scholarly journals “From the Edge of the Abyss to the Foot of the Rainbow – Narrating a Journey of Mental Health Recovery” The Process of a Wounded Researcher

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Robertson ◽  
Diane Carpenter ◽  
Maggie Donovan-Hall
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Mental Health Recovery ◽  
Clinical Settings ◽  
Management Skills ◽  
Positive Identity ◽  
Treatment Plans ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

In the UK, mental health service users are asked to “tell their stories” within clinical settings as a tool for diagnosis, formulation and treatment plans. Retelling, reliving and reflecting on traumatic and distressing experiences is not a benign activity. Yet the process of reframing lived experience within a personal narrative could support the development of: a more positive identity; self-management skills and improved social connections (Slade, 2009) and therefore contribute to mental health recovery. This is an exploration of my process as a wounded researcher in the development of a version of my narrative as an autoethnography. I developed a series of 54 vignettes that described memories of my lived experience. To start, I used memorable quotes - the voices of others within my narrative. Developing and analyzing my autoethnography was visceral. It highlighted aspects of my process (and the likely process of others) and raised many unresolved dilemmas. For example: what was left out or left unsaid and the issue of “narrative truth” (Craib, 2004); reordering the vignettes for coherence; the role of relational ethics; and the impact on my identity of this difficult on-going process. It impacted on my mental health, but it has been a crucial part of my recovery.

‘And then we summarise in English for the others’: The lived experience of the multilingual workplace

Multilingua ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Angouri ◽  
Marlene Miglbauer
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Dominant Ideologies ◽  
Multilingual Workplace ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn multinational corporate companies, multilingualism is often a daily reality for employees and the negotiation of language practices for work and social purposes, a routine. Despite the role of English as a lingua franca, the linguistic ecology of modern workplaces is dynamic, rich and diverse. While English is often used for communication between a company’s headquarters and its subsidiaries, language choice is dynamically negotiated between the interactants in informal meetings and everyday interactions in the workplace. Against this backdrop, the article discusses the lived experience of the multinational workplace. We draw on interview data with 40 employees in senior and junior management posts in 12 companies situated in Croatia, Greece, Italy, Serbia, Sweden and the UK where English is the official corporate language. Special attention is paid to the employees’ perceptions of the role of languages in their daily work life. We focus here on three discourses that have emerged from the analysis of our data: multilingualism and the use of English, multilingualism and cosmpolitanism, and challenges and expectations of multilingualism. Our findings show that the employees draw on a range of linguistic resources in order to manage their work-related interactions, and dominant ideologies in relation to language use come to the fore. We close the article by focusing on the profile of the ‘global’ employee and the impact of the ‘modern’ workplace on the working realities of the participants.

scholarly journals Personal recovery and socio-structural disadvantage: A critical conceptual review

2021 ◽  
pp. 136345932110142
Author(s):  
Dimitar Karadzhov
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Mental Health Recovery ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
Personal Recovery ◽  
Structural Disadvantage ◽  
Mental Health Difficulties ◽  
The Impact

Despite its seeming breadth and diversity, the bulk of the personal (mental health) recovery literature has remained strangely ‘silent’ about the impact of various socio-structural inequalities on the recovery process. Such an inadequacy of the empirical literature is not without consequences since the systematic omission or downplaying, at best, of the socio-structural conditions of living for persons with lived experience of mental health difficulties may inadvertently reinforce a reductionist view of recovery as an atomised, individualised phenomenon. Motivated by those limitations in extant scholarship, a critical literature review was conducted to identify and critique relevant research to problematise the notion of personal recovery in the context of socio-structural disadvantage such as poverty, homelessness, discrimination and inequalities. The review illuminates the scarcity of empirical research and the paucity of sociologically-informed theorisation regarding how recovery is shaped by the socio-structural conditions of living. Those inadequacies are especially pertinent to homelessness research, whereby empirical investigations of personal recovery have remained few and undertheorised. The gaps in the research and theorising about the relational, contextual and socio-structural embeddedness of recovery are distilled. The critical review concludes that personal recovery has remained underresearched, underproblematised and undertheorised, especially in the context of homelessness and other forms of socio-structural disadvantage. Understanding how exclusionary social arrangements affect individuals’ recovery, and the coping strategies that they deploy to negotiate those, is likely to inform anti-oppressive interventions that could eventually remove the structural constraints to human emancipation and flourishing.

scholarly journals Engagement and Participation as a Part of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland

2020 ◽  
Vol 2019 (25) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Graham Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Professional Role ◽  
Personal Perspective ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
Degrading Treatment ◽  
The Impact

An account of the work of the engagement and participation officers with lived experience as users and carers in the MWC, showing: the history of user and carer involvement in the Commission, the reason for the employment of the present workers and the creation of the department of engagement and participation. Told from the perspective of lived experience of using services, describing  the development of the roles to date, the activities carried out to date, especially those connected with mental health law, capacity, and the role of the NPM in safeguarding against cruel and degrading treatment and torture, some assessments of the impact of these activities and a presentation of the personal perspective of using lived experience as an integral part of a professional role.

scholarly journals The impact of the Work Capability Assessment on mental health: claimants’ lived experiences and GP perspectives in low-income communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-368
Author(s):  
Lorraine Hansford ◽  
Felicity Thomas ◽  
Katrina Wyatt
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Work Capability

This paper examines the impact of increased welfare conditionality on people with mental health issues claiming benefits in the UK. Drawing on data from the DeStress study, this paper explores the lived experience of welfare claimants in low-income communities, and the perspectives of GPs seeking to support them. Particular focus is placed on people’s experience of the Work Capability Assessment, the tool used to determine welfare claimants’ entitlement to sickness benefit, and how the narratives and culture surrounding welfare reform and the actual assessment itself can have a negative impact on mental health and wellbeing.

scholarly journals Containing COVID: the establishment and management of a COVID-19 ward in an adult psychiatric hospital

BJPsych Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Knowles ◽  
Golnar Aref-Adib ◽  
Sarah Moslehi ◽  
Dominic Aubrey-Jones ◽  
Janet Obeney-Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Isolation Ward ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mental Health Hospital ◽  
Isolation Facility

Background As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in the UK emerged and escalated, clinicians working in mental health in-patient facilities faced unique medical, psychiatric and staffing challenges in managing and containing the impact of the virus and, in the context of legislation, enforcing social distancing. Aims To describe (a) the steps taken by one mental health hospital to establish a COVID-19 isolation ward for adult psychiatric in-patients and (b) how staff addressed the challenges that emerged over the period March to June 2020. Method A descriptive study detailing the processes involved in changing the role of the ward and the measures taken to address the various challenges that arose. Brief clinical cases of two patients are included for illustrative purposes. Results We describe the achievements, lessons learned and outcomes of the process of repurposing a mental health triage ward into a COVID-19 isolation facility, including the impact on staff. Flexibility, rapid problem-solving and close teamwork were essential. Some of the changes made will be sustained on the ward in our primary role as a triage ward. Conclusions Although the challenges faced were difficult, the legacy they have left is that of a range of improvements in patient care and the working environment.

Report1: Impact of Covid-19 on young people aged 13-24 in the UK- preliminary findings

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liat Levita ◽  
Jilly Gibson Miller ◽  
Todd K. Hartman ◽  
Jamie Murphy ◽  
Mark Shevlin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Emotional Regulation ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Need For Support ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Social Recovery ◽  
The Impact

COVID-19 has led to an unprecedented disruption of normal social relationships and activities, which are so important during the teen years and young adulthood, and to education and economic activity worldwide. The impact of this on young people’s mental health and future prospects may affect their need for support and services, and the speed of the nation’s social recovery afterwards. This study focused on the unique challenges facing young people at different points during adolescent development, which spans from the onset of puberty until the mid-twenties. Although this is an immensely challenging time and there is a potential risk for long term trauma, adolescence can be a period of opportunity, where the teenagers’ brain enjoys greater capacity for change. Hence, the focus on young people is key for designing age-specific interventions and public policies, which can offer new strategies for instilling resilience, emotional regulation, and self-control. In fact, adolescents might be assisted to not only cope, but excel, in spite of the challenges imposed by this pandemic. Our work will feed into the larger societal response that utilizes the discoveries about adolescence in the way we raise, teach, and treat young people during this time of crisis. Wave 1 data has already been collected from 2,002 young people aged 13-24, measuring their mental health (anxiety, depression, trauma), family functioning, social networks, and resilience, and social risk-taking at the time of the pandemic. Here we present a preliminary report of our findings, (Report 1). Data collected 21/4/20- 29/4/20 - a month after the lockdown started).

scholarly journals How is the COVID-19 lockdown impacting the mental health of parents of school-age children in the UK? A cross-sectional online survey

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e043397
Author(s):  
Austen El-Osta ◽  
Aos Alaa ◽  
Iman Webber ◽  
Eva Riboli Sasco ◽  
Emmanouil Bagkeris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

ObjectiveInvestigate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on feelings of loneliness and social isolation in parents of school-age children.DesignCross-sectional online survey of parents of primary and secondary school-age children.SettingCommunity setting.Participants1214 parents of school-age children in the UK.MethodsAn online survey explored the impact of lockdown on the mental health of parents with school-age children, and in particular about feelings of social isolation and loneliness. Associations between the UCLA Three-Item Loneliness Scale (UCLATILS), the Direct Measure of Loneliness (DMOL) and the characteristics of the study participants were assessed using ordinal logistic regression models.Main outcome measuresSelf-reported measures of social isolation and loneliness using UCLATILS and DMOL.ResultsHalf of respondents felt they lacked companionship, 45% had feelings of being left out, 58% felt isolated and 46% felt lonely during the first 100 days of lockdown. The factors that were associated with higher levels of loneliness on UCLATILS were female gender, parenting a child with special needs, lack of a dedicated space for distance learning, disruption of sleep patterns and low levels of physical activity during the lockdown. Factors associated with a higher DMOL were female gender, single parenting, parenting a child with special needs, unemployment, low physical activity, lack of a dedicated study space and disruption of sleep patterns during the lockdown.ConclusionsThe COVID-19 lockdown has increased feelings of social isolation and loneliness among parents of school-age children. The sustained adoption of two modifiable health-seeking lifestyle behaviours (increased levels of physical activity and the maintenance of good sleep hygiene practices) wmay help reduce feelings of social isolation and loneliness during lockdown.

scholarly journals Emotional and Mental Wellbeing Following COVID-19 Public Health Measures on People Living With Dementia and Carers

2021 ◽  
pp. 089198872199681
Author(s):  
Kerry Hanna ◽  
Clarissa Giebel ◽  
Hilary Tetlow ◽  
Kym Ward ◽  
Justine Shenton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Social Support Services ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Background: To date, there appears to be no evidence on the longer-term impacts caused by COVID-19 and its related public health restrictions on some of the most vulnerable in our societies. The aim of this research was to explore the change in impact of COVID-19 public health measures on the mental wellbeing of people living with dementia (PLWD) and unpaid carers. Method: Semi-structured, follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with PLWD and unpaid carers between June and July 2020. Participants were asked about their experiences of accessing social support services during the pandemic, and the impact of restrictions on their daily lives. Results: 20 interviews were conducted and thematically analyzed, which produced 3 primary themes concerning emotional responses and impact to mental health and wellbeing during the course of the pandemic: 1) Impact on mental health during lockdown, 2) Changes to mental health following easing of public health, and 3) The long-term effect of public health measures. Conclusions: The findings from this research shed light on the longer-term psychological impacts of the UK Government’s public health measures on PLWD and their carers. The loss of social support services was key in impacting this cohort mentally and emotionally, displaying a need for better psychological support, for both carers and PLWD.

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