scholarly journals Mental health in migrants contacting the mental health operational unit of the National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (NIHMP): preliminary data

Author(s):  
Carla Gramaglia ◽  
Eleonora Gambaro ◽  
Debora Marangon ◽  
Camilla Vecchi ◽  
Chiara Airoldi ◽  
...  

Abstract Aim Migration can lead to an increase in stress rates and can impact mental health, especially in certain migrant groups. Nonetheless, mental health needs and the importance of public health are not well captured in most studies using national samples. This study aimed to show the correlation between mental disorders, socio-demographic and cultural aspects among migrants. Subject and methods One hundred nineteen migrants, applying for assessment to the Mental Health Operational Unit of the National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (NIHMP) in Rome, were recruited. Results Migrants frequently reported mood disorders (mainly women). Men reported PTSD, somatization and adjustment disorders. Conclusions Over time, diverse factors may produce a decline in an initially healthy migrant status. The research unveils a new focus on the psychopathology of migrants accessing the NIHMP, with important implications for migrants’ mental health treatment and prevention.

Author(s):  
Johanna E. Nilsson ◽  
Sally Stratmann ◽  
Aurora Molitoris ◽  
Marcella A. Beaumont ◽  
Jessica Horine

Approximately 25 million refugees have fled their homelands internationally, and about 3 million have been resettled in the United States. The mental health needs of a population that has fled oppression, violence, and instability are diverse. This chapter seeks to provide a holistic overview of these needs. The introduction covers what defines the status of a refugee, current resettlement policies, and pre- and post-migration experiences and concerns among refugees, including barriers to basic services. Effective mental health treatment options and areas of competence for mental health professionals working with these individuals are discussed, along with future considerations for best meeting the mental health needs of refugees.


Author(s):  
Foteini Tseliou ◽  
Michael Rosato ◽  
Dermot O'Reilly

BackgroundHigh levels of mental ill-health have resulted in increasing delays in the receipt of appropriate care. However, the size of the gap between mental health needs and the likelihood of receiving treatment has not been thoroughly investigated on a population-level within Northern Ireland. ObjectivesTo that end we investigated the link between self-reported mental ill-health and likelihood of being in receipt of treatment in a population cohort. MethodsThe 2011 Northern Ireland Census was linked to a population-wide prescribing database. The presence of a chronic mental health condition, as assessed through the Census self-reported mental health question, was compared to regular psychotropic medication use in the six and twelve months following the Census. Of the 23,803 individuals (aged 25 to 74) who reported chronic mental ill-health at the Census, 22% were not in receipt of medication over the following six months, with this being reduced down to 18.5% by the twelve month mark. FindingsAfter adjusting logistic regression models for socio-demographic factors, men (OR=0.56: 95%CI=0.52-0.60), those of non-white ethnicity (OR=0.38: 95%CI=0.26-0.54), never married (OR=0.67: 95%CI=0.61-0.82), unemployed (OR=0.65: 95%CI=0.53-0.81) and living in a rural area (OR=0.88: 95%CI=0.79-0.98) were less likely to receive regular medication, indicating mental health unmet need. ConclusionsA level of discord was observed between mental-ill health and medication receipt on a population level. Further focus on mental health needs and the impact of low prescribing rates on mental health patients could help ameliorate the current inequalities and reduce potential gaps in mental health treatment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-110
Author(s):  
Frederick A. Ernst

The safety of the American public has been violated by a mental health treatment enterprise that is badly broken because it is based on a fundamentally flawed model of understanding distress and dysfunction. The system has generated language that has caused serious confusion among the public as well as the providers of mental health services. And language matters. Psychologists have drifted from their core identity and contributed significantly to this system by embracing the illness model as if it was their own. In their philosophical confusion feeding a myopic neuroscience zeitgeist, proponents of this flawed model and broken system have minimized the influence of psychological factors and emboldened a psychopharmaceutical industry that is now dangerously in control of the country’s mental health needs. Unless psychologists scrutinize the language on which they have become dependent and the practices dictated by that language, the broken system will be irreparable and the level of harm perpetrated on the American public will escalate from dangerous to perilous. Psychology is a unique basic science discipline among the mental health professions, and there is a faint pulse in the scientist–practitioner model of clinical psychology suggesting perhaps a glimmer of hope. Historians will not be kind to this era, and psychology will be found deeply culpable unless a major paradigm shift is achieved soon. Change cannot be accomplished without a complete rejection of the illness model and action to replace it in similar fashion to what is already under way in Great Britain.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen C. Rogers ◽  
Michelle Bobich ◽  
Patrick Heppell

<p class="BodyA">The commentaries by Williams (2016) and Gartenberg and Lang (2016) on the case of Cathy and her mother Ms. Z (Rogers, Bobich, &amp; Heppell, 2016) explore the similarities between children who have been homeless and those in the foster system, and highlight the importance of trauma-focused treatment to address their mental health needs.&nbsp; A further consideration of the challenges to obtaining such treatment due to system barriers, stigma, and the intergenerational transmission of trauma is applied to the case of Cathy. This illustrates the importance of an array of mental health treatment options and the ability to transition from one treatment (an Incredible Years [IY] &nbsp;group) to another (Child-Parent Psychotherapy [CPP]) as opportunities to increase access to needed care for marginalized families.</p>


1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel A. Dvoskin ◽  
Patricia A. Griffin ◽  
Eliot Hartstone ◽  
Ronald Jemelka ◽  
Henry J. Steadman ◽  
...  

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