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Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after non-traumatic events: evidence from an open population study
- Authors:
- MOL Saskia S. L., et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Psychiatry, 186(6), June 2005, pp.494-499.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the only psychiatric condition that requires a specific event to have occurred for its diagnosis. The aim was to gather evidence from the adult general population on whether life events (e.g. divorce, unemployment) generate as many symptoms of post-traumatic stress as traumatic events (e.g. accidents, abuse). Data on demographic characteristics and history of stressful events were collected through a written questionnaire sent to a random sample of 2997 adults. Respondents also filled out a PTSD symptom checklist, keeping in mind their worst event. Mean PTSD scores were compared, controlling for differences between the two groups. Differences in item scores and in the distribution of the total PTSD scores were analysed. Of the 1498 respondents, 832 were eligible for inclusion in our analysis. For events from the past 30 years the PTSD scores were higher after life events than after traumatic events; for earlier events the scores were the same for both types of events. These findings could not be explained by differences in demographics, history of stressful events, individual item scores, or the distribution of the total PTSD scores. Life events can generate at least as many PTSD symptoms as traumatic events. Our findings call for further studies on the specificity of traumatic events as a cause of PTSD.
It isn't something to yodel about, but it exists! Faeces, nurses, social relations and status within a mental hospital
- Author:
- DONGEN E Van
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 5(3), August 2001, pp.205-215.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
In medical settings, emotion-provoking work creates a hierarchy among health care professionals. Emotions like disgust, contempt or aversion that are evoked by 'body work' with elderly patients often remain invisible, but they play an important role in morality and shape the social relations between the patients and the professionals. With the help of ethnographic data from the nursing wards of a mental hospital in the Netherlands, the author shows how feelings about excrement are determined not only by their nature, but also by the nature of the relationships among the nurses and the relationships between the nurses and the elderly patients. Body care and the emotions that are evoked are connected to morality and moral care. Dealing with bodily and moral 'dirt' gives nurses a special position within the hospital as a whole, which will have effects on the care for elderly.
The effect of integrated emotion-oriented care versus usual care on elderly persons with dementia in the nursing home and on nursing assistants: a randomized clinical trial
- Authors:
- FINNEMA Evelyn, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20(4), April 2005, pp.330-343.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The aim was to examine the effect of integrated emotion-oriented care on nursing home residents with dementia and nursing assistants. A multi-site randomized clinical trial with matched groups was performed, and measurements taken at baseline and after seven months. Sixteen psychogeriatric wards in fourteen nursing homes in the Netherlands were examined. One hundred and forty-six elderly residents with the diagnosis dementia of the Alzheimer (DAT) type, mixed DAT and vascular dementia, and dementia syndrome (NAO) and 99 nursing assistants participated. The following measurements were used. Demented elderly: Behaviour and mood related to adaptation to the illness and the institutionalization. Nursing assistants: General health as measured by feelings of stress, stress reactions, feeling of competence and illness. Positive effects in favour of the integrated emotion-oriented care were found in mild to moderately demented residents on two adaptive tasks: maintaining an emotional balance (less anxiety) and preserving a positive self-image (less dissatisfaction). In the trained group of nursing assistants fewer stress reactions were found only in those who perceived improvement in their emotion-oriented care skills after training. Emotion-oriented care is more effective with regard to the emotional adaptation in nursing homes of persons with a mild to moderate dementia. For the severely demented elderly we did not find this surplus value. This outcome is of clinical importance for elderly persons with dementia who are cared for in nursing homes. With respect to the nursing assistants it is concluded that emotion-oriented care has a positive influence on stress reactions in some of them.