British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
Students often suffer from performance anxiety and exam stress. This article describes how mindfulness training has been used to help young people cope with competitive pressures at a high-ranking music college. The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) is a prestigious music and drama college with approximately 700 students. The courses all work towards a performance in some shape or form, and performance anxiety is one of the challenges the students face. An 8-week course for performance anxiety and stress adapted from mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has been developed and taught at RWCMD. The programme focuses specifically on anxiety and stress in performance and test situations. The experiential skills-based sessions last 1.5 hours and teach mindfulness practices
Students often suffer from performance anxiety and exam stress. This article describes how mindfulness training has been used to help young people cope with competitive pressures at a high-ranking music college. The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) is a prestigious music and drama college with approximately 700 students. The courses all work towards a performance in some shape or form, and performance anxiety is one of the challenges the students face. An 8-week course for performance anxiety and stress adapted from mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has been developed and taught at RWCMD. The programme focuses specifically on anxiety and stress in performance and test situations. The experiential skills-based sessions last 1.5 hours and teach mindfulness practices such as focusing on the breath, mindful movement, and use of 3-minute breathing pauses, as well as informal mindfulness exercises such as practising mindful awareness of regular daily activities. Student responses to the course have been very positive.
... lonely “often or always” and in the past seven days had lower personal well-being scores including higher anxiety scores than the Great Britain average and were more likely than the average to say they were struggling to find things that help them cope during lockdown. Around 7 in 10 of those feeling lonely “often or always” “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that they had people who would
(Edited publisher abstract)
Analysis of loneliness in Great Britain during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. Data shows that 5% of people in Great Britain (2.6 million adults) reported that they felt lonely "often" or "always" between 3 April and 3 May 2020, about the same proportion as pre-lockdown. Of those asked, 30.9% (7.4 million adults) reported their well-being had been affected through their feeling lonely in the past seven days. Working-age adults living alone were more likely to report loneliness both “often or always” and over the past seven days than the average adult; this was also the case for those in "bad" or "very bad" health, in rented accommodation, or who were either single, or divorced, separated or a former or separated civil partner. Both those feeling lonely “often or always” and in the past seven days had lower personal well-being scores including higher anxiety scores than the Great Britain average and were more likely than the average to say they were struggling to find things that help them cope during lockdown. Around 7 in 10 of those feeling lonely “often or always” “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that they had people who would be there for them, compared with 9 in 10 of the Great Britain average.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
Covid-19, loneliness, social isolation, wellbeing, mental health, anxiety;
The National Audit of Psychological Therapies for Anxiety and Depression (NAPT) has provided a unique opportunity to begin to understand the range and quality of services and the experience of those who receive therapy. This report is of the audit findings. It incorporates data from across Wales and England, derived from a spectrum of services, including those in primary and secondary care, small and large services, IAPT and non‐ IAPT services. The report into the care received by patients with anxiety and depression across NHS-funded psychological therapy services in England and Wales has revealed good overall standards of care, but substantial variation in quality. The audit collected data from 357 services and over 10,000 people in therapy for anxiety and depression and measured ten standards,
The National Audit of Psychological Therapies for Anxiety and Depression (NAPT) has provided a unique opportunity to begin to understand the range and quality of services and the experience of those who receive therapy. This report is of the audit findings. It incorporates data from across Wales and England, derived from a spectrum of services, including those in primary and secondary care, small and large services, IAPT and non‐ IAPT services. The report into the care received by patients with anxiety and depression across NHS-funded psychological therapy services in England and Wales has revealed good overall standards of care, but substantial variation in quality. The audit collected data from 357 services and over 10,000 people in therapy for anxiety and depression and measured ten standards, including patient satisfaction, effectiveness of therapy, waiting times and number of treatment sessions offered.
Subject terms:
patients, performance management, psychotherapy, social care provision, anxiety, depression;
Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (The), 20(6), December 2009, pp.886-905.
Publisher:
Taylor and Francis
... Similarities were found between these deaths and self-inflicted deaths of UK nationals in terms of method, location of death, index offence, and prevalence of mental illness. Additional factors found in the FNs included early anxiety, trauma symptoms in refugees from conflict, language issues, deportation fears, and cultural concepts of shame. These findings are discussed in relation to the entrapment model
Self-inflicted deaths in prisons in England and Wales were at a 10-year low in 2006 but rose in 2007, largely attributed to an unexpected increase in self-inflicted deaths by foreign national (FN) prisoners. All deaths were reviewed in detail using prison and clinical records and interviews with prison staff. This paper reports findings for the deaths of the 20 FN prisoners from non-EU countries. Similarities were found between these deaths and self-inflicted deaths of UK nationals in terms of method, location of death, index offence, and prevalence of mental illness. Additional factors found in the FNs included early anxiety, trauma symptoms in refugees from conflict, language issues, deportation fears, and cultural concepts of shame. These findings are discussed in relation to the entrapment model of suicide and the need for specialised mental health service provision.
British Journal of Psychiatry, 194(3), March 2009, pp.212-219.
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
... and wandering/sleep problems. Psychosis occurred more frequently with declining cognition. Anxiety and depression were more common in younger individuals and in those with poor self-reported health. Persistence varied between symptoms. Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia affect nearly all people with dementia. Symptoms co-occur, and the symptoms that affected individuals experience are related
Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are major contributors to the burden of dementia. This study aimed to describe the prevalence, correlates and course of BPSD in the population of England and Wales. The prevalence of 12 symptoms was estimated in 587 participants with dementia and 2050 participants without dementia as part of a population-based longitudinal study of ageing. The effect of risk factors and the factor structure were estimated using 1782 interviews provided by participants with dementia throughout the study. Each symptom apart from sleeping problems was more common in the population with dementia. The co-occurrence of the symptoms was explained by a four-factor solution, corresponding to psychosis/apathy, depression/anxiety, irritability/persecution and wandering/sleep problems. Psychosis occurred more frequently with declining cognition. Anxiety and depression were more common in younger individuals and in those with poor self-reported health. Persistence varied between symptoms. Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia affect nearly all people with dementia. Symptoms co-occur, and the symptoms that affected individuals experience are related to their socio-demographic and clinical characteristics.
British Journal of Criminology, 47(1), January 2007, pp.154-162.
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Factor analysis and regression models are used to examine fear of crime and to determine the relationship between fear and age. Data from the British Crime Survey demonstrate that fear is reducible to only two crime contexts: fear of personal loss (FoPL) and fear of personal harm (FoPH). Distinctively different inverted u-shaped relationships were observed for both FoPL and FoPH, with maximum fear at 45 years of age and 23 years of age, respectively. Generic correlates with both FoPH and FoPL included perceived health, neighbourhood litter and previous victimization. FoPH-specific correlates were household income, environmental graffiti and property damage. The only FoPL-specific correlate was living in a run-down area.
Factor analysis and regression models are used to examine fear of crime and to determine the relationship between fear and age. Data from the British Crime Survey demonstrate that fear is reducible to only two crime contexts: fear of personal loss (FoPL) and fear of personal harm (FoPH). Distinctively different inverted u-shaped relationships were observed for both FoPL and FoPH, with maximum fear at 45 years of age and 23 years of age, respectively. Generic correlates with both FoPH and FoPL included perceived health, neighbourhood litter and previous victimization. FoPH-specific correlates were household income, environmental graffiti and property damage. The only FoPL-specific correlate was living in a run-down area.
Findings from our survey, which reached 230 care-experienced children and young people across 55 local authorities in England and Wales, exploring how they have been coping during the lockdown. The survey found that over half of care-experienced children and young people are feeling lonelier and more anxious than they were before the pandemic. Many of the care-experienced children and young people who responded are having less contact with their social workers and personal advisers during lockdown. For every care leaver who was having more contact, four were having less. During the lockdown, one in ten children in care said they had not heard from their social worker at all.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Findings from our survey, which reached 230 care-experienced children and young people across 55 local authorities in England and Wales, exploring how they have been coping during the lockdown. The survey found that over half of care-experienced children and young people are feeling lonelier and more anxious than they were before the pandemic. Many of the care-experienced children and young people who responded are having less contact with their social workers and personal advisers during lockdown. For every care leaver who was having more contact, four were having less. During the lockdown, one in ten children in care said they had not heard from their social worker at all.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
surveys, user views, Covid-19, social isolation, social worker-service user relationships, loneliness, anxiety, looked after children, children, young people;
Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre
Publication year:
2017
Pagination:
96
Place of publication:
Cardiff
... to interact with their children and have a better quality visit. The evaluation examines whether the project met its stated objectives of improving the mental and physical well-being of children, reducing mothers' anxiety and distress from being away from their children, and reduced reoffending. It also examines how the scheme operates, captures the experiences of those involved, and assesses its strengths and weaknesses. The evaluation carried out interviews and focus groups with children, their carers, and mothers in prison. The scheme has worked with 97 mothers and 164 children to date. The results of the evaluation found the scheme was successful in improving the mental and physical health of the children, reducing their anxiety and helping children to feel less intimidated by the prison environment. Mothers
(Edited publisher abstract)
An evaluation of Visiting Mum, a scheme run by the Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) in partnership with Sova, which helps children from South Wales to keep in touch with their mothers at HMP Eastwood Park. The scheme uses volunteers who help prepare carers and children for visiting the prison and provides transport for visits. It also provides relaxed visiting rules which allow mothers to interact with their children and have a better quality visit. The evaluation examines whether the project met its stated objectives of improving the mental and physical well-being of children, reducing mothers' anxiety and distress from being away from their children, and reduced reoffending. It also examines how the scheme operates, captures the experiences of those involved, and assesses its strengths and weaknesses. The evaluation carried out interviews and focus groups with children, their carers, and mothers in prison. The scheme has worked with 97 mothers and 164 children to date. The results of the evaluation found the scheme was successful in improving the mental and physical health of the children, reducing their anxiety and helping children to feel less intimidated by the prison environment. Mothers also felt less anxious about the welfare of their children, felt that their mental health had improved, and that the scheme will help them to integrate back into family life on realise. The scheme was also highly valued by staff within the prison.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, 11(1), March 2010, pp.48-56.
Publisher:
Emerald
This study of older people living in two socioeconomically deprived communities in Wales focuses on qualitatively accessing, by using questionnaires, focus groups and a virtual reality panorama tool, the social and physical factors which contribute to a fear of crime and concern for personal safety in their neighbourhoods. This data is supplemented by quantitative data on actual experiences of crime detailed in the criminological literature. The main finding was that specific community locations made older people feel safe or unsafe. But, those areas populated and characterised by the anti-social behaviour of gangs of ‘undesirable others’, such as rowdy underage drinking, reckless driving in the streets, heckling, playing loud music and fighting were seen as more frightening that the actual locations or their physical characteristics. A lack of police support was also cited as contributing to fear of crime. Communities had changed, said the participants, with an influx of unfamiliar tenants into neighbourhood properties and an increasing number of the older generation moving or passing away. A decline in moral standards in younger generations was seen to have changed social values in people indigenous to the areas, as well as in newcomers, and contributed to an increase in anti-social behaviour and crime. The development of crime and fear reduction strategies enabling older people to feel safer in their communities and promote their social inclusion is discussed.
This study of older people living in two socioeconomically deprived communities in Wales focuses on qualitatively accessing, by using questionnaires, focus groups and a virtual reality panorama tool, the social and physical factors which contribute to a fear of crime and concern for personal safety in their neighbourhoods. This data is supplemented by quantitative data on actual experiences of crime detailed in the criminological literature. The main finding was that specific community locations made older people feel safe or unsafe. But, those areas populated and characterised by the anti-social behaviour of gangs of ‘undesirable others’, such as rowdy underage drinking, reckless driving in the streets, heckling, playing loud music and fighting were seen as more frightening that the actual locations or their physical characteristics. A lack of police support was also cited as contributing to fear of crime. Communities had changed, said the participants, with an influx of unfamiliar tenants into neighbourhood properties and an increasing number of the older generation moving or passing away. A decline in moral standards in younger generations was seen to have changed social values in people indigenous to the areas, as well as in newcomers, and contributed to an increase in anti-social behaviour and crime. The development of crime and fear reduction strategies enabling older people to feel safer in their communities and promote their social inclusion is discussed.
British Journal of Psychiatry, 182(6), June 2003, pp.532-536.
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
... met diagnostic criteria for current PTSD. Survivors were not at a significantly increased risk of anxiety, depression or substance misuse. Trauma in childhood can lead to PTSD, and PTSD symptoms can persist for as long as 33 years into adult life. Rates of other psychopathological disorders are not necessarily raised after life-threatening childhood trauma.
Experiencing life-threatening events often contributes to the onset of such psychiatric conditions as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Children can develop PTSD; however, there is controversy over whether PTSD symptoms decrease or persist over time. Survivors (n=41) were compared with controls (n=72) matched for age and background. All were interviewed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, measures of current health and social satisfaction, and the General Health Questionnaire. The survivor group also completed the Impact of Event Scale to assess current levels of PTSD. Nineteen (46%; 95% CI 31-61) survivors had had PTSD at some point since the disaster, compared with 12 (20%; 95% CI 10-30) controls (OR=3.38 (95% CI 1.40-8.47)). Of the survivors,12 (29%; 95% CI 15-43) met diagnostic criteria for current PTSD. Survivors were not at a significantly increased risk of anxiety, depression or substance misuse. Trauma in childhood can lead to PTSD, and PTSD symptoms can persist for as long as 33 years into adult life. Rates of other psychopathological disorders are not necessarily raised after life-threatening childhood trauma.