Browsing by Subject "Mental illness"

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13

Children of the Evening
(Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, 1972) Smith, Bert Kruger
The Children Who Could Not Come Out to Play
(Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, 1978) Smith, Bert Kruger; Culler, Ralph
The influence of stigma of mental illnesses on decoding and encodting of verbal and nonverbal messages
(2013-05) Imai, Tatsuya; Dailey, René M.
Stigmas associated with depression and schizophrenia have been found to negatively impact the communication those with mental illness have with others in face-to-face interactions (e.g., Lysaker, Roe, & Yanos, 2007; Nicholson & Sacco, 1999). This study attempted to specifically examine how stigma affects cognitions, emotions, and behaviors of interactants without a mental illness toward those with a mental illness in online interactions. In this experimental study, 412 participants interacted with a hypothetical target on Facebook, who was believed to have depression, schizophrenia, or a cavity (i.e., the control group). They were asked to read a profile of the target on Facebook, respond to a message from the target, and complete measurements assessing perceived positive and negative face threats in the target's message, perceived facial expressions of the target, induced affect, predicted outcome value, and rejecting attitudes towards the target. Results revealed that the target labeled as schizophrenic was rejected more and perceived to have lower outcome value than the target without a mental illness or labeled as depressive. However, there were no significant differences in any outcomes between the depression and control groups. The mixed results were discussed in relation to methodological limitations and possible modifications of previous theoretical arguments. Theoretical and practical contributions were considered and suggestions for future research were offered.
The lived experience of nonpsychiatric hospitalization for persons with severe mental illness
(2013-05) Zolnierek, Cynthia Diamond; Volker, Deborah L.
People with severe mental illness experience medical comorbidities to a greater extent than the general population. When hospitalized in general hospital settings, they experience poorer outcomes and are experienced as difficult by nurses. An understanding of the experience of hospitalization from the patient's perspective is important to improving care and outcomes for this population. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of nonpsychiatric hospitalization for persons with severe mental illness. Heideggarian phenomenology provided the philosophical underpinning and informed the methodology employed. Participants were recruited through mental health providers. Ten individuals with severe mental illness participated in minimally structured interviews and described their experience of hospitalization on a medical-surgical unit. Data, including transcribed interviews and field notes, were analyzed within the hermeneutic tradition as described by Cohen et al. (2000). The lived experience of nonpsychiatric hospitalization was expressed in four themes: taking care of me (subthemes: being cared for, not being cared for), it's my life, on my toes (subthemes: needing an advocate, managing my mental health), and being a good patient. Care providers' comportment, perception of the patient's illness, attentiveness, responsiveness, and personalized caring behaviors characterized the participant experience of being cared for or not being cared for. It's my life reflected participants' desire to be informed and involved so they could contribute to their recovery. Participants felt the need to be on my toes in order to look out for and advocate for themselves. The need to be on my toes extended to the management of a chronic illness while hospitalized for an unrelated acute condition. The final theme reflected the perceived patient role obligation to be a "good patient". Findings were consistent with the literature regarding experiences of hospitalization from the perspective of persons without mental illness. Identified themes emphasize the critical importance of the nurse-patient relationship to the patient experience. There are significant implications for how nurses come to know their patients in medical-surgical settings so that they can effectively personalize care. Reflective practices may empower nurses to solicit assistance and support to improve caring practices
Loss of control and phenomenology in mental disorder
(2021-08-16) Evans, Amanda Lea; Montague, Michelle; Strawson, Galen; Sosa, Ernest David; Bayne, Tim; Pickard, Hanna
Any insights we can hope to gain with respect to what is going on with our mental lives and our agency will almost certainly require a close examination of the “worst-case scenarios”, since it is when things break down that the joints of the phenomena are revealed. This is a philosophical intuition of mine that pervades everything I work on, and the papers that make up this dissertation are no exception. In keeping with this guiding sentiment, this dissertation tackles three philosophical issues related to the so-called “loss of control” that occurs in mental disorder, and it does so in a way that places the phenomenology of agency at the forefront in some way or other. In my first paper on the sense of agency in anorexia nervosa (AN), I try to resolve an apparent discrepancy between the phenomenology of anorexics in the grip of their disorder and the psychological and neurological data that purport to describe what they are undergoing. I provide a solution to this apparent incongruency by offering an account of the sense of agency in AN that grants sincerity to anorexic testimony while also being able to explain why the relevant experiences of agency come to be illusory. Then, in my second paper, I broaden my scope to include not just AN but also substance use disorder (SUD). After outlining the debate surrounding the question of whether addiction ought to be categorized as a form of akrasia, I show that the phenomenon at issue is far more complex than either side has supposed. I then propose a “horseshoe model” of loss of control that is able to capture the complexity that is brought in by examining the similarities and differences between SUD and AN. Finally, in my third paper, I pursue a question that arises from the exposition of the horseshoe model introduced in the previous paper. The question is, roughly, “Why is one ‘half’ of the horseshoe model associated with the phenomenology of loss of control while the other “half” is associated with the phenomenology of extreme self-control?”. This line of inquiry ultimately leads to an understanding of how one’s pathological desires can be experienced quite differently depending on the content of one’s self-image. Taken together, it is my hope that these papers can contribute to the philosophical goal of unearthing the realities of our mental lives and our agency by examining the fault lines formed by psychopathology.
No Place for Tommy
(Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, 1958) Mallas, Aris A.
No really. I’m fine. : an installation inspired by conditions we can’t or won’t see
(2019-05) Mojica, Roxenia A.; Bloodgood, William; Johnson, J. E. (Lecturer in theatre and dance)
Mental health has always been a topic that sparked my interest, not only because it affects many people close to me, but also because it affects many more in our general population who are simply just existing day to day. As I have pushed myself further into an artistic career, I seem to find many around me who live with a mental ailment of some sort. This observation has lead me to explore a link between creativity and madness, studying the art of the institutionalized, regardless of whether their art was ever appreciated as art or not. Furthermore, it has left me frustrated at the lack of empathy directed towards those in our population who are outcast and overlooked for something that is out of their control. I wanted to do this project as an ally to those who cannot call themselves mentally healthy. It felt important to let them know that I see them and that others should too. How does one create empathy in a population for something that cannot be seen? Using my background in scenic design, and applying the same skill set I would use to evoke emotion from an audience, I am exploring how I can design an evocative three-dimensional space. The goal was eliciting empathy and understanding from an observer who may not have that disorder without alienating an observer who does
The politics of race and mental illness in the Post-Emancipation US South : Central Lunatic Asylum for the Colored Insane in historical perspective
(2014-05) Brooks, Adia Awanata; Gross, Kali N., 1972-; Davis, King E
In "The Politics of Race and Mental Illness" I explore the relationship between conceptualizations of black mental health and white social control from 1865 to 1881. Chapter one historically contextualizes black mental health, highlighting psychiatrists', slaveholders', and black slaves' perspectives on black mental illness. In this chapter, I argue that the current racial disparities in psychiatric treatment and diagnosis stem from a legacy of cultural incompetence, that is, a failure to fit diagnoses and treatment methods to the needs of culturally diverse populations. The second chapter analyzes the nature of racial power relations in the US South during Reconstruction. It asserts that not only did racism thrive, but that the white population also sought methods of re-subjugating the black population during this period. Using primary sources, I argue in chapter three that whites institutionalized blacks in Central Lunatic Asylum for the Colored Insane (CLA) for non-mental health reasons as both a punishment for attempts at economic independence and in order to culturally censor them. While most modern mental health literature avoids discussing social control, my research examines the reasons for black commitments to CLA within the context of white re-subjugation of the black population in order to emphasize the centrality of social control to black mental health care in the Post Emancipation era.
Psychiatric disorders and biological dysfunctions: some philosophical questions concerning psychiatry
(2006) Garson, Justin Richard; Sarkar, Sahotra
In contemporary biological approaches to psychiatry it is rarely questioned that psychiatric disorders stem from biological “dysfunctions”. This assumption appears to be confirmed by the fact that biological research has been successful at uncovering diverse biological disparities between the brains of persons with mental illnesses and normal controls. However, the fact that something is different or unusual does not mean it is dysfunctional. The thesis of the dissertation is that there is little warrant for the claim that psychiatric disorders stem from biological dysfunctions. This prompts a question of definition: what does it mean to say that something – e.g., a given part of the brain or nervous system – is “functioning properly” or that it is “dysfunctional”? The dissertation argues that the theory of function appropriate for psychiatry is one that holds that the function of an entity consists in that activity that, in the past, contributed to the differential persistence or reproduction of that entity or type of entity. A consequence of this view is that just because something is not adaptive in a given environment, it is not necessarily dysfunctional. Finally, the dissertation examines two major neurobiological perspectives on schizophrenia – a neurochemical perspective and a neurodevelopmental perspective. From a neurochemical perspective, it argues that even if the dopamine system is abnormal in schizophrenia, it is not dysfunctional. It also shows that on certain neurodevelopmental hypotheses, schizophrenia could be said to stem from a biological dysfunction, but on other neurodevelopmental hypotheses, it could not. The fact that there is currently not enough information to decide which of these multiple hypotheses is correct means that there is currently little warrant for saying that schizophrenia stems from a biological dysfunction Since this has been shown to be unwarranted through detailed analysis of some neurobiological examples, then it is reasonable to suspect that careful attention to neurobiological details associated with other mental disorders might reveal the same thing. Consequently, it should not be assumed that psychiatric disorders in general stem from biological dysfunctions on the part of the brain unless there is evidence for this conclusion other than the existence of biological abnormalities.
Review of anti-stigma social media interventions for mental illness
(2018-08-17) Li, Siyan; Stout, Patricia A.
As a global health concern, mental illness mental illness is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. The stigma attached to mental illness leads the delay of treatment as well as decrease the quality of life. Therefore, reducing stigma for mental illness is extremely urgent. Mass media shows the potential of many interventions for decreasing mental illness stigma. As a new form of mass media, social media can be more promising in stigma reduction. The benefits of social media include cost-efficiency, privacy-protection, high-accessibility, broad-coverage, and no limitations for time and geography. The most important benefit is the enrichment of interactions. 10 research studies were selected by screening titles, abstracts, and full texts from a database search that yielded 145 results. The research data were collected from two databases on 26 July 2018. The publication date ranges from 2011-2018. By comparing and analyzing these 10 research studies, three questions are answered: (1) What kinds of social media were used? (2) How was social media used in the interventions? (3) What was the effect of social media? As expected, social media interventions are effective at reducing stigma. The effects are more significant in females than in males. Future research and interventions should explore new ways to use the interactive functions of social media and exploit more types of social media platforms. Additionally, the endeavor should also be made to deconstruct social media to find its inner logic and mechanism, in order to develop precise models and techniques to assess its effects on reducing mental illness stigma.
The Seriously Disturbed Youngster
(Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, 1970) Gotts, Ernest A.
There Was a Child Who...
(Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, 1967) Smith, Bert Kruger
You are not alone, they say
(2022-05-06) Williams, Molly V.; Johnston, Bret Anthony, 1971-; McCracken, Elizabeth
A novel following three generations of a Black family as they navigate experiences related to mental illness and mental healthcare--as well as parenthood, identity, intersectional oppression, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing the ones we love