scholarly journals Mental Health of Holocaust Survivors and Other Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Israel

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 202-202
Author(s):  
Yaacov Bachner ◽  
Sara Carmel ◽  
Ella Cohn-Schwartz

Abstract Holocaust survivors could be especially vulnerable to the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic due to their early life traumas. Thus, the current study examines the effects of the pandemic on the mental health of Holocaust survivors in Israel, compared to adults who did not experience the Holocaust. We collected quantitative data from 305 adults aged 75+ (38% Holocaust survivors) in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicate that Holocaust survivors were worried to a greater extent from COVID-19 and reported greater depression which became worse during the pandemic. On the other hand, despite these differences, the two groups were similar in their will to live. In conclusion, Holocaust survivors seem to be more vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthening the vulnerability hypothesis, while also showing resilience in their will to live. Policy makers and practitioners should pay special attention to this particularly vulnerable population during these difficult times.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina Cunha ◽  
German I. Todorov ◽  
Karthikeyan Mayilvahanan

Novel treatments in mental health focus on one’s ability to recover and develop resilience. Current concepts are based on The Adaptations Level Theory, which describes the ability of resilient individuals to accustom to new and even downgraded conditions as the new standard, find meaning in trauma, and adapt to new social settings. However, it is not known which treatments specifically help to build up resilience in patients and how to reliably screen for it. Recent studies demonstrated that distinct patterns of language use correlated with various mental health conditions. Utilizing text samples from the Holocaust survivors, we studied language use in resilient individuals compares to people with PTSD and general population. Holocaust survivors' language use was significantly different from PTSD sufferers, which suggests that we detected a possible resilience word use pattern. Next, we looked into the brain circuitry mechanisms that could be involved in resilience. We found that norepinephrine, the key neurotransmitter in stress response, modulated the activity of amygdala circuitry in a non-linear concentration-dependent manner. The shape and other characteristics of this dependency could be associated with the capacity for resilience.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Catarina Cunha ◽  
German Todorov ◽  
Karthikeyan Mayilvahanan ◽  
Catarina Cunha

Novel treatments in mental health focus on one’s ability to recover and develop resilience. Current concepts are based on The Adaptations Level Theory, which describes the ability of resilient individuals to accustom to new and even downgraded conditions as the new standard, find meaning in trauma, and adapt to new social settings. However, it is not known which treatments specifically help to build up resilience in patients and how to reliably screen for it. We hypothesize that by analyzing mechanisms of behavior and physiology in resilient individuals, we will be able to strengthen these in people that are struggling to bounce back. Recent studies demonstrated that distinct patterns of language use correlated with various mental health conditions. Utilizing text samples from Holocaust survivors, we compared language use in resilient individuals to people with PTSD and the general population. The Holocaust survivors' language use was significantly different from PTSD sufferers, which suggests that we detected a possible resilience word use pattern. Next, we looked into the brain circuitry mechanisms that could be involved in resilience. We found that norepinephrine, the key neurotransmitter in stress response, modulated the activity of amygdala circuitry in a non-linear concentration-dependent manner. The shape and other characteristics of this dependency could be associated with the capacity for resilience.


Crisis ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 348-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hajime Sueki

Background: Previous studies have shown that suicide-related Internet use can have both negative and positive psychological effects. Aims: This study examined the effect of suicide-related Internet use on users’ suicidal ideation, depression/anxiety tendency, and loneliness. Method: A two-wave panel study of 850 Internet users was conducted via the Internet. Results: Suicide-related Internet use (e.g., browsing websites about suicide methods) had negative effects on suicidal ideation and depression/anxiety tendency. No forms of suicide-related Internet use, even those that would generally be considered positive, were found to decrease users’ suicidal ideation. In addition, our results suggest that the greater the suicidal ideation and feelings of depression and loneliness of Internet users, the more they used the Internet. Conclusion: Since suicide-related Internet use can adversely influence the mental health of young adults, it is necessary to take measures to reduce their exposure to such information.


Author(s):  
باي زكوب عبد العالي ◽  
سوهيرين محمد صوليحين

الملخّصيعدّ عبد الحميد بن باديس أحد العلماء الجزائريين المبرزين بالإصلاح الاجتماعي والدّيني والسّياسي والتربوي، عاش خمسين سنة في القرن العشرين الميلادي، حيث كانت ولادته سنة 1889م، وكانت وفاته سنة 1940م، ولقد فرض الواقع الجزائري إبّان فترة الاحتلال الفرنسي الذي كان يسعى إلى طمس ثوابت الأمّة الجزائرية، وخرق تاريخها، وهُويّتها، وثقافتها، ووحدتها الدينيّة، واللّغوية على ابن باديس أن يسلك نهج التربية والتعليم، قاصداً بذلك مواجهة الاحتلال الفرنسي الغاشم من خلال عدّة جبهات ومجالات كمثل مجال الصحافة، ومجال التربية والتعليم، ومجال الجمعيات، ومجال السياسة وغير ذلك، يهدف هذا البحث إلى إبراز دور عبد الحميد بن باديس في النّهوض بالأمّة الجزائريّة نحو تربيّة أفضل، وحياة أسعد، فيبدأ أوّلاً وبشكل موجز، بالتعرّف على الفترة الصعبة التي عايشها ابن باديس والمتمثلة في فترة الاحتلال الفرنسي الغاشم، وآثاره السلبية على الصعيد السياسي والاقتصادي والاجتماعي والثقافي والديني الجزائري وقتذاك، ثم يقوم ثانياً بتسليط الضّوء على حياة ابن باديس وتكوينه العلمي ورحلاته الداخلية وأسفاره الخارجية؛ ثم يسعى ثالثاً وبتعمّق، التعرّف على أعمال ابن باديس الاجتماعيّة وجهوده التربويّة التي أخذت حظّاً وافراً من حياته اليومية، والتي تركّزت على منبرين رئيسين، هما: منبر الصّحافة، ومنبر التربيّة والتعليم.الكلمات المفتاحيّة: الإمام عبد الحميد بن باديس، الاحتلال الفرنسي، التربية، الجزائر، الإصلاح.             AbstractImÉm ‘Abd al-×amÊd ibn BÉdÊs is an Algerian scientist, and eminent social, religious, political and educational reformer. He lived fifty years in the twentieth century. He was born in 1889 and died in 1940, and lived during the French occupation that attempted to distort and undermine the foundations of the Algerian nation by destroying its history, identity, culture, and religious and linguistic unity. Ibn BÉdÊs pursued an educational approach to face the brutal French occupation on several fronts, including journalism, education, civil associations, politics, etc. This paper highlights the role of ‘Abd al-×amÊd ibn BÉdÊs in the advancement of the Algerian nation toward better education and a happier life. The paper begins with a brief canvas of the difficult times in which Ibn BÉdÊs lived, and the negative effects of the brutal French occupation from political, economic, social, cultural and religious angles, besides highlighting the life of Ibn BÉdÊs, his education and his local and international travels. The focus of this research is an in-depth examination of Ibn BÉdÊs’ social and educational efforts that consumed much of his daily routine: journalism, and education.Keywords: ImÉm ‘Abd al-×amÊd ibn BÉdÊs, the French Occupation, Education, Algeria, Reform.


Author(s):  
Michael J. Bazyler ◽  
Kathryn Lee Boyd ◽  
Kristen L. Nelson ◽  
Rajika L. Shah

The Nazis and their cohorts stole mercilessly from the Jews of Europe. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, returning survivors had to navigate unclear and hostile legal paths to recover their stolen property from governments and neighbors who often had been complicit in their persecution and theft. While the return of Nazi-looted art and recent legal settlements involving dormant Swiss bank accounts, unpaid insurance policies and use of slave labor by German companies have been well-publicized, efforts by Holocaust survivors and heirs over the last 70 years to recover stolen land and buildings were forgotten. In 2009, 47 countries convened in Prague to deal with the lingering problem of restitution of prewar private, communal, and heirless property stolen during the Holocaust. The outcome was the Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets and Related Issues, aiming to “rectify the consequences” of the wrongful Nazi-era immovable property seizures. This book sets forth the legal history of Holocaust immovable property restitution in each of the Terezin Declaration signatory states. It also analyzes how each of the 47 countries has fulfilled the standards of the Guidelines and Best Practices of the Terezin Declaration. These standards were issued in 2010 in conjunction with the establishment of the European Shoah Legacy Institute (ESLI), a state-sponsored NGO created to monitor compliance. The book is based on the Holocaust (Shoah) Immovable Property Restitution Study commissioned by ESLI, written by the authors and issued in Brussels in 2017 before the European Parliament.


Author(s):  
Alfonso Urzúa ◽  
Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar ◽  
Diego Henríquez ◽  
David R. Williams

There is not much evidence on the effects of south–south migration and its consequences on physical and mental health. Our objective was to examine the mediating role of Acculturative Stress in the association between ethnic discrimination and racial discrimination with physical and mental health. This research is a non-experimental, analytical, cross-sectional study. A total of 976 adult Colombian migrants living in Chile were interviewed. We used the Everyday Discrimination Scale, the acculturative stress scale, and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-12) for health status; we found that racial and ethnic discrimination had a negative effect on physical and mental health. In the simultaneous presence of both types of discrimination, racial discrimination was completely absorbed by ethnic discrimination, the latter becoming a total mediator of the effect of racial discrimination on mental and physical health. Our findings are consistent with the literature, which suggests that there are various types of discrimination which, individually or in their intersectionality, can have negative effects on health.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002076402198973
Author(s):  
Kathleen Ford ◽  
Aree Jampaklay ◽  
Aphichat Chamatrithirong

Aim: The objective of this paper is to examine the level of psychiatric symptoms and associated factors among Thai migrants from the southernmost Thai provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narithiwat who are working in Malaysia. Comparisons will be made with the sending population in the southernmost provinces of Thailand. Methods: Data are drawn from survey and in-depth interviews with Thai migrants who are working in Malaysia. Comparisons are made with a probability sample of working age adults in Thailand. The twenty item Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) was the measure of mental health. Results: The study found that the migrants, on average, have normal levels of psychiatric symptoms. However, although about 24% of migrants reported more eight or more symptoms that may indicate a need for evaluation. There are many stressors in their lives including distance from families, reduced social support, legal matters surrounding immigration, and discrimination/exploitation of migrant groups. Conclusion: The study highlights the need for policy makers and non-governmental organizations to give attention to migrants’ mental health, well-being and sustainable livelihoods.


Author(s):  
Anna Freytag ◽  
Katharina Knop-Huelss ◽  
Adrian Meier ◽  
Leonard Reinecke ◽  
Dorothée Hefner ◽  
...  

Abstract Concerns have been expressed that permanent online connectedness might negatively affect media user’s stress levels. Most research has focused on negative effects of specific media usage patterns, such as media multitasking or communication load. In contrast, users’ cognitive orientation toward online content and communication has rarely been investigated. Against this backdrop, we examined whether this cognitive orientation (i.e., online vigilance with its three dimensions salience, reactibility, monitoring) is related to perceived stress at different timescales (person, day, and situation level), while accounting for the effects of multitasking and communication load. Results across three studies showed that, in addition to multitasking (but not communication load), especially the cognitive salience of online communication is positively related to stress. Our findings are discussed regarding mental health implications and the origins of stress.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2098082
Author(s):  
Md. Sazzadul Haque ◽  
Shafkat Sharif ◽  
Aseer Masnoon ◽  
Ebne Rashid

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has demonstrated both positive and negative effects on the environment. Major concerns over personal hygiene, mandated and ease in lockdown actions and slackening of some policy measures have led to a massive surge in the use of disposable personal protective equipment (PPE) and other single-use plastic items. This generated an enormous amount of plastic waste from both healthcare and household units, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Apart from the healthcare workers, the general public have become accustomed to using PPE. These habits are threatening the land and marine environment with immense loads of plastic waste, due to improper disposal practices across the world, especially in developing nations. Contaminated PPE has already made its way to the oceans which will inevitably produce plastic particles alongside other pathogen-driven diseases. This study provided an estimation-based approach in quantifying the amount of contaminated plastic waste that can be expected daily from the massive usage of PPE (e.g. facemasks) because of the countrywide mandated regulations on PPE usage. The situation of Bangladesh has been analysed and projections revealed that a total of 3.4 billion pieces of single-use facemask, hand sanitizer bottles, hand gloves and disposable polyethylene bags will be produced monthly, which will give rise to 472.30 t of disposable plastic waste per day. The equations provided for the quantification of waste from used single-use plastic and PPE can be used for other countries for rough estimations. Then, the discussed recommendations will help concerned authorities and policy makers to design effective response plans. Sustainable plastic waste management for the current and post-pandemic period can be imagined and acted upon.


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