Nonpharmacologic Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders

Pharmacologic therapies often complement nonpharmacologic therapies in the treatment of psychiatric disease. An overview of the theory and practice of psychotherapy and interventions is provided in this chapter. Psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychotherapy, developed by Sigmund Freud, has influenced many forms of psychotherapy. The underlying framework of psychoanalytic theory holds that a majority of a person’s psychological experiences are unconscious.

Embodied Cognition and Media Engagement: When the Loneliness of the Protagonist Makes the Reader Sense Coldness (and Vice Versa)

Embodied cognition research documents the interplay between physical sensations and corresponding psychological experiences within the individual. Accordingly, physical warmth leads to a sense of social inclusion, and being socially rejected leads to physical coldness. In the current research, we demonstrate that these embodied cognition relationships also apply to a media consumer and a media character with whom the consumer identifies. In Study 1, participants (N = 120) read one of four narratives in which we manipulated identification with the protagonist and her social exclusion/inclusion situation. In Study 2 (N = 120), the narrative described the protagonist experiencing coldness/warmth in high/low identification conditions. The findings suggest that when the character experiences either the physical or the psychological state, the identifying consumer consequently experiences either psychological feelings or physical sensations, respectively. We discuss potential limitations of the study and also its contribution to media psychology and to embodied cognition research.

Psychological and Cultural Treatment of Traumatized Subject(s): Reading Laleh Khadivi’s The Walking in Terms of Theories of Trauma

The present study aims to scrutinize the concept of trauma in Laleh khadivi’s work entitled, The Walking. The objective of the study is to examine how Khadivi’s work can be read through theories of trauma. The Freudian notion of trauma focuses on the remaining psychological wounds on subjects’ identity while Alexander’s concept, cultural trauma, concentrates on the cultural outcome of a horrendous event at the collective level. Traumas are not solely private psychological experiences and are restricted to one solitude individual as they can expose themselves as collective experiences. Literary works are valuable properties picturing the results and outcomes of trauma both at its individual and collective level. In the current paper, concepts related to traumas will be defined to examine the characters in Khadivi’s novel. The novel provides a set of chronological events that happened to a minority group during the Iranian revolution. The author chooses her characters of Iranians of Kurdish immigrants. The Walking, reminds us of events happening during 1976 in Iran, after The Islamic Revolution. The article will delineate that characters are psychologically traumatized after the revolution in Iran as well as experiencing cultural trauma during the twentieth century.

Postpartum women’s psychological experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: a modified recurrent cross-sectional thematic analysis

Background COVID-19 has placed additional stressors on mothers during an already vulnerable lifecourse transition. Initial social distancing restrictions (Timepoint 1; T1) and initial changes to those social distancing restrictions (Timepoint 2; T2) have disrupted postpartum access to practical and emotional support. This qualitative study explores the postpartum psychological experiences of UK women during different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated ‘lockdowns’. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 women, approximately 30 days after initial social distancing guidelines were imposed in the UK (22 April 2020). A separate 12 women were interviewed approximately 30 days after the initial easing of social distancing restrictions (10 June 2020). Data were transcribed verbatim, uploaded into NVivo for management and analysis, which followed a recurrent cross-sectional approach to thematic analysis. Results Two main themes were identified for T1: ‘Motherhood is Much Like Lockdown’ and ‘A Self-Contained Family Unit’. Each main T1 theme contained two sub-themes. Two main themes were also identified for T2: ‘Incongruously Held Views of COVID-19’ and ‘Mothering Amidst the Pandemic’. Each main T2 theme contained three sub-themes. Comparisons between data gathered at each timepoint identified increased emotional distress over time. Current findings call for the improvement of postpartum care by improving accessibility to social support, and prioritising the re-opening of schools, and face-to-face healthcare appointments and visitation. Conclusion Social distancing restrictions associated with COVID-19 have had a cumulative, negative effect on postpartum mental health. Recommendations such as: Allowing mothers to ‘bubble’ with a primary support provider even at their healthcare appointments; allowing one support partner to attend all necessary healthcare appointments; and providing tailored informational resources, may help to support postpartum emotional wellbeing during this, and similar health crises in the future.

Psychology Doctoral Program Experiences and Student Well-Being, Mental Health, and Optimism During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In a sample of 916 doctoral students from 144 universities across the United States, we examined psychology graduate students’ experiences in their programs, as well as their mental health, well-being, and optimism during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a path model, we found that students’ psychological experiences in their programs (i.e., social belonging, threat, and challenge) were associated with better mental health and well-being, which in turn was associated with greater optimism about the future during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings were also corroborated in students’ open-ended responses regarding how COVID-19 has impacted their lives. Findings varied by racial, gender, and sexual identities, as racial minorities, LGBTQ+ students, and women expressed more negative psychological experiences in their programs. We outline suggestions for graduate programs to support their graduate students, which include facilitating social connection, providing encouragement, and emphasizing students’ well-being over their productivity as the current pandemic persists.

How Can My Poem Be True?

How can a poem be true? This autoethnographic study uses poetic inquiry to explore the boundaries between fiction and reality within poetic experience. A series of poems composed during, and about, the current COVID-19 pandemic, provides a means of understanding the experience of having one’s everyday reality overturned by crisis. A central theme of the author’s poems and accompanying reflections is how art can be used to explore psychological experiences, such as melancholia and depression, and, in turn how the experience of suffering can be used to facilitate artistic expression. Using poetic inquiry, the author examines the complex interplay between speaker and authorial intention, fiction and truth, text and the performance of writing, reading, and poetic interpretation.