{"title":"Bridging the Mental Health Gap using the Already Available Resources: The Kenyan Experience","authors":"D. Ndetei, Victoria N Mutiso","doi":"10.4103/wsp.wsp_2_23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4103/wsp.wsp_2_23","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":285109,"journal":{"name":"World Social Psychiatry","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130216279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Approximately 40% of the incarcerated population in the world are reported to suffer from a mental health condition. People in correctional settings are subjected to multiple psychosocial adversities which negatively affect their mental health. Moreover, people with mental illness are at higher risk for abuse and exploitation within the criminal justice system. The prison populations of the United States (US) and India are among the highest, among both high-income and low-middle-income countries, respectively. In this article, we aim to describe the existing prison mental health services in the US and India and discuss their challenges.
{"title":"Prison Mental Health in the United States of America and India: A Dual Perspective","authors":"Rachel Varadarajulu, Ananya Mahapatra","doi":"10.4103/wsp.wsp_19_23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4103/wsp.wsp_19_23","url":null,"abstract":"Approximately 40% of the incarcerated population in the world are reported to suffer from a mental health condition. People in correctional settings are subjected to multiple psychosocial adversities which negatively affect their mental health. Moreover, people with mental illness are at higher risk for abuse and exploitation within the criminal justice system. The prison populations of the United States (US) and India are among the highest, among both high-income and low-middle-income countries, respectively. In this article, we aim to describe the existing prison mental health services in the US and India and discuss their challenges.","PeriodicalId":285109,"journal":{"name":"World Social Psychiatry","volume":"40 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115375656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article describes the personal journey of an experienced Brazilian child psychiatrist who also trained as a systems-oriented family therapist who realized that she was not systems oriented enough. Her son, a family doctor, has been influencing the inclusion of planetary health care in her work. Personal, intergenerational, and professional development go hand in hand in this account, along with scientific developments. The account aims at inspiring other social psychiatrists and mental health workers to include 1 min for the planet in consultations, preventive, and rehabilitative work and to spread the word to our countries and international mental health institutions.
{"title":"From Individual Psychiatry to Planetary Health Care: A Personal Account of a Brazilian Social Psychiatrist","authors":"O. Falceto, Enrique de Barros","doi":"10.4103/wsp.wsp_11_23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4103/wsp.wsp_11_23","url":null,"abstract":"This article describes the personal journey of an experienced Brazilian child psychiatrist who also trained as a systems-oriented family therapist who realized that she was not systems oriented enough. Her son, a family doctor, has been influencing the inclusion of planetary health care in her work. Personal, intergenerational, and professional development go hand in hand in this account, along with scientific developments. The account aims at inspiring other social psychiatrists and mental health workers to include 1 min for the planet in consultations, preventive, and rehabilitative work and to spread the word to our countries and international mental health institutions.","PeriodicalId":285109,"journal":{"name":"World Social Psychiatry","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123802082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Belonging is to Social Psychiatry What Attachment is to Child Psychiatry","authors":"Vincenzo Di Nicola","doi":"10.4103/wsp.wsp_5_23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4103/wsp.wsp_5_23","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":285109,"journal":{"name":"World Social Psychiatry","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115143217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Having become President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in July 2020, Dr. Adrian James had a first-hand experience of how the health-care system in England responded to the pandemic. This article explores the College's response to COVID-19's impact on mental health services and how they worked to support psychiatrists and patients alike. It also reflects on how the long-term implications of the pandemic on mental health are just starting to come to light, as well as some of the new challenges facing psychiatry worldwide.
{"title":"A Pandemic Presidency: How RCPsych Responded and How we Take forward the Recovery","authors":"Adrian James, Emily Gibbons","doi":"10.4103/wsp.wsp_9_23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4103/wsp.wsp_9_23","url":null,"abstract":"Having become President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in July 2020, Dr. Adrian James had a first-hand experience of how the health-care system in England responded to the pandemic. This article explores the College's response to COVID-19's impact on mental health services and how they worked to support psychiatrists and patients alike. It also reflects on how the long-term implications of the pandemic on mental health are just starting to come to light, as well as some of the new challenges facing psychiatry worldwide.","PeriodicalId":285109,"journal":{"name":"World Social Psychiatry","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128531990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rehabilitation is required when limitations in health prevent full functioning. On a global level, WHO estimates that more than 2.4 billion could benefit from a rehabilitative intervention of some kind. The health limitations may have several causes frequently with a mental health dimension and the benefits of psychosocial rehabilitation are increasingly recognized globally. An example is given of a psychosocial model focusing on traumatized individuals and the development of a rehabilitative field manual to be used in Low and middle income countries (LOMIC) or settings of limited resources.
{"title":"Global Aspects of Psychosocial Rehabilitation","authors":"Marianne Kastrup","doi":"10.4103/wsp.wsp_3_23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4103/wsp.wsp_3_23","url":null,"abstract":"Rehabilitation is required when limitations in health prevent full functioning. On a global level, WHO estimates that more than 2.4 billion could benefit from a rehabilitative intervention of some kind. The health limitations may have several causes frequently with a mental health dimension and the benefits of psychosocial rehabilitation are increasingly recognized globally. An example is given of a psychosocial model focusing on traumatized individuals and the development of a rehabilitative field manual to be used in Low and middle income countries (LOMIC) or settings of limited resources.","PeriodicalId":285109,"journal":{"name":"World Social Psychiatry","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125334618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Atasha Jordan, Kristin Nguyen, Maria Carandang, Wydad Hikmat
Background/Objectives: The authors are early career psychiatrists practicing worldwide who aim to increase access to mental health care and reduce associated stigma by utilizing culturally informed psychoeducation-based programs tailored for nontraditional communities. Methods: The authors chose four distinct communities to provide mental health psychoeducation, including churches in Philadelphia, a fandom group in the Philippines, nonpsychiatric healthcare workers in Nepal, and families of patients in Morocco. Results: Dr. Atasha Jordan founded the Christian Mental Health Initiative to improve mental health outcomes of Christians in the US and the Caribbean; in a pilot study (n = 29), the research team used Mental Health First Aid to increase mental health care literacy and mental health care utilization in Black Churches. Dr. Bernadett Carandang co-created Hallyu Wednesdays, an online fandom-based mental health group that meets weekly to explore mental health topics through Korean media and provide online safe spaces for their community. Dr. Kristin Nguyen, as part of the Health, Equity, Action, Leadership (HEAL) global mental health fellowship program, co-created psychoeducational videos on burnout and ways to mitigate it for the staff of a hospital in rural Nepal that can be disseminated to other Nepali healthcare workers. Dr. Wydad Hikmat implemented a family psychoeducation program, Profamille, for caregivers and families of patients with psychosis, leading to improved mood and coping strategies for patients. Conclusions: All four psychoeducational interventions used innovative approaches to addressing mental health challenges and promoting mental wellness among diverse populations worldwide.
{"title":"Novel Approaches to Community-Based Psychoeducation to Improve Mental Health Awareness in Diverse Settings","authors":"Atasha Jordan, Kristin Nguyen, Maria Carandang, Wydad Hikmat","doi":"10.4103/wsp.wsp_10_23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4103/wsp.wsp_10_23","url":null,"abstract":"Background/Objectives: The authors are early career psychiatrists practicing worldwide who aim to increase access to mental health care and reduce associated stigma by utilizing culturally informed psychoeducation-based programs tailored for nontraditional communities. Methods: The authors chose four distinct communities to provide mental health psychoeducation, including churches in Philadelphia, a fandom group in the Philippines, nonpsychiatric healthcare workers in Nepal, and families of patients in Morocco. Results: Dr. Atasha Jordan founded the Christian Mental Health Initiative to improve mental health outcomes of Christians in the US and the Caribbean; in a pilot study (n = 29), the research team used Mental Health First Aid to increase mental health care literacy and mental health care utilization in Black Churches. Dr. Bernadett Carandang co-created Hallyu Wednesdays, an online fandom-based mental health group that meets weekly to explore mental health topics through Korean media and provide online safe spaces for their community. Dr. Kristin Nguyen, as part of the Health, Equity, Action, Leadership (HEAL) global mental health fellowship program, co-created psychoeducational videos on burnout and ways to mitigate it for the staff of a hospital in rural Nepal that can be disseminated to other Nepali healthcare workers. Dr. Wydad Hikmat implemented a family psychoeducation program, Profamille, for caregivers and families of patients with psychosis, leading to improved mood and coping strategies for patients. Conclusions: All four psychoeducational interventions used innovative approaches to addressing mental health challenges and promoting mental wellness among diverse populations worldwide.","PeriodicalId":285109,"journal":{"name":"World Social Psychiatry","volume":"102 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125713795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Vernal, M. Nordentoft, M. Christensen, L. Smith, L. Mariegaard, Jan Mainz, L. Glenthøj
Background: Auditory verbal hallucinations are a prevalent symptom in schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, affecting around 70% of patients. A sizable proportion does not achieve adequate treatment response with current interventions, including antipsychotic medication. Virtual reality-based therapy (VRT) shows promise as a new intervention. Methods: The Challenge Trial is a randomized controlled study examining the efficacy of VRT compared to standard treatment for auditory hallucinations in patients with psychotic disorders. In the intervention arm, virtual reality software and voice modulation are used to design a visual representation of the patient's voice (an avatar) and to transform the therapist's voice to sound like the voice the patient hears. The aim is to foster a dialogue for the patient to strengthen their power, practice self-efficacy, and alter their relation to the voice. During therapy, the avatar becomes more compassionate and/or less powerful. Results: Quantitative data are currently unavailable as recruitment is ongoing. Instead, the design and intervention are presented along with recruitment data, retention rates, and case vignettes. Early clinical experiences are promising, with high acceptability and tolerance among patients. The trial has successfully enrolled a diverse patient population, including those with long-standing histories of hospitalization, medication use, and chronic hallucinations. The effectiveness of VRT varies, for example, some patients have reported significant reductions in the frequency of voices and associated distress, whereas others have primarily noted improvements in emotional responses to the voices. Conclusions: Based on the first 2 years of the Challenge Trial, VRT shows considerable promise as a potential treatment for auditory verbal hallucinations.
{"title":"Status and Clinical Experiences from the Challenge Trial – A Randomized Controlled Trial Investigating Virtual Reality-based Therapy for Auditory Hallucinations","authors":"D. Vernal, M. Nordentoft, M. Christensen, L. Smith, L. Mariegaard, Jan Mainz, L. Glenthøj","doi":"10.4103/wsp.wsp_4_23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4103/wsp.wsp_4_23","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Auditory verbal hallucinations are a prevalent symptom in schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, affecting around 70% of patients. A sizable proportion does not achieve adequate treatment response with current interventions, including antipsychotic medication. Virtual reality-based therapy (VRT) shows promise as a new intervention. Methods: The Challenge Trial is a randomized controlled study examining the efficacy of VRT compared to standard treatment for auditory hallucinations in patients with psychotic disorders. In the intervention arm, virtual reality software and voice modulation are used to design a visual representation of the patient's voice (an avatar) and to transform the therapist's voice to sound like the voice the patient hears. The aim is to foster a dialogue for the patient to strengthen their power, practice self-efficacy, and alter their relation to the voice. During therapy, the avatar becomes more compassionate and/or less powerful. Results: Quantitative data are currently unavailable as recruitment is ongoing. Instead, the design and intervention are presented along with recruitment data, retention rates, and case vignettes. Early clinical experiences are promising, with high acceptability and tolerance among patients. The trial has successfully enrolled a diverse patient population, including those with long-standing histories of hospitalization, medication use, and chronic hallucinations. The effectiveness of VRT varies, for example, some patients have reported significant reductions in the frequency of voices and associated distress, whereas others have primarily noted improvements in emotional responses to the voices. Conclusions: Based on the first 2 years of the Challenge Trial, VRT shows considerable promise as a potential treatment for auditory verbal hallucinations.","PeriodicalId":285109,"journal":{"name":"World Social Psychiatry","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130168872","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Civilization evolved through 1000 of years as epicenters in several parts of the world and has now become a global civilization. The main pursuits have been for better survival, increased longevity, societal development, peaceful living, and individual development among others. It is also known that the evolution of civilization goes parallel with evolution of brain through continuous processes of adaptation and reorganization of brain functions by gene–environment interactions and epigenetic processes. Thus, civilization has a major impact on brain development and mental health. Current civilization in many ways has come in conflict with the biological objective of survival of the human species. There is value on economic growth and productivity, control and conquering of nature with devastating consequences. Socioeconomic disparities, poverty, inequity in resource distribution and social power, fragmentation of family and communities, individualistic materialistic outlook, lack of psychological anchoring, mindless globalization, climate crisis, and so on are some of the facets that have unleashed a spate of new mental health challenges across the globe. Researches on social determinants of mental illness have shown significant risk factors emanating from one common factor that is civilization. Mental illness is not individually produced and therefore cannot be tackled in silos. It will require whole society's response and systemic approaches beyond the domain of health alone. There is a need to pursue pro-mental health policies at the global societal level to rein in the ever-expanding pool of mentally unwell population.
{"title":"The Onslaught of Civilization and Emerging Mental Health Issues","authors":"S. Malhotra","doi":"10.4103/wsp.wsp_8_23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4103/wsp.wsp_8_23","url":null,"abstract":"Civilization evolved through 1000 of years as epicenters in several parts of the world and has now become a global civilization. The main pursuits have been for better survival, increased longevity, societal development, peaceful living, and individual development among others. It is also known that the evolution of civilization goes parallel with evolution of brain through continuous processes of adaptation and reorganization of brain functions by gene–environment interactions and epigenetic processes. Thus, civilization has a major impact on brain development and mental health. Current civilization in many ways has come in conflict with the biological objective of survival of the human species. There is value on economic growth and productivity, control and conquering of nature with devastating consequences. Socioeconomic disparities, poverty, inequity in resource distribution and social power, fragmentation of family and communities, individualistic materialistic outlook, lack of psychological anchoring, mindless globalization, climate crisis, and so on are some of the facets that have unleashed a spate of new mental health challenges across the globe. Researches on social determinants of mental illness have shown significant risk factors emanating from one common factor that is civilization. Mental illness is not individually produced and therefore cannot be tackled in silos. It will require whole society's response and systemic approaches beyond the domain of health alone. There is a need to pursue pro-mental health policies at the global societal level to rein in the ever-expanding pool of mentally unwell population.","PeriodicalId":285109,"journal":{"name":"World Social Psychiatry","volume":"60 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122951701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recovery from Mental Illness: From Social Control to the Bio-, through the Psycho-, toward the Social Essence of Recovery","authors":"D. Basu, Nitin Gupta","doi":"10.4103/wsp.wsp_18_23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4103/wsp.wsp_18_23","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":285109,"journal":{"name":"World Social Psychiatry","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121469697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}