scholarly journals A step in the right direction? Change in mental well-being and self-reported work performance among physically inactive university employees during a walking intervention

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilie Thøgersen-Ntoumani ◽  
Elizabeth A. Loughren ◽  
Ian M. Taylor ◽  
Joan L. Duda ◽  
Kenneth R. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Work Performance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
University Employees ◽  
Walking Intervention ◽  
Direction Change ◽  
The Right ◽  
Mental Well Being ◽  
Physically Inactive

FACTORS THAT MITIGATE WAR-INDUCED ANXIETY AND MENTAL DISTRESS

2004 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
ASTIER M. ALMEDOM
Keyword(s):  
Mental Distress ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
The Right ◽  
Effects Of War ◽  
Mental Well Being ◽  
Psychosocial Transition

The effects of war-induced anxiety and mental distress on individuals and groups can either be mitigated or exacerbated by ‘humanitarian action’. This paper focuses on two key factors that protect the mental well-being of war-affected populations: organized displacement or assisted relocation; and coordinated humanitarian aid operations that are responsive to local needs. Qualitative data from two internally displaced person (IDP) camps in Eritrea are presented. Analysis of these data serves to substantiate and refine a working hypothesis: that social support of the right type, provided at the right time and level, can mitigate the worst effects of war and displacement on victims/survivors. An integrated model of psychosocial transition is suggested. The implications of this approach for humanitarian policy and practice are discussed in the wider context of current debates and lamentations of the ‘humanitarian idea’.

Work from home: Indonesian employees' mental well-being and productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Auditya Purwandini Sutarto ◽  
Shanti Wardaningsih ◽  
Wika Harisa Putri
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Health ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mental Well Being

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore to what extent employees' mental well-being affects their productivity while working from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 crisis and whether mental well-being and productivity differ across some socio-demographic factors.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional study with online questionnaires was designed with 472 valid responses in Indonesia. Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ) were administered. Non-parametric tests and structural equation modeling were employed to analyze the data.FindingsThe prevalence of depression was 18.4%, anxiety 46.4% and stress 13.1%, with relatively good productivity. Gender, age, education level, job experiences, marital status, number of children and nature of the organization were associated with the employees' psychological health but not with their productivity, while the workspace availability influenced both outcomes. The study path model showed the negative correlation between WFH employees' psychological well-being and productivity.Research limitations/implicationsThis study may contribute to the implication of current mandatory WFH on mental well-being and productivity. Further studies need to address the representativeness and generalizability issues as well as incorporating potential stressors.Practical implicationsOrganizations may adopt WFH as a future working arrangement and identify the individual and occupational characteristics that provide the most impacts on productivity. It is also necessary for them to develop proper strategies to mitigate the psychological risks and overcome the WFH challenges.Originality/valueThere is still a lack of studies investigating the relationship between simultaneous effects of WFH on psychological well-being and productivity, and how they affect some socio-demographic variables in the context of COVID-19.

scholarly journals Brain circuits signaling the absence of emotion in body language

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (34) ◽  
pp. 20868-20873 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arseny A. Sokolov ◽  
Peter Zeidman ◽  
Michael Erb ◽  
Frank E. Pollick ◽  
Andreas J. Fallgatter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Effective Connectivity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Body Language ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Social Signals ◽  
Adaptive Social Behavior ◽  
The Right ◽  
Mental Well Being ◽  
The Brain

Adaptive social behavior and mental well-being depend on not only recognizing emotional expressions but also, inferring the absence of emotion. While the neurobiology underwriting the perception of emotions is well studied, the mechanisms for detecting a lack of emotional content in social signals remain largely unknown. Here, using cutting-edge analyses of effective brain connectivity, we uncover the brain networks differentiating neutral and emotional body language. The data indicate greater activation of the right amygdala and midline cerebellar vermis to nonemotional as opposed to emotional body language. Most important, the effective connectivity between the amygdala and insula predicts people’s ability to recognize the absence of emotion. These conclusions extend substantially current concepts of emotion perception by suggesting engagement of limbic effective connectivity in recognizing the lack of emotion in body language reading. Furthermore, the outcome may advance the understanding of overly emotional interpretation of social signals in depression or schizophrenia by providing the missing link between body language reading and limbic pathways. The study thus opens an avenue for multidisciplinary research on social cognition and the underlying cerebrocerebellar networks, ranging from animal models to patients with neuropsychiatric conditions.

scholarly journals An Experiment on the Psychological and Physiological Effects of Skin Moisturization on Lower Legs—In Expectation of Application to Nursing Practice at Hospitals

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taichi Hitomi ◽  
Chigusa Yachi ◽  
Hajime Yamaguchi
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Relaxation Effect ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Center Of Gravity ◽  
Treatment Center ◽  
The Right ◽  
Mental Well Being ◽  
Positive Effect

This study hypothesized that moisturizing treatment of the skin has a positive effect on psychological and physiological aspects. In this experiment, the effect of touch with moisturizer for two minutes on the lower legs was measured in terms of brain activity, heart rate, and center of gravity unrest (X axis) in 10 healthy male and female experiment participants. The Right Laterality Ratio Score decreased after treatment, suggesting a relaxation effect of the treatment. Although it was not statistically significant, a decrease was observed. Heart rate decreased after the treatment at a level of statistical significance (p < 0.01), suggesting a relaxation effect of the treatment. Center of gravity unrest (X axis) increased after the treatment with statistical significance (p < 0.05). Therefore, skin moisturizing treatment was found to be effective both psychologically and physiologically in this experiment. The finding is expected to be applied to the field of nursing to support elderly people to enhance their mental well-being and balancing ability.

Utilitarian Psychiatric Ethics

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sridhar Venkatapuram
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
Attractive Candidate ◽  
The Face ◽  
Main Components ◽  
The Right ◽  
Mental Well Being

Utilitarianism is often expressed as the moral dictum, “Do that which produces the greatest good for the greatest number.” It is seemingly an attractive candidate for psychiatric ethics for two reasons. First, in the face of such overwhelming human suffering due to mental illness, doing the greatest good seems intuitively the right approach; helping more people rather than fewer seems right and rational. Second, the “good” that utilitarianism seeks to produce is often understood to be happiness or a positive mental state. Producing the greatest mental well-being possible seems in line with the functioning of psychiatry. Utilitarian ethics seems ready-made for guiding psychiatry as it faces the challenge of improving global mental health. This chapter lays out some of the history and main tenets of utilitarianism, its three main components of consequentialism, welfarism, and sum ranking, and relate them to psychiatry. Some of the major critiques of utilitarianism follow.

scholarly journals The mediating role of exercise behaviour on satisfaction with life, mental well-being and BMI among university employees

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1430716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kashef N. Zayed ◽  
Md. Dilsad Ahmed ◽  
Rudolph Leon Van Niekerk ◽  
Walter King Yan Ho ◽  
Cornelia Duregger
Keyword(s):  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
University Employees ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Exercise Behaviour ◽  
Mental Well Being

scholarly journals Can a carer (peer) led psychoeducation programme improve mental health carers well-being, reduce burden and enrich empowerment: a service evaluation study

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-140
Author(s):  
John Chiocchi ◽  
Gary Lamph ◽  
Paula Slevin ◽  
Debra Fisher-Smith ◽  
Mark Sampson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evaluation Study ◽  
Service Evaluation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Family Empowerment ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mental Well Being

Purpose Carers of people with mental health problems present with high levels of burden, poor mental well-being and feelings of disempowerment by mental health services. The purpose of this paper is to establish whether providing a psychoeducation skill programme for carers would lead to an improvement of mental well-being, reduce the levels of burden that carers sometimes feel while caring for someone with mental illness and also to increase empowerment. This paper provides a service evaluation study of an innovative carer-led psychoeducational intervention that was undertaken. Design/methodology/approach This programme was initiated and led by a carer who had experienced a lack of service provision to support carers and families in understanding and caring for a relative with severe and enduring mental health diagnoses. A model of co-production was adopted with the carer who led this initiative working closely with an occupational therapist and consultant psychologist in its development and delivery. Data were collected to measure the impact of the training at five different time points. The measures employed to measure outcomes were the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, the Burden Assessment Scale and Family Empowerment Scale. Findings Results indicated improved well-being, reduced burden and increased family empowerment in carers who completed this peer-led carer initiative psychoeducational programme. Research limitations/implications This service evaluation study was conducted in a single site and in the site in which it was developed. The carer consultant who led this evaluation and development of the intervention was also the peer worker who delivered the interventions. Hence, the authors are unable to ascertain if the results reported are unique to the individual peer worker. The transferability of this programme and generalisability of the result should therefore be treated with caution and further replication of this model and research is required. This would be beneficial to be conducted in an alternative site from where it was developed, delivered by different facilitators and include a control group. Practical implications The evidence from this study indicates that carers are able and willing to attend a group psychoeducational programme. A high number of referrals to the programme in a relatively short timeframe indicates that there is significant demand for such a service. The implementation of the programme is relatively straightforward. The key challenges for practical implementation are to have the right carer to lead and deliver the programme and the right support system in place for them (financial and supervision). Co-production also is not without challenges, the peer worker and occupational staff need to ensure that mutually valued and respected working relationship should develop. Originality/value This is the first evaluation of the impact of a carer-led psychoeducation intervention for carers of people with mental health difficulties in secondary mental health services.

scholarly journals Positive affect is inversely related to the salience and emotion network’s connectivity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Qi ◽  
Charlene L. M. Lam ◽  
Jing Jun Wong ◽  
Dorita H. F. Chang ◽  
Tatia M. C. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Positive Affect ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Intrinsic Connectivity ◽  
The Right ◽  
Mental Well Being ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Increasing evidence has shown that positive affect enhances many aspects of daily functioning. Yet, how dispositional positive affect is represented in the intrinsic brain networks remains unclear. Here, we used resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to test how trait positive and negative affect of an individual were associated with the intrinsic connectivity of brain regions within the salience and emotion network and the default mode network in 70 healthy young adults. We observed that positive affect was negatively associated with connectivity within the salience and emotion network, particularly with the bidirectional connections spanning the left anterior insula and left nucleus accumbens. For connections between the salience and emotion network and the rest of the brain, we observed that positive affect was negatively related to the connectivity between the right amygdala and the right middle temporal gyrus. Affect-based modulations of connectivity were specific to positive affect and to the salience and emotion network. Our findings highlight the critical role of salience and emotion network in the neural relations of positive affect, and lay the groundwork for future studies on modeling the connectivity of salience and emotion network to predict mental well-being.

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