A Tendency in Therapeutics

Author(s):  
Donald W. Winnicott

In this essay, Winnicott deals with the theory that mental illnesses are disorders of emotional development and that there is no sharp line between mental health and mental illness. He stresses the importance of medical students being informed correctly about the relation of mental illness—both neurosis and psychosis—to normal emotional development. Winnicott states his belief that the best trend in modern psychiatry is inviting mentally ill people to ask for mental hospital treatment early in their illness.

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 238212051988935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Martin ◽  
Julie Chilton ◽  
Doron Gothelf ◽  
Doron Amsalem

Introduction: Depression and suicidal ideation are common among medical students, a group at higher risk for suicide completion than their age-normed peers. Medical students have health-seeking behaviors that are not commensurate with their mental health needs, a discrepancy likely related to stigma and to limited role-modeling provided by physicians. Methods: We surveyed second-year medical students using the Attitudes to Psychiatry (ATP-30) and Attitudes to Mental Illness (AMI) instruments. In addition, we asked questions about role-modeling and help-seeking attitudes at baseline. We then conducted a randomized trial of an intervention consisting of 2 components: (a) a panel of 2 physicians with personal histories of mental illness speaking about their diagnosis, treatment, and recovery to the students, immediately followed by (b) small-group facilitated discussions. We repeated the ATP-30 and AMI after the active/early group was exposed to the panel, but before the control/late group was similarly exposed. Results: Forty-three medical students participated (53% women). The majority of students (91%) agreed that knowing physicians further along in their careers who struggled with mental health issues, got treatment, and were now doing well would make them more likely to access care if they needed it. Students in the active group (n = 22) had more favorable attitudes on ATP-30 ( P = .01) and AMI ( P = .02) scores, as compared with the control group (n = 21). Conclusion: Medical students can benefit from the availability of, and exposure to physicians with self-disclosed histories of having overcome mental illnesses. Such exposures can favorably improve stigmatized views about psychiatry, or of patients or colleagues affected by psychopathology. This intervention has the potential to enhance medical students’ mental health and their health-seeking behaviors.


Author(s):  
Jenny Paananen ◽  
Camilla Lindholm ◽  
Melisa Stevanovic ◽  
Elina Weiste

Mental illness remains as one of the most stigmatizing conditions in contemporary western societies. This study sheds light on how mental health professionals and rehabilitants perceive stigmatization. The qualitative study is based on stimulated focus group interviews conducted in five Finnish mental health rehabilitation centers that follow the Clubhouse model. The findings were analyzed through inductive content analysis. Both the mental health rehabilitants and the professionals perceived stigmatization as a phenomenon that concerns the majority of rehabilitants. However, whereas the professionals viewed stigma as something that is inflicted upon the mentally ill from the outside, the rehabilitants perceived stigma as something that the mentally ill themselves can influence by advancing their own confidence, shame management, and recovery. Improvements in treatment, along with media coverage, were seen as the factors that reduce stigmatization, but the same conceptualization did not hold for serious mental illnesses. As the average Clubhouse client was thought to be a person with serious mental illness, the rehabilitation context designed to normalize attitudes toward mental health problems was paradoxically perceived to enforce the concept of inevitable stigma. Therefore, it is important for professionals in rehabilitation communities to be reflexively aware of these tensions when supporting the rehabilitants.


Author(s):  
Jacqueline Leckie

This article builds upon the fragmentary historical evidence of mental illness and mental health within South Pacific societies to explore the nexus with migration and mobility. The focus is on the Pacific territories that were under Aotearoa New Zealand’s jurisdiction. The article explores concepts of mental health and mobility within Pacific societies that became entangled with European concepts to designate insanity. The paper then discusses how mental illnesses were exacerbated or induced through migration and travel across the Pacific. The last section explores the transfer of mentally ill patients from some Pacific islands to Aotearoa. This article is based upon the 2018 J. D. Stout Lecture at Victoria University of Wellington.


Author(s):  
Nahal Salimi ◽  
◽  
Bryan Gere ◽  
Sharo Shafaie ◽  
◽  
...  

"Police officers are some of the first professionals that might have direct interaction with individuals with mental illnesses. Statistics show that from 2017 to 2020 about 3986 individuals in the United States were fatally shot by police officers (Statista, 2021). These reports indicate that at least 25% and as many as 50% of all fatal shootings involved individuals with untreated severe mental illness. The purpose of this pilot study was to test the effectiveness of a five-day psycho-educational mental health awareness training in enhancing law enforcement officers’ knowledge about mental illness, and their perceptions towards mentally ill individuals using a pretest-posttest design. The Community Attitudes Towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) scale was used to measure participants’four mental health attitudinal domains - authoritarianism, benevolence, social restrictiveness, and community mental health ideology. The results indicate that at the completion of the training there was an increase in participants’ confidence about their knowledge of the mentally ill individuals and mental illness conditions. However, the results also indicate a slight decrease in participants' mental illness social restrictiveness sentiment after the completion of the training. Additionally, the results also show a correlation between demographic variables and some of the domains. Implications for practice are discussed."


2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Castle

SummaryMental health services in the state of Victoria, Australia, have undergone enormous change over the past 15 years, with the closure of all stand-alone psychiatric hospitals and a shift of resources and services into the community. Although successful overall, various areas cause concern, including pressure on acute beds, a paucity of alternative residential options, and suboptimal integration of government and non-government agencies concerned with the care of people with mental illnesses. Certain groups, notably those with complex symptom sets such as substance use and mental illness, intellectual disability and forensic problems, remain poorly catered for by the system. Finally, community stigma and lack of work inclusion for mentally ill individuals are ongoing challenges.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-47
Author(s):  
Adriana Marcela Arenas-Rojas

Cinema has been a source of entertainment and recreation for decades, and usually the themes depicted in films have roots in society itself. Films featuring psychiatrists and the mentally ill abound. Most early interpretations tended to be negative contributing to the stigmatization of mental illness, or overly positive furthering misinformation among the general public. Fortunately, nowadays there is an increasing number of films able to provide realistic depictions of psychopathologic disorders, being reasonably accurate and therefore suitable for psychiatric teaching purposes. Over the last three decades, psychiatry trainers have attempted to use films as an educational tool for teaching medical students and psychiatry residents for a number of mental health conditions. Films can be used to engage students’ attention, emphasize learning points in lectures and illustrate symptoms of a disorder. Cinema constitutes not only an important source of entertainment, but also an educational tool and a significant influence on people’s attitude towards mental illness


Salud Mental ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 141-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Vargas-Huicochea ◽  
◽  
Rebeca Robles-García ◽  
Carlos Berlanga ◽  
Carlos Alfonso Tovilla-Zárate ◽  
...  

Introduction. Lack of information may result in health professionals’ negative attitudes toward individuals with mental illness. Objective. We sought to determine the association between the perception of aggressiveness–dangerousness and illness recognition, suggested treatment, and attitudes regarding schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in a group of medical students. Method. This field study used a non-experimental, cross-sectional comparative design in a purposive sample of medical students. Mental illness recognition, beliefs about adequate treatment, perception of patient’s aggressiveness-dangerousness, and attitudes toward severe mentally ill persons were assessed with previously validated instruments. Results. Of the 104 participants, 54.8% identified a mental health condition in the schizophrenia vignette compared with only 3.8% in the case of bipolar disorder. Most students believed that both diagnoses could lead to aggressive behaviors. Dangerousness was more frequently perceived in the schizophrenia vignette. Discussion and conclusion. It is necessary to sensitize and educate medical students so they have accurate information about symptoms and available treatments for individuals with mental illnesses.


BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. e016432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirlene Pang ◽  
Jianlin Liu ◽  
Mithila Mahesh ◽  
Boon Yiang Chua ◽  
Shazana Shahwan ◽  
...  

ObjectivesStigma against mental illnesses is one of the significant obstacles faced by mental health service users and providers. It can develop at a young age and is also influenced by culture. Youths in Southeast Asian countries are under-represented in mental health research, thus this study aims to explore the dimensions of stigma and social tolerance and examine its correlates in the younger, multiethnic population of Singapore.DesignAn online survey collected data with sociodemographic questions, the Attitudes Towards Serious Mental Illness (Adolescent version) Scale, Social Tolerance Scale and an open-text question on words or phrases participants associated with the term ‘mental illness’. Principal component analysis and multiple regression models were conducted to investigate the factor structure of the attitudes and social tolerance scales and their sociodemographic correlates.ParticipantsParticipants included 940 youths aged 14–18 years old who were residing in Singapore at the time of the survey and were recruited through local schools.ResultsAbout a quarter of the students (22.6%) reported participating in mental health awareness campaigns while nearly half (44.5%) associated pejorative words and phrases with the term mental illness. The Attitudes Towards Serious Mental Illness (Adolescent version) Scale yielded five factors while the Social Tolerance Scale yielded two. Ethnicity, gender and nationality were significantly correlated with factors of both scales. Chinese youths showed higher sense of ’physical threat' and lower ’social tolerance' than those of other ethnicities. Females showed more ’wishful thinking', ’social concern' and ’social responsibility' towards the mentally ill than males.ConclusionsThe dimensions of stigma and social tolerance are different in Asian cultures compared with Western cultures. Sociodemographic differences in attitudes towards the mentally ill were found among youths living in Singapore. Misconceptions and negative attitudes towards mental illness are common, demonstrating a clear need for effective stigma reduction campaigns.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (04) ◽  
pp. 593-596
Author(s):  
Prakash B. Behere ◽  
Amit B. Nagdive ◽  
Aniruddh P. Behere ◽  
Richa Yadav ◽  
Rouchelle Fernandes

Abstract Objectives Can undergraduate medical students (UGs) adopt a village model to identify mentally ill persons in an adopted village successfully? Materials and Methods UGs during their first year adopt a village, and each student adopts seven families in the villages. During the visit, they look after immunization, tobacco and alcohol abuse, nutrition, hygiene, and sanitation. They help in identifying the health needs (including mental health) of the adopted family. The Indian Psychiatric Survey Schedule containing 15 questions covering most of the psychiatric illnesses were used by UGs to identify mental illness in the community. Persons identified as suffering from mental illness were referred to a consultant psychiatrist for confirmation of diagnosis and further management. Statistical Analysis  Calculated by percentage of expected mentally ill persons based on prevalence of mental illness in the rural community and is compared with actual number of patients with mental illness identified by the UGs. True-positive, false-positive, and true predictive values were derived. Results In Umri village, UGs were able to identify 269 persons as true positives and 25 as false positives, whereas in Kurzadi village, UGs were able to identify 221 persons as true positives and 35 as false positives. It suggests UGs were able to identify mental illnesses with a good positive predictive value. In Umri village, out of 294 mentally ill patients, it gave a true positive value of 91.49% and a false positive value of 8.5%, whereas in Kurzadi village, out of the 256 mentally ill patients, it gave a true positive value of 86.3% and a false positive value of 13.67%. Conclusion The ratio of psychiatrists in India is approximately 0.30 per 100,000 population due to which psychiatrists alone cannot cover the mental health problems of India. Therefore, we need a different model to cover mental illness in India, which is discussed in this article.


1965 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Cohen ◽  
Elmer L. Struening

When between-hospital ( n = 12) and within-occupation group ( n = 8) differences in attitude-opinion toward the mentally ill are studied for 4784 mental hospital employees, Authoritarianism and Benevolence do not vary among mental health professionals but do for others; the reverse obtains for Interpersonal Etiology; and Social Restrictiveness differentiates in virtually all groups and most sharply in psychiatrists.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document