthen student resilience. Using data collected from 844 US college students, the path analysis results identified the mediation effect of the perception of stress on the association between college life challenges and mental health difficulties (depression and anxiety). These mediation effects were not significantly affected by the level of grit. However, the relationships between the perception of stress and both anxiety and depression were weaker at higher levels of grit. The implications of these findings, relative to grit interventions and attrition, are considered.

Reducing mental health stigma in academia: Assessing the acceptability of a first-person narrative program.

Academics are more likely to experience mental health difficulties like depression and anxiety. However, stigma remains a key barrier to help-seeking, and limited data exists on stigma reduction for academics. This study examines the acceptability of a first-person narrative-based antistigma program conducted by Dragonfly Mental Health at a large public university. This intervention used a multitiered approach that leverages education and contact strategies to reduce stigma among graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, staff, and faculty. Personal stories of six local faculty with lived experience of mental health struggles were shown in a short film during three separate departmental retreats, followed by moderated large and small group discussions. This study presents descriptive survey data from academics (N = 149) who attended one of these three programs. A thematic content analysis was conducted on open-ended responses from 86 participants. Overall, the Dragonfly Mental Health program was well-received: 95% of participants found the film beneficial, and over 92% felt the film and discussions reduced stigma. Qualitative analysis highlighted several themes on participants' experiences. Participants appreciated the open, honest disclosures of faculty members in the film but reported that the vague disclosures perpetuated stigma. Participants liked the normalization of mental illness but desired more representation from the mental health spectrum. Participants expressed frustration over an academic work culture that is defined by overwork and burnout. These findings suggest that sharing faculty stories is a powerful mechanism to build connectedness among academics, promote open communication, and foster change in academic culture around mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Providers’ perspectives of barriers and facilitators to scale-up of mental health care in the public health delivery system of Mozambique: a qualitative inquiry

BackgroundA central challenge to closing the mental health treatment gap in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is determining the most effective pathway for delivering evidence-based mental health services. We are conducting a cluster-randomized, Type 2 hybrid implementation-effectiveness trial across 20 districts of Mozambique called the Partnerships in Research to Implement and Disseminate Sustainable and Scalable EBPs (PRIDE) program. Following training of nonspecialized providers in facilitation of evidence-based treatments for mental health and informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), we identified how PRIDE compares to care as usual and the perceived barriers and facilitators of implementation and modifications needed for widescale service delivery and scale-up.MethodsWe conducted rapid ethnographic assessment using freelisting among 34 providers, followed by four focus group discussions (n = 29 participants) with a subsample of psychiatric technicians and primary care providers from 14 districts in Nampula Province. We used Thematic Analysis to inductively apply open codes to transcripts and then deductively applied the CFIR domains and constructs to organize open codes.ResultsThe main Outer Setting constructs relevant to implementation were recognition that patient mental health needs were significant. Additionally, numerous community-level characteristics were identified as barriers, including distance between clinics; shortage of providers; and low awareness of mental health problems, stigma, and discrimination among community members towards those with mental health struggles. The PRIDE program was perceived to offer a relative advantage over usual care because of its use of task-sharing and treating mental illness in the community. PRIDE addressed Inner Setting barriers of having available resources and training and provider low self-efficacy and limited knowledge of mental illness. Providers recommended leadership engagement to give support for supervision of other task-shared professionals delivering mental healthcare.ConclusionsPrimary care providers and psychiatric technicians in Mozambique perceived the relative advantage of the PRIDE program to address mental health treatment access barriers and offered recommendations for successful sustainment and scale up of integrated mental health care.

Non-traditional mental health clinical placements: An effective means for reducing self-stigma in pre-registration nursing students.

Pre-registration nursing students report high rates of stigma, leading to low help-seeking attitudes when seeking help for mental health issues. Traditional mental health clinical placements can improve stigma related to attitudes and social distance for pre-registration nursing students. There are nil recorded clinical placement interventions that have decreased self-stigma for pre-registration nursing students, with this study highlighting a clinical placement model that is effective in significantly decreasing self-stigma. The knowledge around the mental health struggles experienced by pre-registration nursing students, and the effect of a non-traditional mental health placement in decreasing self-stigmatizing attitudes in this population, is important for the future of retaining mental health nurses. There is an opportunity to use the clinical placement model presented, and design interventions for nursing students that aims to promote help-seeking behaviours. INTRODUCTION: Traditional mental health clinical placements can improve pre-registration nurse stigma toward mental illness, particularly in measures of attitudes and social distance. However, they have not yet been shown to improve self-stigma, which affects mental health disclosure and help-seeking behaviour. The present study investigates nursing students' stigma following a non-traditional mental health placement immersed alongside people living with mental illness. Three stigma subtypes were measured using the Opening Minds Scale for Healthcare Providers: Attitudes, Social Distance, and Disclosure/Help-seeking. Pre-registration nurses (N = 848) completed the instrument pre- and post-placement. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) identified a large effect of placement on stigma (p < .001, = .101). Post hoc pairwise comparisons revealed all three types of stigma decreased after the non-traditional placement (Attitudes: p < .001, = 0.09, Social Distance: p < .001, = 0.07, Disclosure/Help-seeking: p < .001, = 0.04). These findings emphasize that attending a non-traditional mental health clinical placement can effectively reduce multiple types of nursing student stigma. Further research in this area could focus on which attributes of the clinical placement setting foster positive help-seeking. These results are noteworthy for stigma surrounding disclosure/help-seeking, as traditional (i.e. hospital-based) mental-health clinical placements have been found ineffective in reducing nursing student stigma in this domain. Further research into the effectiveness of non-traditional clinical placements in reducing nursing students' stigma regarding mental health disclosure and help-seeking, is required.

Vulnerabilidades socioambientais na pesca artesanal: desafios e conquistas para Territórios Saudáveis e Sustentáveis em Pernambuco

ABSTRACT This study adopted a theoretical-methodological perspective anchored in the Ecosystem Approach to Health, the Social Reproduction of Health, and the Social Determinants of Health to analyze the socioenvironmental vulnerability and health of populations exposed to crude oil during the COVID-19 pandemic and present pathways for comprehensive community reparation. We employed action research as a strategy for dialogic interaction with the subjects of the territories and the construction of emancipatory experiences in the struggle for health, the environment, and sustainable development. We presented a general outlook on the social determination of the health of small-scale fishing communities and the promotion of community-institutional dialogues. The results reinforce the need for environmental health studies that combine academic knowledge with the wisdom of water peoples in the pursuit of truth, justice, and reparation. To do so, it is necessary to unveil environmental injustice, racism, and conflicts, engaging in dialogue about the development model and neo-extractivism in society as essential challenges and opportunities for promoting Healthy and Sustainable Territories.

Change in Teacher-Student Relationship Quality during a Tier-One Character Education Intervention

The rise in students’ mental health struggles and declining rates of prosocial behavior in schools has resulted in increased attention on the social, emotional, and behavioral aspects of schooling. Within the broader category of social-emotional learning, character education includes a focus on students’ intrinsic values and ways of thinking related to achieving their goals and developing personal relationships. One increasingly popular, yet under-researched, character education program for school-aged students is the Positivity Project (P2). The P2 program is a universal professional development intervention focused on the 24 unique character strengths from positive psychology. The purpose of the current study was to implement a quasi-experimental design to examine the association between teachers’ use of P2 and changes in teacher-student relationship quality. Results suggested significant effects, with increases in closeness and decreases in conflict, yielding moderate effect sizes. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Drawing invisible illness: an interview with Claire Lordon

ABSTRACT The depiction of illness narratives within the comics medium has garnered renewed scholarly attention since the advent of graphic medicine in 2007. This interdisciplinary field aims to reconceptualise the emotional landscapes associated with illness, disability, and healthcare. Leveraging the unique affordances of comics, memoirists employ vivid verbo-visual elements that facilitate a more immersive and emotionally resonant depiction of their lived experiences with illness, treatments, and healthcare. Unlike prose narratives, which can be hindered by the limitations of language, comics allow readers to see and feel the struggles, fears, and triumphs of individuals living with illness. The visual nature of comics enables the use of metaphors and visual allegories to represent abstract or internal aspects of illness, such as pain, fatigue, or mental health struggles. The present interview discusses Claire Lordon’s debut graphic novel, One in a Million, a graphic memoir about Cushing’s disease, a rare condition. In this email interview, Lordon explores her artistic vision, community engagement, the comics industry, graphic medicine, future prospects in healthcare and self-care, and her ongoing projects.

Crisis on campus: The mental health struggles of undergraduate students

Crisis on campus: The mental health struggles of undergraduate students

Leveraging social media to enhance celebrity stories for anti-stigma efforts

Anti-stigma campaigns increasingly leverage personal narratives of celebrities or public figures through social media, yet little is known about what makes social media an effective storytelling tool. This study empirically tests their mental health stories in different media formats using a multiple message design. Through a pilot study, four celebrities were selected: Kristen Bell, Mariah Carey, Dwayne Johnson, and Kevin Love, who have disclosed their mental health struggles. An online between-subjects experiment was conducted with 389 participants who were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (social media vs. online article vs. no-message control). Results showed that participants who read the stories in a social media format felt a greater social presence, as if they were engaging in a real conversation with the celebrity, compared to those who read the same stories in an online article format. This, in turn, facilitated a stronger sense of transportation into the story, ultimately leading to persuasive outcomes such as positive attitudes toward help-seeking and increased intentions to seek both professional and informal help. Further analyses revealed that the effects of social presence and transportation on attitudes toward help-seeking were more pronounced among those with greater parasocial intimacy with the celebrity. The findings provide empirical support for the effectiveness of using social media as a storytelling channel for anti-stigma campaigns.

The unseen battle: Exploring the intersection between mental health struggles in elite athletes

El foco de la investigación sobre el desarrollo en la última década ha acentuado la naturaleza crítica de reconocer la salud mental de los atletas de élite. Profesionales e investigadores se han unido para reconocer la susceptibilidad de los deportistas de élite a los problemas de salud mental en un nivel similar al de la población general (Moesch et al., 2018; Poucher &amp; Cairney, 2021). Se reconoce que los atletas de élite experimentan una amplia gama de trastornos como ansiedad, depresión, trastornos alimentarios y abuso de sustancias, que pueden verse influenciados por una serie de aspectos relacionados con su carrera atlética, su rendimiento y factores externos (Rice &amp; Parker, 2016). ). La noción de "salud mental" se ha descrito de muchas maneras. Según la Organización Mundial de la Salud, la salud mental se define como “un estado de bienestar en el que cada individuo es consciente de su propio potencial, puede hacer frente a las tensiones normales de la vida, puede trabajar de forma productiva y fructífera y es capaz de hacer una contribución a su comunidad” (Organización Mundial de la Salud, 2014). Esta definición dada destaca que la salud mental va más allá de la ausencia de trastornos y enfatiza la capacidad de un individuo para lograr un bienestar óptimo. Además, la Asociación Estadounidense de Psiquiatría define los "trastornos mentales" como "un síndrome caracterizado por una alteración clínicamente significativa en la cognición, la regulación de las emociones o el comportamiento de un individuo que refleja una disfunción en los procesos psicológicos, biológicos o de desarrollo subyacentes al funcionamiento mental", incluidas las afecciones. como trastornos alimentarios, depresión y ansiedad (Asociación Estadounidense de Psiquiatría, 2013).

Combating Student Alienation Through Assignment Design

In recent years, increased attention has been paid to mental health struggles among students, and a range of interventions have been proposed to improve student retention and learning through “trauma-engaged pedagogy” and “cultures of caring.” Drawing on the insights of affect theory, we argue that such a focus, although possibly helpful, ignores the role of alienation as a factor in student struggles. We further argue that assignment design is an overlooked and crucial site of student alienation, arguing that culturally relevant or politically inspiring readings and curricula will do little to ensure student engagement if assignments are arbitrary, artificial, and appear as simulacra of academic writing rather than as real sites of intellectual engagement. Drawing on our many years of experience as composition teachers at a community college as well as the work of colleagues and scholars and traditions of progressive pedagogy, we then suggest some criteria for assignments that foster engagement, offer lists of examples of such assignments, and outline a few of them in detail.

Narratives of transformation and recovery in New Zealand Defence Force personnel accessing mental health support

LAY SUMMARY The way military personnel describe seeking support for difficult mental health experiences can highlight what helped recovery and what impeded it. This study examined stories of accessing care told by New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) military members to understand their unique perspectives on mental health recovery. In total, 21 NZDF military personnel who were treated for mental health concerns were interviewed. Results showed how personnel described experiences of being supported through the NZDF mental health system, how hard it was to seek help, and how challenging the process was to get better. In general, participants described positive outcomes, where they felt supported to recover and become better versions of themselves through the process. Results highlight that growth from mental health struggles for NZDF military personnel is possible and can be supported. Discussion focuses on things leaders and organizations can do to ensure military service members are encouraged to feel they are in control of their own recovery process.

“I saw you on TV – here’s my problem”: Exploring participant experiences with second stories following mental health disclosures on Norwegian television

Abstract The emotional and confessional nature of mental health disclosures on television sometimes induces audiences to share their own personal stories of mental health struggles in return. The term testimony loop is suggested to conceptualise this phenomenon, whereby Norwegian television participants become receivers of many audience testimonies through private messages on social media platforms. The participants represent the programme to the public and perform emotional labour through interacting with the audience and engaging with the testimonies received. While some television participants in this study, particularly the females, genuinely appreciated their role as helpers, others found this appeal to interact emotionally strenuous. By way of the television participants’ own attestations, this study seeks to enrich the understanding of the complexities involved in confessing personal stories of illness, suffering, and trauma within the context of mass media.

Ready to bleed when touched – Moral Injury in the Special Operations Forces military population

Abstract The armed forces combine different military populations with specific patterns of psycho-medical challenges and needs. The Special Operations Forces (SOF) exhibit one such pattern because they undergo more rigorous selection procedures, train differently and generally engage in different types of missions than other military populations. The aim of this commentary is to briefly introduce the psycho-medical patterns of SOF while paying particular attention to the growing discussion of Moral Injury (MI) in this military population. The mental health construct of MI refers to the persistent psycho-social harm resulting from exposure to events that clash with an individual’s moral beliefs. So far, research has focused on causes and symptoms of MI, less on prevention strategies and early intervention opportunities. This article advocates making a regular screening for symptoms of MI an element of routine physical check-ups of SOF to identify MI-related problems earlier and destigmatise mental health struggles, thereby countering severe manifestations of MI and alleviating suicidality rates in the SOF military population.

The Impact of Job Satisfaction on Teacher Mental Health: A Call to Action for Educational Policymakers

Abstract Job satisfaction significantly impacts teachers’ overall well-being and mental health. Research reveals a strong connection between employment status and mental health, with teaching being a particularly stressful profession. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these challenges, with the shift to online education and limited support causing heightened stress, anxiety, and depression. This study analyses scientific literature exploring the link between job satisfaction and mental health (depression, stress, and anxiety) in teachers. By examining relevant articles in major databases like Web of Science, PSYNDEX, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Google Scholar, the research identifies numerous sociodemographic and institutional factors contributing to teachers’ mental health struggles, including workload, teaching experience, job satisfaction, gender, and the nature of online education. The findings highlight the urgent need for educational policymakers to develop policies prioritizing teacher well-being, especially during times of crisis. This involves addressing factors affecting job satisfaction and implementing strategies to promote mental health support for educators.

Brazilian housing movements and the right to the city

Since the 1970s, popular movements organized around the struggle for housing have been strong in São Paulo. Based on four central agendas – slums and precarious neighborhoods upgrading; better rental conditions; urban improvements and land tenure in peripheral subdivisions; and public funding for housing production – housing movements have consolidated as an essential political player in São Paulo, intersecting with the struggles for health, education, transportation, and urban infrastructure. With local action and national organization, São Paulo’s housing movements are responsible for empowering the community, qualifying their dialogue, preparing for confrontations with the public authorities, and ensuring access to housing through public programs via organized building squatting. This paper analyzes the importance of São Paulo housing movements and its prominent female participants in São Paulo in conquering social rights.