Mental Health

Objectives: Considerable literature has examined the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative mental health sequelae. It is recognised that most people experiencing mental health problems present to primary care and the development of interventions to support GPs in the care of patients with mental health problems is a priority. This review examines interventions to enhance GP care of mental health disorders, with a view to reviewing how mental health needs might be addressed in the post-COVID-19 era. Methods: Five electronic databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and WHO ‘Global Research on COVID-19’) were searched from May – July 2021 for papers published in English following Arksey and O’Malley’s six-stage scoping review process. Results: The initial search identified 148 articles and a total of 29 were included in the review. These studies adopted a range of methodologies, most commonly randomised control trials, qualitative interviews and surveys. Results from includ...

Adverse mental health has been a major consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This review examines interventions to enhance mental health outcomes and well-being of populations during COVID-19. Four electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, and CINAHL) were searched following Arskey and O’Malley’s six-staged scoping review process. Twenty studies were included in the review. Various study populations were included to ensure greater generalisability of results. Interventions informing treatment of mental health concerns during COVID-19 were included and classified into (a) prevention of poor mental health, (b) therapeutic interventions, and (c) other interventions. Preventative strategies (n = 16) included public health education, modified social media use, technology-based interventions, physical activity, policy adaptations, and therapeutic interventions. Treatment strategies (n = 7) included adapting existing treatment and the creation new treatment programmes and platforms....

Background: It is accepted that COVID-19 will have considerable long-term consequences, especially on people’s mental and physical health and wellbeing. Although the impacts on local communities have been immense, there remains little data on long term outcomes among patients with COVID-19 who were managed in general practice and primary care. This study seeks to address this knowledge gap by examining how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the medium and long-term health and wellbeing of patients attending general practice, especially their mental health and wellbeing.  Methods: The study will be conducted at 12 general practices in the catchment area of the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, i.e. the North Dublin area, an area which has experienced an especially high COVID-19 incidence. Practices will be recruited from the professional networks of the research team. A member of the general practice team will be asked to identify patients of the practice who attended the prac...

Artiklen formidler resultaterne af en spørgeskemaundersøgelse på fem pædagoguddannelser. Fokus for undersøgelsen har været studerendes mulighed for at opbygge kompetencer til det pædagogiske arbejde med børn og bevægelse i uderummet under deres praktik i et dagtilbud. Undersøgelsen afslører blandt andet en diskrepans mellem de studerendes idealer for bevægelsespædagogik i uderummet og den konkrete pædagogik, de oplever i praktikken. Kompetencemål, som går på at understøtte, udvikle, gennemføre og evaluere bevægelsesaktiviteter, har særlig positiv betydning for den studerendes læringsmuligheder. Resultaterne af undersøgelsen diskuteres i slutningen af artiklen i et teoretisk perspektiv med henblik på at kunne stille kritiske spørgsmål til gavn for udviklingen af pædagoguddannelsen. English abstract Opportunities for social education students to develop outdoor activities competencies Inhibitory and supporting factors in day care This paper presents the results of a questionnaire carr...

Background Although the association between alcohol use and sexual risk behaviour has been well-documented, there is little understanding of whether marijuana use alone or combining marijuana with alcohol use contributes to sexual risk behaviour among adolescents. A diverse sample of sexually active adolescents (n = 616) aged 12-18 years (50.32% Hispanic; 31.17% Black) completed a survey on alcohol use, marijuana use and sexual risk behaviour during a visit to a primary care clinic. Adolescents were more likely to report having had two or more sexual partners in the past 3 months if they reported using both alcohol and marijuana (OR=3.90, P<0.0001), alcohol alone (OR=2.51, P<0.0001) or marijuana alone (OR=1.89, P<0.001) compared with adolescents who reported no use during the past month. Adolescents were more likely to report having both two or more partners and condomless sex if they used both alcohol and marijuana (OR=3.19, P<0.001) or alcohol alone (OR=3.41, P<0.01...

Spirituality and religiosity may serve as both a resource and a barrier to HIV prevention with young black men who have sex with men (YBMSM). We examined indices of spirituality/religiosity as correlates of binge drinking, stimulant use, and recent HIV testing in a sample of YBMSM. From 2011-2013, annual venue-based surveys of sexually active YBMSM ages 18-29 were conducted in Dallas and Houston, Texas. Binge drinking and stimulant use were assessed in the past two months. Participants recently tested for HIV (i.e., within the past six months) were compared to those without recent HIV testing (i.e., never tested or tested more than six months ago). Among the 1565 HIV-negative or HIV-unknown YBMSM enrolled, more engagement in spiritual and religious activities was associated with greater odds of reporting stimulant use (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR]=1.20; 95% CI=1.04-1.40) while higher spiritual coping was associated with lower odds of reporting stimulant use (AOR=0.66; 95% CI=0.56-0.78)...

Decades of study on prison sociology have sought answers to questions pertaining to the social organization of the prison community. Various researchers expressed their opinion, stating that incarceration has a negative psychological impact. Indian Prisons framework it is seen that the penitentiaries are exceptionally stuffed, this in a situation where the crime percentage has expanded alarmingly which further extends the overburdened detainment facilities. This study is aims to review the documentation of committee reports which were attempts to observe the changes in the Indian Prison Structure. It also makes an attempt to explore the behavior, cognitions and emotional adjustments as different variables in understanding the adaptation process in the Prison set up. Overall, it also attempts to highlight the state of wellbeing and promotion of mental health in the Indian Correctional Systems as major reforms to be incorporated.

The rapid transmission characteristic of the COVID 19 virus is a huge concern for humanity. With the rising death toll and unavailability of the vaccine, it has been creating psychological distress around the globe. This paper through its doctrinal approach has tried to explore the various guidelines or enactments for psychosocial support and mental health services, adopted in various countries. It is necessary to attempt to understand the policies incorporated by various countries in combatting psychological distress during the pandemic to help people cope with the contingency and be resilient in adapting to the new normal. This paper also looks into the strategy adopted by government in dealing with mental health issues specifically in India which is still struggling to have a legal enactment on remote Mental Health Services.  Tele Therapy has been a success in the state of Kerala in India. Hence the paper focuses on the different programmes undertaken by the Kerala government to ...

The study investigated psychosocial determinants 'attitudes and self-esteem' of school violent behaviors and the efficacy of covert sensitization therapy in combination with systematic approach therapy among male students in Lagos metropolis. Ex-post facto experimental research design was adopted for the study. The samples consisted of 39 school violent behavior students identified through the School Disciplinary Record Books and another 39 non-school violent behavior students identified through randomization. The two groups were from four randomly selected Public Senior Secondary Schools. School Violent Behavior Attitudes Scale (SVBAS) and School Violent Behavior Self-Esteem Scale (SVBSES) were used to collect data for the study. Face and Content validity with the Reliability coefficient of 0.772 for SVBAS and 0.813 for SVBSES were obtained. The results showed that the attitude of school violent behavior students do not significantly differ from that of school non-violent b...

Introduction: Mental health is essential for wellbeing. Mental health issues may affect the lives of students in several ways. COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the mental health of students. Previously conducted studies from Pakistan have just focused on prevalence of mental health problems and such studies could not relate the mental health problems with academic activities. The objective of this study was to associate COVID-19 affected mental health with academic activities among university students. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted during month of April 2021 at university of Sindh, Pakistan. After obtaining informed consent form study participants a pretested questionnaire was distributed to collect demographic and mental health data. Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to assessment of depression, anxiety, and stress. Cronbach’s alpha value for DASS-21 was 0.84. Results: Among total of 400 study participants, 49% were females and 51% we...

Introduction: Mental health is crucial for wellbeing. COVID-19 pandemic has caused mental health problems. In this study it was hypothesized that COVID19 related mental health disturbances may have impacted the menstrual health. Objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 affected mental health on the menstrual health of university students. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at University of Sindh, Jamshoro between July to August 2021 during fourth wave. A pre-tested questionnaire was administered to collect the data. Healthy unmarried female students were included in the study. Mental health parameters were assessed using DAS Scale. Results:  For a total 400 study participants the mean age was 20.82±1.69. The prevalence of mild to severe depression, mild to severe anxiety, and mild to moderate stress was 46.3%, 62% and 29.3% respectively. In moderately depressed females there was an increased prevalence of oligomenorrhea [ꭓ2=34.5 p<0.0001], heavy ...

Background: In a patient-centred model of care, referral to early palliative care (EPC) depends on both the prognosis and the complexity of care needs. The PALCOM scale is a 5-domain multidimensional assessment tool developed to identify the level of complexity of palliative care needs of cancer patients. The aim of this study was to validate the PALCOM scale. Patient and methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of cancer patients to compare the PALCOM scale and expert empirical assessment (EA) of the complexity of palliative care needs. The EA had to categorise patients according to their complexity, considering that medium to high levels required priority attention from specialist EPC teams, while those with low levels could be managed by non-specialist teams. Systematically collected multidimensional variables were recorded in an electronic report form and stratified by level of complexity and rating system (PALCOM scale versus EA). The correlation rank (Kendall’s tau tes...

This month’s cover features the dynamic sister-brother duo of Dhivya Priya Bhavanani and Anandraj Bhavanani, poised to lead the next generation of the Gitananda Yoga Parampara into the future. They are exemplary role models for so many young ones globally who look up to them for leadership and guidance. Dhivya was appointed Deputy Director of YOGNAT during the Golden Jubilee of Ananda Ashram in 2018 and recently Anandraj was appointed as Junior Chairman of ICYER during the 6th Decennial Meet 2023. Dhivya had played a vital role in organising the event to perfection and was acclaimed for her insightful and heartfelt leadership. Param Pujya Ammaji has played the most important role of spiritually nurturing both of them and we look forward to a glorious future under their leadership.

We also showcase many special moments from the International Gitananda Yoga Chikitsa Intensive Training held at ICYER, Ananda Ashram, Pondicherry from 2nd to 22nd October 2023. This was led by Yogachariya Jnandev Giri under guidance of Yogacharya Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani and blessed by our dearest Param Pujya Ammaji. We are pleased that this aspect of Gitananda Yoga is now gaining recognition and strength and Jnandev who is leading the way was honured by Ammaji as the first Gitananda Yoga Chikitsa Acharya during the valedictory Guru Puja of the 3-week program.

Our dearest Ammaji continues to be active in all the activities of the Ashram and enjoyed the company of so many Sadhakas from all over the world who visited ICYER in the past few months. She has taken on a new dimension of Divinity and participates actively in the Bhajans and Satsangha with serenity and grace. We are truly blessed to be living on this planet at the same time as this Living Siddha of Puducherry.

It is devastating to people’s mental and emotional health to be exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic and the multifaceted response strategies are required to curb it. As a result of social distancing and self-isolation, people have faced many challenges in their lives. The suffering is even greater at the workplace where the employees are working with the fear of getting exposed to the virus and its new variants which is adversely affecting their wellbeing. This study explores and tests a model that extends the wellbeing research across organizational settings and targets the crucial factors that lead to job performance improvement even in the post pandemic COVID-19 situation. To improve both in-role performance and extra-role performance behaviors in the Pakistan banking sector, organizational virtue (also known as organizational virtuousness) and internal virtue (also known as emotional intelligence) are examined. Data were collected from the 416 bank employees using disproportionate ...

BACKGROUND: Many healthcare organizations place a high value on quality of work-life (QoWL). The healthcare system’s long-term sustainability and capability to offer high-quality services to patients depend on improving QoWL for their healthcare workers. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to explore the impact of Jordanian hospitals’ workplace policies and measures in three main domains: (I) Infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, (II) Supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), and (III) COVID-19 precautionary measures on the QoWL among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to June 2021 through an online self-reported questionnaire (Google Form) targeting hospital healthcare professionals working at Jordanian hospitals (public, private, military, and university). The study used a valid work-related quality of life (WRQoL) scale to study the QoWL. RESULTS: A total of 484 HCWs in Jordanian hospitals participated ...

Background We compare the prevalence rates of common mental disorders symptoms between farmers and non-farmers workers of the sugarcane industry and explore the role of relevant occupational factors. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study with an occupational health & safety focus, describing the demographic and work characteristics of farmers and non-farmer of the sugar cane industry in San Jacinto, Peru. We identified mental disorders symptoms using a local validated version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). We explored the association between symptoms of mental disorders, work conditions and known occupational risk factors. We explored the proposed association using negative binomial regression models to estimate Ratio of means (RM) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results We assessed 281 workers; 106 (37.7%) of respondents identified themselves as farm workers. The mean GHQ-12 score for farmers and non-farmers was 3.1 and 1.3 respectively. In the adjusted...

Los seres humanos gran parte del tiempo hacemos juicios y clasificamos nuestro mundo, como una manera de entenderlo, ordenarlo, relacionarnos con el, muestra de ello son las extensas clasificaciones de animales, plantas, objetos que el hombre ha construido a lo largo de su historia; de estas clasificaciones no escapa la imperiosa necesidad de clasificar, nombrar, caracterizar las enfermedades mentales; de este modo, los manuales diagnosticos aparecen y se consolidan como una respuesta frente la incertidumbre que produce el sufrimiento propio y el del otro. Es bien sabido, pero olvidado, que la enfermedad sea fisica o mental es una construccion y no una entidad. Es una ficcion, que no obstante sirve para poder estudiarla, la cual se construye a partir de la agrupacion de signos y sintomas, para conformar las categorias nosologicas, que se compilan en los manuales diagnosticos.

Riboflavin may have an acceptable effect on migraine among children. This study was carried out to determine the prophylactic effect of riboflavin on migraine in children. This randomized clinical trial study was performed at Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, Iran from December 2012 to February 2015. Ninety children with migraine were allocated randomly into 3 groups (placebo, low-dose and high-dose riboflavin). The outcomes (frequency, intensity and duration of headaches) were measured at baseline and 12 weeks of medication in each group, and the decrease of them were compared. SPSS software version 16 was used for analysis of the data. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square, Fisher's exact and t-test were used for statistical analyses. There was a significant decrease of migraine frequency (p=0.000) and mean duration (p=0.000) in the high-dose group compared with the placebo group. No significant reduction of frequency and mean duration of attacks were reported in the low-dose g...

The aim of this study was to explore and describe the perceptions of professional nurses concerning barriers to care for people with mental illness in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The study was based on a qualitative, explorative and descriptive design.  A total of nine professional nurses working in primary, secondary and tertiary health care facilities were purposively selected. Unstructured interviews were conducted to collect data. Participants’ responses were captured on an audio recorder and later transcribed verbatim.Participants’ responses were then analysed thematically. Two main themes and their related sub-themes were identified. The first theme concerns the perceptions of professional nurses regarding the societal barriers that may hinder people with mental illness from accessing and utilising mental health services. These barriers include socioeconomic hardships, lack of knowledge and insight, lack of family support, embedded cultural beliefs and pract...

Purpose: Transgender adults have difficulty accessing health care due to multiple barriers. This study examined the health care-related needs of transgender patients in Dallas, Texas.Methods: This study examined cross-sectional data from a survey completed by 62 patients who identified as transgender.Results: Many participants reported depression (50%) and anxiety (51%). Over half did not receive preventive screenings (60%) or health care (61%) elsewhere. One-third of patients felt their primary care physician outside the clinic was not transgender-friendly.Conclusion: These findings provide evidence that transgender patients demonstrate increased reported mental health disorders and decreased access to medical care.

Mental and emotional health (MEH) impairment is commonly encountered in hepatitis C patients. Although the exact mechanism remains unknown, alterations in neurotransmitter and cytokine levels maybe associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related MEH issues.The aim of the study was to assess association of serum biomarkers with self-reports of MEH in HCV patients before treatment and after achieving sustained virologic response (SVR).The HCV genotype-1-infected patients who achieved SVR at 12 weeks after treatment with ledipasvir (LDV)/sofosbuvir (SOF) ± ribavirin (RBV) were selected. Frozen serum samples from baseline, end of treatment (EOT), and posttreatment week 4 (PTW4) were used to assay 16 cytokines and monoamine neurotransmitters. Validated self-reports were used to assess MEH.Hundred patients were evaluated. Mean age was 53 years (57% male, 86% white). Compared with baseline, emotional well-being and emotional health significantly increased by EOT, and role emotional, emotio...

Background Eating disorders (EDs) are highly complex mental illnesses associated with significant medical complications. There are currently knowledge gaps in research relating to the epidemiology, aetiology, treatment, burden, and outcomes of eating disorders. To clearly identify and begin addressing the major deficits in the scientific, medical, and clinical understanding of these mental illnesses, the Australian Government Department of Health in 2019 funded the InsideOut Institute (IOI) to develop the Australian Eating Disorder Research and Translation Strategy, the primary aim of which was to identify priorities and targets for building research capacity and outputs. A series of rapid reviews (RR) were conducted to map the current state of knowledge, identify evidence gaps, and inform development of the national research strategy. Published peer-reviewed literature on DSM-5 listed EDs, across eight knowledge domains was reviewed: (1) population, prevalence, disease burden, Qual...

Background There is a dearth of research into mental disorders amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (herein First Australians) and especially into eating disorders. In order to understand the healthcare needs of this population, accurate prevalence data is needed. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of eating disorders amongst First Australians at the diagnostic threshold level and to compare clinical features and health related quality of life (HRQoL) in First and other Australians with and without an eating disorder. Methods Data were sourced from the general population 2015 and 2016 Health Omnibus Surveys in South Australia. Trained interviewers conducted via face to face interviews with 6052 people over 15 years old. Eating disorder questions were based on the Eating Disorder Examination and Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) measured with the Short-Form 12 v1. The response and participation rates were over 50% and 68% respectively in both surveys. B...

Background Eating Disorders (ED) are relatively common in the general population. However, perceived as “female disorders”, EDs in men are often overlooked. Although recovery is often seen as the ideal end goal of ED, there is no single universal definition of recovery. Recovery can be defined in terms of: physical changes, behavioural changes, psychological (cognitive and emotional) and improved quality of life. There is very little research exploring how people with ED define/ understand what recovery is and there is even less research involving men with ED. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore recovery from men’s perspectives. Methods In this qualitative study, eight men from Australia, New Zealand and the United States participated in a semi-structured interview. Data collected on the men’s experiences of recovery were analysed in detail to create a thematic map of their understanding of recovery. Results The thematic analysis generated two overarching themes. The fir...

O presente estudo busca verificar a contribuicao de um projeto de extensao interdisciplinar no cuidado a saude de idosos com sindromes demenciais e seus familiares. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, por meio da Historia Oral. Observou-se que a participacao no referido projeto e tida pelos entrevistados como um importante promotor do cuidado de si e do outro, favorecendo a aceitacao da doenca, a superacao das dificuldades e auxiliando na qualidade de vida e na ampliacao do conhecimento de seus participantes.