Syftet med denna studie var att få en ökad kunskap och förståelse om gymnasieelevers upplevelser och syn av psykisk ohälsa samt huruvida könsnormer påverkar deras förutsättningar att söka hjälp. För att uppnå studiens syfte har en kvalitativ forskningsmetod använts i form av sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med gymnasieelever i Sverige. Intervjupersonernas svar har presenterats, tolkats och analyserats utifrån tidigare forskning samt studiens valda teoretiska utgångspunkter, vilka är genusperspektivet och det salutogena perspektivet. Resultatet i studien har påvisat att intervjupersonerna upplevde psykisk ohälsa som något negativt, vilket kan leda till negativa konsekvenser. Bidragande faktorer till psykisk ohälsa förknippade intervjupersonerna exempelvis med dålig mentalitet, försämrat mående och skolstress. Resultatet har även visat att intervjupersonerna upplevde att könsroller och normer påverkar deras sätt att tala och hantera psykisk ohälsa. / The purpose of this study was to gain increased knowledge and understanding of upper secondary school students' experiences and views on mental illness and whether gender norms affect their ability to seek help. To achieve the purpose of the study, a qualitative research method has been used and six semi-structured interviews with upper secondary school students in Sweden were held. The interviews have been presented, interpreted, and analyzed in relation to previous research and with the help of gender theory and the salutogenic theory. The results of the study have shown that the interviewees viewed mental illness as something negative, which can lead to negative consequences. Contributing factors to mental illness were associated with, for example poor mentality, impaired well-being, and school stress. The interviewees felt that gender roles and norms affect their way of dealing with mental illness. The results have also shown that interviewees experienced that gender roles and norms affect their way of speaking and dealing with mental illness.

Introduction: Work-related stress is one of the most challenging issues on workplaces. Reduced ability to relax and recover has been proposed as a key factor behind the increase of stress-related illness among workers. Massage and mental training are two commonly used techniques which may have positive effects on the ability to recover. One technique to help workers recover is a “recovery chair” which include both mechanical massage and mental training programs. However, it has not been scientifically evaluated yet whether using the techniques included in the “recovery chair”, both separately and in combination, as a health promotion tool. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to explore the psychological and physiological effects of the mechanical massage and mental training programs included in the “recovery chair”, both separately and in combination, as a health promotion tool for Swedish workers. Methods: In this study workers were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: i) Mechanical massage combined with mental training (n=19), ii) Mechanical massage (n=19), iii) Mental training (n=19), iv), Pause (15 min break in the armchair, n=19), v) and a Control group (n=17). Psychological effects were measured by the ”Swedish Scale of Personality” (SSP) and physiological effects were measured by heart rate, blood pressure and fingertip temperature, immediately before the randomization, after four weeks and after eight weeks (end-of-study). Results: Psychological effects: The results showed that receiving mechanical massage was associated with a significant decrease in “Somatic Trait Anxiety”. The participants in the mental training group showed a tendency to decrease in “Somatic Trait Anxiety”. The participants who received both mechanical massage and mental training showed a significant decrease in “Stress Susceptibility” between four and eight weeks. The results also showed a significant decrease in “Somatic Trait Anxiety” and a significant increase in “Detachment” for the paus group. Physiological effects: As compared to pre-intervention assessments, participants in the massage group condition showed significantly reductions in their resting heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and an increase in their fingertip temperature directly after the intervention (post-intervention). The mechanical massage and mental training group showed a significant increase in diastolic blood pressure during the last four weeks of the study. The participants in the mental training group showed a significant decrease in their heart rate, when compared the start of the study to week four. The pause group tended to have lower systolic blood pressure at post-intervention assessment when compared to the pre-intervention assessment. The participants in the control group showed significantly decrease in heart rate and their systolic blood pressure. Conclusion: The workers’ who used the “recovery chair” with mechanical massage or mental training programs, either separately or in combination, for eight weeks during working hours reported a positive impact on their levels of anxiety and stress sensitivity. The results also showed positive effects on the workers' blood pressure, pulse and fingertip temperature. The effect was particularly strong for workers' who received only mechanical massage. This indicate that stress management interventions as work place health promotion activities clearly have a potential to provide significant benefit for health and wellbeing for workers.

Studien ämnar undersöka hur lärare beskriver sin arbetssituation och vad som motiverar dem att stanna i professionen. Studien syftar också till att undersöka hur lärarna själva beskriver eventuella problem i sitt arbete och hur de hanterar dessa problem. Detta görs med stöd av en salutogen ansats och följande frågeställningar: - Vad skapar meningsfullhet för lärare?  - Vad skapar hanterbarhet för lärare? - Hur beskriver lärare begriplighet kopplat till läraryrket?  Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och genomfördes med semistrukturerade intervjuer, dessa genomfördes med sex stycken lärare. Datan analyserades därefter med en tematisk textanalys. Det teoretiska ramverket för studien var den salutogena teorin av Aaron Antonovsky. De viktigaste resultaten i studien är att respondenterna uttrycker att elevmötet är centralt för den inre motivationen, denna motivation leder till att respondenterna vill utveckla en förståelse för elevernas och den egna situationen. Förståelsen för eleverna och den egna situationen leder till att respondenterna skapar strategier för att hantera olika scenarion och stress inom skolmiljön. Våra slutsatser är att det är lärarnas motivation, både inre- och yttre motivation, denna motivation styr hur mycket energi de orkar lägga ner på att förstå sig på sin arbetssituation och sina elever. Förståelsen för den egna arbetssituationen och sina elever leder till att lärarna med tiden utvecklar verktyg för att hantera sin vardag som lärare och väljer därför att fortsätta som lärare. / This study is aiming to inquire how teachers describe their work situation and what motivates them to stay in the profession. The study also aims to inquire how the teachers themselves describe possible issues in their everyday work and how they handle those problems This was to be done by answering the following research questions: - What creates meaningfulness for teachers? - What creates manageability for teachers? - How does teachers describe comprehensibility regarding the teacher profession? The study has a qualitative methodological approach, and the data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with six different teachers. The data was then analysed by using a thematic text analysis. The theoretical framework for this study was the Salutogenic theory by Aaron Antonovsky.  Our most important findings in the study were that our respondents express that the student meeting is central for their internal-motivation. This motivation leads them to want to develop an understanding for their students and their own work situation. This understanding in turn leads the respondents to develop functional strategies for dealing with different scenarios and stress in the school environment. The conclusions of this study were that it seems as if it is the teacher’s motivation, both internal and external motivation, that dictates how much energy the teacher find it worth putting into understanding their own work situation and their students. This understanding leads to the teachers with time develop tools to handle their everyday life as a teacher and they therefore choose to stay in the profession.