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Mental Health in Lifestyle Medicine
Published in Gia Merlo, Kathy Berra, Lifestyle Nursing, 2023
According to the World Health Organization (2021), mental health can be understood as more than simply the absence of a mental disorder, but as having the ability to think, learn, and understand our own emotions and the reactions of others. The World Health Organization (2001) defines mental health as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” The American Psychiatric Association (2021) defines mental illnesses as health conditions involving changes in emotions, cognition, or behavior (or a combination of these factors) that cause distress, functional impairment, or both. The concept of what constitutes mental health varies across cultures, value systems, and clinical practice settings (Fusar-Poli et al., 2020), but some [GM1] of the domains encompass cognitive capacity, emotions, behaviors, perceptions of self, values, social skills, self-management behaviors, relationships with family members and significant others, physical and sexual health, quality of life, one’s attitude toward mental disorders, mental health literacy, and meaning of life (Fusar-Poli et al., 2020). Deficits in one or more of these areas may lead to or indicate problems with mental health.
The middle years
Published in Julia Whitaker, Alison Tonkin, Play for Health Across the Lifespan, 2021
The case-stories discussed here demonstrate the importance, for both personal and public health, of mental health literacy, ‘[whereby] everyone has the skills, knowledge and confidence to improve their mental health and wellbeing throughout life’ (Cabinet Office and Department of Health and Social Care 2019: 40). The human mind has the remarkable ability to positively reframe difficult experiences, something Grayson Perry (2014: 108) describes as an ‘amazing survival mechanism [which] can often translate the most harrowing brutalities into masterpieces that speak to us all’.
Women’s mental health and complementary and integrative medicine
Published in Jon Adams, Amie Steel, Alex Broom, Jane Frawley, Women’s Health and Complementary and Integrative Medicine, 2018
Erica McIntyre, Jane Frawley, Romy Lauche
The current level of health literacy in the public can be considered low with regards to both mental health (Furnham and Lousley 2013) and CIM (Shreffler-Grant et al. 2013). While mental health literacy has improved over recent decades, there is still a lack of recognition of mental disorders, and a subset of negative beliefs and attitudes associated with mental illness (e.g., mental illness is a sign of weakness, interventions are not helpful) reducing help-seeking intentions and creating stigma (Clement et al. 2015). The lack of knowledge about CIM and communication on the part of conventional health care providers impacts on people with depression and anxiety with regards to their CIM use, leaving them unable to identify evidence-based information on CIM interventions from their primary health care providers. Many patients may thereby fail to explore effective CIM interventions or use CIM unsupervised, placing them at risk from ineffective, or even harmful advice and interventions (Wardle and Adams 2012). In order to improve health literacy among patients and providers, studies are necessary to determine the current status of mental health and CIM literacy, and to design interventions that might improve knowledge, access to evidence, and skills to navigate through the health care system and to facilitate informed, coordinated health care for the benefits of patients and public health.
Improving mental health care in rural Kenya: A qualitative study conducted in two primary care facilities
Published in International Journal of Mental Health, 2022
Isabella D’Orta, Ariel Eytan, Benedetto Saraceno
Lack of literacy about mental health was recognized as one of the principal factors involved. The health professionals are aware of this issue and, despite difficulties, are willing to improve their expertise and capacity to welcome, accept and treat patients with mental health disorders. Mental health literacy is defined as: “Knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management or prevention” (Jorm, 2012). This concept implies not only a theoretical knowledge about mental health, but also the capacity to employ this knowledge to improve it. Many components of mental health literacy concern the whole community, while others are specific to people suffering of mental disorders. Poor perception of mental illness and the lack of mental health literacy in the considered area are two elements that interact one with the other in preventing the creation of a positive culture about mental health and the possibility to develop first aid techniques. Changing those prejudicial attitudes toward mental illness should progressively allow patients to better understand their symptoms and to become more capable to seek help.
Effectiveness of a Problem-Solving, Story-Bridge Mental Health Literacy Programme in Improving Ghanaian Community Leaders’ Attitudes towards People with Mental Illness: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial
Published in Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 2020
Yaw Amankwa Arthur, Gayelene H. Boardman, Amy J. Morgan, Terence V. McCann
Mental health literacy, coined by Jorm et al. (1997), is defined as ‘knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management or prevention’ (p. 182). Mental health literacy educational interventions are effective in improving individuals’ attitudes towards people with mental illness, which, in turn, may lead to better outcomes for these individuals (Jorm et al., 2007; Kosyluk et al., 2016; Lubman et al., 2014; Makanjuola et al., 2012; Michaels et al., 2014). Ojio et al. (2015) conducted a study in a high school in Japan where teachers taught 118 students about people with mental disorders in two, 50-minute sessions delivered through lectures, use of animations and group discussion. Findings indicated that students’ help-seeking attitudes and capacity to offer assistance to peers with mental health problems improved significantly (Ojio et al., 2015). Likewise, in Tanzania, Kutcher et al. (2016) examined the impact of a similar programme consisting of six modules, a self-study guide and self-evaluation test delivered over a 3-day period to 60 teachers in the classroom. Findings showed that the teachers’ stigmatising attitudes had reduced significantly.
The prevalence of depressive symptoms in high-performance athletes: a systematic review
Published in The Physician and Sportsmedicine, 2020
Leigh Golding, Rory Giles Gillingham, Nirmala Kanthi Panagodage Perera
Fifteen of the 16 studies used self-reported measures to assess the presence and severity of elevated depression symptom scores among athletes without assessing specifically for the presence of depression, a clinical disorder as defined by DSM-5. This is an important distinction as many of the included papers have the term ‘depression prevalence’ in their title and this may be a source of confusion for those who seek to review evidence on this topic. Although some self-reported measures, such as the CES-D scale or the PHQ-9, are useful tools for assessing the presence or severity of depressive symptoms, they do not diagnose depression, rule out conditions with similar presentations, or assess the degree of impairment. Depression is a complex condition and therefore can be challenging to clinically diagnose [6]. Poor mental health literacy can affect the accuracy of data collected using self-reported tools. Mental health literacy includes the ability to recognize specific disorders; knowing how to seek mental health information; knowledge of risk factors and causes, of self-treatments, and of professional help available. Clinically validated tools, therefore, might be better employed as initial screening tools that could then ideally be followed up with clinical interview(s).