A Critical Perspective on Mental Health News in Six European Countries: How Are "Mental Health/Illness" and "Mental Health Literacy" Rhetorically Constructed?

Making Sense of Burnout: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis of How Teachers in England Discuss and Encounter the Term Burnout

Despite extensive research looking at the phenomenon of burnout, little is known about how individuals working in traditionally high-burnout occupations understand the term. Interviews were conducted with six teachers working in state schools in England centring on how the term burnout was understood and how it was used or encountered. Reflexive thematic analysis was employed from a critical realist perspective to analyse the data generated. All participants described burnout as a stress-related condition, yet for some participants the point at which stress became burnout was unclear leading to an understanding that burnout was the point at which one was unable to work. Many participants highlighted an individualistic understanding of burnout, perceiving it as representing an individual deficit rather than an organisational failing. This was often reinforced by where the term was encountered (at work or in the media) and was linked to the stigma many participants associated with burnout. This paper concludes that individualistic framings of burnout obscure its organisational determinants while reinforcing notions that mental well-being is something which should be personally - and privately - managed by individuals.

Beliefs about mental health in incarcerated males: a qualitative interview study

Introduction

Beliefs about mental health are shaped by the sociocultural context. Prisons have unique environmental and social features, and the prevalence of mental health problems in incarcerated populations is exceptionally high. These features make prisons especially interesting settings for exploring health beliefs. The aim of this study was to explore the conceptualizations of mental health and coping preferences in a prison environment.

Methods

Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen incarcerated males from three prisons in Northern Norway. The design draws on central elements from Grounded Theory.

Results

Mental health was perceived as distinct from mental illness by many of the participants. They coped with the prison environment by focusing on the things that gave them a sense of meaning and autonomy - this also formed their conceptualization of mental health. Furthermore, social interaction and activities were perceived as important to enhance and maintain mental well-being, however there were institutional barriers to using these coping strategies. The prison environment was integrated in the participants conceptualizations of mental health problems, and psychosocial stressors were emphasized in causal attributions. Biological and dispositional factors were less frequently mentioned. The participants preferred non-medical management for mental health problems and most displayed a reserved attitude towards psychotropic medications. The exception was attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, for which they held neurobiological causal beliefs, together with a corresponding preference for medication as treatment.

Conclusion

The main finding was a firm integration of the prison context in in the participants' beliefs about mental health. We theorize that fusion of prison conditions and mental health beliefs were brought on by the processes of prisonization, observing mental distress in peers and attempts to protect self-esteem by externalizing the causes for mental health problems. Access to activities, social time, and "someone to talk to" were perceived to be crucial for improving and preserving mental health.

Prevention of the Werther effect: compliance of the Italian newspapers to the 'reporting on suicide' recommendations

OBJECTIVES

Suicide media coverage could lead to imitation, the so-called 'Werther effect'. The World Health Organization (WHO) published specific recommendations for reporting suicide news. This study aimed to quantify the compliance of Italian newspapers with the WHO suicide reporting guidelines.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a quantitative content analysis study.

METHODS

All articles published by the three main Italian newspapers from June 2019 to May 2020 describing suicides or attempted suicides were included. The articles were analyzed using a checklist based on the WHO recommendations, which included 18 'negative' items (e.g. 'presence of the word 'suicide' in the title') and nine 'positive' items (e.g. 'the article reports the contacts of a suicide prevention hotline'). Each negative item was scored -1, and each positive item was scored +1. Multivariate linear regressions were performed to identify factors associated with lower adherence to WHO recommendations and higher social media engagement with the articles.

RESULTS

A total of 3483 articles were screened, and 110 articles were included in the final analysis. The suicidal was male in 73.6% of cases. The median checklist score was -6 (interquartile range 3). Five percent of the articles had at least one positive item. The word 'suicide' was found in 90% of the titles. Female suicides were associated with a higher checklist score (coefficient 0.81, P = 0.039). No correlation was found between the checklist score and the social media engagement of the articles.

CONCLUSIONS

Italian newspapers do not adhere completely to the WHO recommendations on reporting suicide, leading to a potential imitation effect. Public health professionals should make decision-makers and journalists aware of the importance of these recommendations.

Impact of celebrity disclosure on mental health-related stigma

Mental health stigma and discrimination are global problems, and their reduction is recognised as an important public health priority. Involving celebrities in stigma reduction is increasingly common. This Editorial considers the impact of celebrity disclosure on mental health-related stigma; that is, whether and how a famous person openly speaking about their experience of mental health conditions can reduce stigma. Potential explanations for how celebrity mental health disclosures can influence mental health-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours are outlined, followed by an overview of evidence on how celebrity disclosure operates to reduce stigma. Considering the available evidence, we provide a number of conclusions and recommendations for how celebrities can effectively be involved in anti-stigma efforts, and what considerations this requires. It is fair to say that celebrity disclosures can support stigma-reduction efforts through increasing the public's awareness of mental health, modelling behaviour and generating openness on speaking about mental health problems, and on seeking help when needed. However, whether celebrity disclosure achieves changes in mental health stigma-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours depends on the extent to which there is a match between the attributes of the famous person, the content shared in their disclosure narrative and the intended audience of the message. Further research is needed on all these questions to better understand how to successfully utilise the potentially huge power of celebrity disclosure in large-scale anti-stigma efforts.

Dementia-friendliness - Inclusion or exclusion: A critical discourse analysis

This article explores how individuals with dementia and their relatives discursively construct dementia-friendliness in a situation where different definitions of this term exists. Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted, including seven individual interviews with people living with dementia. The remaining six interviews consisted of three interviews with the relatives of a person with dementia and three with married couples of which one were diagnosed with dementia. Notes taken by the first author during 6 months of fieldwork at a day centre and a drop-in centre for people with dementia and their families were used to supplement the interviews. Critical discourse analysis provides an analytical tool for revealing the discourses constructing dementia-friendliness. The analysis revealed that people with dementia and their relatives draw on the three discourses of sameness, security and care and autonomy during their attempts to construct dementia-friendliness. The ensuing discursive battles over dementia-friendliness appear to constitute a tightrope walk between the inclusion and exclusion of people with dementia, which underscores the importance of including the voices of people living with dementia when dementia-friendly initiatives and communities are developed.

'It's Not Really a Part of Standard Practice': Institutional Silencing of Sexuality Within Australian Mental Health Settings

Research seeking to understand and improve sexuality-related practice in mental health settings has paid little attention to the institutional context in which clinicians' practice is embedded. Through a social constructionist lens, we used thematic analysis to examine how 22 Australian mental health clinicians implicated the wider institutional context when discussing and making sense of sexuality-related silence within their work. Interviews were part of a study exploring participants' perceptions of sexuality and sexual health in their work more generally. Broader silences that shaped and reinforced participants' perceptions and practice choices were situated in professional education; workplace cultures; and the tools, procedures and policies that directed clinical practice. We argue that sexuality-related silence in mental health settings is located in the institutional context in which clinicians learn and work, and discuss how orienting to this broader context will benefit research and interventions to improve sexuality-related practice across health settings.

Stigma in the media: Investigating journalism students attitudes towards mental illness

Given the profound role that media play in public opinion, there exists an ongoing necessity to understand the portrayal of mental illness by journalists. There is a plethora of studies that have examined how mental illness is portrayed in the media, but few studies have sought to understand what journalist opinions about mental illness are, and none could be found regarding journalism students' opinions. This study aimed to bridge this gap by examining journalism student's attitudes towards mental illness using the Social Distance Scale (SDS). This study adheres to STROBE guidelines for cross-sectional studies. One hundred and seventy-two undergraduate journalism students (n = 172) completed the SDS with findings suggesting that students had moderate stigmatizing attitudes, with varying degrees of stigma present depending on the social context. Positively framed reporting and constructive media coverage surrounding mental illness may be improved by shared communication and education with health professionals who specialize in mental health: mental health nurses.

Social Positioning Analysis as a Qualitative Methodology to Study Identity Construction in People Diagnosed With Severe Mental Illnesses

Severe mental illnesses (SMI) in general, and schizophrenia in particular, have been characterized as alterations of the experience of self and identity. When first diagnosed with SMI, the subjective experiences and specific narrative challenges faced by this population are particularly important. Therefore, qualitative approaches which allow to analyze these subjective experiences should be developed. This article presents in detail a specific method, called Social Positioning Analysis, which makes the complexity of narratives and life stories with multiple turning points understandable. To develop this methodological proposal, it has been taken into account the performative aspects of social interaction in which narratives are constructed. The methodology has previously been used in other health contexts and is innovative in the field of mental health. Linguistic criteria, definitions, and multiple examples are included to facilitate its application, as well as some reflections about its potential and possible benefits.

Portrayal of mental illness in Indian newspapers: A cross-sectional analysis of online media reports

BACKGROUND

Media portrayal of mental illness may influence public stigma and service utilization.

AIM

This study aims to explore the overall tone and content of the news articles on mental illnesses in India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on online English and Hindi news portals for articles which made reference to mental illness, published by local and national media sources between September 2019 and August 2020. The search was performed using location and news-only filters in the "Google" search engine; we used predefined search queries and selection criteria. A previously published checklist was used for the content analysis; it was done by two independent investigators.

RESULTS

A total of 273 news reports met inclusion criteria (Hindi n = 164, English n = 109). Results showed that more than half (54.9%) had a positive tone. Nearly a third (30.8%) of these articles were stigmatizing in tone. Persons with mental illness were portrayed as violent, unreliable, and unpredictable. Uses of blanket terms (33.3%) such as mentally ill, mentally unstable, mentally retarded, and stigmatizing photographs (36.9%) were also common. Overall, Hindi media had a significantly better quality of reporting than the English language media. National media reports had a less negative and stigmatizing tone than local articles.

CONCLUSION

There is a need for a concerted attempt to improve the quality of media reporting of mental illness in India.

From Supporting Moral Competence to Fostering Spiritual Growth: The Psycho-Didactic Potential of the Konstanz Method of Dilemma Discussion (KMDD®)

This paper aimed to introduce the Konstanz Method of Dilemma Discussion KMDD® as one of the most effective methods that are designed to foster moral competence and, therefore, to promote tolerance and equality, regardless of cultural background, religion, or views. It is mainly used within the educational context, but it can be also implemented in different environments and conditions. The Konstanz Method of Dilemma Discussion should also be considered as the representative of a psycho-didactic approach to education. There is a possibility of assessing KMDD®’s effectiveness with the Moral Competence Test (MCT®), as well as comparing its significance with other methods that are not only based on the discussions of moral and spiritual dilemmas. Therefore, dilemma discussions would seem to be the best framework for practicing not only social skills and a democratic attitude but also positive mental health and psychological stability by providing a background for personal moral and spiritual growth.