scholarly journals COVID-19 and suicide of an army soldier in India: perspectives on psychosocial epidemiology of suicidal behavior

Author(s):  
Md Mahbub Hossain ◽  
Samia Tasnim ◽  
Abida Sultana ◽  
E. Lisako J. McKyer ◽  
Ping Ma

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is critically impacting health and wellbeing around the world. In addition to physical health problems, COVID-19 is increasingly reported to be associated with mental health problems across populations. Evidence from the current pandemic and earlier infectious disease outbreaks suggests that several psychosocial factors, including fear and susceptibility of infection, stigma, lack of awareness, pre-existing health problems, and poor social support affect the mental health status among the vulnerable individuals and populations. Moreover, social determinants of mental health are disproportionately distributed across populations, which also affect coping with adverse psychosocial conditions. During COVID-19 pandemic, many psychological challenges are aggravating globally, including suicidal behavior. In this correspondence, we discuss a case of suicide of an army soldier in India and the psychosocial epidemiology of suicidal behavior in the context of COVID-19.

Pained ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 69-72
Author(s):  
Michael D. Stein ◽  
Sandro Galea

This chapter studies the health of veterans and the military. Since the first Gulf War in 1990, veterans have had worse mortality than the general population. Aside from mortality, mental health problems are a particular concern. More soldiers kill themselves than are killed on the battlefield. Beyond suicide, key mental health concerns among veterans include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Itself disruptive, PTSD foreshadows increased risks of physical health problems, substance use/misuse, homelessness, and violence. Less studied, but equally important, are high rates of depression and anxiety among veterans. Rates of chronic pain and physical disability are also high. These challenges make the Veterans Health Administration’s unique expertise in mental health care provision and rehabilitation services all the more crucial. For these reasons, moves to privatize veterans’ health care and narrow access to these services do veterans a disservice, shortchanging a fundamental social contract. The health of soldiers is the public’s health.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-105
Author(s):  
Avilasha Singh

Mental health has always been stigmatised and overlooked. Since, anxiety and stress are natural responses while facing a threat of new diseases. Hence, this pandemic has shown us the importance of mental health. During this time there have been many triggers that have caused repercussions in people’s mental health. Mental health crisis is on the rise. So, it is important to be able to tackle mental health problems as effectively as physical health problems, not only now but in the future as well, once and for all.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Sari Monik Agustin ◽  
Agatha Josephine

Previous research also shows that social media has positive and negative roles related to interpersonal relationships and mental health. The social media used significantly increases social capital and mental well-being, which benefits people with low self-esteem and life satisfaction. Some psychotherapists even use an Instagram platform as their therapeutic medium. This preliminary study frameworks are Stuart Hall’s reception theory, the concept elaborations of social support and online social support, as well as a discussion of the character of social media, Instagram. This paper is based on a qualitative research with data from interviews with 3 female informants on 20-29 years old and gethappy.id account followers. This research succeeded in identifying 2 receptions that emerged from the female group of Instagram account followers gethappy.id. The dominant reader comes from informants who have severe physical health problems and mental health problems related to these physical health problems. Meanwhile, negotiating reader arise from informants who do not have personal physical and mental health problems, but who have a social environment with physical and mental health problems. Another important finding is that the main social support remains family and friends. Social media support is needed when the two main social supports are not present.


2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1165-1176 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. LOBBAN ◽  
C. BARROWCLOUGH ◽  
S. JONES

Background. Using the theoretical framework of the Self Regulation Model (SRM), many studies have demonstrated that beliefs individuals hold about their physical health problems are important in predicting health outcomes. This study tested the SRM in the context of a mental health problem, schizophrenia.Method. One hundred and twenty-four people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were assessed on measures of symptom severity, beliefs about their mental health problems, coping and appraisal of outcome at two time points, 6 months apart.Results. Using multivariate analyses and controlling for severity of symptoms, beliefs about mental health were found to be significant predictors of outcome. Beliefs about greater negative consequences were the strongest and most consistent predictors of a poorer outcome in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.Conclusions. These results suggest that the SRM is a promising model for mental health problems and may highlight important areas for development in clinical, and especially psychosocial interventions.


Author(s):  
Beate Muschalla ◽  
Isabel Kutzner

AbstractThis article published in Gruppe Interaktion Organisation (GIO) reports study results on soft skills and mental work ability in young professionals ready to enter the job market. The so-called soft skills (psychological capacities) are nowadays an entrance ticket into the modern working world. Thus, the question is to which degree young professionals who will soon enter the labor market are fit in their soft skills. Are physical or mental health problems related with deficits in soft skills? Which dimensions of soft skills are impaired?365 young professionals in advanced education from a technical college, who will soon enter the labor market, were investigated via online-questionnaire. Participants were asked to rate their self-perceived capacity level according to Mini-ICF-APP, mental and physical health problems, exam and education-related anxiety, self-efficacy and procrastination.Students with mental health problems had higher exam anxiety, and lower study-related self-efficacy as compared to students without health problems at all, or students with physical health problems. But, procrastination behavior was similarly present among students with mental health problems and students with physical health problems. Students with health problems did not report globally weaker capacity levels. Lower levels of capacities depend on the type of health problem: In students with mental health problems, social soft skills were impaired rather than content-related capacities. Physical health problems do not affect the self-perceived psychological capacities.In conclusion, focusing on specific soft skills in training and work adjustment could be fruitful in addition (or as an alternative) to training of profession-specific expertise.


Author(s):  
Jieun Song ◽  
Marsha R. Mailick ◽  
Jan S. Greenberg ◽  
Jinkuk Hong

Parenting a child with developmental or mental health problems is a lifelong process with unique challenges and adjustments. Parents of children with these conditions often experience chronic stress and an elevated risk of mental and physical health problems and cognitive decline in later life, although profiles of resilience have been noted. This chapter reviews Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) studies that have examined the lifelong effects of parenting children with developmental or mental health problems. MIDUS research has found that midlife and older parents of children with these conditions have poorer physical and mental health profiles and poorer cognitive functioning in later life than counterparts whose children do not have such conditions, and that mental and physical health disparities increase as parents age. Possible mechanisms underlying these differences have been examined in studies utilizing the multidisciplinary data of MIDUS, which include a variety of psychosocial, cognitive, and biological assessments.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
D Zace ◽  
I Hoxhaj ◽  
A Orfino ◽  
A M Viteritti ◽  
L Silvetti ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Extended evidence has established that healthcare workers face several mental health problems during a disease outbreak, which could have a long-term impact. To address these issues, elaboration and implementation of psychological/psychiatric interventions or strategies is of utmost importance. In this context, this systematic review aimed at identifying strategies to manage mental health issues in healthcare workers during infectious disease outbreaks. Methods PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus and Web of Science were searched to retrieve pertinent articles published in English until May 2020. Articles reporting measures, interventions, strategies, or recommendations to manage mental health problems in healthcare workers during an infectious disease outbreak, of any study design were included. The quality assessment was performed according to the study design of the included articles. Results Our search strategy produced a total of 2358 articles. After the screening process 33 articles met the inclusion criteria, addressing COVID-19 (40%), followed by SARS (21%) and Ebola Virus (15%). The findings emphasized that organisations should follow an evidence-based approach and establish comprehensive programs to assist hospital staff during disease outbreaks. The preliminary results show that the creation of a psychological response team, training, e-learning, courses, psychosocial counselling, screening instruments and telemedicine activities could improve the capacity of response and coping, and reduce mental health issues in healthcare workers. Conclusions To minimize the psychological impact of future infectious disease outbreaks, evidence-based intervention strategies should be implemented to retain mental health among healthcare workers. Our results may provide the necessary insights that could be applied during the COVID-19 pandemic. Key messages During infectious disease outbreaks healthcare workers are faced with mental health issues, that need to be addressed through tailored interventions offering coping strategies and increase resilience. Mental health related interventions or strategies include the implementation of professional training, psychosocial counselling, courses, and the creation of a psychological response team.


2008 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Goodwin ◽  
A. Sourander ◽  
C. S. Duarte ◽  
S. Niemelä ◽  
P. Multimäki ◽  
...  

BackgroundPrevious studies have documented associations between mental and physical health problems in cross-sectional studies, yet little is known about these relationships over time or the specificity of these associations. The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between mental health problems in childhood at age 8 years and physical disorders in adulthood at ages 18–23 years.MethodMultiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between childhood mental health problems, reported by child, parent and teacher, and physical disorders diagnosed by a physician in early adulthood.ResultsSignificant linkages emerged between childhood mental health problems and obesity, atopic eczema, epilepsy and asthma in early adulthood. Specifically, conduct problems in childhood were associated with a significantly increased likelihood of obesity and atopic eczema; emotional problems were associated with an increased likelihood of epilepsy and asthma; and depression symptoms at age 8 were associated with an increased risk of asthma in early adulthood.ConclusionsOur findings provide the first evidence of an association between mental health problems during childhood and increased risk of specific physical health problems, mainly asthma and obesity, during early adulthood, in a representative sample of males over time. These data suggest that behavioral and emotional problems in childhood may signal vulnerability to chronic physical health problems during early adulthood.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1322-1327
Author(s):  
Sanjay Kumar Bhatnagar ◽  
Rajesh Kumar Sharma ◽  
Dinesh Chandra Sharma

The world was confronted with an illness 'COVID-19', caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This novel coronavirus is highly contagious and in just a few months has become a serious threat to human health all over the world. It was declared as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the end of January 2020 and a pandemic in March 2020. In addition to the public health challenges, this pandemic has created another parallel pandemic of mental health problems. There are many relations of doing panic and getting the disease and the pos- sibility of Mansik Bhavas like fear (Bhaya), anger (Krodha), grief (Shoka) and not follow Sadvrutta can be the cause or precipitating factor of infection to any person. Ayurveda and modern point of view agree to the statement that different Mansik Bhavas like Bhaya, Krodha, Shoka and not follow Sadvrutta etc. can lead to or can act as Hetu for many diseases like COVID-19 etc. and hence there is the existence of a relation between these Mansik Bhavas and Vyadhi Utpatti. Furthermore, the existing mental health problems have also been seen to exacerbate owing to this pandemic. The mental health problems are both seen among the community members and the healthcare pro- viders who are at the continuous forefront of service provision in healthcare settings. The best way of preventing COVID-19 infection is by enhancing an individual's body immunity. Some of the principles could be useful in mitigating the mental health issues that the current world is grappling with owing to COVID‐19. In this review article, we will understand the Role of Mansik Bhavas on immunity to COVID-19 with different references given in Ayurvedic texts, modern texts and articles. Keywords: Ayurveda, COVID-19, Mansik bhavas (Bhaya, Krodha, Shoka and Sadvrutta), Immunity.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document