scholarly journals Contagion and Psychiatric Disorders: The Social Epidemiology of Risk (Comment on “The Epidemic of Mental Disorders in Business”)

2021 ◽  
pp. 000183922110676
Author(s):  
Katherine M. Keyes ◽  
Jeffrey Shaman

In their 2022 paper, Kensbock, Alkærsig, and Lomberg provide compelling evidence of an increased risk in treated depressive, anxiety, and stress-related disorders within workplaces, associated with the introduction of new hires who either have treated disorders themselves or are hired from workplaces with an increased prevalence of treated disorders. The authors interpret these findings as evidence of a “contagion” effect for psychiatric disorders, illustrative of workplace spread of disorder that may affect the mental health of employees. In this commentary, we contextualize these findings through psychiatric epidemiology. The evidence provided by Kensbock and colleagues is consistent with a long history of evidence in psychiatric and social epidemiology illustrating that many health outcomes are affected by those in our social networks and that psychiatric disorders, in particular, evidence spatial and temporal autocorrelation as well as social network spread that can be best conceptualized through well-known infectious disease principles. Thus, there is a large empirical literature that supports the findings of Kensbock, Alkærsig, and Lomberg. That said, the findings should not be overinterpreted; they fit some patterns of previous literature and known facts about psychiatric disorders, but not all. They also must be appropriately situated within the literature on workplace determinants of mental well-being more generally and, in particular, the global movements to situate the rights of workers with mental illness for employment protections and safe working conditions.

2009 ◽  
Vol 103 (9) ◽  
pp. 1381-1387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ondine van de Rest ◽  
Janette de Goede ◽  
Femke Sytsma ◽  
Linda M. Oude Griep ◽  
Johanna M. Geleijnse ◽  
...  

Individuals with CHD are at increased risk of poor mental well-being. Dietary intake of EPA and DHA, the main n-3 fatty acids from fish, may be beneficial to mental well-being. We examined the association of EPA+DHA and fish intake with mental well-being in 644 participants, aged 60–80 years, with a history of myocardial infarction. Habitual food intake was assessed with a 203-item FFQ. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the self-report geriatric depression scale, and dispositional optimism was assessed with the revised life orientation test (LOT-R) and a four-item questionnaire (4Q). In Cox-regression models modified for cross-sectional analyses, we adjusted for sex, age, energy intake, BMI, family history of depression, education, marital status, smoking, physical activity and intake of saturated fat, alcohol and fibre. Compared with the lower tertile, subjects in the higher tertile of EPA+DHA intake had a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms, but this association was not statistically significant (prevalence ratio (PR) 0·78; 95 % CI 0·50, 1·22, P-trend 0·27). The higher tertile of EPA+DHA intake was positively associated with dispositional optimism measured with the 4Q (PR 0·69; 95 % CI 0·46, 1·03, P-trend 0·05), but not according to the LOT-R. Fish intake was not related to either depressive symptoms or dispositional optimism. In conclusion, intake of EPA+DHA was positively associated with dispositional optimism assessed with the 4Q, but not with optimism assessed with the LOT-R or with depressive symptoms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mie Thorborg Pedersen ◽  
Per Lyngs Hansen ◽  
Mathias Porsmose Clausen

Useful attempts to shed light on the nature of gastronomy from a scientific point of view and to unravel the crucial connection between food, eating and well-being are currently underrepresented in the scientific literature. However, several scientific disciplines ranging from the natural to the social sciences offer valuable new perspectives on gastronomy. As one of the key disciplines in natural science, physics offers original and rigorous perspectives on all processes and structures constrained by the laws of nature. The emerging discipline called gastrophysics employs the full range of concepts, techniques and methods from physics to generate useful scientific input to the complex and holistic reflections on gastronomy. Relying on a review of the existing literature, this article illustrates how a science-based gastrophysics emerges, to a large extent from the convoluted history of food science as well as from various recent – and often overlapping – attempts to combine modern scientific methodology to questions from gastronomy. However, the present review also insists on a physics-inspired methodology to handle scale and complexity in food preparation and consumption across length scales from sub-molecular to entire foods. We exemplify how gastrophysics directly helps to develop gastronomy and how it adds to current approaches in traditional food science. We also suggest that gastrophysics may prove relevant in the context of the ongoing food transformation, which focuses strongly on sustainability, but where the importance of gastronomic aspects in this transformation is greatly needed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Mckay

In this paper a paradox is revealed in the politics of well-being over the means and ends of happiness. That paradox, in brief, is that although happiness is argued to be the ultimate end of all governmentality, in order to serve as that end, it first needs to be translated into a means for bolstering the economy, for only that way can a teleology of happiness gain a foothold in a world which prioritizes economic growth as an end in itself. To show this the paper gives a history of subjective well-being (SWB) research, and contrasts it with the politics of happiness in the UK, where SWB has in the past decade been translated into a discourse around the psychological wealth of the nation via the concepts of mental capital (MC) and mental well-being (MWB).


Author(s):  
Julia Evangelista ◽  
William A. Fulford

AbstractThis chapter shows how carnival has been used to counter the impact of Brazil’s colonial history on its asylums and perceptions of madness. Colonisation of Brazil by Portugal in the nineteenth century led to a process of Europeanisation that was associated with dismissal of non-European customs and values as “mad” and sequestration of the poor from the streets into asylums. Bringing together the work of the two authors, the chapter describes through a case study how a carnival project, Loucura Suburbana (Suburban Madness), in which patients in both long- and short-term asylum care play leading roles, has enabled them to “reclaim the streets,” and re-establish their right to the city as valid producers of culture on their own terms. In the process, entrenched stigmas associated with having a history of mental illness in a local community are challenged, and sense of identity and self-confidence can be rebuilt, thus contributing to long-term improvements in mental well-being. Further illustrative materials are available including photographs and video clips.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-17
Author(s):  
L Subedi ◽  
R B Sah

Retirement, change in housing, illness or death of spouse greatly affect the physical and mental well-being of the geriatric person. This study aims to find out the health status of geriatric age group in chitwan district of Nepal. A cross sectional study was carried out among 300 geriatric people where 15.7% of the geriatric were living alone, 50.3 % and 39.7% of geriatrics gave history of regular use of tobacco and alcohol respectively. Co-morbidities were found in 63% of geriatrics who suffered from 2 or more diseases. In Total 44% were found to have Ophthalmic problems, 23% were found to have ENT problems, 5.33% were found to mental disorders, 33% were found to have CVS problems, 43% were found to have GI problems, 15.67 % were found to have Metabolic disorder. The study highlighted a high prevalence of morbidity and health related problems in geriatric age groups.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmc.v5i1.12560


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yigal Bloch

AbstractThe present study discusses the attestations of persons of Judean origin in Neo-Babylonian cuneiform tablets (of the period between 550 and 490 bce) as possible evidence of some aspects of the social history of the community of Judeans exiled to Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar II. Although the number of such attestations is very small, it is nonetheless possible to single out two groups which display different patterns of personal name giving across generations. In one instance, a group of merchants in the city of Sippar (belonging mostly to a single family) uses, in part, distinctly Judean personal names in the first generation of the exile, but abandons them completely in favor of Babylonian theophoric names in the next generation. In another instance, a group of individuals active mostly in Susa and probably belonging to the families of royal officials (as suggested by names and patronymics of the type of Beamtennamen – names expressing a pious wish for the well-being of the king) displays the use of Yahwistic personal names even though the fathers of those individuals bore Babylonian theophoric names. It is suggested that the persistence of Yahwistic – hence distinctly Judean – names among royal officials or their direct offspring, even after the previous generation bore Babylonian names, reflects a considerable measure of tolerance toward ethnically foreign elements in the royal administration (the relevant examples date from the period after the establishment of the Achaemenid empire). In contrast, the progressing adoption of Babylonian names among the Judean merchants in Sippar in the first half of the sixth century bce seems likely to reflect assimilation into the native Babylonian society, fostered by the necessity to pursue commercial dealings with the Ebabbar temple of Šamaš and the social circles centered around the temple, which consisted of conservatively minded upper strata of the native Babylonian society. Editions of the cuneiform tablets discussed in the present study are provided in the Appendix.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-51
Author(s):  
Alexander Shand

Children who experience adversity have increased risk for psychiatric disorders. However, little is known about the exact alterations that occur in the neural circuitry and how that information may help lead to early diagnosis or preventive medicine. Research has shown that there are specific changes in neurological functional connectivity in the brain associated with childhood adversity. This review will examine recent papers that have investigated the correlation between these changes in brain connectivity and specific psychiatric disorders. Understanding the changes may help with preventive medicine by ensuring clinicians monitor patients with more severe history of adversity who are therefore at higher risk for developing a psychiatric disorder. This paper will also address potential recommendations that could be implemented in the future as research offers more conclusive evidence. Research is now beginning to address the questions of whether these changes can be attenuated, either during childhood or as adults.


Author(s):  
Bruna Barbosa Siqueira ◽  
Marina Cunha Assumpção ◽  
Sabrina Martins Barroso ◽  
Camila Cremonezi Japur ◽  
Fernanda Rodrigues de Oliveira Penaforte

ABSTRACT Objective To conduct an integrative review in order to understand the repercussions of the social stigma of overweight on the health of adults and adolescents. Methods The international protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis studies PRISMA was adopted to guide the writing of this review. The databases used were PubMed, Psycinfo, SciELO, Medline, Lilacs and Pepsic, considering studies published in the period from 2000 to 2020. Sixty-seven (67) articles were analyzed, and 4 categories emerged: repercussions on physical well-being; repercussions on social well-being; repercussions on mental well-being; and mixed category (physical and psychological impact). Results In the vast majority of studies analyzed, weight stigma had a negative impact on the different spheres that make up the health construct, that is, the physical, social and mental spheres. Conclusions The consequences of weight stigma are a source of intense suffering, with an impact that reduces the quality of life of individuals who experience stigmatization, involving physical, emotional and social aspects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Windy Tiandini ◽  
Dr. Khairina

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness and cause dysfunction in the social, work and family environment. The main goal of the treatment of schizophrenia is recovery that is either physically or mentally completed from loss of symptoms, work function, independent life, and relationships that require the role of the patient and caregiver. Planning therapy for schizophrenic patients is not just medical approval or treatment, but the discussion of basic needs is very important in order to reduce dysfunction in schizophrenic patients and improve their quality of life. The Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN) is an instrument developed to support several aspects of life and mental well-being and to provide an overview of the needs of schizophrenic patients. 


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 811-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene L. Kwok ◽  
Gaelle Leys ◽  
Roger Koenig-Robert ◽  
Joel Pearson

The ability to control one’s thoughts is crucial for attention, focus, ideation, and mental well-being. Although there is a long history of research into thought control, the inherent subjectivity of thoughts has made objective examination, and thus mechanistic understanding, difficult. Here, we report a novel method to objectively investigate thought-control success and failure by measuring the sensory strength of visual thoughts using binocular rivalry, a perceptual illusion. Across five experiments ( N = 67), we found that thought-control failure may occur because of the involuntary and antithetical formation of nonreportable sensory representations during attempts at thought suppression but not during thought substitution. Notably, thought control was worse in individuals with high levels of anxiety and schizotypy but more successful in mindful individuals. Overall, our study offers insight into the underlying mechanisms of thought control and suggests that individual differences play an important role in the ability to control thoughts.


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