scholarly journals Mental illness attitudes and knowledge in non-specialist medical doctors working in state and private sectors

Author(s):  
Yumna Minty ◽  
Mahomed Y.H. Moosa ◽  
Fatima Y. Jeenah

Background: An increasing number of South Africans utilise primary healthcare services (either in the state or private sector) for mental health concerns; hence, there is a need to objectively assess these doctors’ attitudes and knowledge of mental illness.Aim: To investigate aspects of knowledge and attitudes towards mental illness of a group of private and state-employed non-specialist medical doctors.Method: Doctors in the state sector who were working at a primary healthcare level and who were not working towards, or did not hold, a specialist qualification were considered eligible for the study. Doctors in the private sector who were working as general practitioners and who did not hold a specialist qualification were considered eligible for the study. Data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. A link to the study questionnaire, information about the study, details of the researcher and matters pertaining to informed consent were emailed to potential participants.Results: Of the 140 practitioners who responded to the survey, 51.4% (n = 72) worked in the state sector, 41.4% (n = 58) worked in the private sector and 7.1% (n = 10) worked in both the state and private sectors (χ21 = 45.31, p 0.010). The majority ( 50%) of participants in all three groups had a positive attitude towards mental illness (χ22 = 1.52, p = 0.468). Although there were no significant associations between attitude and socio-demographic characteristics (p 0.05), male SS doctors reported feeling less comfortable when dealing with mentally ill patients (p = 0.015); SS doctors who did not have family contact with mental illness were less likely to feel that mentally ill patients did not pose a risk to others (p = 0.007), and PS doctors under the age of 35 years were more likely to feel adequately trained to treat mental illness (p = 0.026). The majority ( 50%) of participants in all three groups had an adequate level of knowledge of mental illness (modal scores = 10). There were no significant associations between knowledge and socio-demographic characteristics (p 0.05).Conclusion: Despite the findings of a positive attitude and adequate knowledge of mental illness amongst the participants of this study, it is recommended that more targeted interventions are established to further improve mental health awareness and knowledge of doctors at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels of study.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-71
Author(s):  
S. Adhikari ◽  
A. Jha

Introduction: Mental health is an integral component of overall health. Various factors along with stigma affect knowledge, perspectives and behavior of the people ultimately affecting help seeking and treatment. The patient and their caregivers are directly involved in overall management and outcome. Hence ascertaining those aspects among them is important and so are aims of this study. Material And Method: A cross sectional comparative study was carried out among 160 participants (80 patients and 80 caregivers) visiting neuropsychiatry outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital. Data was collected through semi-structured proforma and Attitude towards mental illness questionnaire (modified). Data were analysed by using SPSS version 25 and Microsoft excel. Results: The socio-demographic profiles between both groups were similar. About 75% from both the groups had good knowledge about mental illness. Almost 60% from both groups had positive perception/attitude regarding mentally ill and mental illness with an only significant difference in relation to rights to mentally ill. More than 70% from both groups had positive attitude regarding help-seeking with only significant difference in view about people with mental illness seeking help from psychiatrist. About 50% from both groups had positive attitude regarding care and treatment. Conclusion: With good knowledge and positive attitude/perception regarding mental illness, self-stigma persisted regarding some domains. Despite positive attitudes for help-seeking, ambivalent views regarding care and treatment into both groups necessitate easy accessibility and upgrading of mental health services.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Rajni Suri ◽  
Anshu Suri ◽  
Neelam Kumari ◽  
Amool R. Singh ◽  
Manisha Kiran

The role of women is very crucial in our society. She cares for her parents, partner, children and other relatives. She performs all types of duties in family and also in the society without any expectations. Because of playing many roles, women often face many challenges in their life including both physical and mental. Mental health problems affect women and men equally, but some problems are more common among women including both physical and mental health problems. Aim of the study - The present study is aimed to describe and compare the clinical and socio-demographic correlates of female mentally ill patients. Methods and Materials: The study includes 180 female mentally ill patients based on cross sectional design and the sample for the study was drawn purposively. A semi structured socio-demographic data sheet was prepared to collect relevant information as per the need of the study. Result: The present study reveals that the socio-demographic factors contribute a vital role in mental illness. Findings also showed that majority of patients had mental problems in the age range of 20-30 have high rate. Illiterate and primary level of education and daily wage working women as well as low and middle socio-economic status women are more prone to have mental illness. Other factors like marital status, type of family and religion etc also important factors for mental illness. Keywords: Socio demographic profile, female, psychiatric patient


2021 ◽  
pp. 136548022110247
Author(s):  
Jude Brady ◽  
Elaine Wilson

Teaching is understood to be a highly stressful profession. In England, workload, high-stakes accountability policies and pupil behaviour are often cited as stressors that contribute to teachers’ decisions to leave posts in the state-funded sector. Many of these teachers leave state teaching to take jobs in private schools, but very little is known about the nature of teachers’ work in the private sector. This research addresses this gap in knowledge and compares the sources of stress experienced by 20 teachers in the state sector to those of 20 teachers in the private sector. The paper is based on qualitative data from a larger study. It analyses data collected in interviews and focus groups with classroom teachers and middle leaders working in mainstream primary and secondary phase education in England. The results emphasise state school teachers’ acute distress in relation to workloads driven by accountability cultures. In comparison, private school teachers report less intense experiences of work-related stress, but some identify demanding parents as a concern. The research’s novelty lies in this comparison between sectors and these sector specific insights may help to focus school leaders’ efforts to improve teaching conditions in both sectors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Joseph ◽  
H Sankar ◽  
D Nambiar

Abstract The fourth target of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 advocates for the promotion of mental health and wellbeing. The Indian state of Kerala is recognized for its gains in health and development but has substantial burden of mental health ailments. Historical analysis is vital to understand the pattern of mental health morbidity. The current study focusses on comparable estimates available from three largescale population-based surveys in India to explore trends in prevalence of mental health disorders over the years and map resources and infrastructure available for mental health care in Kerala. We undertook a secondary analysis of national demographic surveys from 2002 to 2018 which reported information on mental health and availability of health infrastructure and human resources. Data were collated and descriptive analyses were conducted. We compared the national and state level estimates over the years to study the trend in the prevalence of mental health disability. The prevalence of mental retardation and intellectual disability in Kerala increased from 194 per hundred thousand persons in 2002 to 300 per hundred thousand persons in 2018, two times higher to the national average. The prevalence of mental illness increased from 272 per hundred thousand people to 400 per hundred thousand people in sixteen years. The prevalence was higher among males (statistical significance was not indicated) in mental illness and mental retardation. 2018 data showed that the public sector had 0.01 hospitals and 5.53 beds per hundred thousand persons available for mental health treatment. Results showed a substantial increase in mental health illness over the 16-year study period that has affected males and females, as well as all social classes of the state. The current health infrastructure and human resources in the public sector of the state are inadequate to meet the current burden of the problem and to ensure universal access to care for its population. Key messages The trend in prevalence of mental health disorders in the state is increasing across the years. There is a mismatch between the extend of the problem and resources available in public sector.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 373-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Hodgins ◽  
A. Cree ◽  
F. Khalid ◽  
K. Patel ◽  
R. Sainz-Fuentes ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundAntisocial behaviour is common among patients with severe mental illness (SMI) requiring hospitalisation.AimTo determine whether differential treatments and services are provided to patients with SMI who engage in antisocial behaviour.MethodA random sample of 161 inpatients with SMI were recruited from general adult wards and assessed at baseline and two years later. Information on symptoms, aggressive behaviour, substance misuse, and service use was obtained from patients and clinical files.ResultsPast antisocial behaviours were not associated with type or intensity of treatments and services. Severity of positive symptoms, aggressive behaviour, and illicit drug use were positively associated with the frequency of CMHT contact, but not with the type of CMHT, type of medication, or other treatments and benefits.ConclusionsWhile the frequency of meetings with CMHTs increased with the severity of antisocial behaviours, no specific treatments were provided to patients with SMI engaging in antisocial behaviours.


1996 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 585-603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Aldigé Hiday

In the process of involuntary commitment,1the state makes available its coercive power for use as a psychiatric technology. This application of the state's power is based on the idea that mental illness can make a person not only sick but also unaware of the illness, and dangerous or unable to care for his/her basic needs; thus, coercion may have to be used to secure the mentally ill person's and/or the public's safety, and to give treatment until the illness abates.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Darren Mills

<p>Recovery is a conceptual model that underpins New Zealand’s mental health service delivery in the 21st century. This thesis explores how recovery emerged historically as an influential philosophy and how representations of recovery have changed to meet the needs of different groups. An inquiry, based on Foucault’s genealogical method, investigates the historical and contemporary forces of power that have shaped the construction of mental illness, and the development of methods and techniques to support and manage persons labelled as mentally ill. The normalisation of knowledge developed during 19th century psychiatric practice provided a context for later critique and resistance from movements that highlighted the oppressive power of psychiatric discourse. Key to the critique were the antipsychiatry and service user movements, which provided the conditions for the possibility of the emergence of recovery as a dominant discourse. Since its emergence, recovery has moved through a number of representations as it was taken up by different groups. A significant shift in the 21st century has been the dominance of neo-liberal discourse based on consumerism, a rolling back of the state, and an emphasis on individual responsibility. The implications of this shift for users and providers of services and their effects on current representations of recovery conclude the inquiry.</p>


Author(s):  
Samuel Teague ◽  
Peter Robinson

This chapter reflects on the importance of the historical narrative of mental illness, arguing that Western countries have sought new ways to confine the mentally ill in the post-asylum era, namely through the effects of stigma and medicalization. The walls are invisible, when once they were physical. The chapter outlines how health and illness can be understood as socially constructed illustrating how mental health has been constructed uniquely across cultures and over time. To understand this process more fully, it is necessary to consider the history of madness, a story of numerous social flashpoints. The trajectories of two primary mental health narratives are charted in this chapter. The authors argue that these narratives have played, and continue to play, an important role in the social construction of mental illness. These narratives are “confinement” and “individual responsibility.” Drawing on the work of Michel Foucault and Roy Porter, the authors describe how Western culture has come to consider the mentally ill as a distinct, abnormal other.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (04) ◽  
pp. 752-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. PAUL CHIN

For individuals whose mental illness impair their ability to accept appropriate care—the depressed, acutely suicidal mother, or the psychotic lawyer too paranoid to eat any food—statutes exist to permit involuntary hospitalization, a temporary override of paternalistic benefice over personal autonomy. This exception to the primacy of personal autonomy at the core of bioethics has the aim of restoring the mental health of the temporarily incapacitated individual, and with it, their autonomy.


1993 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-83
Author(s):  
John Barnes ◽  
Greg Wilkinson

Much of the medical care of the long-term mentally ill falls to the general practitioner (Wilkinson et al, 1985) and, for example, a survey in Buckinghamshire showed that these patients consult their general practitioner (GP) twice as often as mental health services. Lodging house dwellers are known to show an increased prevalence of major mental illness and to suffer much secondary social handicap, presenting a challenge to helping services of all disciplines. For this reason we chose a lodging house in which to explore further the relationships between mental illness and residents' present contact with their GP, mental health services and other local sources of help.


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