scholarly journals The limits of our knowledge: tracking the size and scope of police involvement with persons with mental illness

FACETS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 424-448
Author(s):  
Laura Huey ◽  
Lorna Ferguson ◽  
Adam D. Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Calls For Service ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Suicide Threats ◽  
Police Interactions

Significant public discourse has focused recently on police–civilian interactions involving with persons with mental illness (PMI). Despite increasing public attention, and growing demands for policy change, little is actually known about the myriad of ways in which Canadian police encounter PMI in the context of routine police work. To assist policymakers in developing evidence-informed policy, this paper attempts to shed light on present difficulties associated with addressing fundamental questions, such as the prevalence of mental health related issues in police calls for service. To do this, we attempt to map the size and scope of police calls for service involving PMI, drawing on both the available scientific data and the limited knowledge to be gleaned from available police reports. Our focus is on two broad categories of police interactions with citizens: public safety concerns (wellness checks, suicide threats, missing persons, mental health apprehensions) and crime prevention and response (encountering PMI as victims–complainants and (or) as potential suspects). We also explore the challenges policy-makers face in relying on police data and the importance of overcoming weaknesses in data collection and sharing in relation to the policing of uniquely vulnerable groups. This paper concludes with some key recommendations for addressing gaps highlighted.

Mental Health Ontologies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janna Hastings
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
The Public ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Public Health Challenges ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Way

Mental health presents one of the defining public health challenges of our time. Proponents of different conceptions of what mental illness is wage war for the hearts and minds of patients, practitioners, policy-makers, and the public. Debate and fragmentation around the nature of the entities that feature in the mental health domain divide resources and reduce progress. The way mental health is publicly discussed in the media has tangible effects, in terms of stigma, access to healthcare and resources, and private expectations of recovery. This book explores in detail the sorts of statements that are made about mental health in the media and public reporting of scientific research, grounding them in the wider context of the theoretical frameworks, assumptions and metaphors that they draw from. The author shows how a holistic understanding of the way that different aspects of mental illness are interrelated can be developed from evidence-based interpretation of the latest research findings. She offers some ideas about corrective, integrative approaches to discussing mental health-related matters publicly that may reduce the opposition between conceptualisations while still aiming to reduce stigma, shame and blame. In particular, she emphasises that discourse in the media needs to be anchored to an overview of all the research results across the field and argues that this could be achieved using new technological infrastructures. The author provides an integrative account of what mental health is, together with an improved understanding of the factors driving the persistence of oppositional accounts in the public discourse. The book will be of benefit to researchers, practitioners and students in the domain of mental health.

scholarly journals Cross-Sectional Trend Analysis of the NCHA II Survey Data on Canadian Post-Secondary Student Mental Health and Wellbeing from 2013 to 2019

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Linden ◽  
Randall Boyes ◽  
Heather Stuart
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Post Secondary Students

BACKGROUND: Canadian post-secondary students are considered to be at risk for chronic stress and languishing mental health, but there has been no longitudinal analysis of the available population-level data. The purpose of this study was to examine trends in the overall and sex-specific prevalence of self-reported stress, distress, mental illness, and help seeking behaviours among Canadian post-secondary students over the past several years. METHODS: Using the 2013, 2016, and 2019 iterations of the National College Health Assessment II Canadian Reference data, we conducted a trend analysis for each variable of interest, stratified by sex. The significance and magnitude of the changes were modelled using cumulative linked ordinal regression models and log binomial regression models.RESULTS: With few exceptions, we observed significant increases over time in the proportion of students reporting symptoms of psychological distress, mental illness diagnoses, and help seeking for mental health related challenges. Female students reported a higher level of stress than male students, with a statistically significant increase in the stress level reported by female students observed over time. In all cases, larger proportions of female students were observed compared to male students, with the proportion of female students who self-reported mental illness diagnoses nearly doubling that of males. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis indicated that the proportion of students self-reporting mental health related challenges, including stress, psychological distress, and diagnosed mental illnesses increased between the 2013, 2016 and 2019 iterations of the NCHA II conducted among Canadian post-secondary students.

scholarly journals Licensing and Physician Mental Health: Problems and Possibilities

2007 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 6-11
Author(s):  
Herbert Hendin ◽  
Charles Reynolds ◽  
Dan Fox ◽  
Steven I. Altchuler ◽  
Phillip Rodgers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Psychiatric Care ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Seeking Help ◽  
Medical License

ABSTRACT A number of factors appear to discourage physicians from seeking help for mental illness. This reluctance may be exacerbated by fears – well-founded or imagined – that by seeking help, physicians may put their medical license in jeopardy. To examine this risk, an analysis of all state medical board (SMB) license applications was followed by a seven-item survey mailed to SMB executive directors, and 70 percent responded. Follow up interviews were conducted with a sample of those not responding and also with a small group of directors whose responses were problematic. Thirteen of the 35 SMBs responding indicated that the diagnosis of mental illness by itself was sufficient for sanctioning physicians. The same states indicated that they treat physicians receiving psychiatric care differently than they do physicians receiving medical care. In follow-up interviews all 13 indicated that without evidence of impairment or misrepresentation any such sanctioning was likely to be temporary. A significant percentage (37 percent) of states sanction or have the ability to sanction physicians on the basis of information revealed on the licensing application about the presence of a psychiatric condition rather than on the basis of impairment. The same percentage state they treat physicians receiving psychiatric care differently than they do those receiving medical care. Physicians’ perceptions of this apparent discrimination is likely to play a role in their reluctance to seek help for mental health-related conditions. Suggestions are made for how SMBs and state physician health programs and state and county medical societies might collaborate in ways that while protecting patients decreases barriers to physicians help seeking.

scholarly journals A strategic approach to police interactions with people with a mental illness

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry G. Coleman ◽  
Dorothy Cotton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Community Agencies ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
Health Strategy ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Police Interactions

Since the birth of modern policing in the early 1800s, police agencies have interacted with persons with mental health problems (P/MHP) whether in crisis, as victims, or in a support role. Given the nature of policing, this is unlikely to change. What has changed is how police handle these situations. This paper identifies and explains the two phases of the evolution, to date, of police responses and the now necessary third phase. It is time for police agencies to apply a focussed corporate approach to this important social issue and to establish a mental health strategy (third generation) in order to clearly take a strategic approach in concert with relevant community agencies to improve outcomes for P/MHP who come into contact with police personnel. While many standalone programs have been primarily reactive, this paper makes the case that a strategic approach enables the design and implementation of multiple programs congruent with the mental health strategy that are proactive as well as reactive, all with the aim of improving the outcomes for persons with mental illness and mental health problems.

scholarly journals Oral Health–Related Quality of Life Among Publicly Insured Mental Health Service Outpatients With Serious Mental Illness

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (12) ◽  
pp. 1101-1109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Lam ◽  
Dolly A. John ◽  
Hanga Galfalvy ◽  
Carol Kunzel ◽  
Roberto Lewis-Fernández
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Related Quality ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Publicly Insured

Stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness and other stigmatizing conditions in China using two cultural-sensitive measures of stigma: interpersonal distance and occupational restrictiveness

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Xiong ◽  
Michael R. Phillips ◽  
Zhizhong Wang ◽  
Yuhong Zhang ◽  
Hui G. Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Interpersonal Distance ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Stigma And Discrimination ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Core Components ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract Background Reducing stigma is a perennial target of mental health advocates, but effectively addressing stigma relies on the ability to correctly understand and accurately measure culture-specific and location-specific components of stigma and discrimination. Methods We developed two culture-sensitive measures that assess the core components of stigma. The 40-item Interpersonal Distance Scale (IDS) asks respondents about their willingness to establish four different types of relationships with individuals with 10 target conditions, including five mental health-related conditions and five comparison conditions. The 40-item Occupational Restrictiveness Scale (ORS) asks respondents how suitable it is for individuals with the 10 conditions to assume four different types of occupations. The scales – which take 15 min to complete – were administered as part of a 2013 survey in Ningxia Province, China to a representative sample of 2425 adult community members. Results IDS and ORS differentiated the level of stigma between the 10 conditions. Of the total, 81% of respondents were unwilling to have interpersonal relationships with individuals with mental health-related conditions and 91% considered them unsuitable for various occupations. Substantial differences in attitudes about the five mental health-related conditions suggest that there is no community consensus about what constitutes a ‘mental illness’. Conclusions Selection of comparison conditions, types of social relationships, and types of occupations considered by the IDS and ORS make it possible to develop culture-sensitive and cohort-specific measures of interpersonal distance and occupational restrictiveness that can be used to compare the level and type of stigma associated with different conditions and to monitor changes in stigma over time.

Economic crisis and mental health – findings from Greece

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (02) ◽  
pp. 90-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Christodoulou
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Private Care ◽  
Systemic Problems

Summary Background: The direct and indirect effects of the economic crisis in Greece have resulted in inequalities, poverty and unemployment. Public health services, social care and welfare have been both severely curtailed and overstretched by increased demand due to higher private care costs and the refugee crisis. For society’s most vulnerable this is beyond an economic crisis, it is a humanitarian crisis. Method: In this narrative review we report a continued rise in suicides, persistent mental health problems in the population, and continued systemic problems despite some successful reforms and slowing of the economic deterioration. Synergistic effects are identified between pre-existing systemic weaknesses, the effects of the crisis, and the effects of austerity. Outlook: Psychiatrists should promote evidence- based interventions, for example preventing mental illness by supporting vulnerable groups and by reducing inequalities. Evidence-based heurism is advocated for, in the interest of outcome. Psychiatrists also have a political role in tackling stigma towards mental illness, refugees and other vulnerable groups, and in promoting resilience and solidarity.

Amicus cum Laude: Ethnodramatic Inquiry Regarding Sharing Mental Health in College

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (14) ◽  
pp. 2173-2191
Author(s):  
Robert D. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
Health Related ◽  
One Act

In this manuscript, I utilize an ethnodramatic methodology in reanalyzing two data sets about college friends disclosing and receiving mental health-related information. After describing ethnodrama and how this methodology applies to mental health–related inquiry, I detail my process of creating an ethnodrama from two extant data sets. The result is an ethnodrama called Amicus cum Laude: Becoming a Friend with Honor for Mental Illness, a one-act play about how friends discuss mental health issues with one another. After providing the ethnodrama, I offer recommendations for taking the ethnodrama from page to stage while reflecting on and critiquing the final product.

The Evolution of Police Interactions with People with Mental Health Problems

2017 ◽  
pp. 252-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy Cotton ◽  
Terry G. Coleman
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Crisis Intervention Team ◽  
Calls For Service ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
Intervention Team ◽  
Police Interactions ◽  
And Training

As early as the 1970s, some police agencies began to develop education and training initiatives as well as specialized response initiatives to assist police in responding to calls for service involving people with mental health problems. Various versions of Memphis's Crisis Intervention Team program as well as various co-response models have become increasingly common. However, the effectiveness of these often stand-alone programs remains unclear. What has become clear is that police agencies require a strategic approach to interactions between police and vulnerable populations including those with mental health problems. This chapter, which provides an overview of the evolution of these specialized police responses, proposes that there is a need for a more comprehensive third generation approach—a strategic approach—rather than solely a “program” approach. Identification is made of specific areas in which the unique skills of psychologists are important in furthering the success of the necessary strategic approach.

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