This qualitative research looks at the relationships between primary caregivers of mentally ill individuals and mental health professionals from the perspective of the caregivers. It reports the stories told to me by family members of mentally ill loved ones who were receiving mental health services in order to raise awareness of the challenges these caretakers face on a daily basis as they tried to support their loved ones in the community and the isolation they experienced because of current attitudes and practices of mental health professionals. Although family members voiced their frustrations at the relationship between themselves and mental health professionals, they were not complaining as much as viewing this study as a forum to vocalize years of frustration and recount numerous personally unsatisfying interactions and relationships with mental health professionals. I used four main research questions to guide the interviews in which I asked family members to share their experiences with mental health professionals. My investigation produced a general narrative of experiences rather than specific details about the treatment of family members. The overall results of my interviews suggest that family members believe a family-centered care approach in the treatment of mentally ill individuals and the respect of mental health care professionals for family members can enhance a mental health professional's ability to treat individuals with mental illness. These results provide useful insights into the challenges that mental health professionals need to address and highlight some of the changes they need to make for community mental health care programs to work for both the mentally ill and their caregivers. / Ph. D.

This research uses moral panic theory to investigate the ways in which print media coverage influences the association of mental illness with acts of mass violence in schools. I explore the relationship between the rhetoric of moral entrepreneurs (such as victims' friends and family members, law enforcement agencies, criminal justice and mental health professionals, gun rights activists, mayors, members of Congress, and presidents), the construction of a moral panic, and the identification of a folk devil (a person or population deemed responsible for the evils of a society; to be feared and controlled in order to minimize threat). Perpetrators of school shootings are often discussed in terms of their consumption of violent media (such as movies, music, and video games), their access to firearms, their social standing among their peers (socially isolated, ostracized, or bullied at school), and their mental health status. I hypothesize that mental illness has become a common frame in which school shooters are discussed by the media, despite the fact that mentally ill persons are less likely than non-disordered individuals to commit acts of violence. Therefore, this characterization of the mentally ill as violent and dangerous is disproportionate to the actual level of threat. I conduct a quantitative frame analysis of print newspaper articles published in the New York Times and one local newspaper during the month following each mass school shooting between 1991 and 2015, coding for the type of moral entrepreneur (grassroots, interest-group, or elite), the folk devil identified (violent media, firearms, social alienation, and/or mental illness), and whether the folk devil was being affirmed or denied. Results reveal that guns are affirmed as the folk devil more often than mental illness, but are also denied most often; whereas mental illness is affirmed nearly as often as guns, and is less frequently denied as the folk devil — leading to the conclusion that mental illness is the most frequently accepted folk devil associated with school shootings. This serves as a cautionary warning against the conflation of mental illness with mass shootings, because it intensifies the stigma attached to mental illness — a known deterrent to seeking treatment. / Ph. D.

This study is an exploration of the ways that female self-mutilation has been medicalized in Western society and the consequences of this medicalization. The goal of this study is to provide an alternative approach to the way female self-mutilation is understood—one that views self-mutilation not as a symptom of individual psychopathology, but as an extreme response to a set of deeply embedded social expectations. Using the feminist constructionist model, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five women who have participated in various forms of self-injurious behavior. Findings indicate that this behavior does indeed occur within a social context—one rooted in patriarchal ideologies. These ideologies also seemed to influence whether the women in this study, who had been medically treated for this behavior, perceived this form of intervention as a positive or negative experience. / Master of Science

Bakgrund Psykisk ohälsa är ett paraplybegrepp och kan innebära ett lidande för individen. Tidigare forskning har visat att stigmatisering av personer med psykisk ohälsa är vanligt förekommande och kan ha negativa konsekvenser. Ensamhet kan ha allvarliga konsekvenser för hälsan, inklusive ökad risk för depression, ångest och suicidtankar. Specialistsjuksköterskor inom psykiatrisk omvårdnad har ett viktigt ansvar att stödja personer med psykisk ohälsa genom att vara lyhörda för patienternas upplevelser av ensamhet. Syfte Syftet var att beskriva hur patienter med psykisk ohälsa upplever ensamhet. Metod Metoden som antogs var en litteraturöversikt med systematisk ansats. Sökningarna genomfördes i databaserna Cinahl Complete, PubMed och PsycInfo. Resultatet inkluderade 15 kvalitativa vetenskapliga originalartiklar från nio länder, och för dataanalysen tillämpades Thomas och Hardens tematiska analysmetod. Resultat Fyra analytiska teman och åtta deskriptiva teman identifierades. Ensamhet kunde upplevas både som en hanteringsstrategi och som en positiv upplevelse. Det framkom även att upplevelsen av ensamhet kunde fördjupas under perioder av försämrad psykisk ohälsa, ensamhet kunde även ta sig uttryck som både fysisk och psykisk smärta. Ensamhet var även associerat med känslor av utanförskap och brist på tillhörighet. Psykisk ohälsa förstärkte ofta upplevelsen av ensamhet, vilket resulterade i negativa tankar och känslor. Slutsats Ensamhet kan vara en hanteringsstrategi och en positiv kraft för välbefinnandet, men kan också leda till social isolering och känslomässig frånvaro. För personer med psykisk ohälsa påverkar ensamheten dagliga funktioner, beteenden och välbefinnande. Att beakta och stödja individuella behov är av stor betydelse, där specialistsjuksköterskan har en central roll. / Background Mental illness is an umbrella term that can entail suffering for the individual. Previous research has shown that the stigma surrounding mental illness is widespread and can have negative consequences. Loneliness can have serious health implications, including an increased risk of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. Psychiatric nurse specialists have a crucial responsibility to support individuals with mental illness by being sensitive to their experiences of loneliness. Aim The purpose was to describe how patients with mental illness experience loneliness. Methods The method adopted was a literature review with a systematic approach. Searches were conducted in the databases Cinahl Complete, PubMed, and PsychInfo. The result included 15 qualitative original scientific articles from nine countries, and for data analysis, Thomas and Harden’s thematic analysis method was applied. Results Four analytical themes and eight descriptive themes were identified. Loneliness could be experienced both as a coping strategy and as a positive experience. It also emerged that the experience of loneliness could deepen during periods of deteriorating mental health, and loneliness could manifest as both physical and emotional pain. Loneliness was also associated with feelings of social exclusion and a lack of belonging. Mental illness often exacerbated the experience of loneliness, resulting in negative thoughts and emotions. Conclusions Loneliness can serve as both a coping mechanism and a positive aspect for well-being and recovery. It can manifest as social isolation or a sense of disconnection from close relationships and the world, impacting daily functioning, behavior, and mental well-being. Addressing loneliness is crucial for person-centered care, where specialist nurses play a vital role.

Jury sentencing has been the widely supported procedure of the American Criminal Justice system for a century, yet the stigmatization of mental illness that has been falsely influencing the proceedings of the courtrooms has gone unnoticed for too long. It is a common misconception that individuals with schizophrenia are violent deviants and as such they are more likely than defendants who do not carry the burden of a mental illness to receive harsher sentences when involved in criminal activities (Steadman, 1981). This study presented four conditions to which participants were randomly assigned, alone or in a group of three, and were asked to sentence a defendant, either with or without schizophrenia I hypothesized that group deliberations would result in more lenient sentences for defendants with schizophrenia than individual deliberations would, and that both group and individual deliberations would result in harsher sentences for defendants with schizophrenia than defendants who do not have a mental illness. The results of this study revealed that defendants with schizophrenia were sentenced in a more lenient manner than defendants with no mental illness. However, several other significant findings indicated an indirect negative attitude toward the mentally ill defendant.

From the socially conservative 1950s to the permissive 1970s, this project explores the ways in which insanity in women has been linked to their femininity and the expression or repression of their sexuality. An analysis of films from Hollywood's post-classical period (The Three Faces of Eve (1957), Lizzie (1957), Lilith (1964), Repulsion (1965), Images (1972) and 3 Women (1977)) demonstrates the societal tendency to label a woman's behavior as mad when it does not fit within the patriarchal mold of how a woman should behave. In addition to discussing the social changes and diagnostic trends in the mental health profession that define “appropriate” female behavior, each chapter also traces how the decline of the studio system and rise of the individual filmmaker impacted the films' ideologies with regard to mental illness and femininity.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the extent of emotional alienation consistent with ecological and chronic pain patients and to assess differences on this dimension between these two patient populations. Ecological group included 100 ecological inpatients, chronic pain group, 30 spinal pain clinic patients. Tests administered were the Sixteen Personality Factor (16 PF) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) including Harris and Lingoes subscales. The ecological group was significantly higher on measures of alienation than the pain group or the standardization population. Results also indicated that the ecological group demonstrated more psychopathology. Emotional alienation appeared to be a consistent stressor in ecological and chronic pain patients. Treatment of these patients should include the reduction of this emotional correlate.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Occupational Social Work, August 2017 / Technology is ubiquitous and presents an opportunity for the psychosocial profession to explore and expand the platforms through which counselling and support for employees is offered. The aim of the research study was to explore the perceptions of counsellors regarding the use of online text technologies as a medium for intervention in the workplace environment. Mobile technology globally and in South Africa is growing rapidly, people are connected to information and services more than ever before. More services are being offered and marketed through the use of online technology mediums; these include professional services for mental wellbeing counselling support. Recognising that this is a relatively new field of study, it is valuable to gain insight from experienced counsellors regarding the use of online text based technologies for counselling specifically for workplace environments. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) is used as a framework that it explains how the object of study being text based counselling technologies are used currently characterised by highly mobile social media use. This study employed a qualitative approach and was contextualised to a specific organisation, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) because it offers online counselling interventions which include specific programmes for workplace environments on mental health. Purposive sampling was used to select a total of eight counsellors with experience using online text based mediums and two key informants representing management of the organisation. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted using two semi- structured interview schedules. Thematic content analysis was used for interpretation of the data. The findings show that counsellors do not prefer to use text based online counselling technologies for serious mental health issues. Results indicate that though online text based technologies are relevant as part of employee wellness services in the workplace, the platforms are more suitable for containment, information and referral purposes. Recommendations from the study are for further research to inform standards of practise and formalised and structured training is required for counsellors. / XL2018

Progress, Regress examines the narrator's journey through the world of mental illness. Psychologist Lisa James has a new client, six-year-old Megan Cooper, who has been diagnosed with child-onset schizophrenia. Megan's young age and the severity of her illness rattle Lisa, and make her question not only her role as a psychologist and a mother, but also her own mental state. / by Michelle Maher. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

How does a social welfare officer know when a parent with mental illness or behavioral symptoms is harmful to the children? As a social you are confronted with different ethical dilemmas on a daily basis. The social welfare officers have to follow their own authorities, laws, guidelines and regulations while at the same time do everything to satisfy their clients’ needs. This inconsistency can sometimes be difficult to handle. The purpose of this study was to gain knowledge and a better understanding of how social welfare officers handles their elbow room in the field of actions to support the children of parents with mental illness. We have conducted a qualitative study where we interviewed six social welfare officers using the “vinjett” method. All social welfare officers included in the study are working with children of parents with mental illness. By using Michael Lipsky’s theory of Street-Level Bureaucrats we intended to get an understanding of how social welfare officers would act in specific situations. Our study shows that social welfare officers’ first contact is with the parents for a judgment of their capacity as parents. The results shows that the social welfare officers, who we interviewed, felt that they had a wide elbow room with resources to determine and shape different actions for the children of parents with mental illness but at the same time they experienced different barriers which may limit the alternatives in their decision-making. The majority of the social welfare officers in our study felt that they were aware of the power and control they possesses, which also are defined in Lipsky’s theory.