The State of Students’ Mental Health: A Case Study

The Malaysian Ministry of Health has aired its concern towards the state of Malaysian students’ mental health in the late 2016. Statistics revealed a worsening state of mental health problems among Malaysian students, which shows that there is an increase cases of mental health from 2011 to 2016. Experts cite anxiety and depression as the main causes of mental health problems among students although not ruling out the influence of drugs as a factor. Hence, this study is aimed to seek some answers to the state of the students overall mental health, what are the most influential factor that affects their mental health and how they manage these issues. A total of 350 students participated in this study and findings revealed that 50% of the students suffered some kind of depressions triggered by various factors.

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Psychometric Properties of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y) among Malaysian University Students

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10093311 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. 3311 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chua Bee Seok ◽

Harris Abd Hamid ◽

Jasmine Mutang ◽

Rosnah Ismail

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

University Students ◽

Trait Anxiety ◽

State Anxiety ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Factor Model ◽

Health Problems ◽

The State ◽

State Trait Anxiety Inventory ◽

Malaysian Students

Health Ministry statistics showed mental health problems among Malaysian students increased from one in ten individuals in year 2011 to one in five in 2016. Anxiety and depression were cited as the main causes of mental health problems among students in Malaysia. However, an anxiety measure that has been validated for use with Malaysian students is still lacking. Thus, the main objective of the current study is to examine the psychometric proprieties of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y) (STAI), and to assess the suitability of the factorial model in the context of Malaysia. The STAI contains separate scales for measuring state and trait anxiety. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted to test and to compare the two-factor model (State Anxiety and Trait Anxiety) and the four-factor model (State Anxiety Present, State Anxiety Absent, Trait Anxiety Present, and Trait Anxiety Absent) of STAI. In addition, the reliability and validity of the model were also tested. The sample consisted of 341 university students from one of the universities in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The results supported a better fit to the data for the four-factor model of STAI. To improve composite reliability and the average variance extracted (AVE) of the constructs, one item was removed from each of the State Anxiety Present factor, Trait Anxiety present factor, and Trait Anxiety Absent factor. Convergent validity for the four-factor model was also improved by the removal of the three items. The findings also suggested that the STAI may have some discriminant validity issues. In the framework of psychology of sustainability and sustainable development, research and intervention regarding this topic should also be enhanced from a primary prevention perspective to improve the quality of life of every human being, fostering wellbeing at all different levels, from individuals to organizations.

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Nationwide assessment of the mental health of UK Doctoral Researchers

10.31234/osf.io/cs73g ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Cassie M Hazell ◽

Jeremy Niven ◽

Laura Chapman ◽

Paul Roberts ◽

Sam Cartwright-Hatton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Problems ◽

Poor Mental Health ◽

Academic Community ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Control Group ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Preventative Measures ◽

Common Mental Health Problems

Doctoral Researchers (DRs) are an important part of the academic community and, after graduating, make substantial social and economic contributions. Despite this importance, DR wellbeing has long been of concern. Recent studies have concluded that DRs may be particularly vulnerable to poor mental health problems, but direct comparisons of the prevalence of mental health problems between them and a control group is lacking. Here, by comparing DRs with educated working controls, we show that DRs report significantly greater anxiety and depression, and that this difference is not explained by a higher rate of pre-existing mental health problems. Moreover, most DRs perceive poor mental health as a ‘normal’ part of the PhD process. Thus, our findings suggest a hazardous impact of PhD study on mental health, with DRs being particularly at risk of developing common mental health problems. This provides an evidence-based mandate for universities and funders to reflect upon practices related to DR training and mental health. Our attention should now be directed towards understanding what factors may explain heightened anxiety and depression among DRs so as to inform preventative measures and interventions.

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Digital cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (CBTi) for adolescents with mental health problems. Results from a feasibility open trial. (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.14842 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Bethany Cliffe ◽

Abigail Croker ◽

Megan Denne ◽

Jacqueline Smith ◽

Paul Stallard

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Problems ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Severity Scale ◽

Sleep Condition ◽

Condition Indicator ◽

Insomnia Severity

BACKGROUND Insomnia in adolescents is common, persistent, and associated with poor mental health including anxiety and depression. Insomnia in adolescents attending child mental health services is seldom directly treated and the effects of digital CBTi on the mental health of adolescents with significant mental health problems is unknown. OBJECTIVE This paper reports an open study assessing the feasibility of adding supported online CBT for insomnia to the usual care of young people aged 14-17 years attending specialist child and adolescent mental health services. METHODS Thirty-nine adolescents aged 14-17 attending specialist child and adolescent mental health services with insomnia were assessed and offered digital CBTi. The digital intervention was Sleepio, an evidence based, self-directed, fully automated CBTi that has proven effective in multiple randomized controlled trials with adults. Self-report assessments of sleep (Sleep Condition Indicator, Insomnia Severity Scale, online sleep diaries), anxiety (Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale) and depression (Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) were completed at baseline and post-intervention. Post-use interviews assessed satisfaction with digital CBTi. RESULTS Average baseline sleep efficiency was very poor (52.9%) with participants spending an average of 9.6 hrs in bed but only 5.1 hrs asleep. All scored <17 on the Sleep Condition Indicator with 36/39 (92.3%) scoring ≥15 on the Insomnia Severity Scale, suggesting clinical insomnia. 36 (92.3%) scored ≥ 27 on the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire for major depression and 20 (51.3%) had clinically elevated symptoms of anxiety. The majority (76%) were not having any treatment for their insomnia, with the remaining 24% receiving medication. Sleepio was acceptable with 77% (30/39) activating their account and 67% (21/30) completing the program. Statistically significant pre-post improvements were found in weekly diaries of sleep efficiency (p=.005) and sleep quality (p=.001) and on measures of sleep (SCI; p=.001: ISI; p=.001), low mood (MFQ; p=.024) and anxiety (RCADS; p=.015). Satisfaction was high; with 89% finding Sleepio helpful, 94% would recommend it to a friend with 39% expressing a definite preference for a digital intervention. CONCLUSIONS Our study has a number of methodological limitations, particularly the small sample size, absence of a comparison group and follow-up assessment. Nonetheless, our findings are encouraging and suggest that digital CBTi for young people with mental health problems might offer an acceptable and an effective way to improve both sleep and mental health. CLINICALTRIAL N/a

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‘A Walk 21/1/35’: a psychiatric-psychoanalytic fragment meets the new walking studies

Cultural Geographies ◽

10.1177/1474474020956258 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 147447402095625

Author(s):

Sarah Phelan ◽

Chris Philo

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Life Course ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Problems ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Domestic Sphere ◽

Childhood Experiences ◽

Analytic Sessions

This paper reconstructs a fragment of psychiatric-psychoanalytical geography, interfacing it with the ‘new walking studies’, centring on a walk conducted in 1935 by a man experiencing mental health problems in Glasgow, Scotland. This man, a patient of the psychiatrist Thomas Ferguson Rodger, had mobility problems that rendered walking difficult – prone to stumbling, staggering, wavering – but with the likelihood of these problems being psychosomatic in origin. Through analytic sessions enacting a kind of ‘make-do’ psychoanalysis, the patient reflected on his mobility problems, as when relating his own walking ‘experiment’. Explanations advanced for his difficulties mixed psychoanalytic tropes with a gathering self-awareness of how fraught childhood experiences, had created the frame for an adult existence continually shying away from wider encounters and challenges beyond the domestic sphere. Central here was forward momentum being lost, whether walking or advancing through a life-course, with material and metaphoric senses of being stalled or stuck – spatially, environmentally – constantly entraining one another. This case study is deployed to illustrate claims about the ‘worlding’ of psychoanalysis, and to offer provocations for how such a psychiatric-psychoanalytic geography fragment might be illuminated by work on the cultural geographies of walking.

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Does crime literature contribute to the stigmatisation of those with mental health problems?

Psychiatric Bulletin ◽

10.1192/pb.28.3.95 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 95-97

Author(s):

Janey Antoniou

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

English Language ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Problems ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Starting Point ◽

Mental Health Service User ◽

The Media ◽

Agatha Christie ◽

Tabloid Press

The Royal College of Psychiatrists is in the last year of its ‘Changing Minds' campaign to reduce the stigma of having schizophrenia, substance use problems, dementia, eating disorders, anxiety and depression. As a mental health service user with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, I have been involved in the campaign since its outset and have become used to blaming the media, especially the tabloid press, for a large part of the stigma that people with mental health problems encounter. However, recently while in hospital I re-read an Agatha Christie book and began to wonder whether crime novels, with their usual starting point of a murder, could actually contribute as much to such stigmatisation. As Agatha Christie was probably the most prolific crime writer in the English language, this article examines some of her novels with a view to discovering the extent to which she played a part in the perception of the ‘mad’ killer.

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What is the Threshold of Teachers' Recognition and Report of Concerns About Anxiety and Depression in Students? An Exploratory Study With Teachers of Adolescents in Regional Australia

Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling ◽

10.1375/ajgc.21.2.126 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 126-141 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Michelle Trudgen ◽

Sharon Lawn

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Professional Learning ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Teaching Experience ◽

Later Life ◽

Health Problems ◽

Mental Wellbeing ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Mental Health Training ◽

School Students

AbstractIntroduction:Anxiety and depression in adolescence is prevalent but often unrecognised and untreated. This can lead to serious disorders in later life. This study explored how teachers recognise anxiety and depression in secondary school students and act on their concerns.Method:Twenty teachers from four secondary colleges in regional Victoria, Australia were interviewed regarding their experiences. In-depth interviews were analysed using descriptive thematic analysis in order to understand how teachers respond to this issue.Results:Teachers' recognition of mental health problems in students and the threshold for reporting their concerns was subjective and not based on any formal knowledge of how to identify anxiety or depression risk factors in students. Years of teaching experience was not associated with increased knowledge of mental health problems in students. Time pressures and lack of resources in student wellbeing teams were barriers to teachers reporting their concerns about students.Conclusion:Education bodies and teaching universities responsible for training teachers and providing ongoing professional learning need to ensure that mental health training is part of every teacher's core skill set, so that teachers can confidently promote mental wellbeing, identify emerging mental health problems, know how to facilitate access to more specialist intervention where required and contribute effectively to follow-up support.

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Why Provide Music Therapy in the Community for Adults with Mental Health Problems?

British Journal of Music Therapy ◽

10.1177/135945759500900102 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 4-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Helen Odell-Miller

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Music Therapy ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Clinical Information ◽

Health Problems ◽

Care Programme ◽

Client Group ◽

Multidisciplinary Teamwork

This paper describes music therapy within a community mental health setting for adults using a care programme approach in England. It describes the setting, and emphasises the importance of multidisciplinary teamwork in order to enable music therapy to be effective. It provides some statistics and descriptive clinical information which demonstrate the efficacy of music therapy for adults with long-term mental health problems, and argues that music therapy should be apriority for this client group. To support these points of view, the article includes a case study showing a psychoanalytically informed approach in music therapy. This paper was given as a keynote address at the 1994 Australian Conference of Music Therapy.

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