Chronic Mental Illness in Prisons

2019 ◽  
pp. 568-589
Author(s):  
Meghamala S. Tavaragi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
General Public ◽  
Psychiatric Illness ◽  
Medical Intervention ◽  
Remedial Measures ◽  
Mentally Disordered ◽  
Mentally Disordered Offender ◽  
Hospital Systems

It has been known that psychiatric disorders are highly prevalent among prisoners. Many people with identifiable psychiatric illness do conflict with the law, often by no fault of their own but because of symptoms of their psychiatric illness and end up in jails. Poor communication between the prison, court, and hospital systems hinders the assessment and management of the mentally disordered offender, and medical intervention can actually delay release from custody. In conclusion Prisons are detrimental to mental-health, and the standards of psychiatric care are significantly lower than those for the general public. Certain remedial measures are to be implemented for a better future of prison and community because ultimately these prisoners will be released from prison and become a part of community. Beginning of reforms is the immediate need as a long journey ahead.

Chronic Mental Illness in Prisons

2017 ◽  
pp. 203-224
Author(s):  
Meghamala S Tavaragi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
General Public ◽  
Psychiatric Illness ◽  
Medical Intervention ◽  
Remedial Measures ◽  
Mentally Disordered ◽  
Mentally Disordered Offender ◽  
Hospital Systems

It has been known that psychiatric disorders are highly prevalent among prisoners. Many people with identifiable psychiatric illness do conflict with the law, often by no fault of their own but because of symptoms of their psychiatric illness and end up in jails. Poor communication between the prison, court, and hospital systems hinders the assessment and management of the mentally disordered offender, and medical intervention can actually delay release from custody. In conclusion Prisons are detrimental to mental-health, and the standards of psychiatric care are significantly lower than those for the general public. Certain remedial measures are to be implemented for a better future of prison and community because ultimately these prisoners will be released from prison and become a part of community. Beginning of reforms is the immediate need as a long journey ahead.

Biopsychosocial pathways to mental health and disease across the lifespan: The emerging role of epigenetics

2020 ◽  
pp. 190-206
Author(s):  
Charlotte A.M. Cecil
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Regulate Gene Expression ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Regulate Gene ◽  
Epigenetic Processes

The biopsychosocial (BPS) model of psychiatry has had a major impact on our modern conceptualization of mental illness as a complex, multi-determined phenomenon. Yet, interdisciplinary BPS work remains the exception, rather than the rule in psychiatry. It has been suggested that this may stem in part from a failure of the BPS model to clearly delineate the mechanisms through which biological, psychological, and social factors co-act in the development of mental illness. This chapter discusses how epigenetic processes that regulate gene expression, such as DNA methylation, are fast emerging as a candidate mechanism for BPS interactions, with potentially widespread implications for the way that psychiatric disorders are understood, assessed, and, perhaps in future, even treated.

scholarly journals Residential green space in childhood is associated with lower risk of psychiatric disorders from adolescence into adulthood

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (11) ◽  
pp. 5188-5193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine Engemann ◽  
Carsten Bøcker Pedersen ◽  
Lars Arge ◽  
Constantinos Tsirogiannis ◽  
Preben Bo Mortensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Lower Risk ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Parental History

Urban residence is associated with a higher risk of some psychiatric disorders, but the underlying drivers remain unknown. There is increasing evidence that the level of exposure to natural environments impacts mental health, but few large-scale epidemiological studies have assessed the general existence and importance of such associations. Here, we investigate the prospective association between green space and mental health in the Danish population. Green space presence was assessed at the individual level using high-resolution satellite data to calculate the normalized difference vegetation index within a 210 × 210 m square around each person’s place of residence (∼1 million people) from birth to the age of 10. We show that high levels of green space presence during childhood are associated with lower risk of a wide spectrum of psychiatric disorders later in life. Risk for subsequent mental illness for those who lived with the lowest level of green space during childhood was up to 55% higher across various disorders compared with those who lived with the highest level of green space. The association remained even after adjusting for urbanization, socioeconomic factors, parental history of mental illness, and parental age. Stronger association of cumulative green space presence during childhood compared with single-year green space presence suggests that presence throughout childhood is important. Our results show that green space during childhood is associated with better mental health, supporting efforts to better integrate natural environments into urban planning and childhood life.

scholarly journals Attitude of Non-Mental Health Professionals Towards Mental Illness in a Tertiary Care Center

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (02) ◽  
pp. 23-28
Author(s):  
Nishad P. M. A. ◽  
Dilshana N. B. ◽  
Anil Kakunje ◽  
Ravichandra K. ◽  
Kamran Chisty
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Psychiatric Illness ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Care Center ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Primary Objective

BACKGROUND Mental and behavioral disorders are major health problems. Stigma can prevent the care and treatment of the mentally ill. There is a gross underestimation of psychiatric comorbidities among patients by non-mental health professionals. A positive attitude of these health professionals has a crucial role in the treatment of patients suffering from psychiatric illness. The primary objective of the study is to study the attitude of various nonmental health professionals towards mental illness. METHODS It is a crosssectional descriptive study, conducted in a private medical college in Mangalore, Karnataka in India. The study had 76 participants consisting of doctors and nurses. Instruments used were a semi-structured demographic proforma and Mental illness: Clinicians Attitude Scale - Version 4 (MICA-4). MICA-4 is a 16- item scale used for assessing attitude towards mental illness. RESULTS The total number of subjects included was 76 among which doctors constituted 57 and nurses 19. As the experience and age of the participants increased, a shift to the positive attitude towards psychiatric illness was noted. Specialist doctors had a higher positive attitude compared to non-specialist medical graduates and nurses. CONCLUSIONS It is essential to have structured training in psychiatry for all health care professionals.

scholarly journals Invited commentary on The mental health of prisoners

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 200-201
Author(s):  
Tony Maden
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Mentally Disordered Offenders ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Mentally Disordered ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
The Government

Psychiatrists have always been concerned about the mental health of prisoners. If they did not devote much energy to their treatment, it was only because they had more-pressing problems, including how to squeeze ten patients into nine beds. In any case, it was someone else's job to look after prisoners. Luke Birmingham's article (Birmingham, 2003, this issue) could not be more timely, as this situation has now changed. With the publication of The Future Organisation of Prison Healthcare (Prison Service & NHS Executive Working Group, 1999), and the creation of a joint Department of Health and Home Office task force, the Government has made it clear that the problem of mentally disordered offenders belongs to the National Health Service (NHS). There is a plan, there is a partnership and there are targets. Can those of us who have been worrying about prisoners with mental illness sit back and relax, as the solution unfolds?

The law in England and Wales on mental health treatment in the community

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Beswick ◽  
Michael Gunn
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Treatment ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Community Treatment ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Mentally Disordered ◽  
Mental Capacity Act 2005 ◽  
Mentally Disordered Offender ◽  
Mental Capacity Act

This chapter examines the legal framework for the treatment of the mentally disordered offender in the community in England and Wales. It examines both some of the ideological questions underlying the care of this group and the legal mechanisms within which treatment can be provided. The chapter begins by examining the principle, endorsed by the Mental Capacity Act 2005, that voluntary treatment will usually be the norm, regardless of setting. It then considers exceptions to these norm situations where legally mandated treatment in the community is permitted. In England and Wales, most of these exceptions are to be found in three pieces of legislation: the Mental Health Act 1983, as amended in 2007 to include community treatment orders; the Mental Capacity Act 2005, with its associated Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS); and the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

Attitude of Non-Mental Health Professionals Towards Mental Illness in a Tertiary Care Center

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (02) ◽  
pp. 23-28
Author(s):  
Nishad P. M. A. ◽  
Dilshana N. B. ◽  
Anil Kakunje ◽  
Ravichandra K. ◽  
Kamran Chisty
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Psychiatric Illness ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Care Center ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Primary Objective

BACKGROUND Mental and behavioral disorders are major health problems. Stigma can prevent the care and treatment of the mentally ill. There is a gross underestimation of psychiatric comorbidities among patients by non-mental health professionals. A positive attitude of these health professionals has a crucial role in the treatment of patients suffering from psychiatric illness. The primary objective of the study is to study the attitude of various nonmental health professionals towards mental illness. METHODS It is a crosssectional descriptive study, conducted in a private medical college in Mangalore, Karnataka in India. The study had 76 participants consisting of doctors and nurses. Instruments used were a semi-structured demographic proforma and Mental illness: Clinicians Attitude Scale - Version 4 (MICA-4). MICA-4 is a 16- item scale used for assessing attitude towards mental illness. RESULTS The total number of subjects included was 76 among which doctors constituted 57 and nurses 19. As the experience and age of the participants increased, a shift to the positive attitude towards psychiatric illness was noted. Specialist doctors had a higher positive attitude compared to non-specialist medical graduates and nurses. CONCLUSIONS It is essential to have structured training in psychiatry for all health care professionals.

scholarly journals Study of the Santal-Psychiatric Patients and their Belief Towards Mental Illness

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-81
Author(s):  
AA Mamun Hussain ◽  
Shahana Qais ◽  
MMR Khan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Psychiatric Illness ◽  
Medical Condition ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
General Medical Condition ◽  
Major Mental Disorder

This study aims at finding the presence of psychiatric illness of the santals, an ethnic minorities of the northern part of Bangladesh and their belief towards mental illness. Among the 77 patients, 39 (50.64%) were male and 38 (49.35%) were female. The majority of the respondents were in between the age of 16-35 years. Most (80%) believed that possession by Bonga/Kali caused the illness. In the present study, 45 (59.74%) had major mental disorder, 18 (23.37%) had minor mental disorders and 13 (16.88%) had psychotic disorder due to general medical condition (viz. Epilepsy). Observations suggest that change of awareness and perception regarding mental disorder, should be a high priority, as right mental health is one of the key component of total delivery of health care.TAJ 2011; 24(2): 76-81

scholarly journals The Gut Microbiome and Mental Health: What Should We Tell Our Patients?: Le microbiote Intestinal et la Santé Mentale : que Devrions-Nous dire à nos Patients?

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (11) ◽  
pp. 747-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary I. Butler ◽  
Sabrina Mörkl ◽  
Kiran V. Sandhu ◽  
John F. Cryan ◽  
Timothy G. Dinan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Gut Microbiome ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Health Benefit ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Current Evidence Base

The gut microbiome as a potential therapeutic target for mental illness is a hot topic in psychiatry. Trillions of bacteria reside in the human gut and have been shown to play a crucial role in gut–brain communication through an influence on neural, immune, and endocrine pathways. Patients with various psychiatric disorders including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorder have been shown to have significant differences in the composition of their gut microbiome. Enhancing beneficial bacteria in the gut, for example, through the use of probiotics, prebiotics, or dietary change, has the potential to improve mood and reduce anxiety in both healthy people and patient groups. Much attention is being given to this subject in the general media, and patients are becoming increasingly interested in the potential to treat mental illness with microbiome-based therapies. It is imperative that those working with people with mental illness are aware of the rationale and current evidence base for such treatment strategies. In this review, we provide an overview of the gut microbiome, what it is, and what it does in relation to gut–brain communication and psychological function. We describe the fundamental principles and basic techniques used in microbiome–gut–brain axis research in an accessible way for a clinician audience. We summarize the current evidence in relation to microbiome-based strategies for various psychiatric disorders and provide some practical advice that can be given to patients seeking to try a probiotic for mental health benefit.

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