‘Every Woman Wants to Know What Came out of Her Body’: Grief Experiences of Women After Stillbirth in Nigeria

Stillbirth commonly affects women in Nigeria, but their experiences of grief following stillbirth is under explored. This study aimed to describe Nigerian women’s experiences of grief after stillbirth. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 women in Nigeria who experienced stillbirth. The results from the thematic analysis suggest that mothers had an unmet need to see their stillborn baby, and they experienced communication challenges such as being blindsided/misled about the baby during their interactions with health personnel. The participants experienced emotional and psychological reactions to grief that manifested in the form of emotional pain, sadness, blame and shock, but having a sense of gratitude helped them cope. The findings of this study highlight gaps in bereavement care and suggest the need for basic bereavement training for health personnel.

“That's What Google Is For”

Through in-depth interviews, this chapter examines the ways 25 LGB young adults (18-35 years old) used digital technologies as they do emotion work to preserve relationships with heterosexual parents. Findings demonstrate that, with the aid of technology (especially texting, Skyping, social media, YouTube, television, and various informational websites), LGB young adults engaged in personal and interpersonal forms of “preventive” and “palliative” emotion work. The former's aim was to prevent noxious feelings and the latter to preserve familial relationships despite emotional pain. These forms of emotion work allowed LGBs to maintain relationships with their parents, but by privileging the emotional wellbeing of heterosexual parents above those of LGBs. The authors conclude by suggesting that digital technology can be a dual-edged sword. Access to these technologies may allow LGBs to connect with queer communities and to obtain information about queerness, yet utilizing these technologies as a way to preserve familial relationships was an adaptation to--rather than disruption of--heterosexism and homophobia.

Ko ngā pūtake o te mātānawe ki tā te rangatahi: An exploration of self-injury in rangatahi Māori

<p>This thesis explores how rangatahi Māori and whānau define and experience self-injury in Aotearoa. The dominance of the current Western knowledge base that contributes to psychology in Aotearoa is questioned, specifically regarding the extent to which current knowledge adequately explains self-injury in rangatahi Māori. To do this, I use a mixed-methods approach that is informed by the principles of kaupapa Māori (G. H. Smith, 1997), Māori-centred (Cunningham, 2000) and interface research (Durie, 2005). Our current understanding of self-injury in rangatahi Māori is informed predominantly by international research and models grounded in worldviews that differ from the unique cultural context in Aotearoa. These definitions, such as that for “non-suicidal self-injury” (Zetterqvist, 2015), and models, such as the Experiential Avoidance Model (Chapman, Gratz, & Brown, 2006), are then applied to the assessment and treatment of rangatahi Māori. In this thesis I highlight why these Western definitions and models become problematic when they are incongruous with the behaviours that rangatahi Māori define as ‘self-injury’ and, as such, fail to consider the unique, complex and diverse experiences of rangatahi Māori who self- injure. The quantitative study involved cross-sectional survey data collected from 343 rangatahi who identified as Māori in the Youth Wellbeing Study. This survey data provided initial insight into the prevalence and correlates of self-injury in rangatahi Māori. In the second study, sequential focus groups were conducted with 25 rangatahi Māori and their whānau. The principles of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (J. Smith, 2004) informed the qualitative data analysis. Definitions of behaviours that rangatahi Māori and whānau considered to be self-injury were broad and varied, including harm to wairua (essence, spirit) of the rangatahi and their whānau. Reasons for self-injuring included experiencing intense emotional pain, for example, that which was caused by peers. The most common functions of self-injury endorsed by rangatahi Māori were to express emotional pain, to communicate distress, to maintain a sense of control over their lives, and to manage their suicidal thoughts. It is my intention to produce research that is directly relevant to rangatahi Māori, whānau, the broader community and the clinical profession. In the final chapter of this thesis I answer the question ‘how do we support rangatahi Māori who self-injure?’. I frame these answers by adapting whakataukī (proverb) ‘e kore au e ngaro, he kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea’ (I will never be lost, for I am a seed sown in Rangiātea). I argue that, while we as Māori should never feel lost when we know who we are and where we come from, many rangatahi feel as though they are lost, and self-injury is one means of coping with this sense of struggle. For rangatahi Māori in this research, self-injury is differentiated from suicide by the concept of hope; suicide is a loss of hope whereas self-injury is a means of holding on to hope. By understanding it in this way, self-injury can form a target for early intervention and prevention of suicide.</p>

Ko ngā pūtake o te mātānawe ki tā te rangatahi: An exploration of self-injury in rangatahi Māori

<p>This thesis explores how rangatahi Māori and whānau define and experience self-injury in Aotearoa. The dominance of the current Western knowledge base that contributes to psychology in Aotearoa is questioned, specifically regarding the extent to which current knowledge adequately explains self-injury in rangatahi Māori. To do this, I use a mixed-methods approach that is informed by the principles of kaupapa Māori (G. H. Smith, 1997), Māori-centred (Cunningham, 2000) and interface research (Durie, 2005). Our current understanding of self-injury in rangatahi Māori is informed predominantly by international research and models grounded in worldviews that differ from the unique cultural context in Aotearoa. These definitions, such as that for “non-suicidal self-injury” (Zetterqvist, 2015), and models, such as the Experiential Avoidance Model (Chapman, Gratz, & Brown, 2006), are then applied to the assessment and treatment of rangatahi Māori. In this thesis I highlight why these Western definitions and models become problematic when they are incongruous with the behaviours that rangatahi Māori define as ‘self-injury’ and, as such, fail to consider the unique, complex and diverse experiences of rangatahi Māori who self- injure. The quantitative study involved cross-sectional survey data collected from 343 rangatahi who identified as Māori in the Youth Wellbeing Study. This survey data provided initial insight into the prevalence and correlates of self-injury in rangatahi Māori. In the second study, sequential focus groups were conducted with 25 rangatahi Māori and their whānau. The principles of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (J. Smith, 2004) informed the qualitative data analysis. Definitions of behaviours that rangatahi Māori and whānau considered to be self-injury were broad and varied, including harm to wairua (essence, spirit) of the rangatahi and their whānau. Reasons for self-injuring included experiencing intense emotional pain, for example, that which was caused by peers. The most common functions of self-injury endorsed by rangatahi Māori were to express emotional pain, to communicate distress, to maintain a sense of control over their lives, and to manage their suicidal thoughts. It is my intention to produce research that is directly relevant to rangatahi Māori, whānau, the broader community and the clinical profession. In the final chapter of this thesis I answer the question ‘how do we support rangatahi Māori who self-injure?’. I frame these answers by adapting whakataukī (proverb) ‘e kore au e ngaro, he kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea’ (I will never be lost, for I am a seed sown in Rangiātea). I argue that, while we as Māori should never feel lost when we know who we are and where we come from, many rangatahi feel as though they are lost, and self-injury is one means of coping with this sense of struggle. For rangatahi Māori in this research, self-injury is differentiated from suicide by the concept of hope; suicide is a loss of hope whereas self-injury is a means of holding on to hope. By understanding it in this way, self-injury can form a target for early intervention and prevention of suicide.</p>

Activation of peripheral neuronal FLT3 promotes exaggerated sensorial and emotional pain-related behaviors facilitating the transition from acute to chronic pain

Background. Acute pain events have been associated with persistent pain sensitization of nociceptive pathways increasing the risk of transition from acute to chronic pain. However, it is unclear whether injury-induced persistent pain sensitization can promote long-term mood disorders. The receptor tyrosine kinase FLT3 is causally required for peripheral nerve injury-induced pain chronification, questioning its role in the development of pain-induced mood alterations. Methods. In a model of paw incisional pain, mice underwent single (SI) or double incision (DI) and went through behavioral and molecular phenotyping with the evaluation of both sensorial and emotional pain components. The role of FLT3 was then investigated either by inhibition using transgenic knock-out mice and functional antibodies or by activation with FLT3 ligand (FL) administrations. Results. DI mice showed significant anxiodepressive-like and spontaneous pain behaviors while SI mice did not. DI also promoted and extended mechanical pain hypersensitivity compared to SI. This emotional and sensorial pain exaggeration correlated with a potentiation of spinal microglial activation after DI versus SI. Intrathecal minocycline, a microglial inhibitor, specifically reversed DI induced-mechanical hypersensitivity. Finally, FL injections in naive animals provoked mechanical allodynia and anxiodepressive-like disorders concomitant with a significant microglial activation while FLT3 inhibition blunted the development of persistent pain and depression after DI. Conclusions. Our results show for the first time that the repetition of a peripheral lesion facilitates not only exaggerated nociceptive behaviors but also anxiodepressive disorders. The inhibition of FLT3 could become a promising therapy in the management of pain sensitization and related mood alterations.

Social and life skills in adolescents who have self-harmed: analysis of survey responses from a national sample of adolescents in Norway

ObjectiveSocial and life skills (SLS) may be important in the prevention and treatment of self-harm, but few studies have described this relationship. We examined three components of SLS in adolescents who reported self-harm that was, according to themselves, diagnosed by a clinician.DesignCross-sectional.SettingNational screening prior to military service.Participants176 284 residents of Norway born in 1999–2001 received a declaration of health. We included 171 486 individuals (84 153 (49%) women and 87 333 (51%) men) who were 17 (n=1 67 855) or 18 years of age (n=3631) when they completed the declaration.Outcome measureThe main outcome was clinically diagnosed self-harm, defined as self-harm that the adolescents themselves stated had been diagnosed by a clinician. Components of SLS were social interactions; coping strategies; and emotional regulation/aggression. The association between SLS and self-reported clinically diagnosed self-harm was assessed in hierarchical multiple regression models controlling for sex; school absence; and feelings of emotional pain.ResultsThree percent (n=5507) of the adolescents reported clinically diagnosed self-harm. The three components of SLS together added little to the prediction of clinically diagnosed self-harm (∆R2=0.02). After controlling for school absence and emotional pain, emotional regulation/aggression was the only SLS-component that was independently associated with clinically diagnosed self-harm (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.31 to 1.36). The young men who said they had been clinically diagnosed for self-harm scored slightly worse on social interactions (Hedge’s g (g) = −0.13, p<0.001) and emotional regulation/aggression (g = −0.18, p<0.001) than the young women in this group.ConclusionYoung women and young men who reported clinically diagnosed self-harm had more problems with emotional regulation/aggression than other adolescents, but did not have worse social interactions or coping strategies.

Impoliteness in only drunks and children tell the truth by drew Hayden Taylor

The present study attempts to examine (im) politeness in Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth, a drama play written by Drew Hayden Taylor. Politeness and impoliteness have received a great amount of attention from many scholars in recent years. The study applied a classification developed by Culpeper in his latest book entitled Impoliteness: Using Language to Cause Offence. The classification mainly focuses on conventionalized and implicational impoliteness in literary texts. Drew Heyden through his characters’ conversational dialogues presents numerous (im) polite expressions to both entertain and make actors and audiences think critically. This study applied the previously mentioned classification to examine impoliteness in characters’ expressions. The findings revealed that impoliteness is a common phenomenon in the language used especially by women characters in the play. The main reason behind this is the emotional pain the characters experienced in their life. Impoliteness was used by both females and males, but it was found that women used more impoliteness strategies than men.