Mental Health in Later Life

Author(s):  
Alisoun Milne

Focusing on mental health rather than mental illness, this book adopts a life course approach to understanding mental health and wellbeing in later life. Drawing together material from the fields of sociology, psychology, critical social gerontology, the mental health field, and life course studies, it analyses the meaning and determinants of mental health amongst older populations and offers a critical review of existing discourse. The book explores the intersecting influences of lifecourse experiences, social and structural inequalities, socio-political context, history, gender and age-related factors and demands an approach to prevention and resolution that appreciates the embedded, complex and multi-faceted nature of threats to mental health and ways to protect it. It foregrounds engagement with the perspectives and lived experiences of older people, including people living with dementia, and makes the case for a paradigmatic shift in conceptualising, exploring and researching mental health issues and supporting older people with mental health problems. The book is essential reading for policy makers, health and social care professionals and students, third sector agencies, researchers and all of those concerned to more effectively and collaboratively address mental health issues in later life.

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-46
Author(s):  
Vijeta Singh ◽  
Taruna Gera ◽  
Rakesh Kumar Behmani

Adolescence is a developmental phase marked with a heightened risk of inception of mental health disorders. The neglect in addressing mental health issues during childhood and adolescence could lead to the development of mental health problems in later life. The perspective with which children perceive their parent's parenting influences the children's mental health. Furthermore, the gender of the parent has its impacts on the shaping of a child's personality under the patriarchal society. The present research attempted to investigate the impact of different parenting styles (paternal) on adolescents' mental health. The study sample comprised 150 adolescents of 14-17 years in age from different schools located in the state of Haryana, India. Parenting Authority Questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) were used to assess parenting styles and mental health. The present study's findings suggest that adolescents with a permissive parenting style have poor mental health compared with authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles. The study recommends incorporating healthy practices in parenting styles to prevent mental health issues among adolescents.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nada Alattar ◽  
Anne Felton ◽  
Theodore Stickley

Purpose Stigma associated with mental health problems is widespread in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Consequently, this may prevent many Saudi people from accessing the mental health-care services and support they need. The purpose of this study is to consider how stigma affects people needing to access mental health services in the KSA. To achieve this aim, this study reviews the knowledge base concerning stigma and mental health in KSA and considers specific further research necessary to increase the knowledge and understanding in this important area. Design/methodology/approach This review examines the relevant literature concerning mental health stigma and related issues in KSA using the Arksey and O'Malley and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses frameworks. As a scoping review, it has used a systematic approach in literature searching. The results of the search were then thematically analysed and the themes were then discussed in light of the concepts of stigma and mental health. Findings Stigma around mental health impedes access to care, the nature of care and current clinical practice in the KSA. The voices of those with mental health issues in KSA are almost entirely unrepresented in the literature. Originality/value The review identifies that mental health stigma and cultural beliefs about mental health in KSA may act as barriers to accessing services. The voice of mental health service users in KSA remains largely unheard. If public discussion of mental health issues can increase, people’s experiences of accessing services may be improved.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S154-S154
Author(s):  
S. Kumar

IntroductionThe modern Swedish crime drama series Wallander by Henning Mankell presents a good portrayal of mental health issues in 21st century post modern world, including the contribution of biological, psychological and social issues in predisposing, perpetuating and maintaining them.AimThe aim of the exploratory synthesis is to study the characters in Wallander focusing on the portrayal of their mental health with a view on formulating biological, psychological and social factors that play a role in their development. Furthermore, mental health is reviewed in first world culture acclimatizing itself to the themes emerging from post-modern globalised world.MethodThe episodes of Wallander (Swedish Version) are reviewed focusing on the characters and the plots for each episode matching them with mental health diagnoses offered in International classification of diseases.DiscussionThe results are collated and a general commentary is offered on the observations and motifs revealed in the portrayal. The focus will be on individual character formulations (both recurring main characters as well other side characters). In addition, there is a commentary on contributing to mental health problems in a post-modern industrial society.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.


Author(s):  
Nanang E. Gunawan ◽  
Tamarine Foreman

This article aims to present a practical conceptual perspective on ecological counseling as a theoretical framework for counselors' integrative cognitive complexity to work with students who experience mental health challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The transition of educational activities into virtual learning has caused various challenges for students worldwide that risk their mental health. Indonesia is one of the countries implementing virtual learning for more than a year with various social, technical, and environmental obstacles. Besides the benefit of distanced learning, this online learning model has widely caused mild to severe anxiety among students. Although researchers have investigated the impacts of virtual learning on mental health problems, the intervention strategies to help students with mental health issues remain lack attention. Ecological counseling has been known for its principles of seeing individuals' mental health issues involving a broader milieu that allows counselors to understand clients according to their contextual living systems. This framework offers a culturally sensitive perspective to help counselors withdraw appropriate and best available information for intervention purposes. This article also includes an application illustration of the ecological counseling framework in the Indonesian community as a practical guideline. It is expected that this article provides academic supports for academics to work with students dealing with their mental health challenges during this pandemic adhere to the counselors' integrative cognitive complexity functions.Keywords: ecological counseling, cognitive complexity, COVID-19 mental health, counselors, Indonesia


BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S288-S289
Author(s):  
Brishti Sengupta ◽  
Pritha Dasgupta

AimsTo survey the effect of COVID-19 on mental health of both medical professionals and the general population, as well as attitudes surrounding the disclosure of mental illness.MethodAn online survey comprised of two questionnaires, one for medical professionals and one for the general population, were conducted via social media. Both questionnaires asked respondents of the effect of COVID-19 on their mental health, and the former asked respondents about the effect of COVID-19 on their patient group's mental health. The questionnaires went on to ask respondents about their attitudes to mental health disclosure in various scenarios, to varying groups of people. The general population group was also asked how they would react if someone else disclosed their mental illness to them.ResultThe questionnaire for the medical professionals gained 62 respondents and the one for the general population had 122 respondents, with responses from multiple nations. Overall, COVID-19 has affected everyone's mental health to a degree, and all groups had reservations about disclosing their mental health issues to others. The medical professionals were especially reluctant to disclose mental illness to their patients, but were more comfortable when it came to disclosing mental illness to colleagues. The general population, however, was much more reluctant to disclose mental health issues to their colleagues. The general population were, on the whole, willing to listen to and help anyone who came to them with mental health concerns. Both groups surveyed showed reluctance toward disclosure to the wider community.ConclusionCOVID-19 appears to significantly affect not only physical health, but mental health as well. There is at least some degree of stigma surrounding the disclosure of mental health issues. While most would be happy to help anyone who came to them with their mental health problems, there seems to be an attitude shift when people must contend with mental health issues of their own.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Yang ◽  
Siu Ching Wong ◽  
Ingrid Obsuth ◽  
Aja Murray

Abstract BackgroundResearch into the transdiagnostic processes underlying multiple mental health problems is promising for making clinical practice and interventions more effective and resource-efficient. In this protocol, we describe a systematic review and meta-analysis that will explore time perspective, defined as an individual’s relative investment of attention on past, present, and future, as a possible transdiagnostic factor that may contribute to issues across wide-ranging domains of mental health. MethodsA systematic review and meta-analysis will be conducted to quantify the associations between mental health issue and specific dimensions of time perspective (past, present, future), respectively. The review will include quantitatively measured associations between time perspective and psychological problems published in a peer-reviewed journal from 1st January 1990 up until 1st March 2021, in the English language. Electronic searches will be conducted in Google Scholar, PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science, and EMBASE and supplemented by expert consultation and inspection of the reference lists of included papers. Screening, quality assessment and data extraction will be conducted by two reviewers independently, and potential conflicts will be resolved through discussion with a third reviewer. Random-effects meta-analysis will be conducted using the metafor package in R statistical software, and quality assessment will employ The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Form for Cohort Studies and for Case-Control Studies. The Quality In Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) will be used to evaluate risk of bias. A narrative synthesis will additionally be used to summarize and interpret the results. DiscussionThe present review will provide the first systematic synthesis exploring the associations between time perspective defined as a multidimensional construct and a broad range of mental health issues. This will help evaluate the extent to which time perspective can be considered a key transdiagnostic factor in mental health and thus a key intervention target for the prevention and treatment of multiple mental health issues simultaneously. With a clearer view of the relations between time perspective and various mental health issues based on a robust synthesis, more focused, effective, and efficient interventions may be delivered. Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42021228869


2021 ◽  
pp. 51-60
Author(s):  
Aleksandr Petrovich Krylov

To date, when using the following search terms: «65+”, «elderly person», and «emotional resilience» in titles and abstracts (as well as in combination with medical thematic heading terms), the PUBMED, Scopus and EMBASE databases present 4,500 papers devoted to mental health problems of age 65+ associated with complex epidemic situations; at the same time, there is still not enough research aimed at studying mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic poses many questions for the psychology community regarding how to get out of an epidemic emergency without losing mental health, how to effectively overcome the problems and further improve social policy in relation to people aged 65+ in the post-pandemic period.


Author(s):  
Sudeep Uprety ◽  
Rajesh Ghimire

This chapter attempts to unfold the trend and nature of mainstream and social media coverage on mental health issues in Nepal through suicide case of Yama Buddha, a popular musician. Using the securitization theory and concepts of threat construction and threat neutralization, major findings through content analysis and key informant interviews reveal reputed mainstream media following cautious route towards threat neutralization and therefore, maintaining a level of journalistic professionalism. However, especially in the other online media, blogs, and other social media, there were sensationalist words and tone used to attract the audience, triggering various sorts of emotional responses, thereby fulfilling the act of securitization. Major recommendations from this chapter include more awareness and understanding about the nature and type of mental health problems; capacity building of journalists and media professionals to better understand and report on mental health problems; development and proper implementation of media guidelines on reporting mental health issues.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane M Crone ◽  
Mustafa Sarkar ◽  
Thomas Curran ◽  
Colin M Baker ◽  
Denise Hill ◽  
...  

Abstract Education programmes in mental health literacy can address stigma and misunderstanding of mental health. This study investigated self-rated differences in knowledge, attitudes and confidence around mental health issues following participation in a bespoke Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training course for the Armed Forces. The mixed methods approach comprised quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews. A survey, administered immediately post-training (n = 602) and again at 10-months post-attendance (n = 120), asked participants to rate their knowledge, attitudes and confidence around mental health issues pre- and post-training. Quantitative findings revealed a significant increase in knowledge, positive attitudes and confidence from the post-training survey which was sustained at 10-months follow-up.Semi-structured telephone interviews (n = 13) were conducted at follow-up, 6-months post-attendance. Qualitative findings revealed that participation facilitated an ‘ambassador’ type role for participants. This study is the first to have investigated the effect of MHFA in an Armed Forces community. Findings show participants perceived the training to increase knowledge regarding mental health and to enhance confidence and aptitude for identifying and supporting people with mental health problems. Results suggest that such an intervention can provide support for personnel, veterans and their families, regarding mental health in Armed Forces communities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 1517-1528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Reynolds ◽  
Maria Medved ◽  
Corey S. Mackenzie ◽  
Laura Megan Funk ◽  
Lesley Koven

Older adults who experience challenges related to mental health are unlikely to seek professional help. The voices of older adults who have navigated through mental health issues and systems of care to arrive at psychological treatment are less well understood. We conducted individual interviews with 15 adults aged 61 to 86 who sought psychological treatment. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using narrative methods. We identified several main storylines that describe the meaning-making and treatment-seeking journeys of older adults: resistance to being labeled with mental health problems (telling stories of resistance, defining mental health issues in mysterious and uncontrollable terms, and experiencing internal role conflict); muddling through the help-seeking process (manifestations of chaos and system-level barriers); and emotional reactions to psychological treatment (hope, fear, and mistrust). Findings add to the literature base in the area of narrative gerontology, and highlight the complex experiences that older adults face when seeking psychological treatment.


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