scholarly journals Muscle Weakness and Gait Disturbance due to Side Effects of Benzodiazepine Long Term Administration, Causes Mental Health Problems

Author(s):  
Keiko Ikemoto
2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 242-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Éva Kállay

Abstract. The last several decades have witnessed a substantial increase in the number of individuals suffering from both diagnosable and subsyndromal mental health problems. Consequently, the development of cost-effective treatment methods, accessible to large populations suffering from different forms of mental health problems, became imperative. A very promising intervention is the method of expressive writing (EW), which may be used in both clinically diagnosable cases and subthreshold symptomatology. This method, in which people express their feelings and thoughts related to stressful situations in writing, has been found to improve participants’ long-term psychological, physiological, behavioral, and social functioning. Based on a thorough analysis and synthesis of the published literature (also including most recent meta-analyses), the present paper presents the expressive writing method, its short- and long-term, intra-and interpersonal effects, different situations and conditions in which it has been proven to be effective, the most important mechanisms implied in the process of recovery, advantages, disadvantages, and possible pitfalls of the method, as well as variants of the original technique and future research directions.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002076402110175
Author(s):  
Roberto Rusca ◽  
Ike-Foster Onwuchekwa ◽  
Catherine Kinane ◽  
Douglas MacInnes

Background: Relationships are vital to recovery however, there is uncertainty whether users have different types of social networks in different mental health settings and how these networks may impact on users’ wellbeing. Aims: To compare the social networks of people with long-term mental illness in the community with those of people in a general adult in-patient unit. Method: A sample of general adult in-patients with enduring mental health problems, aged between 18 and 65, was compared with a similar sample attending a general adult psychiatric clinic. A cross-sectional survey collected demographic data and information about participants’ social networks. Participants also completed the Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale to examine well-being and the Significant Others Scale to explore their social network support. Results: The study recruited 53 participants (25 living in the community and 28 current in-patients) with 339 named as important members of their social networks. Both groups recorded low numbers in their social networks though the community sample had a significantly greater number of social contacts (7.4 vs. 5.4), more monthly contacts with members of their network and significantly higher levels of social media use. The in-patient group reported greater levels of emotional and practical support from their network. Conclusions: People with serious and enduring mental health problems living in the community had a significantly greater number of people in their social network than those who were in-patients while the in-patient group reported greater levels of emotional and practical support from their network. Recommendations for future work have been made.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0260050
Author(s):  
Andrea Schaller ◽  
Teresa Klas ◽  
Madeleine Gernert ◽  
Kathrin Steinbeißer

Background Working in the nursing sector is accompanied by great physical and mental health burdens. Consequently, it is necessary to develop target-oriented, sustainable profession-specific support and health promotion measures for nurses. Objectives The present review aims to give an overview of existing major health problems and violence experiences of nurses in different settings (acute care hospitals, long-term care facilities, and home-based long-term care) in Germany. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed and PubPsych and completed by a manual search upon included studies’ references and health insurance reports. Articles were included if they had been published after 2010 and provided data on health problems or violence experiences of nurses in at least one care setting. Results A total of 29 studies providing data on nurses health problems and/or violence experience were included. Of these, five studies allowed for direct comparison of nurses in the settings. In addition, 14 studies provided data on nursing working in acute care hospitals, ten on nurses working in long-term care facilities, and four studies on home-based long-term care. The studies either conducted a setting-specific approach or provided subgroup data from setting-unspecific studies. The remaining studies did not allow setting-related differentiation of the results. The available results indicate that mental health problems are the highest for nurses in acute care hospitals. Regarding violence experience, nurses working in long-term care facilities appear to be most frequently affected. Conclusion The state of research on setting-specific differences of nurses’ health problems and violence experiences is insufficient. Setting-specific data are necessesary to develop target-group specific and feasible interventions to support the nurses’ health and prevention of violence, as well as dealing with violence experiences of nurses.


BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S256-S256
Author(s):  
Nalin Hettiarachchi ◽  
Praveen Kumar ◽  
vikramraj balasundaram

AimsTo assess the level of understanding and difficulties encountered when obtaining sexual health details of their patients among mental health clinicians.BackgroundPeople with mental health problems, especially those treated with psychiatric medication experience greater rates of sexual difficulties than those in the general population. Mental health practitioners need to examine personal beliefs and attitudes about sexuality among people with mental health problems. Providing information about sexuality and sexual practice benefits and enhances the quality of life of people with mental health problems. Therefore taking a sexual history should be an integral part of psychiatric assessment.MethodAn online survey consisted of 17 questions to cover 3 areas of objectives mentioned above was created using Survey Monkey. A link to the survey was emailed to all the clinicians who perform psychiatric assessments. Response collection and data analysis was performed by the trust IT team.ResultTotal of 54 clinicians participated in the survey representing nurses, junior, middle grade doctors and consultants. Almost all stated that mental health patients have capacity to make appropriate decisions about their sexual behaviour patterns. 43% thought people with mental health problems don't have similar patterns of sexual behaviour compared to people without mental health problems. 11% stated that people with mental health problems do not experience greater rates of sexual difficulties than those in the general population. Nearly a third did not believe that telling patients about potential sexual side effects may lead to poor compliance. Nearly 70% stated taking a sexual history should be an integral part of psychiatric assessment. 44% reported lack of knowledge and skills when talking about sexual health and 33% avoided asking about sexual health due to lack of knowledge. Half of the clinicians avoided asking about sexual health due to the fear of embarrassing or causing distress to patients while 16% avoided asking about sexual health due to self-embarrassment. 65% talk about sexual health issues only if patients brought them up.During last 3 clinical encounters majority never asked about sexual difficulties, high risk behaviour and drug side-effects related to sexual difficulties. A significant proportion of clinicians never asked about contraception from their female clients.ConclusionSurvey revealed majority of mental health clinicians lack understanding and skills about sexual health issues highlighting the importance of raising awareness among clinicians about sexual health issues.


Author(s):  
Jo Moriarty

Social care is the broad term for the support provided to people living at home and in care homes. Major changes have taken place to this sector in the past few years and this chapter describes the key policy developments that have impacted upon the kind of support provided to older people with mental health problems and how that support is funded. The policy of personalization is intended to increase choice and control, but as yet it is unclear whether this will lead to improved outcomes in terms of quality of life or independence. Some long-standing issues, such as the high prevalence of people with unidentified mental health problems in long-term care, continue to provide challenges for organizations providing social care support.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Kelly Winstanley ◽  
Noel Tracey ◽  
Ashley Mancey-Johnson ◽  
Kevin Gournay

The COVID-19 crisis has impacted on us all. However, people living with long-term mental health problems will remain vulnerable over the coming months, because of the restrictions that will remain in place until a vaccine has been discovered and used on the wider population. This paper describes how Northern Healthcare, an organisation that has developed a model of enhanced supported living for this population, has responded to the crisis. This response has seen a focus on residents, staff and on measures aimed at alleviating the burden on the wider NHS. Of importance, there are lessons to be learned, as it is entirely possible that the world will need to deal with future, similar pandemics.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document