Category: Mental health

Introduction

Neuroscientists are scholars specializing in the study of the brain and its functions. Advances in this science over the years hold much significance in explaining conditions such as addiction, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and memory growth or change with time. Initially, many scientific studies argued that the brain cells exhibit a different pattern from those of the other body parts. For instance, earlier neuroscientists maintained that many brain cells develop in childhood and last until old age. The argument implies that after long duration of time, brain cells become less functional. Many people believed the idea and associated it with memory loss at some point of age. However, new studies centering on newly born neurons in the brain during different growth periods provide a completely different account over the subject. Current inquiries show that hippocampal neurogenesis is fundamental among humans and occurs even during adulthood. The present work focuses on the new findings concerning the matter and the various debated issues regarding hippocampal neurogenesis.

Newly Born Neurons’ Contribution to Adult Brain Function

The human brain has different parts, all serving varied but related functions. The cerebrum is the brain’s front part and controls body balance, learning, thinking, and problem-solving. The cerebral cortex further houses the frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital lobes. The frontal lobe is in charge of memory, language comprehension, and personality. Moreover, the cerebellum performs several activities, including supporting motion, while the brainstem links the brain to the spinal cord (Kase et al., 2020). The hippocampus is an intricate brain edifice entrenched deep into the brain’s temporal lobe and plays a chief role in memory and learning. Moreover, the hippocampus has a soft and susceptible building that gets impaired by different stimuli. Generally, studies concerning neurogenesis mainly center on the hippocampus as the memory house. Spalding et al. (2013) define neurogenesis as the brain’s process of developing new functional neurons. As such, neurons refer to essential sensory cells responsible for receiving, sending, relaying, and transforming electrical signals between the various brain sections and between the brain and the other body parts (Niklison-Chirou et al., 2020). Therefore, neurons’ role makes their quantity a key determining factor concerning the brain’s health and functionality.

Some studies have been conducted about the nature of brain to understand how it develops. Earlier scientific researches concerning the human brain implied that the brain cells mainly grow during childhood (Kase et al., 2020). The notion makes the neurogenesis concept in adult humans significantly controversial as various scholars remain fixated on the older knowledge version (Abdissa et al., 2020). Moreover, findings on newly born neurons in adult humans continue to give contradicting results and conclusions to date, making the realization of decisive knowledge hard (Abbott & Nigussie, 2020). Over the years, a significant source of concerns regarding neurogenesis touches on scientists’ inability to quantify the number of neurons generated by the adult’s brain in a day. Nonetheless, researchers such as Spalding et al. (2013) now provide an answer to the matter, shading more light to the long-time contestation. According to Spalding et al. (2013), a healthy adult’s brain generates about seven hundred newly born neurons a day. Therefore, the researchers’ findings support neurogenesis, thus disapproving the earlier claims against the natural phenomenon.

Scholars adopt different methods to investigate neurogenesis among adult humans and rodents. Spalding et al. (2013) employ the nuclear-bomb-test-derived ¹⁴C approach to investigate the relative ages of neuron cells in a wide range of individuals based on their years. The scholars investigate the brains of people between nineteen and ninety-two years to develop a pattern of the neurons’ development based on age. The results show that neurons’ growth in the human brain starts from childhood until adulthood but diminishes with age. The findings concur with Lucassen et al. (2020), who apply neuroscience to explain memory development among individuals across different ages. Consequently, Spalding et al.’s (2013) discoveries shed new light on the highly contested subject and help to unravel a crucial issue worth changing humans’ lives. Consequently, current inquiries on neurogenesis create a room for scholars to develop significant interventions to brain-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disorder.

The findings supporting neurogenesis, coupled with those quantifying the number of neurons generated by the human brain at different ages, lead to substantial breakthroughs in human brain health. According to Nakafuku and Del Águila (2020), many problems affecting humans’ health relate to the brain and its ability to sustain memory. For example, Alzheimer’s disease, addiction, depression, and reminiscence are associated with hippocampus neurogenesis. Abdissa et al. (2020) say that neurons play a principal role in sustaining memory among rodents and humans. Obernier and Alvarez-Buylla (2019) maintain that the human brain develops new folds of hippocampal neurons when an individual is between two to five years old. The results support Brown et al.’s (2021) argument that young people, similar to young rodents, sustain memories in a short span as massive new neurons develop in the brain. Apple et al.’s (2017) study suggests that newly born neurons’ development during childhood leads to the erasing of old memories, as the new memory cells replace them. The discoveries imply that fresh neurons influence brain activities depending on their volume, which changes with age.

Research advances in hippocampal neurogenesis also correlate with the revolution in Alzheimer’s disease management. According to Sung et al. (2020), Alzheimer’s disease affects about six million Americans. The condition exhibits severe memory loss and lack of control. The health-related mental problem primarily affects aging persons from fifty-five years in the U.S and other parts of the world. (Babcock et al., 2021). Different scholars associate Alzheimer’s disorder to the decrease in neurons’ activity in the human brain. Other scientific examinations also attach the piling of specific inhibitory protein molecules between brain chambers to the memory loss problem among the aged (Ghosh, 2019). However, investigations on neurogenesis in the hippocampus section of the brain show a different approach to the matter. Zhao and van Praag (2020) maintain that memory retention in humans and rodents mainly depends on the number of newly born neurons available in the brain. Accordingly, young individuals rapidly lose older memory as the newly developed neurons replace the older ones, as per Xie et al. (2020). Adults have refined memory because the volume of older neurons exceeds newly born neurons developed by the brain.

Nonetheless, the healthy balance between old and new neurons in healthy adults promotes memory and learning. That is why the brain functions effectively at a given age period during a human’s life, according to Bao and Song (2018). Spalding et al. (2013) propose an optimum generation of seven hundred newly born neurons a day by the adult brain for effective memory retention and normal function. The study’s outcomes further depict a significant decline in the fresh neurons’ population with aging. Christian et al. (2020) say that neurogenesis activities in humans reduce significantly after fifty-five years, implying newly born neurons-deficiency related memory loss, which is connectable to Alzheimer’s disease. Ferreira et al. (2018) purport that finding ways to promote neurogenesis past fifty-five years can help resolve or delay the age-related memory loss problem. Attaining such a breakthrough further indicates a solution to a health condition troubling most individuals.

Hippocampal neurogenesis further provides answers to epilepsy, depression, and addiction issues. Epilepsy is a mental health problem characterized by seizures and memory loss (Danzer, 2019). Danzer’s (2019) study shows that epileptic adult’s exhibit reduced newly born neurons in comparison with healthy brain. The discovery implies the centrality of hippocampal neurogenesis in promoting brain health. Nonetheless, Danzer (2019) fails to determine ways to increase the number of new neurons among patients to solve the problem. Additionally, Brown et al. (2021) purport that addiction and depression conditions relate to newly born neurons in the human and rodents’ brains. The scholars show that many young people and rodents whose brains produce novel neurons rapidly manage to withdraw quickly from addictions and depression, compared to adults with lower neurogenesis rates. The outcomes relate to Lucassen et al. (2020) concerning old memory deletion among young people due to the rapid production of newly born neurons, which reduces with age. All these accounts prove the essence of neuroscience and the need to advance studies towards finding solutions to issues affecting humanity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this work shows the essence of neuroscience in investigating and finding solutions to mental issues affecting humanity. Advances in the neuroscience segment challenge the past mentality that brain cells, including neurons, develop mainly during childhood. The earlier account posits that brain cells degrade with age until a point when they reach severe dilapidation, causing conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Neurogenesis now holds the key to unraveling many problems affecting people. For example, studies on the subject presently better explain epilepsy, depression, and addiction. Further investigations on the possible ways to promote newly born neurons among humans are crucial to treating many mental problems affecting humans.

References

Abbott, L. C., & Nigussie, F. (2020). Adult neurogenesis in the mammalian dentate gyrus.Anatomia, Histologia, Embryologia, 49(1), 3-16. Web.

Abdissa, D., Hamba, N., & Gerbi, A. (2020). Review article on adult neurogenesis in humans.Translational Research in Anatomy, 20, 100074. Web.

Apple, D. M., Fonseca, R. S., & Kokovay, E. (2017). The role of adult neurogenesis in psychiatric and cognitive disorders.Brain Research, 1655, 270-276. Web.

Babcock, K. R., Page, J. S., Fallon, J. R., & Webb, A. E. (2021). Adult hippocampal neurogenesis in aging and Alzheimer’s disease.Stem Cell Reports, 16(4), 681-693. Web.

Bao, H., & Song, J. (2018). Treating brain disorders by targeting adult neural stem cells.Trends in Molecular Medicine, 24(12), 991-1006. Web.

Brown, S. J., Boussaad, I., Jarazo, J., Fitzgerald, J. C., Antony, P., Keatinge, M., & Bandmann, O. (2021). PINK1 deficiency impairs adult neurogenesis of dopaminergic neurons.Scientific Reports, 11(1), 1-14. Web.

Christian, K. M., Ming, G. L., & Song, H. (2020). Adult neurogenesis and the dentate gyrus: Predicting function from form.Behavioral Brain Research, 379, 112-346. Web.

Danzer, S. C. (2019). Adult neurogenesis in the development of epilepsy.Epilepsy Currents, 19(5), 316-320. Web.

Ferreira, A. C., Santos, T., Sampaio-Marques, B., Novais, A., Mesquita, S. D., Ludovico, P., & Marques, F. (2018). Lipocalin-2 regulates adult neurogenesis and contextual discriminative behaviors.Molecular Psychiatry, 23(4), 1031-1039. Web.

Ghosh, H. S. (2019). Adult neurogenesis and the promise of adult neural stem cells.Journal of Experimental Neuroscience, 13, 1179069519856876. Web.

Kase, Y., Shimazaki, T., & Okano, H. (2020). Current understanding of adult neurogenesis in the mammalian brain: how does adult neurogenesis decrease with age?Inflammation and Regeneration, 40(1), 1-6. Web.

Lucassen, P. J., Fitzsimons, C. P., Salta, E., & Maletic-Savatic, M. (2020). Adult neurogenesis, human after all (again): Classic, optimized, and future approaches.Behavioral Brain Research, 381, 112458. Web.

Nakafuku, M., & Del Águila, Á. (2020). Developmental dynamics of neurogenesis and gliogenesis in the postnatal mammalian brain in health and disease: Historical and future perspectives.Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Developmental Biology, 9(3), e369. Web.

Niklison-Chirou, M. V., Agostini, M., Amelio, I., & Melino, G. (2020). Regulation of adult neurogenesis in mammalian brain.International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21(14), 4869. Web.

Obernier, K., & Alvarez-Buylla, A. (2019). Neural stem cells: origin, heterogeneity and regulation in the adult mammalian brain.Development, 146(4), 156059. Web.

Spalding, K. L., Bergmann, O., Alkass, K., Bernard, S., Salehpour, M., Huttner, H. B. & Frisén, J. (2013). Dynamics of hippocampal neurogenesis in adult humans. Cell, 153(6), 1219–1227. Web.

Sung, P. S., Lin, P. Y., Liu, C. H., Su, H. C., & Tsai, K. J. (2020). Neuroinflammation and neurogenesis in Alzheimer’s disease and potential therapeutic approaches.International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21(3), 701. Web.

Xie, F., Liu, H., & Liu, Y. (2020). Adult neurogenesis following ischemic stroke and implications for cell-based therapeutic approaches.World Neurosurgery, 138, 474-480. Web.

Zhao, X., & van Praag, H. (2020). Steps towards standardized quantification of adult neurogenesis.Nature Communications, 11(1), 1-10. Web.

The Residential Programs for Teens is a program that Red Mountain Colorado introduced. It states that its primary goal is to “empower teens to build healthy coping skills and habits that they can use to work through the challenges they face” (“Residential Programs”, n.d., para. 1). Children of both genders from twelve to eighteen who participate in this program are subject to support from employees and those who find themselves in the same situation. The technique used in Red Mountain Colorado includes adventure, meditation, yoga and martial arts (“ADHD Treatment Center”, n.d.). The program managers are convinced that this approach will help develop concentration, and self-esteem, improve social ties and increase self-effectiveness.

ADHD is a complex problem requiring multi-step steps and an integrated approach. Giannotta and Rydell highlight that “children with significant attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms are at heightened risk for symptoms of depression in adolescence” (p. 40). Even though the Red Mountain Colorado program seems quite valuable for children, it requires small additions. So, in addition to various activities, it is necessary to introduce mandatory work with specialists in psychology into the plan. The psychological correction will help to relieve anxiety, develop communication skills and improve thinking and attention.

In addition to mental treatment, it is also necessary to involve physiological treatment. The first thing organizations need to include in the program is bringing the spine into the correct position. To do this, they need the help of a specialist such as an osteopath or an orthopedic neurologist. For the child’s spine’s physical development, doing a strengthening massage and specific exercises daily for several months is necessary.

The importance of combating attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is particularly vital in adolescents because, at this age, they undergo many psychological changes. Moreover, at this time, moodiness is increasing and the number of conflicts with peers has risen significantly. In addition, young people become more self-focused and self-conscious. It is crucial to conduct work and educational conversations with children to spread awareness that there are people with disabilities who directly affect how they communicate with others.

References

About Our Residential Treatment Program. (n.d.). Red Mountain Colorado.

ADHD Treatment Center For Teens. (n.d.). Red Mountain Colorado.

Giannotta, F., & Rydell, A. M. (2017). The role of the mother-child relationship in the route from child ADHD to adolescent symptoms of depressed mood. Journal of Adolescence, 61, 40-49.

The topic for the current assignment concerns diverse mental health complications, such as anxiety, insomnia, depression, burnout, and other issues among healthcare workers due to COVID-19. The pandemic has been a massive challenge for the whole healthcare system, and the increased workload and associated stress have caused multiple problems for nurses and physicians (Neto et al., 2020). In turn, mental health problems lower the professionals’ productivity and motivation, which is an advanced practice nursing issue (Neto et al., 2020). In other words, it is essential to support the healthcare workforce during challenging periods to maintain a functional system and prevent psychological complications.

Concerning the objectives of Healthy People 2020, the examined topic is related to the category of Mental Health and Mental Disorders (MHMD). While the entries (MHMD-1 to MHMD-12) do not specifically address the psychological health of healthcare professionals, they focus on the well-being of the general population (“Mental health,” 2021). For instance, the objective of decreasing the number of suicides (MHMD-1) concerns everyone, including nurses and physicians. Since mental health complications among the workforce are more prevalent during challenging periods, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the selected topic is directly related to the objectives of Healthy People 2020.

Lastly, the public health policy analysis of improving mental health among the general population is highly beneficial for addressing the issues of diverse communities across the United States. For instance, each of the Healthy People 2020 objectives categorizes the data based on race, ethnicity, gender, and other demographic parameters (“Mental health,” 2021). Minorities and ethnic communities, including healthcare professionals from these groups, have suffered from COVID-19 more than the general population (Phiri et al., 2021). Hence, the information from a thorough public health policy analysis might help researchers and healthcare professionals to take affirmative steps to mitigate the problem. Ultimately, this data is beneficial for understanding the complexity of the topic and will be highly useful for completing the final capstone project.

References

Mental health and mental disorders. (2021). HealthyPeople. Web.

Neto, M. L. R., Almeida, H. G., Esmeraldo, J. D. A., Nobre, C. B., Pinheiro, W. R., de Oliveira, C. R. T.,… & da Silva, C. G. L. (2020). When health professionals look death in the eye: The mental health of professionals who deal daily with the 2019 coronavirus outbreak. Psychiatry Research, 288, 112972.

Phiri, P., Delanerolle, G., Al-Sudani, A., & Rathod, S. (2021). COVID-19 and black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities: A complex relationship without just cause. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 7(2), e22581.

Incidence and prevalence

This study aims to assess the extent of burnout as a major concern in the mental health field on the basis of its prevalence and associated problems. Studies have shown that about 21-67% of practitioners in mental health facilities have experienced high levels of burnout during their lifetime (Gutsan, Patton, William, & Alberto, 2022). For example, in a study in Northern California, it was revealed that 54% of mental health workers suffered from emotional exhaustion while another 38% suffered from depersonalization, although they still depicted high levels of individual accomplishment (Gutsan, Patton, William, & Alberto, 2022). Other studies have shown the existence of emotional exhaustion because a majority of the sampled individuals confirmed having issues with burnout. In a similar study in the UK, it was shown that 54% of employees in the mental health field have high emotional exhaustion (López‐López et al., 2019). Therefore, burnout in the mental health field is a major problem because it has a high prevalence and affects the service delivery of employees in the mental health field.

Existing studies have focused on measuring the prevalence of single professional groups like psychologists or simply considering single-service disciplines like psychosocial rehabilitation. The prevalence of burnout within inpatients and the community-based mental health fields has shown differences. In this study, staff had low levels of burnout compared to community-based workers (Gutsan, Patton, William, & Alberto, 2022). On the other hand, high levels of accomplishment were noted in independent psychologists to those in agency settings. An accurate account of comparative rates of negative burnout is critical in providing clues for a systematic target approach to implement interventions for employees in different programs.

National data and quality

There is a lack of stability in the burnout construct, which should be explored by further studies. Existing studies have indicated that burnout levels are stable for mental health workers over a period of time if they remain untreated. Other studies have concluded that burnout becomes a chronic condition, and about 40% of workers remain in the same state, 30% experience complex situations, and the remaining 30% have mild burnout (Gutsan, Patton, William, & Alberto, 2022). From existing studies, there is a lack of longitudinal research, particularly in the field of mental health, and this research gap needs to be addressed through additional studies.

Impact on the healthcare system

The mental health field has been linked to high levels of burnout because of its stressful nature. Burnout is a condition that affects the psychological well-being of an individual, leading to depletion of mental energy (Anathi & Penelope, 2020). It is a serious issue if it is not resolved because it becomes difficult for mental health workers to work under stressful conditions. According to O’Connor et al. (2018), fatigue is a common problem in challenging workplace environments like mental health clinics. Therefore, burnout at the mental health facility results in emotional exhaustion, reduced individual performance and depersonalization.

Impact on patient and healthcare systems

The level of burnout in the mental health field has demonstrated that the rate of burnout is higher in some occupational types compared to others. Preliminary studies in Europe have shown that social workers have higher levels compared to psychiatric nurses. A similar study in Great Britain using MBI to measure burnout reported that it was high across all mental health fields (Gutsan, Patton, William, & Alberto, 2022). Consequently, burnout has been linked to reduced job satisfaction of the most affected employees compared to those with low levels of severity. Preliminaries have shown a research gap because they have not compared rates of burnout across disciplines in the mental health field.

Financial implication

Methodological problems have been experienced in the majority of the prevalence studies. Existing data has shown that burnout is a widespread problem among mental health employees, and it is clear that the rates are likely to increase with the recent Covid-19 pandemic (Van der Heijden et al., 2019). Across the world, public funding for mental health issues is constant, while the costs of workers’ healthcare benefits and expenses are on the rise. On the other hand, mental health clinics worldwide have increased the need for staff productivity standards. Considering that the mental health field is already facing burnout, increased external pressure and duties are likely to be a source of burnout in the field.

Cultural, healthcare policy, quality, safety, legal and ethical implications

Studies have mentioned burnout as a major cultural problem within the broader mental health field, although it is a continuous construct that makes actual burnout prevalence complex to quantify (Gutsan, Patton, William, & Alberto, 2022). As an approach to address this issue, scores using the MBI model were developed, and a high prevalence of mental health was noted to be 21 and a depersonalization score of 8 (Gutsan, Patton, William, & Alberto, 2022). The challenge in this MBI scale is that it has low scores considered as high compared to other occupational groups. Exploratory studies have linked MBI data scores to other problems, but there is a lacking a system for validating a mark for a high MBI sore. Thus, a literature review should be assessed with a certain degree of skepticism where low scores considered as “high” within the mental health field can increase the prevalence of burnout (Gutsan, Patton, William, & Alberto, 2022). Similarly, it is possible that low rates of burnout need to be evaluated because studies have linked mild burnout with a high risk f developing mental health difficulties. The findings from the literature review point to a need for a systematic review and validation of external studies using proper methodologies to precisely identify the problematic level of burnout in the mental health field. For instance, it is imperative that validation studies depict the levels of burnout that result in poor performance of mental health employees like intentions to leave, health difficulties and poor outcomes.

The problem

The demand for nurses, particularly for the Baby Boomer generation, ages and cases of chronic illnesses become common. According to the US labor statistics, the number of registered nurses will increase by 2028 by at least 12%, and it shows pain for understaffed mental health clinics, increased work for nurses and a high prevalence of burnout (United States Labour Statistics, 2021). Nurses will be required to work long hours in order to deal with the high demand for mental attention. However, increased rates of burnout will result in depression, intentions to leave and other complex mental health situations (Van der Heijden et al., 2019). In a mental health facility, the risk of decreasing patient quality is intensive because it results in mistakes because of exhaustion, infection and death. According to Gustan et al. (2022), a mental health care facility with a nurse-to-employee ratio of 1:4 was found to increase mortality by 7%. These statistics indicate that burnout is a negative issue in the mental health field, and ways of preventing and mitigating its impact should be assessed through studies.

The complexity of the issues around burnout and existing studies are not exhaustive, and there is a need to focus on the extent of burnout as a meso problem in the mental health field and approaches that should be implemented its consequences (Azizi & Nazemi, 2017). This study is founded on an existing review of burnout statistics in the mental health field, but will incorporate critical issues and findings from a broader context of burnout. There is a need to identify the areas of significance to expound on the study and interventions, which will form the basis of conclusions and recommendations for mental health practice. This study is required because it will focus on the full range of challenges and complexities linked to burnout and provide interventions for mitigating burnout issues.

References

Anathi, F. & Penelope, M. (2020). Prevalence of burnout among nurses working at a psychiatric hospital in the Western Cape.Curationis, 43(1). Web.

Azizi, K. & Nazemi, A. (2017). Comparison of resiliency, procrastination, stress and burnout among nurses in psychiatric and non-psychiatric wards. Q J Nurs Manage., 5(1), 80–91.

Gutsan, E., Jami Patton, William, K. & Alberto, C. (2022). Burnout syndrome and nurse-to-patient ratio in the workplace. Marshall University. Web.

López‐López, I., Gómez Urquiza, J., Cañadas, G., Fuente, E., Albendin, L. & Cañadas-De la Fuente, G. (2019). Prevalence of burnout in mental health nurses and related factors: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing. 28(5), 1032-1041.

O’Connor, K., Neff, D.M. & Pitman, S., (2018). Burnout in mental health professionals: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence and determinants. European Psychiatry, 53, 74-99.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021). Registered Nurses. Web.

Van der Heijden, B., Christine, B, & Yingzi, X. (2019). Impact of job demands and resources on nurses’ burnout and occupational turnover intention towards an age-moderated mediation model for the nursing profession. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(11).

Introduction

The current situation with medical websites and health literacy in diverse healthcare contexts requires nursing professionals to adopt new roles. Particularly, they are anticipated to apply education to teach the basics of quality appraisal to an average patient. This paper seeks to discuss the state of patient health literacy in the mental healthcare field and suggest strategies to improve it.

Consumer Health Literacy in Psychiatric Inpatient Settings

As a professional working at an inpatient psychiatric facility for both adult and geriatric patients, I would characterize the current level of health literacy as needing improvement. In more challenging cases of mental health conditions, such as treatment-resistant schizophrenia, severe depression with psychotic features, or type I bipolar disorder, misinterpreted information often comes from patients’ relatives and caregivers. Due to anxiety and the lack of psychiatric knowledge, the families have a propensity for reading any online materials regarding the diagnosis of interest, including Wikipedia and anonymous users’ impressions related to psychiatric treatment, without assessing authors’ professional credentials. Aside from that, even the use of trustworthy websites and definitions from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders might exacerbate these families’ despair by strengthening incorrect associations between psychotic disorders and incurable antisocial and violent behaviors (Katschnig, 2018). Similarly, in the instances of hospitalization for severe major depressive disorder, patients’ relatives may misinterpret disease prognosis, which finds reflection in their tendency to overestimate suicidal risks and request an inadequate amount of supervision. Therefore, the uneasiness of patients’ relatives plays a central role in health information misinterpretation.

The levels of consumer literacy in my workplace and the mental healthcare system may be critically low, which also deals with patients’ characteristics. As per the admission statistics from multi-unit inpatient facilities for psychiatric patients, around 75% of admissions are the minority, elderly, or uninsured patients, and all these categories increase the likelihood of insufficient skills for the interpretation of medical information (Bacon et al., 2017). In the facility where I work, the statistics would be somewhat similar, and aligning patient education strategies with each group’s unique determinants of literacy is essential.

Strategies to Assist Patients in Applying/Interpreting Health Information Found Online

Considering the specifics of the inpatient facility, online health information-seeking is more common in patients’ relatives that visit them and communicate with the staff. Patients’ families or caregivers represent the category that tends to overuse websites with varying medical review practices prior to publication. Possible strategies for this consumer population include creating an informational handout with a comprehensive list of trustworthy mental health information sources, including the National Institute of Mental Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Psychiatric Association, and so on (Chen et al., 2018). With this website selection guide as a reference point, the families would be encouraged to weigh the information that concerns them against the source’s scientific reputation. Another potentially viable approach for this subgroup would be to apply the principles of andragogy, such as orientation at practical relevance and self-direction, to introduce them to the levels of evidence (Sanchez & Cooknell, 2017). The explanation of the evidence hierarchy in simple terms will discourage the families from extrapolating the results of “revolutionary” single studies without randomization and substantial samples on the entire population with a certain diagnosis, including their relatives.

For patients, the issue of external influences and misinformation is not particularly strong during hospitalizations due to nurses’ presence and readiness to explain the purpose of medications and therapy sessions. Nevertheless, warning them against overusing medical websites in the post-discharge period is a significant task. This could be done by instructing them on the limited applicability of generic online information to their unique mental health case and offering continuing informational support.

Conclusion

Finally, consumers’ increasing access to web-based sources of medical information for non-professionals can have negative implications for patient decision-making. In inpatient psychiatric hospitals, the risks of misinformation are tremendously high for clients’ caregivers, and adult learning principles could be applied to create quality appraisal guides for this group. Pre-discharge consultations for hospitalized patients could also support optimal literacy.

References

Bacon, O., Vandenberg, A., & May, M. E. (2017). Provider and patient perception of psychiatry patient health literacy. Pharmacy Practice (Granada), 15(2), 1-5.

Chen, Y. Y., Li, C. M., Liang, J. C., & Tsai, C. C. (2018). Health information obtained from the internet and changes in medical decision making: Questionnaire development and cross-sectional survey. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 20(2), 1-10.

Katschnig, H. (2018). Psychiatry’s contribution to the public stereotype of schizophrenia: Historical considerations. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 24(5), 1093-1100.

Sanchez, L. M., & Cooknell, L. E. (2017). The power of 3: Using adult learning principles to facilitate patient education. Nursing, 47(2), 17-19.

Introduction

Current nursing and medical studies demonstrate researchers’ obvious reliance on statistical methods for conclusion formulation. Non-parametric statistical analysis methods are instrumental in processing and analyzing quantitative data sets with non-normal continuous data, whereas parametric tests are more accurate in terms of prediction and applicable to typical distribution patterns. This paper seeks to discuss the uses of non-parametric tests in the assigned articles and explore the issue of test selection with reference to mental health nursing research.

Article Analysis

In their research, Fisher et al. (2010) explore the applications of conjoint analysis to explaining the characteristics of nurses’ decision-making in emergency care settings. The article’s purpose and goals involve increasing the number of available analytical instruments by testing the feasibility of clinical simulation for the analysis of nursing decision-making processes taking place after the admission of patients with intellectual disabilities (ID). Fisher et al. (2010) use Fisher’s exact tests and Chi-square to establish links between nurses’ characteristics and decision-making patterns. The tests’ application results in the identification of no individual-level predictors of displaying certain patterns. The reasons for parametric methods’ inappropriateness may include the study’s orientation at generalization and small sample size (less than 30 participants). The work’s strengths are represented by having enough participants for a feasibility study and the ethical appropriateness of clinical simulation use, whereas weaknesses include the findings’ limited transferability, non-randomized sampling, and possible divergences from real-life clinical scenarios. Regarding the contributions to nursing EBP, it is reasonable to think that the study could inspire large-scale experiments, thus leading to the elimination of biases and ineffective steps in caring for emergency patients with ID.

The project by Tjia et al. (2010) pursues the purpose of establishing guidelines for the prevention of adverse drug-related events during high-risk medication use and determining the optimal frequency of laboratory testing. The use of Cuzick’s test for trends across ordered groups enables the team to test for the presence of links between the frequency of prescribing a certain drug and the completion of recommended drug testing procedures for this pharmaceutical product. Due to this non-parametric test, Tjia et al. (2010) reveal a significant positive relationship between the frequency of prescription and the likelihood of appropriate drug testing. Parametric tests would not be a preferable option due to trend identification as the key purpose of these research endeavors, datasets’ unknown variation, and the presence of ordinal data. The strong points are sample size (the resulting recommendations cover over 60 lab tests and more than 30 drug groups) and statistical procedures’ clarity. The limitations might include the results’ limited applicability to differing clinical settings and the inability to account for patients’ medication adherence. Their findings could support EBP and patient safety by promoting innovative drug use monitoring procedures.

Recurring Statistical Analysis Methods in the Previously Reviewed Literature

The previous work related to the literature review portion of the research proposal can shed light on the frequency of statistical methods’ use in the mental healthcare field and the studies of music therapy in schizophrenia. For a more informed answer based on multiple cases, it is reasonable to analyze two sources of level I evidence by Geretsegger et al. (2017) and Jia et al. (2020). From article summary tables and other single randomized experiments used in the previously submitted proposal, it can be assumed that the independent samples t-test, which is a popular parametric approach to analysis, finds the most extensive use in experimental studies peculiar to mental healthcare (Geretsegger et al., 2017; Jia et al., 2020). In contrast, well-known non-parametric statistical methods are not mentioned as frequently as the two-sample t-test.

Mental Health Nursing and Statistical Analysis Methods

The independent samples t-test is very popular in RCTs peculiar to the effects of music therapy (MT) interventions on the health of adult patients with schizophrenia. The reasons why other types of tests are less common might relate to the nature of experiments with MT. Although the positive effects of MT on diverse domains of mental health well-being are known, modern researchers continue to experiment with diverse MT program configurations and traditional music (Geretsegger et al., 2017; Jia et al., 2020). Every new MT program aimed at schizophrenic patients is basically regarded as a unique and relatively unexplored intervention with an unknown degree of effectiveness, and comparing each course of action with standard care for schizophrenia is essential to prove its potential practical value. Single RCTs typically test only one program, and the implementation of a two-group design with comparison (standard care) and intervention (routine care and MT programs) groups acts as the easiest way to demonstrate effectiveness. The t-test for two independent groups is the most suitable type of test for this research design, which explains its popularity compared to tests for three or more groups.

Conclusion

To sum up, non-parametric tests serve numerous purposes, including facilitating analytical activities in studies with small sample sizes and ordinal data. In research endeavors focused on mental health settings and adjunctive non-pharmaceutical treatments for schizophrenia, the two-sample t-test seems to be particularly useful. This tendency might stem from the peculiarities of the RCT design when it comes to studies that test new developments in MT interventions and their effectiveness compared to standard care.

References

Fisher, K., Orkin, F., & Frazer, C. (2010). Utilizing conjoint analysis to explicate health care decision making by emergency department nurses: A feasibility study. Applied Nursing Research, 23(1), 30-35.

Geretsegger, M., Mössler, K. A., Bieleninik, Ł., Chen, X. J., Heldal, T. O., & Gold, C. (2017). Music therapy for people with schizophrenia and schizophrenia-like disorders. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (5), 1-85.

Jia, R., Liang, D., Yu, J., Lu, G., Wang, Z., Wu, Z., Huang, H., & Chen, C. (2020). The effectiveness of adjunct music therapy for patients with schizophrenia: A meta-analysis. Psychiatry Research, 293, 1-10.

Tjia, J., Field, T. S., Garber, L. D., Donovan, J. L., Kanaan, A. O., Raebel, M. A., Zhao, Y., Fuller, J. C., Gagne, S. J., Fischer, S. H., & Gurwitz, J. H. (2010). Development and pilot testing of guidelines to monitor high-risk medications in the ambulatory setting. The American Journal of Managed Care, 16(7), 489-496.

Suppose a person named Adam has been going through a lot of stress at work, and things are not going well, Adam’s mind is on overload, and his body is begging him to slow down. Several issues will be in his head, leading to severe conditions and bad decisions. That brings us to the main topic today, which is mental health. It is described as a mental state characterized by optimal functioning, not just in the present but in all areas of life (Greenberg 425). It can cause one to do things they do not want to do or even have depression and suicide. I have been through depression before and know it is serious because if people do not care, it will affect those close to them. I know what it is like to feel that a person is not big enough to cope with everything what they going through. I felt like a stranger in my own body, and no one could understand or help me. Mental health is serious since it could cause traumas, suicide, and drug addiction, but it can be controlled by talking to someone who listens.

The main impact of mental health is that, when it is not well taken care of, it could lead to depression. It is described as a mental health disorder that makes an individual continuously sad, anxious, or empty hopelessness. People with sadness cannot sleep or eat, constantly tired and throwing up. They are unable to work and feel as though they are not good enough for anything. This condition is the leading cause of suicide in teenagers today, and some teens have strong thoughts of suicide and do not even know it. I have been through sorrow and know this is serious. Suicide is described as self-injury intended to cause one’s death (Greenberg 425). If anybody has suicidal thoughts, as I did, they should seek help. Maybe my mental state at the time turned into something more than that, but it started small with anxiety attacks and was not a hard thing for me to get over after some time. But if I had not gotten help, it could have lasted longer and been harder when I got over it.

This condition should be taken care of since, without suitable measures, it could lead to traumas. Trauma is “an event or experience that is extremely distressing for a particular person and typically involves severe physical or emotional injury or threat of injury” (Greenberg 425). It is an unexpected event that can happen at any time, such as a bomb exploding in front of an individual’s hands, which is why it is so hard to know what could happen if one does not take care of mental health. Traumatic experiences usually cause one to feel threatened, and they do not know what will happen next. If an individual has this kind of experience, it is crucial to seek help because the survivor will be experiencing anxiety attacks and depression. For instance, I went through a traumatic experience when I was younger and had anxiety attacks because I could not handle these feelings. Consequently, a person needs to care for their state of mind to avoid anxiety.

This mental state could change an individual’s personality; therefore, it can be hard to know what kind of personality one has. Personality is “the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychic systems that determine one’s unique adjustments to one’s environment in terms of thought, feeling, and action expressed in overt behavior toward others or toward the self” (Liberati et al. 50). Since there are many different personalities, it is hard to know what kind of personality a person might have so that later in the future, they can learn how to handle their personality. For instance, I might change into a boring person in the future because I would feel that life is not enriching enough and that I am not happy. It could probably transform a joyful individual into a depressed and confused one.

The poor mental state could lead to increased drug abuse and addiction. Drug abuse is a type of substance use disorder involving an inability to control the urge to take a drug and its adverse effects (Liberati et al. 50). Drug abuse is hard to understand because people have different reasons for using drugs, such as stress and anxiety. But if someone has no control over their drug use, it could be dangerous for others and for them. They could hurt themselves because they are not even fully aware of their actions. For example, I have taken drugs before; I used marijuana which was very easy to obtain, but I did not know that smoking marijuana can lead to lung cancer. In this situation, I used these drugs to help me get over my mental troubles, and it made me happy, but when I found out that it could kill me, I quit cold turkey.

People who are not in pain or depression need support from others even though they are not in that state. They should be there for people suffering from trauma and depression and help them in the best way possible. It does not matter what race, sex, or position a person is in because everyone needs that support when things like this occur (Liberati et al. 50). It is essential to obtain the proper treatment immediately, if possible, when an event occurs because this is serious. This condition can also be controlled by frequently exercising daily, getting enough sleep, setting goals and plans, and avoiding substances. These could help one to function optimally in every aspect of their life. Though it is not easy to deal with mental health, if one can get the proper treatment and follow the steps described, one can overcome any hardship from mental health.

In conclusion, mental health should be taken seriously because people need to be aware of their mental state since if one does not take care of it, it could cause depression and trauma. Mental health is essential not only for themselves but also for others. All individuals should take suitable measures to prevent depression and anxiety in the future by taking care of their physical and mental states. Appropriate measures include dieting, eating healthy foods, getting enough sleep, exercising daily, setting goals and plans, and avoiding substances such as tobacco and alcohol. Mental health should be taken seriously in this country and globally if possible because mental health is as important as one’s physical health. Without reasonable measures, depression and anxiety could be serious problems and lead to suicide in society. Hence, with reasonable steps, everyone can live a healthy life without any worries or with fewer worries.

Works Cited

Greenberg, Neil. “Mental health of health-care workers in the COVID-19 era.” Nature Reviews Nephrology 16.8, 2020: 425-426. Web.

Liberati, Elisa, Natalie Richards, Jennie Parker, Janet Willars, David Scott, Nicola Boydell, Vanessa Pinfold, Graham Martin, Mary Dixon-Woods, and Peter Jones. “Remote care for mental health: qualitative study with service users, carers and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.” BMJ open 11.4, 2021: e049210. Web.

Inroduction

About 10% of the world’s sick population suffers from mental, neurological, or substance use (MNS) conditions. In researching Country Peru, looking at both the mid to high-income and low and improvised areas was important, especially regarding mental health. The researcher looked through the lens of those within the community, those living in more rural areas, and the suburbs of the Capital of Lima. In a study completed in Peru, researchers explored attitudes and perspectives concerning psychiatric services for people at risk of suicide. Survey respondents indicated gaps in education, expertise, and experience related to suicide risk evaluation and management (Alonzo & Pratto, 2021). Health professionals have reported negative impacts from inadequate training and resources in institutions aiming to equip psychotherapists to deal with at-risk persons effectively.

Describing the Challenge of Accessing Proper Mental Health Services

One in five people in Peru have a diagnosable MNS; however, up to 85% of those individuals do not receive treatment. The lack of available mental health resources has been a major barrier to care for a long time (Saavedra & Galea, 2021). This treatment gap cannot be attributed solely to a lack of available mental health care or the stigma associated with having a mental disease. A mental health treatment gap develops when people with psychological health illnesses do not recognize they have a problem and do not seek help. Thus, how one evaluates their mental health crisis impacts whether or not they seek treatment for MNS.

Of the people who participated in the survey, just 3.6% used mental health facilities. Nearly 80 percent of those who suffer from alcohol use disorders did not consider or name their condition a mental health issue (Saavedra & Galea, 2021). Substance abusers’ low rates of seeking help may diminish the impact of prevention strategies that reduce alcohol abuse. Most respondents did not feel they needed treatment for depression, which is consistent with the fact that 26% of patients with mild to severe depressive disorder would not admit a diagnosis of depression. During therapy, families living in areas far from specialist clinics often face socioeconomic challenges, often known as fiscal toxicity, of two categories: subjective and objective. The objective category includes expenses not covered by insurance, such as those incurred for prescription drugs, doctor visits, and hospital stays (Falcón et al., 2021). The subjective aspect relates to prospective alterations in patient well-being and care quality. Suicide rates, especially among young people, are rising, and there is a clear and pressing need for specialized training to address this crisis in Peru.

Addressing the Challenge

Since most persons with mental health issues use primary care facilities (and, to a lesser degree, specialty clinics), mental health services should be fully integrated into the primary healthcare framework. Training employees (and staff development) to adequately address common psychiatric problems in outpatient clinics, the quality of mental healthcare provided, and user satisfaction are all crucial components of service integration (Saavedra & Galea, 2021). Social workers and psychiatric mental health nurses operating in Lima’s health care system are responsible for assessing the plight of patients seeking treatment there. They should consider the socioeconomic conditions that make the patients’ families more susceptible to the sickness. Healthcare providers can improve patients’ quality of life and care by coordinating and directing them to available support networks and intervening based on those systems’ strengths.

Conclusion

Inadequate training and resources provided by institutions aiming to equip psychotherapists to deal with at-risk persons negatively affect the treatment of MNS. Care for those with mental health issues has been hampered by a lack of accessible resources for a long time. Among those diagnosed with major depression, 26% refuse to acknowledge that they have the problem. Important aspects of service integration include training employees (and staff development) to properly address common psychiatric problems in outpatient clinics, the quality of mental healthcare provided, and the satisfaction of patients.

References

Alonzo, D., & Pratto, D. (2021). Mental health services for individuals at risk of suicide in Peru: Attitudes and perspectives of mental health professionals. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 67(3), 209-218.

Falcón, G. C. S., Espinoza, L. A. O., Siles, M. D. C. V., Chapoñan, R. Z., & Huaman, J. A. Z. (2021). Seeking cancer treatment for their children: Experience of parents from areas distant from Lima-Peru. Revista Gaúcha de Enfermagem, 42, 1-10.

Saavedra, J. E., & Galea, J. T. (2021). Access of mental health services by the adult population in metropolitan Lima, Peru: Characteristics, perceptions and need for care. Community Mental Health Journal, 57(2), 228-237.

The health of doctors during the most acute periods of the COVID 19 pandemic was seriously threatened, but their state of mind was no less at risk. Statistics describe that in more than half of the cases, doctors who regularly struggled with COVID experienced symptoms of depression, even more frequent than stress (Rahman et al., 2021). Anxiety is also a natural response to high levels of stress and risk, and is seen in more than a third of physicians. It is proposed to improve the codes for physicians in such a way as to reduce the risks of excessively severe mental injuries or to find ways for their immediate treatment.

First of all, it seems necessary to create conditions for the Physicians in which they can immediately receive support for mental health. It is obvious that the situation of constant tension in which the doctors were during the period of COVID-19 is extreme and actually a crisis. Doctors cannot work from home and are forced to be afraid of infection, but, at the same time, others already automatically stigmatize them as also being the infected. These conflicts are all the more acute in less developed countries, where resources may not be enough to treat or even accommodate patients in a hospital. Physicians in this context turn out to be an extremely vulnerable group of the population, which may even need the help of a psychotherapist.

Secondly, it seems necessary to exclude younger and psychologically vulnerable individuals from working with COVID patients. Most students forced to work with critically ill patients during a pandemic develop depression that can be traumatic throughout their medical career. It should be taken into account that after the age of 27, doctors are statistically more stable psychologically (Rahman et al., 2021). That is why, in addition to prescribing mandatory consultations with a psychotherapist, it would make sense to propose a ban on the work of young people with COVID patients, choosing a special, less susceptible threshold age, for example, from 28 to 35.

Reference

Rahman, A., Deeba, F., Akhter, S., Bashar, F., Nomani D., Koot, J., Koly, K. N., Bin Salah, F., Haverlag, K., & Anwar, I. (2021). Mental health condition of physicians working frontline with COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh. BMC Psychiatry 21, 615.

Alternative treatments in the form of herbal medicine should be used with caution because they may have adverse effects on the body and be harmful if misused. Therefore, when a patient is prescribed herbal medicine, it is essential to ensure that it does not interact with any other medication that the patient is already taking. In any case, herbal medicines should be used with the same respect and care as traditional medication. If all precautions are taken before the patient uses herbal remedies, treating mental health issues with alternative medicine has shown to have positive outcomes (Ekor, 2014).

For example, Apaydin et al. (2016) found that St. John’s wort is superior in performance to placebo when treating mild and moderate depressive symptoms, although the evidence was limited to poor reporting of adverse and rare events. When it comes to the use of saffron in the treatment of depression and anxiety, the plant’s active constituents have shown to possess antidepressant properties that are similar to the qualities of such antidepressants as citalopram or imipramine, although the side effects are less frequently reported (Shafiee et al., 2018). In addition, 5-HTP use has been shown to regulate and improve the levels of serotonin in the brain, which is beneficial for boosting mental health challenges. Because of this, I agree that a patient who wants to avoid taking traditional medication can benefit from saffron use, especially if combined with therapy. However, when prescribing herbal medicine, regardless of its type, it is imperative that the patient is assessed for the risk factors of its use and the potential interactions with other medication.

References

Apaydin, E. A., Maher, A. R., Shanman, R., Booth, M. S., Miles, J. N., Sorbero, M. E., & Hempel, S. (2016). A systematic review of St. John’s wort for major depressive disorder. Systematic Reviews, 5(1), 148.

Ekor M. (2014). The growing use of herbal medicines: issues relating to adverse reactions and challenges in monitoring safety. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 4, 177.

Kaushik, M., Jain, A., Agarwal, P., Joshi, S. D., & Parvez, S. (2020). Role of yoga and meditation as complimentary therapeutic regime for stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders: Utilization of brain waves activity as novel tool. Journal of Evidence-based Integrative Medicine, 25, 2515690X20949451.

Moszeik, E. N., von Oertzen, T., & Runner, K-H. (2020). Effectiveness of a short Yoga Nidra meditation on stress, sleep, and well-being in a large and diverse sample. Current Psychology, 2020.

Shafiee, M., Arekhi, S., Omranzadeh, A., & Sahebkar, A. (2018). Saffron in the treatment of depression, anxiety and other mental disorders: Current evidence and potential mechanisms of action. Journal of Affective Disorders, 227, 330–337.

Stephens I. (2017). Medical yoga therapy. Children (Basel, Switzerland), 4(2), 12.