scholarly journals The Effects of Greenhouse Activities on Psychological Stress, Depression, and Anxiety among University Students Who Served in the U.S. Armed Forces

HortScience ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (12) ◽  
pp. 1834-1839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalie J. Kelley ◽  
Tina M. Waliczek ◽  
F. Alice Le Duc
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
University Students ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
The United States ◽  
Student Veterans ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
The U.S

The mental health of the men and women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces is an area of great concern in the United States. Studies have shown the mental health of university students is also a concern with a growing need for support services and prevention measures. The main objective of this study was to determine the effects of participation in particular greenhouse activities on depression, anxiety, and stress levels of students who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. The study included a control group and a treatment group. Participants completed a pre- and post 21-item Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) survey, along with a questionnaire designed to capture participants’ demographic information and information regarding their military service history. The treatment consisted of a 6-week indoor plant care program. Results of the study found that student veterans who participated in the plant care class had decreased levels of depression and stress when compared with the control group. In the post-test open-ended questions, student veterans described a noticeable feeling of reduced stress along with the ability to relax while having feelings of a sense of place (belonging). Participants also indicated that they would continue to grow plants as a hobby.

scholarly journals Contribution of researchers in the Arab region to peer-reviewed literature on mental health and well-being of university students

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Waleed M. Sweileh
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
University Students ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Search Query ◽  
Research Gaps ◽  
Arab Region ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract Objective The current study aimed at investigating the contribution of researchers in the Arab region to the field of mental health and well-being of university students using bibliometric tools. Method Relevant literature was obtained from the Scopus database for the period from 2001–2020. Examples of keywords used in the query included “college student”, “university student”, and undergraduate student” combined with keywords such as wellbeing, wellness, suicide, and anxiety. No language restriction was used. Only research articles were considered. The search query was validated. Bibliometric indicators and mappings such as active countries, institutions, authors, highly cited documents, and the most frequently encountered topics were identified and discussed to shed light on research gaps in the Arab region. Research gaps were also identified. The analysis was carried out on February 12, 2021. Results The search query returned 309 research articles published by authors from 17 different Arab countries. Less than one-third (n = 97, 31.4%) of the retrieved articles were carried out in collaboration with authors from 39 non-Arab countries, mainly from the United Kingdom and the United States. The overall contribution of researchers from the Arab region to global research in the field was 5.6%. In total, 1212 authors from 791 different institutions participated in publishing the retrieved research articles. At the country level, Saudi Arabia (n = 125, 40.5%) ranked first, followed by Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon. At the institutional level, The University of Jordan (n = 25, 8.1%) ranked first, followed by King Saud University, and Kuwait University. The retrieved articles included 132 (42.7%) articles on stress/distress, 95 (30.7%) on anxiety, 61 (19.7%) on depression. Knowledge gaps on suicide, eating disorders, substance use, and happiness were identified. The retrieved articles appeared in 193 different journals and approximately two-thirds of the active journal were in general medicine, public health, and education. Conclusions The contribution of researchers in the Arab region to the field showed a noticeable increase with time. However, important research gaps were identified. The contribution was confined to authors from a limited number of Arab countries. Funding and international research collaboration for the mental health and well-being of students need to be strengthened.

scholarly journals Implementation of NAVIGATE Coordinated Specialty Care for First Episode Psychosis: the Michigan Experience

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-178
Author(s):  
Eric D. Achtyes ◽  
Kari Kempema ◽  
Zhehui Luo ◽  
Katharine N. Thakkar ◽  
Catherine Adams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Episode Psychosis ◽  
Specialty Care ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Block Grant ◽  
Episode Psychosis

AbstractStudy ObjectivesCoordinated specialty care (CSC) is widely accepted as an evidence-based treatment for first episode psychosis (FEP). The NAVIGATE intervention from the Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode Early Treatment Program (RAISE-ETP) study is a CSC intervention which offers a suite of evidence-based treatments shown to improve engagement and clinical outcomes, especially in those with shorter duration of untreated psychosis (DUP). Coincident with the publication of this study, legislation was passed by the United States Congress in 2014–15 to fund CSC for FEP via a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) block grant set-aside for each state. In Michigan (MI) the management of this grant was delegated to Network180, the community mental health authority in Kent County, with the goal of making CSC more widely available to the 10 million people in MI. Limited research describes the outcomes of implementation of CSC into community practices with no published accounts evaluating the use of the NAVIGATE intervention in a naturalistic setting. We describe the outcomes of NAVIGATE implementation in the state of MI.MethodsIn 2014, 3 centers in MI were selected and trained to provide NAVIGATE CSC for FEP. In 2016 a 4th center was added, and 2 existing centers were expanded to provide additional access to NAVIGATE. Inclusion: age 18–31, served in 1 of 4 FEP centers in MI. Data collection began in 2015 for basic demographics, global illness (CGI q3 mo), hospital/ED use and work/school (SURF q3 mo) and was expanded in 2016 to include further demographics, diagnosis, DUP, vital signs; and in 2018 for clinical symptoms with the modified Colorado Symptom Inventory (mCSI q6 mo), reported via an online portal. This analysis used data until 12/31/19. Mixed effects models adjusted by age, sex and race were used to account for correlated data within patients.ResultsN=283 had useable demographic information and were included in the analysis. Age at enrollment was 21.6 ± 3.0 yrs; 74.2% male; 53.4% Caucasian, 34.6% African American; 12.9 ± 1.7 yrs of education (N=195). 18 mo retention was 67% with no difference by sex or race. CGI scores decreased 20% from baseline (BL) to 18 mo (BL=3.5, N=134; 15–18 mo=2.8, N=60). Service utilization via the SURF was measured at BL (N=172) and 18 mo (N=72): psychiatric hospitalizations occurred in 37% at BL and 6% at 18 mo (p<0.01); ER visits occurred in 40% at BL and 13% at 18 mo (p<0.01). 44% were working or in school at BL and 68% at 18 mo (p<0.01). 21% were on antipsychotics (AP) at BL (N=178) and 85% at 18 mo (N=13) with 8% and 54% on long acting injectable-AP at BL and 18 mo, respectively. Limitations include missing data and lack of a control group.ConclusionThe implementation of the NAVIGATE CSC program for FEP in MI resulted in meaningful clinical improvement for enrollees. Further support could make this evidence-based intervention available to more people with FEP.FundingSupported by funds from the SAMHSA Medicaid State Block Grant set-aside awarded to Network180 (Achtyes, Kempema). The funders had no role in the design of the study, the analysis or the decision to publish the results.

scholarly journals Holistic Health: Does It Really Include Mental Health?

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 2092-2099 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly K. McClanahan ◽  
Marlene B. Huff ◽  
Hatim A. Omar
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Holistic Health ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
Mental And Physical Health ◽  
The U.S

Holistic health, incorporating mind and body as equally important and unified components of health, is a concept utilized in some health care arenas in the United States (U.S.) over the past 30 years. However, in the U.S., mental health is not seen as conceptually integral to physical health and, thus, holistic health cannot be realized until the historical concept of mind-body dualism, continuing stigma regarding mental illness, lack of mental health parity in insurance, and inaccurate public perceptions regarding mental illness are adequately addressed and resolved. Until then, mental and physical health will continue to be viewed as disparate entities rather than parts of a unified whole. We conclude that the U.S. currently does not generally incorporate the tenets of holistic health in its view of the mental and physical health of its citizens, and provide some suggestions for changing that viewpoint.

Numbers Assigned in the Vietnam-Era Selective Service Lotteries Influence the Military Service Decisions of Children Born to Draft-Eligible Men

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Johnson ◽  
Christopher T. Dawes ◽  
Matt McGue ◽  
William G. Iacono
Keyword(s):  
Causal Relationship ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Statistical Analyses ◽  
Selective Service ◽  
Vietnam Era ◽  
The Military ◽  
The U.S

Previous research has reported correlations between the military service records of parents and their children. Those studies, however, have not determined whether a parent’s military service causally influences an offspring’s participation in the armed forces. To investigate the possibility of a causal relationship, we examined whether lottery numbers issued to draft-eligible men during the U.S. Vietnam-era Selective Service Lotteries influenced the military participation of those men’s children. Our study found higher rates of military participation among children born to fathers whose randomly assigned numbers were called for induction. Furthermore, we perform statistical analyses indicating that the influence of lottery numbers on the subsequent generation’s military participation operated through the military service of draft-eligible men as opposed to mechanisms unrelated to service such as “draft dodging.” These findings provide evidence of a causal link between the military service of parents and their children.

Contribution of mental ill health during military service to postservice benefit claims in the UK

2021 ◽  
pp. oemed-2020-107050
Author(s):  
Howard Burdett ◽  
Nicola T Fear ◽  
Simon Wessely ◽  
Neil Greenberg ◽  
Roberto J Rona
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Common Mental Disorder ◽  
Population Attributable Fraction ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Civilian Life ◽  
Carry Over ◽  
The Uk

ObjectivesWhile most UK military personnel transition successfully into civilian life, some experience unemployment and disability, which may be partly attributable to in-service factors. This study aims to determine the degree to which in-service mental health problems impact on postservice benefit claims.MethodsUsing data from a cohort of 5598 recent leavers from regular service in the UK Armed Forces linked with data from the Department for Work and Pensions, we assessed associations between in-service mental health and postservice benefit claims, and the population attributable fraction (PAF) of benefit claims related to in-service mental health. An analysis with postservice mental ill health as mediator was performed to determine the degree to which the observed effects were a consequence of persistent illness, as opposed to remitted.ResultsMental illness occurring in-service predicted both unemployment and disability claims, partly mediated by postservice health (23%–52% total effects mediated), but alcohol misuse did not. Common mental disorder (CMD) (PAF 0.07, 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.11) and probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (PAF 0.05, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.09) contributed to unemployment claims. Probable PTSD was the largest contributor to disability claims (PAF 0.25, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.36), with a smaller contribution from CMD (PAF 0.16, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.27).ConclusionsIn-service mental ill health gives rise to benefit claims. These effects are only partly mediated by postservice mental health, implying that in-service (or pre-service) mental issues have carry-over effects into civilian life even if remitted. Better prevention and treatment of in-service PTSD symptoms may well reduce postservice disability claims.

Mental Health Scenario of Asian Americans

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susheelabai R. Srinivasa ◽  
Sudershan Pasupuleti
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Utilization Patterns ◽  
Imminent Risk ◽  
The U.S

This chapter discusses the mental health of Asian Americans, highlighting their growing needs as well as policy-making challenges. There is a stereotypical view of this segment of the U.S. population as being a ‘model minority’. However, they are under-represented in mental-health service utilization due to fear of stigmatization, and, when provided, these services are often culturally insensitive. This paper argues for a more comprehensive approach to Asian Americans’ health issues so that concerns and challenges can be addressed. It also presents sociocultural, institutional, and environmental factors that affect the under-reporting and under-utilization patterns of mental-health services among Asian Americans. The growing incidence of mental-health problems and underutilization are imminent risk factors for the psychological well-being of Asian Americans in the United States.

Keeping Faith with Immigrant Military Personnel and Veterans

2019 ◽  
pp. 79-117
Author(s):  
Michael J. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Military Personnel ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Reciprocal Relationship ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Problem ◽  
Normative Argument ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Normative Content ◽  
The U.S

This chapter considers why immigrant military personnel and veterans should be granted unconditional naturalization immediately upon enlistment. It makes a normative argument for reviving the connection between the obligations of military service and the rights of citizenship. It applies this argument to the political problem of deporting noncitizen military personnel and veterans. In the U.S., military service currently does not immediately result in naturalization. Nor does it protect a noncitizen veteran from deportation. The normative content of the oath of enlistment should be construed as creating a permanent reciprocal relationship of rights and obligations between the U.S. government and a soldier regardless of citizenship status. Noncitizens who serve in a nation’s armed forces during a period of declared hostilities should be rendered immune from deportation for the rest of their lives. If they commit an offense, they should be punished for their crimes without being deported or denaturalized.

Legacies of War

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard G. Wilshire ◽  
Richard W. Hazlett ◽  
Jane E. Nielson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Military Training ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Foreign Wars ◽  
The U.S

Since 1900, United States troops have fought in more foreign conflicts than any other nation on Earth. Most Americans supported those actions, believing that they would keep the scourge of war far from our homes. But the strategy seems to have failed—it certainly did not prevent terror attacks against the U.S. mainland. The savage Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the 11 September 2001 (9/11) attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. were not the first to inflict war damage in America’s 48 contiguous states, however—nor were they the first warlike actions to harm innocent citizens since the Civil War. Paradoxically, making war abroad has always required practicing warfare in our own back yards. Today’s large, mechanized military training exercises have degraded U.S. soils, water supplies, and wildlife habitats in the same ways that the real wars affected war-torn lands far away. The saddest fact of all is that the deadly components of some weapons in the U.S. arsenal never found use in foreign wars but have attacked U.S. citizens in their own homes and communities. The relatively egalitarian universal service of World War II left a whole generation of Americans with nostalgia and reverence for military service. Many of us, perhaps the majority, might argue that human and environmental sacrifices are the price we must be willing to pay to protect our interests and future security. A current political philosophy proposes that the United States must even start foreign wars to protect Americans and their homes. But Americans are not fully aware of all the past sacrifices—and what we don’t know can hurt us. Even decades-old impacts from military training still degrade land and contaminate air and water, particularly in the arid western states, and will continue to do so far into the future. Exploded and unexploded bombs, mines, and shells (“ordnance,” in military terms) and haphazard disposal sites still litter former training lands in western states. And large portions of the western United States remain playgrounds for war games, subject to large-scale, highly mechanized military operations for maintaining combat readiness and projecting American power abroad.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Charles R. Figley ◽  
Jeffrey S. Yarvis ◽  
Bruce A. Thyer
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Subsequent Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Active Duty ◽  
United States Military ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Function ◽  
The U.S

Social workers have a long, proud history of service in most branches of the United States military, often as commissioned officers with graduate practice degrees (Daley, 2003). Samuel Washington (1957), an active duty social worker, was the first to discuss the history and function of social work in military service. He noted that in 1945 social work was fully integrated as a separate specialty in the U.S. military and “its subsequent development to its present level [i.e., 1957] have been recognized as instrumental in maintaining and conserving the defense strength of its country” (p. 1)....

scholarly journals MIlitary Combat Mental Health Framework

2020 ◽  
pp. bmjmilitary-2020-001439
Author(s):  
Martin Bricknell
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Mental Well Being ◽  
Military Combat

This paper describes a framework for understanding military combat mental health based on the possible mental ill-health consequences of exposure to ‘potential trauma events’ for members of the armed forces and after their military service as veterans. It uses a life course approach that maps an individual’s mental well-being against four ‘states’: fit, reacting, injured and ill. It then considers five categories of factors that influence the risk of mental illness from this exposure based on research evidence; prejoining vulnerability, resilience, precipitating, treatment and recovery. This framework offers a structure to debate current knowledge, inform policy and therapeutic interventions, provide education and to guide future research into the subject.

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