scholarly journals Vulnerable Medical Student Ecosystems: Transdisciplinary Learning Sciences Interventions, Maximizing Student Learning and Promoting Mental Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 384-305
Author(s):  
Kevin Michael Watson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Epistemological Belief ◽  
Medical Workforce ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
Learning Ecosystem

Medical students (MS), as a focus of investigation, are usually the last group that would be considered as suffering from mental health issues. However, the literature shows otherwise; MS suffer debilitating anxiety and depression which worsen with the progression of their studies. The literature also highlights the medical school curriculum as a significant cause of the elevated stress, anxiety, and depression levels within the MS population. This article explores the vulnerable nature of MS by focusing on the nature of the medical school’s hidden curriculum and culture, highlighting its impact on the entire medical education ecosystem and the MS. This article, then, investigates the three dominant epistemological belief frames in medical school which impact the vulnerable nature of MS. Finally, this article presents potential interventions, targeting the need for cultural change that may contribute to the creation of a more compassionate learning ecosystem to build the MS’ mental resilience in medical school and create a stronger medical workforce.

scholarly journals Mental health issues of the medical workforce during COVID-19: a review

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Domenicano
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Mental Health Disorders ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Risk Environment ◽  
Medical Workforce ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
Health Disorders

The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency. As we write, the world counts more than 10 million positive cases and more than 500 thousand deaths. The difficult conditions faced by healthcare workers helping with the COVID-19 pandemic are leading to severe adverse mental health consequences.The aim of this review is to summarize and analyze the mental health issues that healthcare workers are experiencing during the COVID-19 outbreak. We conduct a systematic literature review to investigate the healthcare workforce’s mental health disorders. About 145 articles were retrieved for the period between January 1, 2020 and April 30, 2020. After screening, 27 articles were selected for full-text examination, 13 were included in the review. Of the studies included, 69% (9/13) and 61% (8/13) investigated depression and anxiety, respectively, although other mental health disorders such as insomnia, distress, stress, and fear were also assessed. Most of the healthcare workers in the studies reported high levels of stress, anxiety, and severe symptoms of depressions.Caregivers are working under high levels of pressure, in a high-risk environment, and are dealing with many physical and psychological challenges. Appropriate actions and well-timed psychological support to protect medical workers’ mental health should be considered.

scholarly journals Mental Health among Higher Education Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Lithuania

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (23) ◽  
pp. 12737
Author(s):  
Emilijus Žilinskas ◽  
Giedrė Žulpaitė ◽  
Kristijonas Puteikis ◽  
Rima Viliūnienė
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mental Health Issues

Mental health issues—anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and behavior—are prevalent among students of higher education. The COVID-19 pandemic further affected students’ daily life through academic and socioeconomic disturbances. We set out to investigate students’ mental health amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and conducted a cross-sectional online survey at higher education institutions in Lithuania in 2021. The questionnaire consisted of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) and the Sense of Coherence scale (SOC-3) questionnaires, evaluation of suicidal risk, experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and self-rated health status (SRHS). Among 1001 students who completed the survey, the prevalence of clinically relevant anxiety was high (46.6%) and contrasted with the lower prevalence of depression (11.1%). 37.5% of all students admitted that they had thought about suicide at least once during their lifetime and a similar number of students thought about suicide during the previous year. High levels of anxiety and depression were statistically significant predictors of suicidal ideation and planning during the past year in binary regression models. High SRHS (higher score refers to more positive health status) was the only significant independent variable associated with less frequent suicidal attempts in the past year (p < 0.01, OR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.12 to 0.66). Our study highlights anxiety and suicidality to be burdensome mental health issues among higher education students in Lithuania during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Psychiatric Consultation in the Eastern Canadian Arctic: III. Mental Health Issues in Inuit Women in the Eastern Arctic

1993 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Abbey ◽  
Eric Hood ◽  
L. Trevor Young ◽  
Samuel A. Malcolmson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Psychiatric Consultation ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
Patient Will ◽  
Eastern Canadian Arctic

This report describes mental health issues affecting Inuit women as seen in psychiatric consultation. Recent public and governmental attention has focused on the emotional and behavioural sequelae of rapid cultural change, spousal assault and sexual violence. The process of psychiatric consultant with the Inuit woman patient will be described. The need for innovative, community-based treatment strategies in this population will be emphasized.

“Please Let It Stop”: Fear, Anxiety, and Uncertainty on the Neoliberal Tenure Track

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780042110298
Author(s):  
Kyle S. Bunds
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Foreign Country ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Tenure Track ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Mental Health Issues

I have anxiety and I am not alone, although I have felt that way. Anxiety and depression are mental health issues that impact millions of individuals in our society. While discussions about mental health are improving, insofar as conversations are more frequent particularly during the 2020 to 2021 Coronavirus pandemic, more voices are needed to tell their stories of mental health and actions need to be taken to address systemic issues in a multitude of contexts. My context is that of a tenure-track middle-class white privileged male who began an intense battle with anxiety while undertaking a guest professorship in a foreign country. The autoethnographic narrative presented here is a composition of vignettes from my struggle with anxiety in the 4th and 5th tenure track years. Throughout, I attempt to openly present my struggles and conclude by proposing ways in higher education can aid faculty, staff, and students in creating a better structure.

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