Religion and Health: Anxiety, Religiosity, Meaning of Life and Mental Health

2013 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yung-Jong Shiah ◽  
Frances Chang ◽  
Shih-Kuang Chiang ◽  
I-Mei Lin ◽  
Wai-Cheong Carl Tam
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Meaning Of Life ◽  
Religion And Health

Report1: Impact of Covid-19 on young people aged 13-24 in the UK- preliminary findings

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liat Levita ◽  
Jilly Gibson Miller ◽  
Todd K. Hartman ◽  
Jamie Murphy ◽  
Mark Shevlin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Emotional Regulation ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Need For Support ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Social Recovery ◽  
The Impact

COVID-19 has led to an unprecedented disruption of normal social relationships and activities, which are so important during the teen years and young adulthood, and to education and economic activity worldwide. The impact of this on young people’s mental health and future prospects may affect their need for support and services, and the speed of the nation’s social recovery afterwards. This study focused on the unique challenges facing young people at different points during adolescent development, which spans from the onset of puberty until the mid-twenties. Although this is an immensely challenging time and there is a potential risk for long term trauma, adolescence can be a period of opportunity, where the teenagers’ brain enjoys greater capacity for change. Hence, the focus on young people is key for designing age-specific interventions and public policies, which can offer new strategies for instilling resilience, emotional regulation, and self-control. In fact, adolescents might be assisted to not only cope, but excel, in spite of the challenges imposed by this pandemic. Our work will feed into the larger societal response that utilizes the discoveries about adolescence in the way we raise, teach, and treat young people during this time of crisis. Wave 1 data has already been collected from 2,002 young people aged 13-24, measuring their mental health (anxiety, depression, trauma), family functioning, social networks, and resilience, and social risk-taking at the time of the pandemic. Here we present a preliminary report of our findings, (Report 1). Data collected 21/4/20- 29/4/20 - a month after the lockdown started).

scholarly journals COVID-19-related anxiety disorder in Iraq during the pandemic: an online cross-sectional study

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saad Kazim Karim ◽  
Perjan Hashim Taha ◽  
Nazar Mohammad Mohammad Amin ◽  
Habeeb Shuhaib Ahmed ◽  
Miami Kadhim Yousif ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Psychological State ◽  
Academic Degree ◽  
Public Health Burden ◽  
Health Burden

Abstract Background The COVID-19 outbreak is an unprecedented global public health burden, which popped up in China in late 2019 to early 2020 and distributed worldwide rapidly. Indeed, this pandemic transmission has raised global physical and mental health concerns. Mental health issues that concur with this public health emergency may pose anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. In Iraq, there are no registered known data on the psychological consequence of the public during the communicable disease outbreak. The ongoing study aims to address the paucity of these data as an appraisal of the mental health burden represented by anxiety disorder related to the global COVID-19 era. Results Among the 1591 Iraqi respondents, 788 (49.5%) accounted for having health anxiety over the current home restriction situation. Younger ages experienced more COVID-19-related health anxiety compared to older ages. Females reported higher health anxiety compared to males (57.7% vs 42.3%). The health care professionals reported 20.9% health anxiety. The Iraqi southern population displayed more health anxiety compared to the northern and middle portions. This work showed about half of the respondents were spending over 60 min focusing on news of COVID-19. We found that 80 to 90% carrying out preventive efforts and home quarantine against COVID-19 infection. Interestingly, participants experienced fear from the risk of COVID-19 infection, whether more or equal to a level of war scare, in 70.1% of the sample. Conclusions In Iraq, during the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly half of the respondents have health anxiety. Southern Iraqi cities displayed higher rates of anxiety. Also, being female, younger ages, holding an academic degree, or being a college student are associated with more prominent degrees of anxiety. Furtherly, it is important to adopt strategies for public health education and prevention and alerting future governmental responses focusing on psychological state impact among the general population.

Using peer support to strengthen mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a review (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Suresh ◽  
Armaghan Alam ◽  
Zoe Karkossa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Health Resources ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Mental Health Resource ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Anxiety Depression

BACKGROUND The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on society’s overall mental health with a notable effect on healthcare providers. To manage this global crisis, governments have had to implement numerous measures such mandated lockdowns and physical distancing to minimize the risk of overloading healthcare systems. Altogether, these measures have contributed to higher levels of anxiety, depression, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other metrics indicating worsening mental health. Unfortunately, the availability of crucial mental health resources and support remains scarce during this time as services attempt to transition to an effective online delivery model. Peer support, which is peer-to-peer provided social and emotional support, is an underutilized and effective mental health resource that is easily delivered/accessed in-person by members within a social distancing bubble, or virtually across different bubbles. OBJECTIVE This review aims to summarize the toll that this pandemic has had on society’s mental health as found in peer-reviewed literature from October 2019 to March 2021, as well as suggest the utility of peer support to address these needs. Lastly, we provide strategies to effectively deliver peer support so that members of the community can better support one another during these unprecedented times. METHODS References for this review were chosen through searches of PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for articles published between October 2019 and March 2021 that used the terms: “coronavirus”, “COVID-19”, “mental health”, “anxiety”, “depression”, “isolation”, “mental health resources”, “peer support”, “online mental health resources”, and “healthcare workers”. Articles resulting from these searches and relevant references cited in those articles were reviewed. Articles published in English, French and Italian were included. RESULTS As stated in peer-reviewed literature, this pandemic has ubiquitously worsened the mental health of populations across the world, which is further exacerbated by extended periods of lockdown. Peer support has been demonstrated to yield positive effects on the mental health of a wide variety of recipients, and it can be provided through numerous accessible mediums such as web/mobile applications, video-conferencing software, workshops, telephone services, and student programs. CONCLUSIONS The provision of peer support can be very beneficial for improving mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and may be an effective tool should similar events arise in the future. CLINICALTRIAL N/A

scholarly journals Usability guidelines for developing and evaluating web-based mental health interventions: Establishing a practical framework

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustav Petersen ◽  
Jakob Hyldig Nielsen ◽  
Johannes Verner Olsen ◽  
Robin Niels Kok
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Heuristic Evaluation ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Usability Assessment ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Mental Health Interventions ◽  
The Relationship

Background: Even though problems with usability constitute a major challenge to the implementation of new eHealth technology, the field web-based interventions is lacking usability guidelines for development and evaluation of web-based intervention platforms. Objective: The aim of present study is to create a set of eHealth-specific usability guidelines for the development and evaluation of web-based mental health interventions. Methods: Knowledge about usability was gathered from peripheral fields of e-learning, emotional design, and human-computer interaction in a top-down approach. This knowledge was synthesized into usability guidelines for web-based interventions, which were then case-tested on an existing web-based intervention for patients with health anxiety, using the heuristic evaluation method. Results: Nine broad guidelines were developed. The subsequent case-test of the web-based intervention showed that application of the guidelines was feasible and was able to identify several important usability issues with the intervention. Conclusions: Health professionals should be included in intervention design. Future usability assessment should focus on the different usability attributes. The relationship between usability and adherence needs further investigation.

scholarly journals The Evolution of Young People's Mental Health during COVID-19: Evidence from four Low-and-Middle-Income-Countries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Porter ◽  
Annina Hittmeyer ◽  
Marta Favara ◽  
Douglas Scott ◽  
Alan Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Food Insecure Households ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Background Though COVID-19 presents less risk to young people of serious morbidity or mortality, the resulting economic crisis has impacted their livelihoods. There is relatively little evidence on young people's mental health in Low-and-Middle-Income-Countries (LMICs) as the pandemic has progressed. Methods Two consecutive phone-surveys (August/October and November/December 2020) in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam interviewed around 9,000 participants of a 20-year cohort study who grew up in poverty (now aged 19 and 26). We investigate how young people's mental health has evolved in the four countries during the pandemic. Rates of (at least mild) anxiety (depression) measured by GAD-7 (PHQ-8) were compared across countries; between males/females, and food secure/food insecure households. Results Overall, rates of at least mild anxiety (depression) significantly decreased in all countries but Ethiopia as infection rates fell. However, young people in food insecure households report high rates of anxiety and depression and have not shown consistent improvements. Food insecure households are poorer, and have significantly more children (p<0.05) except in Ethiopia. Conclusions Food insecurity has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and is negatively associated with young people's mental health. Urgent support is needed for the most vulnerable. Keywords COVID-19, mental health, anxiety, depression, food insecurity, youth

Volume and social context of physical activity in association with mental health, anxiety and depression among youth

2016 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 344-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Doré ◽  
Jennifer L. O'Loughlin ◽  
Guy Beauchamp ◽  
Marc Martineau ◽  
Louise Fournier
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Anxiety And Depression

Cyberchondria and Medical Student Syndrome

2022 ◽  
pp. 98-113
Author(s):  
Afkar Aulia ◽  
Budi Pratiti
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Medical Student ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Medical Doctor ◽  
Patient Counselling ◽  
Online Behaviour ◽  
Diagnosis Therapy

Health anxiety is a disorder that can be very distressful and cause unnecessary examinations. A doctor is expected to handle health anxiety in terms of examination, diagnosis, therapy, and counselling processes. To provide optimal patient counselling, a doctor needs confidence, empathy, and good mental health. However, the process to become a medical doctor requires a student to read through a large amount of medical information, which arguably might induce “medical student's syndrome,” or health anxiety. Contradicting research findings exist about such conditions, however, most of them use traditional measures of health anxiety and do not consider students' online behaviour. The authors hypothesized that a medical student is susceptible to cyberchondria, a form of health anxiety due to excessive internet use. Some studies have shown that there may be higher cyberchondria scores among medical students compared to the general population. Cyberchondria needs to be studied further to improve the mental health condition of medical students and to provide optimal future healthcare for patients.

scholarly journals Disability, violence, and mental health among Somali refugee women in a humanitarian setting

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mazeda Hossain ◽  
Rachel Pearson ◽  
Alys McAlpine ◽  
Loraine Bacchus ◽  
Sheru W. Muuo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Functional Disability ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Refugee Women

Abstract Background There is limited evidence on the relationship between disability, experiences of gender-based violence (GBV), and mental health among refugee women in humanitarian contexts. Methods A cross-sectional analysis was conducted of baseline data (n = 209) collected from women enrolled in a cohort study of refugee women accessing GBV response services in the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya. Women were surveyed about GBV experiences (past 12 months, before the last 12 months, before arriving in the refugee camps), functional disability status, and mental health (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress), and we explored the inter-relationship of these factors. Results Among women accessing GBV response services, 44% reported a disability. A higher proportion of women with a disability (69%) reported a past-year experience of physical intimate partner violence and/or physical or sexual non-partner violence, compared to women without a disability (54%). A higher proportion of women with a disability (32%) experienced non-partner physical or sexual violence before arriving in the camp compared to women without a disability (16%). Disability was associated with higher scores for depression (1.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.54–3.33), PTSD (2.26, 95% CI 0.03–4.49), and anxiety (1.54, 95% CI 0.13–2.95) after adjusting for age, length of encampment, partner status, number of children, and GBV indicators. Conclusions A large proportion of refugee women seeking GBV response services have disabilities, and refugee women with a disability are at high risk of poor mental health. This research highlights the need for mental health and disability screening within GBV response programming.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document