scholarly journals Metaphors of mental illness: a corpus-based approach analysing first-person accounts of patients and mental health professionals

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 85-104
Author(s):  
Marta Coll-Florit ◽  
Antoni Oliver ◽  
Salvador Climent
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Manual Annotation ◽  
Severe Mental Disorders ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Patient Subgroups

In this paper we describe the building, manual annotation and analysis of a balanced corpus to assess conceptual metaphors on mental illness as used in Spanish blogger writing by patients and mental health professionals. The corpus was structured as eight subgroups: four patient subgroups (composed of persons who declared having been diagnosed with major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder) and four mental health professional subgroups (psychiatrists, psychologists, social educators, nurses). The quantitative analysis identified similarities and differences between groups regarding the volume of metaphors produced and the topics linguistically expressed through metaphors. The most frequent metaphors used by each major group, patients and professionals, were qualitatively analysed, with the principal findings showing a set of source domains used to conceptualize all four severe mental disorders, thus pointing to a common conceptualization of mental suffering irrespective of the specific diagnosis, and two major types of metaphors, WAR and JOURNEY, used by all subgroups of patients and professionals to talk about their first-hand experiences.

scholarly journals Mental health problems, benefits and tackling discrimination

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 200-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Galloway ◽  
Billy Boland ◽  
Gareth Williams
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Clinical Evidence ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Mental Health Policy ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Advisory Board ◽  
Policy Institute

SummaryPoverty is strongly associated with mental illness. Access to state benefits can be a lifeline for people with mental health problems in times of hardship and can assist them on their journey of recovery. However, benefit application processes can discriminate against those with mental illness and can result in individuals unjustly missing out on support. Clinical evidence from mental health professionals can ameliorate these challenges and ensure that people get access to financial help.Declaration of interestDr Billy Boland is on the advisory board of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute.

scholarly journals Association between recognition and help-seeking preferences and stigma towards people with mental illness

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Picco ◽  
E. Abdin ◽  
S. Pang ◽  
J. A. Vaingankar ◽  
A. Jeyagurunathan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Confidence Intervals ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Perceived Stigma ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
The Relationship

Aims.The ability to recognise a mental illness has important implications as it can aid in timely and appropriate help-seeking, and ultimately improve outcomes for people with mental illness. This study aims to explore the association between recognition and help-seeking preferences and stigmatising attitudes, for alcohol abuse, dementia, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia, using a vignette-based approach.Methods.This was a population-based, cross-sectional survey conducted among Singapore Residents (n = 3006) aged 18–65 years. All respondents were asked what they think is wrong with the person in the vignette and who they should seek help from. Respondents were also administered the Personal and Perceived sub scales of the Depression Stigma Scale and the Social Distance Scale. Weighted frequencies and percentages were calculated for categorical variables. A series of multiple logistic and linear regression models were performed separately by vignette to generate odd ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the relationship between help-seeking preference, and recognition and beta coefficients and 95% confidence intervals for the relationship between stigma and recognition.Results.Correct recognition was associated with less preference to seek help from family and friends for depression and schizophrenia. Recognition was also associated with increased odds of endorsing seeking help from a psychiatric hospital for dementia, depression and schizophrenia, while there was also an increased preference to seek help from a psychologist and psychiatrist for depression. Recognition was associated with less personal and perceived stigma for OCD and less personal stigma for schizophrenia, however, increased odds of social distancing for dementia.Conclusion.The ability to correctly recognise a mental illness was associated with less preference to seek help from informal sources, whilst increased preference to seek help from mental health professionals and services and less personal and perceived stigma. These findings re-emphasise the need to improve mental health literacy and reinforce the potential benefits recognition can have to individuals and the wider community in Singapore.

Introduction to This Guide

2017 ◽  
pp. 3-6
Author(s):  
Kari M. Eddington ◽  
Timothy J. Strauman ◽  
Angela Z. Vieth ◽  
Gregory G. Kolden
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Cognitive Therapy ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
System Therapy ◽  
Treatment Of Depression ◽  
Single Approach

Depression is one of the most common forms of mental illness, and mental health professionals in a variety of practice settings have witnessed its debilitating effects. Many pathways can lead to depression, and no single approach to treatment is successful for all clients. Chapter 1 provides an overview of self-system therapy (SST), a treatment approach that targets deficits in self-regulation. Research has shown that SST is as effective overall as cognitive therapy and that it leads to better outcomes for a subset of depressed clients who struggle with self-regulation. Suggestions are given for how the Therapist Guide and Client Workbook should be used for the treatment of depression.

scholarly journals Resilience and associative stigma among mental health professionals in a tertiary psychiatric hospital: a cross-sectional study in Singapore

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. e033762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherilyn Chang ◽  
Louisa Picco ◽  
Edimansyah Abdin ◽  
Qi Yuan ◽  
Siow Ann Chong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Family Member ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Close Friend ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Associative Stigma

ObjectivesThe mental health profession exposes healthcare workers to unique stressors such as associative stigma (stigmatisation that is extended from the stigmatised patients to psychiatric professionals and is based on affiliation with an individual with mental illness). Enhancing resilience, or the ability to ‘bounce back’ from adversity, is found to be useful in reducing occupational stress and its negative effects. In view of the high burnout rates reported among mental health professionals, this study aimed to examine resilience in this group of professionals and to explore the association between resilience and associative stigma.DesignObservational study—cross-sectional design.SettingTertiary psychiatry hospital in Singapore.ParticipantsThe study was conducted among 470 mental health professionals (doctors, nurses and allied health professionals) working in the hospital.MeasuresResilience was assessed using the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) and participants completed questionnaires that examined associative stigma. Participants provided their sociodemographic information, length of service, and information on whether they knew of a close friend or family member who had a mental illness.ResultsMean resilience score for the overall sample was 3.59 (SD=0.64). Older age (β=0.012, 95% CI 0.004 to 0.019, p=0.003) and having known a family member or close friend with a mental illness (β=0.155, 95% CI 0.019 to 0.290, p=0.025) predicted higher BRS score. Associative stigma remained significantly associated with resilience score after controlling for sociodemographic factors whereby higher associative stigma predicted lower resilience scores.ConclusionThe present finding suggests that resilience building programmes among mental health workers should target those of the younger age group, and that addressing the issue of associative stigma is essential.

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