Professional Migration, Occupational Challenge, and Mental Health: Medical Practitioners in New Zealand, 1850–1890s

Author(s):  
Alannah Tomkins ◽  
Catharine Coleborne

Summary Australasian colonies were promoted as ‘lands of opportunity’ for British medical practitioners of the Victorian period, but once there doctors often found that any problems they faced had travelled with them. Furthermore, the act of migration could add to personal difficulty. This article builds on existing work about the challenges confronting doctors in England, and on the potential of asylum records to address the consequences of migration, to consider the experiences of men who chose to move round the globe. It concerns practitioners’ turbulent careers in New Zealand, with an emphasis on their poor mental health and suicide. Official and personal sources are used to evaluate the impact of professional drivers, and the consequences for medical men. It concludes that migration did not mitigate professional stresses and instead induced or exacerbated personal crisis. The visibility of alcohol-related distress is particularly marked in contrast to evidence for practitioners in England.

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saneta Manoa ◽  
Phylesha Brown-Acton ◽  
Tatryanna Utanga ◽  
Seini Jensen

F’INE Aotearoa, through Pasifika Futures Whānau Ora programme, is supporting Pacific Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) individuals and their families to transform their lives and achieve their aspirations.  The LGBTQI community in New Zealand experience significant disadvantage across a range of areas affecting wellbeing, including higher rates of poor mental health, depression and anxiety 1,2,3. For Pacific LGBTQI, the disadvantages are compounded further.  F’INE, an LGBTQI specific provider in New Zealand, is working to change this.


Author(s):  
Emma Ross ◽  
Dermot O'Reilly

BackgroundThe UK National Breast Screening Programme is estimated to reduce breast cancer mortality by 20%. To maximise the benefits of the programme, we first need to understand the underlying factors contributing to variations in screening uptake. One potentially significant factor which may contribute to these gradients in screening uptake is poor mental health. ObjectivesThe objectives of this study were to examine the impact of poor mental health on breast screening uptake, and whether this explained any of the previously observed socio-demographic gradients in screening uptake. MethodsBreast screening records were obtained from the National Breast Screening System (NBSS) and were subsequently linked to 2011 Census data within the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS). The NILS encompasses 28\% of Census data. This was then linked to psychotropic prescribing information from the Enhanced Prescribing Database (EPD), to produce a de-identified research dataset containing 57,328 women. FindingsWomen with self-reported poor mental health were over 20% less likely to attend screening compared to their counterparts who didn't have poor mental health. Using psychotropic prescribing information as a proxy for the presence of mental illness yielded similar results, with those taking anxiolytics, antipsychotics or hypnotics in the three months before screening invitation significantly less likely to attend than those who were not. ConclusionWomen with poor mental health were significantly less likely to attend breast screening. However, poor mental health did not explain any of the previously determined socio-demographic gradients in screening uptake.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlee Bower ◽  
Amarina Donohoe-Bales ◽  
Scarlett Smout ◽  
Andre Quan Ho Nguyen ◽  
Julia Boyle ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the recent bushfires and flash floods, have resulted in significant and unprecedented mental health impacts in Australia. Despite the known impacts, there is a paucity of research directly asking Australian community members about their mental health experiences and what they perceive to be the most important mental health issues in the context of the pandemic. This study utilises qualitative data from Alone Together, a longitudinal mixed-methods study investigating the effects of COVID-19 on mental health in an Australian community sample (N = 2,056). Of the 1,350 participants who completed the first follow-up survey, a total of 1,037 participants, who ranged in sex (69.9% female), age (M = 40-49 years), state/territory of residence, and socioeconomic status, shared responses to two open-ended questions regarding the most important issues for mental health in Australia and the impact of COVID-19 on their individual mental health. Responses were analysed using thematic analysis. Participants described COVID-19 as primarily impacting their mental health through the disruption it posed to their social world and financial stability. A key concern for participants who reported having poor mental health was the existence of multiple competing barriers to accessing good mental health care. According to participant responses, the pandemic had pressurized an already over-burdened mental health service system, leaving many without timely, appropriate support. Further absent or stigmatising rhetoric around mental health, at both a political and community level, also prevented participants from seeking help. Insights gained from the present research provide opportunities for policymakers and health practitioners to draw on the expertise of Australians’ lived experience and address priority issues through targeted policy planning. This could ultimately support a more responsive, integrated and effective mental health system, during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lisa Thompson

<p>Provision for adolescent mental health in New Zealand is in its infancy. CRHS-City is the first Ministry of Education funded initiative that addresses adolescent mental health and transition back to school in New Zealand. This thesis examines the experiences of students and their families attending CRHS-City and how they were supported to transition back to school or further education. This research is important as it focuses on a growing need and documents Central Regional Health School’s attempt to address it. The methodological approach was a multiple case study underpinned by a constructivist paradigm. A qualitative approach was appropriate for this study as the research wanted to capture the impact attending CRHS-City had on a specific group of students and their transition back to a regular school or further education. Three students and their families identified they would be willing to be interviewed as part of this study. Eight overarching themes emerged from the research. Participants described positive outcomes from their experience of attending CRHS-City. This study has found being at CRHS-City helped the participants explore different ways of managing their mental health condition and gain confidence in their abilities to do so, which in turn supported the overall goal of a return to school or further education. However this was not an easy process for either the students or their parents. The findings from this research identified recommendations specific to CRHS-City and for the education sector in general to support students who have a mental health condition continue with their education goals. Support for the student’s family and the regular school is an essential part of this process. Research into effective interventions within mainstream schools to support students who have mental health needs is seen as a logical next step.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon L. Boring ◽  
Kaitlyn T. Walsh ◽  
Namrata Nanavaty ◽  
Vani A. Mathur

The experience of pain is subjective, yet many people have their pain invalidated or not believed. Pain invalidation is associated with poor mental health, including depression and lower well-being. Qualitative investigations of invalidating experiences identify themes of depression, but also social withdrawal, self-criticism, and lower self-worth, all of which are core components of shame. Despite this, no studies have quantitatively assessed the interrelationship between pain invalidation, shame, and depression. To explore this relationship, participants recounted the frequency of experienced pain invalidation from family, friends, and medical professionals, as well as their feelings of internalized shame and depressive symptoms. As shame has been shown to be a precursor for depression, we further explored the role of shame as a mediator between pain invalidation and depressive symptoms. All sources of pain invalidation were positively associated with shame and depressive symptoms, and shame fully mediated the relationship between each source of pain invalidation and depression. Relative to other sources, pain invalidation from family was most closely tied to shame and depression. Overall, findings indicate that one mechanism by which pain invalidation may facilitate depression is via the experience of shame. Future research may explore shame as a potential upstream precursor to depression in the context of pain. Findings provide more insight into the harmful influence of pain invalidation on mental health and highlight the impact of interpersonal treatment on the experiences of people in pain.


Author(s):  
Ian Cummins

This chapter will discuss the broader impact of neoliberal social and welfare policy. In particular, it explores the impacts of increased inequality and the spatial concentration of poverty. These processes are referred to as “advanced marginality”. This concept captures the ways, in which, areas of poverty are surrounded by areas of affluence. In addition, advanced marginality symbolises the processes whereby groups and individuals are effectively excluded in a literal and metaphorical sense from major areas of modern society. This section is influenced by the work of Loic Wacquant (2008a, 2008b, 2009a and 2009b) and his notion of territorial stigmatisation. This is the modern context of community. It then goes on to examine the impact of austerity policies that have been followed since 2010 on both mental health service users and wider mental health provision. The links between poverty and poor mental health are examined below.


2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alannah Tomkins

‘Mad doctors’ specialized in treating the insane, but what about the doctors whose own mental health was jeopardized? Oppenheim found that doctors who attended the mad were presumed to be particularly vulnerable, but there has been no research investigating this claim, nor identifying practitioners’ experiences as patients. This article analyses medical admissions to asylums via both case notes and other sources such as newspaper reports, revealing the responses of medical superintendents to their former colleagues and, in some cases, the judgements of practitioners on their institutional surroundings. It indicates the impact of work-related stress, as medicine became self-consciously professional, and the evolution of public reactions to doctors who could not maintain an appropriately sane identity.


Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Perret ◽  
Colleen O. Best ◽  
Jason B. Coe ◽  
Amy L. Greer ◽  
Deep K. Khosa ◽  
...  

A relatively high risk of poor mental health has been described among Canadian veterinarians, but no published studies have explored the impact that veterinarian mental health may have on veterinary clients and patients. In order to investigate the association between veterinarian mental health and veterinary client satisfaction, veterinarians were randomly sampled and recruited throughout southwestern Ontario, Canada, from November, 2017, through January, 2019. Sixty participating veterinarians completed an enrollment survey that included psychometric scales measuring resilience, perceived stress, anxiety, depression, emotional distress, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction. Nine hundred and ninety-five companion animal clients of these veterinarians were recruited in-clinic over 2–3 days and completed a post-appointment survey including the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. The associations between clients' satisfaction scores (as the outcome variable) and each of the veterinarians' mental health measures (as the explanatory variables) were assessed using separate, multilevel, multivariable linear regression models. The associations between client satisfaction and veterinarian mental health measures were non-linear and complex; in several of the models, relatively higher client satisfaction was unexpectedly associated with poor veterinarian mental health states, while lower client satisfaction was associated with mental health scores suggesting wellness. Given that client satisfaction may impact client adherence to medical recommendations, client loyalty, and business income, the association with veterinarian mental health may have broad implications and warrants further investigation.


2020 ◽  
pp. injuryprev-2020-044050
Author(s):  
Marci F Hertz ◽  
Lisa Cohen Barrios

Newly released 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System data and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC)’2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary and Trends Report show that US adolescents continue to suffer from poor mental health and suicidality at alarming rates. These data alone would be cause for concern, but the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to further erode adolescent mental health, particularly for those whose mental health was poor prior to the pandemic. Given the status of adolescent mental health prior to COVID-19 and the impact of COVID-19, health professionals and schools must partner together now to mitigate potentially deleterious health, mental health and education impacts for children and adolescents.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. e231-e238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor Holding ◽  
Lindsay Blank ◽  
Mary Crowder ◽  
Edward Ferrari ◽  
Elizabeth Goyder

Abstract Background The rising prevalence of mental health problems is a growing public health issue. Poor mental health is not equally distributed across social groups and is associated with poverty and insecure housing. An evaluation of a social housing intervention provided an opportunity to explore the connections between housing and wider determinants of health and wellbeing. Methods We undertook 44 interviews with social housing tenants over a two-year period to explore their views on housing, health and wellbeing. Results Poor mental health was common. The results suggest that perceptions of housing quality, service responsiveness, community safety, benefit changes and low income all have a detrimental effect on tenants’ mental health. Conclusions Social housing providers who wish to have a positive impact on the mental health of their tenants need to consider how to best support or mitigate the impact of these stresses. Addressing traditional housing officer functions such as reporting or monitoring home repairs alongside holistic support remains an important area where social housing departments can have substantial health impact. Tackling the complex nature of mental health requires a joined up approach between housing and a number of services.


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