scholarly journals Uncertainty, Sex and Sexuality during the Pandemic: Impact on Psychosocial Resilience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debanjan Banerjee ◽  
Sanchari Mukhopadhyay ◽  
Abhinav Tandon ◽  
T.S. Sathyanarayana Rao

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been a global unprecedented health threat. Besides the myriad of effects on public health, the psychosocial implications of the outbreak have been far-fetched. Though the increased prevalence of psychiatric disorders, reduced access to care and social vulnerabilities have been highlighted in literature, the immense impact on sexuality and psychosexual health tends to be silent. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines sexual health as “a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity.” Sexual practices and intimacy have been influenced by more ways than one, namely fear of infection, ambiguity about viral spread, misinformation, physical distancing, travel restrictions, intimate partner violence and deprivation of ‘social touch’. The frontline workers, socio-economically impoverished groups, age and sexual minorities are especially affected. Sexual and reproductive rights are compromised due to reduced help-seeking, panic and stigma related to the outbreak. Psychological resilience helps one navigate through stressful situations and assumes a special importance during the ongoing crisis. This chapter reviews the multi-faceted intersections between sexual health and resilience, highlights the possible roles of pandemic-related uncertainty and advocates for certain guidelines to promote and preserve healthy expressions of sexuality for coping during COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chukwuechefulam Kingsley Imo ◽  
Clifford O. Odimegwu ◽  
Nicole De Wet-Billings

Abstract BackgroundThe risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is related to women’s sexual attitudes, beliefs, and power dynamics within marriages in developing countries. Despite the interventions towards improving women’s sexual health and well-being, the risk of transmission of STIs which disproportionately affect women continues to be widespread in most sub-Saharan African countries including Nigeria. The dearth of social research on the influence of family structure and decision-making autonomy on women’s attitudes towards negotiating safe sexual practices necessitated this study in Nigeria. MethodsThe study involved analyses of data from nationally representative and weighted sample size of 28,219 ever-married or cohabiting women aged 15-49 years from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. Descriptive and analytical analyses were carried out, including frequency tables, Pearson’s chi-square test, and multivariate binary logistic regression model.ResultsThe overall prevalence of having strong attitudes towards negotiating safe sexual practices were 76.7% and 69.6% for a wife justified in asking the husband to use a condom if he has an STI and refusing to have sex with the husband if he had sex with other women, respectively. The analyses further showed that polygamous unions negatively influenced urban and rural women’s attitudes towards negotiating safe sexual practices with partners, for instance, the belief that a wife is justified asking the husband to use a condom if he has STI (aOR: 0.71; CI: 0.61-0.83 and aOR: 0.74; CI: 0.67-0.81, respectively). Similarly, urban and rural women whose husbands/partners made independent decisions on their healthcare were less likely to belief that a wife is justified in asking the husband to use a condom if he has STI (aOR: 0.60; CI: 0.47-0.76 and aOR: 0.80; CI: 0.67-0.97, respectively). Plausibly, women’s decision-making autonomy on issues relating to their earnings and healthcare might have constrained them to compromise their sexual relationships with partners. ConclusionThe outcomes of this study have some policy implications for both maternal and child health. Hence, the need to intensify programmes aimed at improving women’s sexual health and rights towards achieving sustainable development goals of preventing deaths of newborns, ending STIs and creating gender in Nigeria.



2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-81
Author(s):  
Hamidreza Shirzadfar ◽  
Narsis Gordoghli

In recent years, chronic medical problems have become increasingly prevalent. Chronic ‎illnesses challenge the view of life as a regular and continuous process, a challenge that has ‎important psychological consequences. The long duration of people suffering from these ‎diseases, the long process of treatment and the fact that there is no proper and definitive ‎treatment for most of these diseases and their associated complications have made chronic ‎diseases a detrimental factor in public health. According to the World Health Organization ‎‎(2006), the prevalence of chronic and non-communicable diseases is increasing in all countries, ‎especially developing countries, so that the major challenge for the health system in the present ‎century, is not living people, but better adapted to chronic illnesses and maintaining their ‎mental and social health and well-being Ed's life-threatening chronic physical illness.‎ Chronic pain is a pain that lasts longer than usual, and according to the criteria of the ‎International Association of Pain, this time is defined as at least 3 months to 6 months. Chronic ‎pain is such that not only faced the sick person whit the pressure of the pain but also with many ‎other pressure that affect different parts of her life. Fibromyalgia is one of the most rheumatologic disorders and one of the most resistant chronic ‎pain syndromes. Fibromyalgia is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders in adults ‎and chronic pain is one of the most common complaints in this group of patients.



2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
pp. 2306-2310
Author(s):  
Aureliana Caraiane ◽  
Razvan Leata ◽  
Veronica Toba ◽  
Doina Vesa ◽  
Luana Andreea Macovei ◽  
...  

The progress made in dentistry during the latest decades is due, conceptually, to the new, systemic vision of man, which has also taken place in this field of medicine. In this context, the link between organic and psychic is indestructible. Thus illness is understood as a drama in which the somatic process has a psychic value, and the mental one has a body value. It is known that the morphological and functional integrity of the dental system, health and vigorousness, gives the individual a state of well-being that affects his somatic and psychic health, as any disturbance at this level entails repercussions in psychological and social behavior. Such a disruption is the total edification that seriously alters not only the dental system but the whole organism, putting various biological and psychosocial problems to the practitioner. The total expression represents not only a physical disability but also a psychological one. A special importance in studying psychological changes at total edentulous presents the psychological aspects of senile involution. This is not only a theoretical but also a practical importance due to the increase in the number of elderly people. Through the researches of the present paper we intend to present the reality of the psychological manifestations in the total edentation, which is objectified on different methods of psychodiagnosis in the first part, in order for the second part to be addressed to problems of prosthetic psychotherapy.The study comprises a group of 43 patients, of whom 24 were men and 19 women with total uni or bimaxilar edentation. Total edentation can be and is responsible for somatopsychic alterations, along with other pathogens, general, local, social, which sometimes can take a dramatic form, converting, where the area is also favorable, a pure somatic disease, for those who are not in psychopathy or even psychosis, although these latter cases are extremely rare and especially in youngsters, which would disrupt not only the person�s behavior as an individual, but also their status, function and social integrity. The treatment of dental and psychological complex is mandatory for any patient, but especially for the elderly, where recovery is more difficult, with disease-specific disorders adding to those of senescence.



Author(s):  
Namita Misra

: Corona virus spreads from one to other person, either by touching the hands or by touching the surface contaminated with this virus, and then touching the nose or mouth. Covid-19 infected human symptoms are like any pneumonia symptoms, dry cough and high fever. Upper respiratory tract infections symptoms and sore throat are rare. First notified in china dated 12th December 2019 as a respiratory illness. In addition to travel restrictions and quarantine measures everyone should follow the World Health Organization advice guidelines on the management of humans infected with known or suspected infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus at the personal level. The development of vaccine or medicines for the same are under progress and this short review will summarize the most potential candidates such as Remdesivir, Lopinavir and Ritonavir, Chloroquine, Hydroxychloroquine, Hydroxychloroquine with Azithromycin, Favipiravir, Umifenovir, and Ribavirin for its medicinal treatment.



Author(s):  
Monica L. Mercado

The history of sexuality is a growing area of interest for scholars of religion and race in the North American context. That which is often regarded as a private matter—sex and sexuality—is in fact shaped by larger cultural, economic, political, and religious forces. To study the intersections of sexuality and race in American religious history, then, is to examine the role of belief, as well as formal religious institutions and their spokespeople, in circulating ideas about bodies, sex, marriage, family, morality, and immorality. If religious variety has been one way that scholars have understood the American experiment from the earliest colonial encounters to the present day, this chapter considers moments when sex and sexuality, and the religious thinking that passes judgments on sexual practices, has served to define or highlight racial difference in American history.



2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 247-255
Author(s):  
Quenette L Walton ◽  
Rosalyn Denise Campbell ◽  
Joan M Blakey

COVID-19 has significantly impacted a substantial number of Black Americans. Black women, in particular, are facing challenges financially, physically, and mentally during this unprecedented time. Between serving as frontline workers, being concerned about contracting the virus, contributing to their families financially, and worrying about their loved ones’ health, Black women are experiencing great strain on their mental health and well-being. These stressors illustrate the need for social work researchers and practitioners to address Black women’s mental health. This paper presents our reflections, experiences, and response to COVID-19 as Black women and scholars. Guided by our reflections and personal experiences, we put forth suggestions and reflexive thoughts for social work researchers and practitioners to prioritize Black women’s mental health during and after these unprecedented times.



2021 ◽  
pp. 104973232110035
Author(s):  
Adrian Farrugia ◽  
Andrea Waling ◽  
Kiran Pienaar ◽  
Suzanne Fraser

In this article, we investigate young people’s trust in online sexual health resources. Analyzing interviews with 37 young people in Australia using Irwin and Michael’s account of science–society relations and Warner’s conceptualization of “publics,” we explore the processes by which they assess the credibility of online sexual health information. We suggest that when seeking medical information, young people opt for traditionally authoritative online sources that purport to offer “facts.” By contrast, when seeking information about relationships or sexual practices, participants indicated a preference for websites presenting “experiences” rather than or as well as “facts.” Regardless of content, however, our participants approached online sexual health information skeptically and used various techniques to appraise its quality and trustworthiness. We argue that these young people are productively understood as a skeptical public of sexual health. We conclude by exploring the implications of our analysis for the provision of online sexual health information.



2021 ◽  
pp. 002073142110249
Author(s):  
Huriye Toker

As seen clearly from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, health is an important foreign policy and diplomatic issue connected with security, economic well-being, and international development. According to risk communication researchers, effective, transparent, and timely information sharing is the most important tool after vaccines for responding to pandemics. This study aims to start a scholarly discussion on the risk communication efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the COVID-19 outbreak. We analyzed WHO’s communication efforts during the first 3 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the leading international health organization, WHO was responsible for providing rapid, up-to-date, and credible information for the public and the media. The selected research items were 42 news releases and statements provided by WHO between December 31, 2019, and March 30, 2020. These were subjected to qualitative and quantitative content analyses using the NVivo 12 qualitative analysis software program for coding. The data were coded under 6 variables (date of publication, topics, frequency, wording of the COVID-19 outbreak, sourcing, and themes of the releases). While 54.7% of WHO's communications were devoted to the COVID-19 outbreak, more than half were not issued until March. That is, instead of early risk communication and clear warnings about the outbreak, WHO acted overcautiously, preferring messages related to solidarity and cooperation during the most devastating pandemic of the 21st century.



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