Perspectives of university health care students on mental health stigma in Nigeria: Qualitative analysis

Mental illness is a significant public health burden in low- and middle-income countries. A wide treatment gap in mental health care exists within the Nigerian health care system and this gap is worsened by the presence of stigma associated with mental illness, which leads to delay in treatment or acts as a barrier to any care. In this study, our aim was to understand the factors that underlie mental illness stigma in order to inform the design of effective stigma-reducing interventions among health care students in Nigeria. We conducted four focus groups among university health care students in March 2019 in Nigeria. The students included nursing, pharmacy, and medical trainees from a university teaching hospital. We used an inductive-driven thematic analysis to identify codes and themes related to mental health stigma and conceptualization of mental health within the study group. Among the 40 participants, we identified how specific interpretations of religious and spiritual beliefs may be associated with stigmatizing behaviors such as social distancing and discrimination. Conceptualization of mental illness as a communicable disease and the attribution of mental illness to a moral failing contributed to stigma mechanisms. Overall, eight themes associated with mental health stigma and mental health-related concepts were found: spirituality, discrimination and devaluation, conceptualization of mental health, attribution theories, methods to reduce stigma, shortage of resources, violence and dangerousness, and maltreatment. We found that the co-existence of spiritual beliefs and biomedical and psychological models of mental health is a key factor to consider in the design of effective stigma-reducing interventions among university health students in Nigeria.

A Place to Call My Own: Navigating Life in the Margins

<p>This thesis explores the lives of people who are, or have recently been, living on the streets in Wellington City. It examines what it means to ‘be and belong’ while living on the streets, the ways in which Streeties become existentially and discursively ‘homeless’, what it means to feel ‘at home’ in the world, and the ways Streeties attempt to make a life worth living on the margins. It does this by exploring the way Streeties carve out new spaces for living in the city, how they construct their sense of self, and the ways in which they hope for a better life. Many of these Streeties had been rejected from the traditional channels which distribute socially legitimate forms of personhood and meaning, while others had actively rejected these channels for impinging on their ability to live a dignified life. Consequently, they have had to carve out new ways of relating to themselves and asserting their autonomy. None of them, however, wanted their autonomy to come at the expense of others. In fact, their struggles for autonomy were also simultaneously struggles for belonging - their autonomy was never isolated or bounded, but was always related to a respect for their position as individuals within wider systems of relations that contained relatives, other Streeties, members of the public, special places, worldviews or spiritual beliefs. The thesis is part ethnographic film, and part written thesis. The film is included on a USB accompanying this thesis.</p>

A Place to Call My Own: Navigating Life in the Margins

<p>This thesis explores the lives of people who are, or have recently been, living on the streets in Wellington City. It examines what it means to ‘be and belong’ while living on the streets, the ways in which Streeties become existentially and discursively ‘homeless’, what it means to feel ‘at home’ in the world, and the ways Streeties attempt to make a life worth living on the margins. It does this by exploring the way Streeties carve out new spaces for living in the city, how they construct their sense of self, and the ways in which they hope for a better life. Many of these Streeties had been rejected from the traditional channels which distribute socially legitimate forms of personhood and meaning, while others had actively rejected these channels for impinging on their ability to live a dignified life. Consequently, they have had to carve out new ways of relating to themselves and asserting their autonomy. None of them, however, wanted their autonomy to come at the expense of others. In fact, their struggles for autonomy were also simultaneously struggles for belonging - their autonomy was never isolated or bounded, but was always related to a respect for their position as individuals within wider systems of relations that contained relatives, other Streeties, members of the public, special places, worldviews or spiritual beliefs. The thesis is part ethnographic film, and part written thesis. The film is included on a USB accompanying this thesis.</p>

Spiritual security: an explanatory framework for conflict-related sexual violence against men

While there is a growing interest in conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) against men, conceptual understanding and empirical knowledge are still inadequate. The notion of spiritual security is introduced in this article as an explanatory variable in CRSV, using survivors' discursive views of sexual violence victimizations in Nigeria's north-eastern region. The CRSV of males, it is argued, may also be understood as a ritual or spiritual activity carried out for bodily protection, financial prosperity, or socio-political ascendency. The survivors' impressions of CRSV's spiritual undertones are not unrelated to the heteronormative and collectively homophobic culture in their society, in which violent same-sex relations are considered so perverse and meaningful only if they are conceived as ‘evil or devilish practices’. Spiritual beliefs and practices, on the other hand, determine much of the social reality of many people in various parts of the world, and they are regarded as potent on security issues ranging from physical protection to wealth creation and socio-political advancement. This study adds to the continuing discussion on the reasons behind CRSV against men.

“The Waters Were Made for Her”: River Mumma beliefs in 19th and 20th century Jamaican ethnographic accounts

During her fieldwork in Jamaica in the 1920s, the American anthropologist Martha Warren Beckwith was told by an interviewee that he had seen a river mumma sitting by a pool near St Ann’s Bay, combing her long hair. The river mumma, a form of duppy or spirit, was said to inhabit ponds, lakes and rivers. Not only was she believed to be guardian of such bodies of water, but she was also accredited with the ability to cause and end droughts, bestow the power to heal and to wreak revenge. In this article I examine the folklore and spiritual beliefs surrounding the river mumma in 19th and 20th Century Jamaica and look at where her origins may lie. There is a particular emphasis on material from the late post-emancipation era as this was a time of an awakening interest in Jamaican folk cultures and a number of influential ethnographic accounts, such as Thomas Bainbury’s Jamaica Superstitions (1894) and Martha Warren Beckwith’s Black Roadways (1929), were published.

From Zoroaster to Star Wars, Jesus to Marx: The Art, Science and Technology of Human Manipulation

Superficially, it appears that humans enjoy a wide variety of spiritual and religious traditions. In fact, the vast majority of human belief systems are rooted in the same ancient Persian soil. This article explores the ancient roots of our “modern” secular and spiritual beliefs, demonstrates their ideological character, briefly examines the emotional, psychological, and spiritual toll, and outlines a course of research for those interested in bringing additional sophistication and depth to the sociological, psychological, historical, and political study of human spirituality and human religion. The paper introduces several terms into the lexicon, including Symbol Factories, Ideological Institutions, and Toxic Socialization.

Timing and Motivations for Alternative Cancer Therapy: Insights from a Crowdfunding Platform (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Alternative cancer therapy is associated with increased mortality, but little is known about those who pursue it. OBJECTIVE We aimed to describe individuals’ motivations for using alternative cancer therapies and determine whether motivations differ based on individuals’ timing of seeking alternative therapies. METHODS We used data from 649 campaigns posted on GoFundMe® between 2011 and 2019 for beneficiaries with cancer pursuing alternative therapy. The data were analyzed using a mixed-methods approach. Campaigns were categorized by timing of alternative therapy (either before or after experiencing conventional therapy). Qualitative analysis identified motivational themes. Chi-square tests of independence and Fisher tests, all two-sided, determined significant differences in the presence of motivational themes between groups. RESULTS Campaigns for individuals who used conventional therapy first were significantly more likely to express concerns about efficacy of conventional therapy (63.3% vs. 41.7%, P<.001). Those who started with alternative therapy (compared to those who later switched from conventional to alternative therapy) more often expressed natural and holistic values (49.3% vs. 27.0%, P<.001), an unorthodox understanding of cancer (25.5% vs. 16.4%, P=.004), referenced religious or spiritual beliefs (15.1% vs. 8.9%, P=.01), perceived alternative treatment as efficacious (19.1% vs. 10.2%, P=.001), and distrusted pharmaceutical companies (3.2% vs. 0.5%, P=.04). CONCLUSIONS Individuals sought treatments that reflected their values and beliefs, even if scientifically unfounded. Many individuals who reported prior conventional cancer treatment were motivated to pursue alternative treatments because they perceived the conventional treatments to be ineffective.

Armed groups, IHL and the invisible world: How spiritual beliefs shape warfare

“Secret societies”, “traditional hunters”, “charms” and “mystical weapons” are recurrent terms when analyzing some of the present armed conflicts in the Sub-Saharan region. However, though spiritual beliefs shape armed groups’ behaviour, and such beliefs are integrated into the modus operandi of some armed groups, the role of these beliefs in warfare is largely overlooked. Far from being something anecdotal or incidental, the invisible world plays a role in shaping armed groups’ behaviour and framing warfare dynamics. Spiritual beliefs might influence the respect afforded to international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Such beliefs may also serve various strategic functions, including for legitimation of the group, mobilization of support, control, cohesion, discipline, motivation and protection. Digging further into the matter and understanding how such beliefs impact the internal dynamics of armed groups and their external relations, including with the State, other armed groups and communities, is an essential part of understanding armed conflicts and their aftermath.

Predicting Anxiety from the Complex Interaction Between Masculinity and Spiritual Beliefs

Research suggests that adherence to traditional and hegemonic masculinities can be detrimental to men’s mental health. In particular, anxiety can result from the incongruence between idealised and lived experiences. Emerging research suggests that holding spiritual beliefs may protect against such anxiety. This Australian study investigated whether two aspects of spiritualism (Spiritual Openness and Spiritual Support) could moderate the relationship between four stereotypical masculine behaviours (Success Dedication, Restrictive Emotionality, Inhibited Affection and Exaggerated Self-Reliance and Control) and anxiety. A cross-sectional, correlational design, with a heterogeneous, Western community sample included 331 male participants aged 18–67 ( M = 24.57, SD = 10.37). In partial support of the hypotheses, two significant moderation models were found. Both Spiritual Support and Spiritual Openness moderated the relationship between Exaggerated Self-Reliance and Control and anxiety. There were no significant moderations for Success Dedication, Restrictive Emotionality, and Inhibited Affection. Masculinity and spiritualism did not have significant direct effects on anxiety. These findings suggest that when working with men and their mental health, it may be important to consider the congruence between their behaviors and belief systems, as spirituality was only protective against anxiety where these beliefs were congruent with masculine self-reliance and control. It appears that the potential benefit of spirituality in reducing masculine anxiety is dependent on the man being more open to external supports, and having a lower need for control.