Parental Mental Illness in Childhood as a Risk Factor for Suicidal and Self-Harm Ideations in Adults Seeking Help for Tinnitus and/or Hyperacusis

AbstractParental mental illness is a risk factor for mental health disorders in the offspring. However, the relationship between parental illness in childhood and mental health disorders in adulthood among patients with tinnitus and/or hyperacusis is not known.The aim was to explore the relationship between parental mental health in childhood and anxiety and depression for patients experiencing tinnitus and/or hyperacusis.This was a retrospective cross-sectional study with a correlational design.Two hundred eighty-seven consecutive patients who attended a Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Therapy Specialist Clinic in the United Kingdom were included. Their average age was 52.5 years.The association was explored between anxiety and depression measured via the Generalized Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (GAD-7) and the Patient Health questionnaire (PHQ-9) and responses to the question “While you were growing up during the first 18 years of life did your parent(s) have depression or mental illness?”Thirty-nine percent of patients (111/287) responded “yes” to the question about their parents’ mental health, which is about double the incidence in the general population. Regression analysis showed that parental mental illness significantly increased the risk of anxiety and depression, with unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) of 2.7 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5–4.9, p = 0.001) for the PHQ-9 and 2.6 (95% CI: 1.4–4.8, p = 0.002) for the GAD-7. However, when the models were adjusted for the effects of age, gender, tinnitus handicap as measured via the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, hyperacusis handicap as measured via the Hyperacusis questionnaire, uncomfortable loudness levels, GAD-7 scores (for the depression model only), and PHQ-9 scores (for the anxiety model only), parental mental health was only significantly associated with depression, with an OR of 2.7 (95% CI: 1.08–6.7, p = 0.033).Audiologists offering tinnitus and hyperacusis rehabilitation should screen patients for parental mental illness in childhood, especially for those with comorbid depression, and make onward referral to appropriate mental health services when needed. Future research should analyze the breadth and type of adverse childhood experiences among patients with tinnitus and hyperacusis and their relationship with mental problems and treatment efficacy.

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A Comparison of Presentations with Self-Harm to Hospital in Lithuania and Ireland

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18052418 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 2418

Author(s):

Samah Kamal ◽

Mark McGovern ◽

Aida Kunideliene ◽

Patricia Casey ◽

Anne M. Doherty

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Risk Factor ◽

Cultural Context ◽

Substance Misuse ◽

Adjustment Disorder ◽

Psychotropic Medications ◽

Psychiatric History ◽

Clinical Diagnoses ◽

Self Harm ◽

Reduce Risk

Suicide is a serious problem globally, especially in Europe, with suicide rates varying between different countries. Self-harm is a known risk factor for dying by suicide and represents an opportunity to intervene in order to treat any associated mental illness and reduce risk. This study aimed to compare the characteristics of people presenting to hospital with self-harm at two clinical sites: Galway, Ireland and Kaunas, Lithuania. Data were obtained from the services’ database and anonymised for analysis. Over a 5-month period, 89 patients presented with self-harm at the Lithuanian site and 224 patients presented with self-harm at the Irish site. This study found significant differences in presentation, diagnosis and treatment between the two sites. All patients at the Lithuanian site were admitted to psychiatry, compared to 22% of patients at the Irish site (p < 0.001). In Lithuania, the main clinical diagnoses were adjustment disorder (37.1%) and major depression (20.2%), compared to substance misuse being the main clinical diagnosis (33.8%) in Ireland (p < 0.001). There were significant differences in the prescription of psychotropic medications (which were three times more commonly prescribed at the Lithuanian site) after controlling for age, gender and psychiatric history (p < 0.001). Further research is required to understand the cultural context behind and further association between hospitalisation and future death by suicide.

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Parental Separation and Parental Mental Health in Childhood and Risk of Insomnia in Adulthood among Patients with Tinnitus

Journal of the American Academy of Audiology ◽

10.3766/jaaa.19023 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 31 (03) ◽

pp. 217-223 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hashir Aazh ◽

Basant K. Puri ◽

Brian C. J. Moore

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽

Later Life ◽

Parental Separation ◽

Parental Mental Illness ◽

Parental Mental Health ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Seeking Help ◽

The Mean

AbstractMany patients seeking help for tinnitus also suffer from insomnia. Adverse childhood experiences may affect the likelihood of insomnia in later life for such patients.To explore whether parental separation and parental mental health during childhood are related to the severity of insomnia among patients with tinnitus and/or hyperacusis seen in an Audiology clinic.This was a retrospective cross-sectional study.One hundred seventy-four consecutive patients who attended a tinnitus/hyperacusis clinic in the United Kingdom were included.Data were based on responses to questionnaires for people seeking help for tinnitus.Sixteen percent of patients (27/174) reported that during the first 18 years of life, their parents were separated or divorced and 41% (72/174) reported that their parent(s) suffered from a mental illness. The mean score for the insomnia severity index (ISI) was not significantly affected by parental separation or divorce. However, the mean ISI score was significantly worse for patients whose parents had a mental illness. A multinomial logistic regression model, adjusted for the presence of hyperacusis, hearing loss, age, and gender, indicated that for individuals experiencing tinnitus, a history of parental mental illness during their childhood increased the chance of severe insomnia by a factor of 3.4 (95% confidence interval: 1.1 to 10.8, p = 0.04). The risk of having severe insomnia was 3.8 times greater for patients with hyperacusis than for those without.Among patients seeking help for tinnitus/hyperacusis, poor parental mental health was associated with severe insomnia.

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Mental illness is a risk factor for incarceration, and inmate populations are rising in the United States. What does this mean for the practice of psychiatry?

Clinical Psychiatry News ◽

10.1016/s0270-6644(12)70038-3 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 8

Author(s):

PAUL J. FINK

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Risk Factor ◽

The United States

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Mental Illness Self-stigma: A Risk Factor of Mental Rehabilitation

Advances in Psychological Science ◽

10.3724/sp.j.1042.2012.01448 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 20 (9) ◽

pp. 1448-1456

Author(s):

TONG YUE ◽

Xiao-Gang WANG ◽

Xi-Ting HUANG

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Risk Factor

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Mendelian randomisation for psychiatry: how does it work, and what can it tell us?

Molecular Psychiatry ◽

10.1038/s41380-021-01173-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Robyn E. Wootton ◽

Hannah J. Jones ◽

Hannah M. Sallis

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Risk Factor ◽

Low Cost ◽

Sensitivity Analyses ◽

Mendelian Randomisation ◽

Naturally Occurring ◽

Complementary Approach ◽

Randomised Control Trials ◽

Successful Prevention

AbstractThe successful prevention of mental illness relies upon the identification of causal, modifiable risk factors. However, observational evidence exploring such risk factors often produces contradictory results and randomised control trials are often expensive, time-consuming or unethical to conduct. Mendelian randomisation (MR) is a complementary approach that uses naturally occurring genetic variation to identify possible causal effects between a risk factor and an outcome in a time-efficient and low-cost manner. MR utilises genetic variants as instrumental variables for the risk factor of interest. MR studies are becoming more frequent in the field of psychiatry, warranting a reflection upon both the possibilities and the pitfalls. In this Perspective, we consider several limitations of the MR method that are of particular relevance to psychiatry. We also present new MR methods that have exciting applications to questions of mental illness. While we believe that MR can make an important contribution to the field of psychiatry, we also wish to emphasise the importance of clear causal questions, thorough sensitivity analyses, and triangulation with other forms of evidence.

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Stigma and its impact on help-seeking for mental disorders: what do we know?

Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale ◽

10.1017/s1121189x00002669 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 31-37 ◽

Cited By ~ 150

Author(s):

Georg Schomerus ◽

Matthias C. Angermeyer

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Mental Disorders ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Public Attitudes ◽

Population Based ◽

Professional Help ◽

Promising Target ◽

Individual Discrimination ◽

Stigma Of Mental Illness ◽

Seeking Help

SummaryAims – Many people suffering from serious mental illness do not seek appropriate medical help. The stigma of mental illness has often been considered a potential cause for reluctance in seeking help. We review recent evidence on this topic. Methods – Narrative review of the recent literature on stigma and helpseeking for psychiatric disorders. Results – There is proof of a particular stigma attached to seeking help for a mental problem. Anticipated individual discrimination and discrimination qua self-stigmatisation are associated with a reduced readiness to seek professional help for mental disorders. Intervention studies show that destigmatisation may lead to increased readiness to seek professional help, but other aspects like knowledge about mental diseases seem to be at least as important. The belief that seeking help for a mental health problem is actually helpful has been shown to be at the core of help-seeking intentions and thus offers a promising target for information programmes. Population based time-trend studies show that public attitudes towards help-seeking have improved over the last decade. Discussion – The relationship between help-seeking intentions and actual help-seeking needs further exploration. While many studies have been able to relate attitudes to intentions, predicting actual help-seeking has proved more difficult.Declaration of Interest: None.

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Concerns about the children of psychiatric in-patients – what the parents say

Psychiatric Bulletin ◽

10.1192/pb.21.8.495 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 21 (8) ◽

pp. 495-497 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Fiona Stormont ◽

Tom Craig ◽

Zerrin Atakan ◽

Peter Loader ◽

Cindy Williams

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Research Literature ◽

Parental Mental Illness ◽

Adult Mental Health

There is an increasing body of research literature investigating the effects of parental mental illness on children. This study investigates the views of psychiatric in-patients on consequences of their admission to hospital and their mental illness for their children. The results suggest that the parents do not readily acknowledge that their children have problems, and that interventional approaches require good liaison between adult mental health services and child-focused agencies.

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