scholarly journals Impact of COVID-19 containment zone built-environments on students’ mental health and their coping mechanisms

2021 ◽  
pp. 108107
Author(s):  
Farhan Asim ◽  
P.S. Chani ◽  
Venu Shree
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yousef Khader ◽  
Ahmad Bawaneh ◽  
Zaid Al-Hamdan

BACKGROUND The Syrian conflict started in 2011 and resulted ever since in a large displacement of Syrians. Conflict-related violence coupled with displacement related stressors such as poverty, poor access to health services, loss of family support and discrimination had a significant impact on the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of Syrian refugee OBJECTIVE This study aimed to identify the perceived symptoms of severe distress and impaired functioning, identify coping mechanisms and identify the barriers to access mental health services among Syrian refugees and Jordanian adults. METHODS This cross-sectional study study took place in 14 randomly selected sites in Jordan where Syrian refugees are concentered and from Za’tari refugee camp. A toolkit for humanitarian settings was used for data collection. RESULTS Of the 1424 participants, 43.4% had distress; 38.9% among host population, 57.0% among refugees in urban communities, and 23.0% among refugees in camp (p <0.005). Overall, finding comfort in faith and spiritual beliefs was the most common coping mechanism reported by those who perceived to be experiencing distress. CONCLUSIONS A significant proportion of Syrian refugees had distress symptoms. It is recommended to incorporate mental health services into broad-based community settings, such as schools, primary prevention or case management programs.


Author(s):  
Farah Iylia Binti Fauzi ◽  
Siti Fatimah Binti Salleh ◽  
Mohammad Shahadat Hossen

COVID-19 is a highly contagious virus that first appeared in China in December 2019. It has affected over 157 million people and killed over 3.2 million. The paper reviews the function of the immune system for COVID-19 prevention, depression, and anxiety due to COVID-19 and their effects on the immune system and the relationship of aging with the immune system and depression and anxiety. It has been found that several elderly people lack the coping mechanisms required to deal with the stress caused by COVID-19. Hence, identifying the factors and mechanisms that lead to this resilience will aid in the development of preventive measures for certain elderly people and groups with more severe mental health problems. Additionally, it would be beneficial to understand how technology could be leveraged to accomplish this goal. During the pandemic, various steps such as social isolation, quarantine, and self-isolation are needed to be implemented properly to slow the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, to help halt the pandemic, everybody must be vaccinated as soon as possible until any bans on social gatherings and social isolation can be removed, allowing other sectors such as schooling, social activities, and life to resume normalcy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (31) ◽  
pp. e2022472118
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Stier ◽  
Kathryn E. Schertz ◽  
Nak Won Rim ◽  
Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez ◽  
Benjamin B. Lahey ◽  
...  

It is commonly assumed that cities are detrimental to mental health. However, the evidence remains inconsistent and at most, makes the case for differences between rural and urban environments as a whole. Here, we propose a model of depression driven by an individual’s accumulated experience mediated by social networks. The connection between observed systematic variations in socioeconomic networks and built environments with city size provides a link between urbanization and mental health. Surprisingly, this model predicts lower depression rates in larger cities. We confirm this prediction for US cities using four independent datasets. These results are consistent with other behaviors associated with denser socioeconomic networks and suggest that larger cities provide a buffer against depression. This approach introduces a systematic framework for conceptualizing and modeling mental health in complex physical and social networks, producing testable predictions for environmental and social determinants of mental health also applicable to other psychopathologies.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazanin Andalibi ◽  
Madison K Flood

BACKGROUND Peer support is an approach to cope with mental illness, and technology provides a way to facilitate peer support. However, there are barriers to seeking support in offline and technology-mediated contexts. OBJECTIVE This study aims to uncover potential ways to design digital mental health peer support systems and to outline a set of principles for future designers to consider as they embark on designing these systems. By learning how existing systems are used by people in daily life and by centering their experiences, we can better understand how to design mental health peer support technologies that foreground people’s needs. One existing digital peer support system is Buddy Project, the case study in this paper. METHODS This paper reports on an interview study with Buddy Project users (N=13). Data were analyzed using the constant comparative approach. RESULTS Individuals matched through Buddy Project developed supportive friendships with one another, leading them to become each other’s peer supporters in their respective journeys. It was not only the mental health peer support that was important to participants but also being able to connect over other parts of their lives and identities. The design of Buddy Project provided a sense of anonymity and separation from pre-existing ties, making it easier for participants to disclose struggles; moreover, the pairs appreciated being able to browse each other’s social media pages before connecting. Buddy Project has an explicit mission to prevent suicide and demonstrates this mission across its online platforms, which helps reduce the stigma around mental health within the peer support space. Pairs were matched based on shared interests and identities. This choice aided the pairs in developing meaningful, compatible, and supportive relationships with each other, where they felt seen and understood. However, the pairs were concerned that matching based on a shared mental health diagnosis may lead to sharing unhealthy coping mechanisms or comparing themselves and the severity of their experiences with their peers. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study shed light on desirable features of a digital mental health peer support system: matching peers based on interests and identities that they self-identify with; having an explicit mental health–related mission coupled with social media and other web-based presences to signal that discussing mental health is safe within the peer support ecosystem; and not matching peers based on a broad mental health diagnosis. However, if the diagnosis is important, this matching should account for illness severity and educate peers on how to provide support while avoiding suggesting unhelpful coping mechanisms; allowing for some degree of anonymity and control over how peers present themselves to each other; and providing relevant information and tools to potential peers to help them decide if they would like to embark on a relationship with their matched peer before connecting with them. CLINICALTRIAL


1992 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley C. Courtenay ◽  
Leonard W. Poon ◽  
Peter Martin ◽  
Gloria M. Clayton ◽  
Mary Ann Johnson

Previous research has yielded mixed results with respect to the relationship between religiosity and adaptation in older adults. Most studies show that religiosity is stable over the life span, but that religiosity may or may not be related to such factors as physical and mental health, life satisfaction, and coping. This study adds to earlier investigations by including centenarians among the sample. The preliminary results of this research project support earlier findings that religiosity does not change significantly as one ages, although there is a trend in the results that suggests otherwise. The results also indicate a significant relationship between religiosity and physical health but no significant relationship between religiosity and mental health and life satisfaction. Religiosity and coping are strongly related, and there is the suggestion that religious coping mechanisms might be more important in the oldest-old.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J Stier ◽  
Marc G Berman ◽  
Luis M.A. Bettencourt ◽  
Kathryn E Schertz ◽  
Nak Won Rim ◽  
...  

It is commonly assumed that cities are detrimental to mental health. However, the evidence remains inconsistent and, at most, makes the case for differences between rural and urban environments as a whole. Here, we propose a model of depression driven by an individual's accumulated experience mediated by social networks. The connection between observed systematic variations in socioeconomic networks and built environments with city size provides a link between urbanization and mental health. Surprisingly, this model predicts lower depression rates in larger cities. We confirm this prediction for US cities using three independent datasets. These results are consistent with other behaviors associated with denser socioeconomic networks and suggest that larger cities provide a buffer against depression. This approach introduces a systematic framework for conceptualizing and modeling mental health in complex physical and social networks, producing testable predictions for environmental and social determinants of mental health also applicable to other psychopathologies.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Pallitt

<div>The guidance below is a brief compilation of suggestions that might help you better manage your mood and anxiety over the lockdown period (or help prevent these from worsening), when so many of our normal coping mechanisms are necessarily curtailed. The list starts with some general suggestions that are applicable to all of us, </div><div>including those who already struggle with psychological distress, and then goes on to describe some specific suggestions for those of us who struggle with specific anxiety disorders and depression. However, this is not a substitute for psychological or psychiatric treatment. </div>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kumsa Donis Likisa

This review of literature is all about: <p></p><p>1. Historical overview of pandemic disease</p> <p>2. Mental health impact of COVID-19 on patients and at-risk population</p> <p>3. Behavioral response to COVID-19 </p> <p>4. Opportunities motivated by COVID-19 </p> <p>5. Coping mechanisms with psychological problems associated with COVID-19 </p> <p>6. Lesson learned from the reviewed literature and some guidelines to mitigate the psychological burden of COVID-19</p><br><p></p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Pallitt

<div>The guidance below is a brief compilation of suggestions that might help you better manage your mood and anxiety over the lockdown period (or help prevent these from worsening), when so many of our normal coping mechanisms are necessarily curtailed. The list starts with some general suggestions that are applicable to all of us, </div><div>including those who already struggle with psychological distress, and then goes on to describe some specific suggestions for those of us who struggle with specific anxiety disorders and depression. However, this is not a substitute for psychological or psychiatric treatment. </div>


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