scholarly journals Mental Health Problems among Prisoners and a Peer-help Counselling Model for Suicide Prevention

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. T. Janetius ◽  
P. Govindarajan

A correctional institution to incarcerate people is indispensable for every social system in the world since crime and criminals are seen in all the cultures in human history. A prison is a place of punishment in which people who violate the law are penalised as per the Indian Penal Code. The history of prison in India and constant changes in various prison conditions reflect the varying social attitude towards crime, prison and prison inmates. NCRB estimates that there are 36,900 to 3,84,700 prisoners in India and more than 10 million people all over the world (Jain, 2014). It is a known fact that a prison is a place people least prefers to visit. Life inside a prison is traumatic, stressful and a lot of mental health problems are observed inside the prison (Tosh, 1982; Janetius & Mini, 2013; Bartol & Bartol, 2014). Suicides in prison are also a global phenomenon. In 2014, prisons in England alone had 82 suicides. In India, the average annual death rate inside the prison is 375 but the reported suicide rate is less than 20 percent (Jain, 2014). Although social workers are employed in every prison, a variety of mental health service is offered mainly by social workers, psychologists and other service personnel from NGOs and other institutions in an unorganised way that reduces the stress, depression and other mental health problems of prison inmates. This empirical study describes the situation of prisoners and various causes of mental health problems, with the special reference to suicides, and evaluates the various services offered and proposes an Evidence-Based Peer-help counselling Model for suicide prevention in the prison.

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. e045356
Author(s):  
Nick A Francis ◽  
Beth Stuart ◽  
Matthew Knight ◽  
Rama Vancheeswaran ◽  
Charles Oliver ◽  
...  

ObjectiveIdentify predictors of clinical deterioration in a virtual hospital (VH) setting for COVID-19.DesignReal-world prospective observational study.SettingVH remote assessment service in West Hertfordshire NHS Trust, UK.ParticipantsPatients with suspected COVID-19 illness enrolled directly from the community (postaccident and emergency (A&E) or medical intake assessment) or postinpatient admission.Main outcome measureDeath or (re-)admission to inpatient hospital care during VH follow-up and for 2 weeks post-VH discharge.Results900 patients with a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 (455 referred from A&E or medical intake and 445 postinpatient) were included in the analysis. 76 (8.4%) of these experienced clinical deterioration (15 deaths in admitted patients, 3 deaths in patients not admitted and 58 additional inpatient admissions). Predictors of clinical deterioration were increase in age (OR 1.04 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.06) per year of age), history of cancer (OR 2.87 (95% CI 1.41 to 5.82)), history of mental health problems (OR 1.76 (95% CI 1.02 to 3.04)), severely impaired renal function (OR for eGFR <30=9.09 (95% CI 2.01 to 41.09)) and having a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR result (OR 2.0 (95% CI 1.11 to 3.60)).ConclusionsThese predictors may help direct intensity of monitoring for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 who are being remotely monitored by primary or secondary care services. Further research is needed to confirm our findings and identify the reasons for increased risk of clinical deterioration associated with cancer and mental health problems.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ketevan Inasaridze

In 2020, the situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic in the world, including in Georgia, led to the emergence of a number of mental health problems in the population. The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia has started to establish a psychological hotline to solve the psychological problems in the Georgian educational space. This article aims to increase the knowledge of the psychologists involved in the psychological hotline service about the main issues of psychological counseling


2021 ◽  
pp. 34-52
Author(s):  
Kay Wilson

Chapter 2 examines the historical development of mental health law in England (which is similar to the rest of the common law world, including America, Canada, and Australia) and uses that history to consider the justification, purpose, and need for mental health law from Ancient Greece to the present. Contrary to the claims of abolitionists that mental health law has essentially always stayed the same, it demonstrates a history of continuous legal and systemic reform in mental health law. Rather than an over-zealous and interfering state keen to exercise social control over persons with mental impairment, it instead depicts a state which for the most part reluctantly only became involved in the care of persons with mental health problems when informal care by family and friends failed or was non-existent, to prevent abuses by private operators, and as an incident of its administration of the criminal law. When set against the background of the fashions, cycles, and recurring themes of mental health law, the call of abolition can be conceptualized as simply the latest fad in its evolution. Further, many of the issues which arise from mental health problems will continue to exist even without mental health law. Mental health law can be positive and negative, including defining and protecting rights and allocating resources. The chapter cautions against being too optimistic about the promises of sweeping revolutionary changes which have never really delivered (deinstitutionalization or the ‘abolition’ of the asylum being the most poignant example), in favour of solid incremental change.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Kelly Winstanley ◽  
Noel Tracey ◽  
Ashley Mancey-Johnson ◽  
Kevin Gournay

The COVID-19 crisis has impacted on us all. However, people living with long-term mental health problems will remain vulnerable over the coming months, because of the restrictions that will remain in place until a vaccine has been discovered and used on the wider population. This paper describes how Northern Healthcare, an organisation that has developed a model of enhanced supported living for this population, has responded to the crisis. This response has seen a focus on residents, staff and on measures aimed at alleviating the burden on the wider NHS. Of importance, there are lessons to be learned, as it is entirely possible that the world will need to deal with future, similar pandemics.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thi Nguyen ◽  
Sarah Dennis ◽  
Huy An ◽  
Sanjyot Vagholkar ◽  
Siaw Teng Liaw

Objective The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of psychological distress among Vietnamese adults attending Vietnamese-speaking general practices and explore possible risk factors in this population. Methods A cross-sectional survey of Vietnamese adult patients was conducted at 25 general practices with Vietnamese-speaking general practitioners (GPs) in south-western Sydney between October 2012 and February 2013. Patients completed the Kessler (K10) scale and a demographic questionnaire, available in Vietnamese or English. Data were analysed using SPSS version 21. Results Of the 350 patients invited to participate, 247 completed surveys (response rate 71%). One-quarter (25%) of participants had a very high K10 score for psychological distress, nearly twice that reported in the NSW Health Survey. Participants with high exposure to trauma were at increased risk of psychological distress (odds ratio 5.9, 95% confidence interval 2.4–14.4; P < 0.0001) compared with those with mild or no trauma exposure. Similarly, risk was increased if there was a past history of mental health problems and a lack of personal and social support. Conclusion The high prevalence of mental health problems in adult Vietnamese people attending Vietnamese-speaking general practices is associated with exposure to trauma. This highlights the importance of personal, social and professional support in effective management. Vietnamese-speaking GPs who see Vietnamese or similar refugee groups should actively seek out a history of exposure to trauma, a past history of mental illness and the existence of support systems.


Midwifery ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Seimyr ◽  
Barbara Welles-Nyström ◽  
Eva Nissen

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mojgan Khademi ◽  
Roya Vaziri-Harami ◽  
Jamal Shams

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is profoundly affecting the mental health status. Although the burden of mental health problems has been reported in the general population and health care workers, little is known about the prevalence of mental health disorders among recovered COVID-19 patients and their associated factors.Methods: A cross-sectional telephonic-study of recovered COVID-19 patients with and without a history of hospitalization was conducted from April 20 to June 20, 2020, in Tehran, Iran. We assessed the anxiety symptoms, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among participants, using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) and PTSD checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Logistic regression analyses were used to explore the risk factors associated with mental health problems.Results: A total of 602 individuals with a mean age of 53.2 years (SD: 14.7), completed the study. The rates of mental health symptoms among the respondents were 5.8% (95% CI: 4.2–7.8%) for anxiety, 5.0% (95% CI: 3.5–7.0%) for depression, and 3.8% (95% CI: 2.3–5.3%) for PTSD disorders. Moreover, being younger than 50 years and female gender was significantly associated with a higher probability of reporting anxiety (p &lt; 0.01), and depression (p &lt; 0.001 for being younger than 50 years, p &lt; 0.02 for female gender).Conclusions: The current study indicated that patients with COVID-19 presented features of anxiety, depression, and PTSD. These results may help implement appropriate mental health intervention policies for those at risk and minimize the mental health consequences of the COVID-19.


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