Thesis (D.Clin.Psych) - University of Queensland, 2006. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 118-128).

The overarching purpose of the current thesis was to assess the long term effects of a treatment program involving flotation-REST for the experience of pain, from the point of view of variables connected with Melzack´s neuromatrix theory, and to examine the extent of a potential attention-placebo effect in connection with flotation-REST. The first study (Paper I) aimed to investigate long-term effects of flotation-REST four months after treatment. Seventy patients participated, diagnosed as having stress-related pain. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control group or a flotation-REST group and participated in a total of twelve flotation REST or control sessions. Results indicated that pain areas, stress, anxiety and depression decreased, while sleep quality, optimism, and prolactin increased. Positive effects generally maintained four months after treatment. The second (Paper II) examined the potential effects of attention-placebo. Thirty-two patients who were diagnosed as having stress-related muscular pain were treated for a period of six weeks. Half of the patients were also given attention for a period of 12 weeks, while the remainder received attention for 6 weeks. Participants in both groups exhibited lowered blood pressure, reduced pain, anxiety, depression, stress, and negative affectivity, as well as increased optimism, energy, and positive affectivity. The third (Paper III) investigated whether or not 33 flotation sessions were more effective for stress related ailments as compared to 12 sessions. Participants were 37 patients with stress related ailments. Analyzes for subjective pain and psychological variables typically indicated that 12 sessions were enough to get considerably improvements and no further improvements were noticed after 33 sessions. Finally, the fourth study (Paper IV) aimed to examine whether and how the combination of therapy and flotation tank could be used to treat patients with severe stress problems. Two women on long-term sick-leave participated in the study, which was carried out over a period of one year. Four overarching themes were generated: the therapeutic work model, transformation of feelings, self-insight and meaning. These together constituted a “therapeutic circle” which after a while transformed in to a “therapeutic spiral” of increased meaning and enhanced wellbeing. It was therefore concluded that flotation tank therapy is an effective method for the treatment of stress-related pain.

The aim of this essay is to investigate what is burnout and how women who are affected by it manage their condition. Furthermore, we have investigated stigma and whether or not those affected by burnout are in turn stigmatised. A qualitative approach has been used to achieve our aims with this project. To support our analysis we have interviewed ten women who all have been diagnosed with fatigue syndrome along with studying relevant literature. The main theories used in this investigation are the symbolic interaktionism by G.H Mead, the term stigma by Erving Goffman and different theories on coping. The results show that the majority of women in the study had suffered from burnout due to work related stress and changes in their working environment. How they coped with and recovered from the condition depended on their own activity and how it related to their own support system. Moreover, we can see how nature plays a significant part for many of the affected women to return to a healthy life. We can observe that both the term stigma and how it manifests itself is complex and difficult to define. The majority of the women in this study could not themselves define the term stigma. We have discovered that women suffering from burnout experience major changes in their lives and that there is much to learn from these women about both life in general and a person’s working life. From a social worker’s point of view, it is imperative to acknowledge the risks of always meeting the needs of others and the importance of recovery and reflection.

The conception of exhaustion was first used in the end of 1960 and was then used in a psychological context directed towards the working life. Eventually was the conception devided into two main categories: mental and somatic symtoms. Today research of exhaustion is mainly aiming towards recovering and returning to working life. This work sets out to analyse the importance and effects of social networks such as family, friends and professional relations in helping people who suffer from exhaustion to recover. The study is based on interviews with eith people who have suffered from exhaustion but today are recovered. To my aid I have used tree different questions: What part have the social network of family and friends ment to the recovery? What part has the professional relationships with doctors, therapists and curators ment to the recovery? How have you changed your life in order to maintain balance? The interviews pointed out the importance of the social relationships as support, feedback and understanding that the process takes time. Courses in handeling stress had a vital part in order to learn how to manage stress, meet people with similar problems and the guidace of professionals. An important issue to maintain health and to keep the life balanced is consious present and to learn to do one thing at a time. The content of the examination has showed me that it is important to set your own boundaries and not to compare to others. It is also importent to take control over your own choices which is not easy to handle in todays stressed socity.

Vi har valt att göra en kvalitativ studie om utbrändhet bland unga människor i åldrarna 19-25 år i Sverige. Syfte med denna studie är att få en inblick i och ökad förståelse över hur utbrändhet påverkar unga i Sverige. Vi ville belysa orsakerna till varför allt fler unga människor i Sverige drabbas av utmattningssyndrom. Vi utgick från ett hermeneutiskt synsätt och en narrativ metod. Under de senaste tio åren har den psykiska ohälsan och sjukskrivningsantalet i Sverige ökat och då framförallt bland ungdomar. Forskningen talar om ett nytt sjukdomsfenomen, utbrändhet. Det är en stressrelaterad sjukdom som framförallt handlar om en känslomässig utmattning. Varje människa kan uppleva stress men det är endast de som går in i arbetet med höga förväntningar och som arbetar hårt för att uppnå dessa förväntningar som kan bli utbrända. Intervjupersonenerna grundade sin självkänsla och identitet i sina arbetsprestationer. Vi tror att alla intervjupersonerna saknade en grundläggande självkänsla vilket gjorde att de hela tiden sökte bekräftelse utifrån sina prestationer. Om en person blir utbränd eller inte beror såväl på fysiologiska, biologiska som psykologiska faktorer. Risken är större för personer som redan har drabbats av utbrändhet att drabbas igen. Kraven och pressen som unga människor känner idag kan härstamma från både familjen och samhället. Dagens samhälle är uppbyggt på så sätt att vi hela tiden måste göra en massa val. Ingenting är längre som det var förr då allt och alla hade sin plats i samhället. Den ökade individualiseringen kanske inte alltid är positiv. I socialt arbete kan vi hjälpa till med att förebygga utbrändhet bland ungdomar genom att finnas ute i skola och andra miljöer där ungdomar vistas för att hjälpa dem in i vuxenlivet.

Graduation date: 1994

The main problem under investigation was to determine whether or not statistically significant differences exist in the characteristics associated with stress-burnout tendencies and attrition rate of teachers prepared in a traditional elementary teacher education program and an experimental teacher education program.Secondly, the study examined the additional impact of an overseas experience in the experimental teacher education program. Results were analyzed to determine whether or not statistically significant differences existed between the experimental group and subgroup which went overseas.Population in the study consisted of the 1976 elementary education graduates of Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Two instruments were sent to the subjects in the study. One was an 18-item questionnaire developed specifically for use in this research, The Class of '76 Follow-up Questionnaire, designed to gather data related to stress, burnout, attrition, and degree of satisfaction with the teaching profession. The second instrument, The Tedium Measure, was developed by Pines and Aronson (1980) and has been used to measure burnout. Questionnaires were mailed to the population sample of 248, with 194 returned (78.2%).The program used for the calculation of group variances and the t-value was the SPSS-X, on the VAX computer. The t-test was employed to determine statistical significance between the responses of the various groups. The .05 level of significance was used as the criterion for significance.Findings Statistical significance of the difference between groups within the elementary education program at Ball State University was found in eight areas of The Class of '76 Follow-up Questionnaire.These findings support a conclusion that graduates who participated in the experimental elementary education (EXEL) program held more positive views of professional teacher education, teaching experiences, and future years in teaching.

The main aim of this study is to investigate the effects of a brief psycho-educational intervention for the key relatives of schizophrenic patients, on perceived expressed emotion of patients, and the expressed emotion and burn out of their key relatives. Seventy five schizophrenic patients and their key relatives were included in the study. They were assigned into three groups randomly. The key relatives in the first experimental group were given a one-day psychoeducational workshop and written material package about schizophrenia were provided for them. In the second experimental group, key relatives were only given the written material package about schizophrenia which was the same as that of the Experimental Group I. The third group was the control group received no intervention or any material. All of the participants including patients and key relatives were given the instruments of the study as pre-test. Two weeks after pre-test, the relatives in Experimental Group I and Experimental Group II were invited to the hospital without their patients. The first group participated in the psychoeducational workshop and they were given written material package and the second group was only given the written material package. Pre test was given to Control Group without any intervention. Two months later, the post&ndash / tests were applied to all of the key relatives and their patients. Overall the results indicated that a one day intensive psycho-educational workshop enriched with audiovisual components, written material package about schizophrenia and an interactive discussion part has a positive impact on the key relatives&rsquo / burnout levels, expressed emotion levels and knowledge about schizophrenia. Furthermore, although no direct intervention was conducted with the patients, the results showed that patients&rsquo / perceived expressed emotion levels were reduced as well. The results also showed that simply providing written material about schizophrenia does not have an effect on burnout levels, expressed emotion levels and knowledge of relatives and the perceived expressed emotion of their patients.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-102).