Stressors associated with the COVID‐19 pandemic, disability, and mental health: Considerations from the Intermountain West

Queer Lives in Idaho and the Surrounding Region

10.18122/td.1834.boisestate ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ollie Shannon

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

High School ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Cultural Change ◽

School Environment ◽

Online Survey ◽

Social Contact ◽

The United States ◽

Intermountain West ◽

The Impact

The experiences of Queer people in the Intermountain-West are under- documented by the scientific community. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. It was responsible for more than 47,500 deaths in 2019. Members of the Queer community have higher rates of suicidal ideation and attempts than the general population. Theoretically, we may predict that people experience negative mental health outcomes under situations of reduced social contact and support or during periods of exclusion by conspecifics. My research explores mental health in the Queer community utilizing data collected in an online survey during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a sample size of 147 participants from the intermountain west, this study examines whether rates of suicidal ideation and behavior are influenced by a person’s high school experience. Specifically, I investigate effects of experienced positive curriculum related to Queer identities, supportive teachers, status of protection under the law, and the impact of COVID-19, particularly related to a lack of pride festivals. Statistical analysis found that mental health declined during the pandemic, and when sexual and gender identity are included in anti-discrimination laws Queer people’s mental health improves. These findings are supported in the high school environment as well. People who heard anti- Queer had five times the odds of engaging in suicidal behaviors. Access to a supportive community improves mental health and suggests that the adaptive use of technology to create social connections in novel ways may be key to thriving during times of cultural change and unpredictability.

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Evaluating Mental Health Services; How Do Programs for Children “Work” in the Real World? Edited by Carol T. Nixon & Denine A. Northrup. Sage, Thousand Oaks CA, 1997. pp. 306. £16.60 (pb).

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry ◽

10.1017/s0021963098222918 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 39 (6) ◽

pp. 935-936

Author(s):

Anne Worrall-Davies

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Real World ◽

The Real

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Therapy and prevention for mental health: What if mental diseases are mostly not brain disorders?

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x1800105x ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

John P. A. Ioannidis

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Disease ◽

Brain Disorders ◽

Social Stressors ◽

Labor Education ◽

Mental Diseases ◽

Long Term Follow Up ◽

Political Decisions

AbstractNeurobiology-based interventions for mental diseases and searches for useful biomarkers of treatment response have largely failed. Clinical trials should assess interventions related to environmental and social stressors, with long-term follow-up; social rather than biological endpoints; personalized outcomes; and suitable cluster, adaptive, and n-of-1 designs. Labor, education, financial, and other social/political decisions should be evaluated for their impacts on mental disease.

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A Tribute to the Late William J. Curran

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1017/s1073110500004058 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 274-275

Author(s):

O. Lawrence ◽

J.D. Gostin

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Mental Illness ◽

United Nations ◽

Mental Health Care ◽

Harvard University ◽

Legal Medicine ◽

General Assembly ◽

International Institute ◽

University Professor

In the summer of 1979, a group of experts on law, medicine, and ethics assembled in Siracusa, Sicily, under the auspices of the International Commission of Jurists and the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Science, to draft guidelines on the rights of persons with mental illness. Sitting across the table from me was a quiet, proud man of distinctive intelligence, William J. Curran, Frances Glessner Lee Professor of Legal Medicine at Harvard University. Professor Curran was one of the principal drafters of those guidelines. Many years later in 1991, after several subsequent re-drafts by United Nations (U.N.) Rapporteur Erica-Irene Daes, the text was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly as the Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and for the Improvement of Mental Health Care. This was the kind of remarkable achievement in the field of law and medicine that Professor Curran repeated throughout his distinguished career.

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Prevalence of Self-Reported Depression Symptoms and Perceived Anxiety Among Community-Dwelling U.S. Adults Reporting Tinnitus

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/2020_persp-19-00178 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 959-970

Author(s):

Kelly M. Reavis ◽

James A. Henry ◽

Lynn M. Marshall ◽

Kathleen F. Carlson

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Fold Increase ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Self Report ◽

Depression Symptoms ◽

Community Based Interventions ◽

Data Set ◽

Health Distress ◽

Validated Questionnaire ◽

Mental Health Distress

Purpose The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between tinnitus and self-reported mental health distress, namely, depression symptoms and perceived anxiety, in adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examinations Survey between 2009 and 2012. A secondary aim was to determine if a history of serving in the military modified the associations between tinnitus and mental health distress. Method This was a cross-sectional study design of a national data set that included 5,550 U.S. community-dwelling adults ages 20 years and older, 12.7% of whom were military Veterans. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the association between tinnitus and mental health distress. All measures were based on self-report. Tinnitus and perceived anxiety were each assessed using a single question. Depression symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire, a validated questionnaire. Multivariable regression models were adjusted for key demographic and health factors, including self-reported hearing ability. Results Prevalence of tinnitus was 15%. Compared to adults without tinnitus, adults with tinnitus had a 1.8-fold increase in depression symptoms and a 1.5-fold increase in perceived anxiety after adjusting for potential confounders. Military Veteran status did not modify these observed associations. Conclusions Findings revealed an association between tinnitus and both depression symptoms and perceived anxiety, independent of potential confounders, among both Veterans and non-Veterans. These results suggest, on a population level, that individuals with tinnitus have a greater burden of perceived mental health distress and may benefit from interdisciplinary health care, self-help, and community-based interventions. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12568475

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