Search

The relevance of the study is determined by the problem of preserving the mental health of society during crisis events that can influence the development of various forms of destructive mental disorders in the population. In this regard, the purpose of the research work was to determine the characteristics of a person’s personal characteristics in the context of preserving his mental resources to fight uncertainty, as well as finding effective ways to restore the psychological well-being of the population in war conditions. The theoretical and methodological basis of the scientific research was a combination of qualitative methods of structural and functional analysis of providing psychological support to society during the period of martial law, as well as a systematic approach to the study of the social conditioning of the formation of tolerance to uncertainty in a person. In particular, several surveys were conducted on the problems of intolerance to uncertainty and psychological well-being of the individual. The scientific work presents the results that reflect the problem of the personal qualities of a person to withstand the burden of crisis events that are associated with situations of uncertainty, in particular, psychological self-regulation, which allows to adequately perceive problems and find productive solutions to solve them. The article also highlights the issues of intolerance, self-identity and personal maturity of a person, which reveal the content of his individual perception and interpretation of situations of uncertainty. The obtained data also reflect the problem of the impact of crisis circumstances on the formation of a person’s predisposition to mental disorders. At the same time, the research paper highlights issues of personal anxiety and worries about the future, as well as reveals the specifics of public health care in different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among low- and middle-income countries, there is evidence that populations experiencing rapid political and economic transition have particularly high burdens of disease and disability from mental health conditions. This paper undertakes a political economy analysis of mental health in Vietnam to enhance knowledge translation, notably how both explicit and tacit knowledge can be used to promote evidence-based policy making. It argues that Vietnam's experience illustrates the need to better understand, not only how transition transforms societies, but how it impacts on the mental health needs and care of populations. The political economy of transition in Vietnam has so far given highest priority to economic growth through integration with the world economy and public sector reform. There is a need to recognise that transition in Vietnam poses both a potential threat to the care of people with mental health needs, and an opportunity to develop mental health services appropriate to local contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of studies have attempted to discern the causes of low productivity and slow growth in developing countries especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The effects of global economic integration, corruption, geography, financial aid and human capital indicators such as education have been widely explored. Despite the significant contribution of common mental disorders (CMDs) to poverty and to the burden of disease, mainstream growth analyses have not yet integrated the body of scholarship that identifies the linkages between CMDs and growth. There are potential benefits of prioritising CMDs in development strategies but there are several challenges. Among the greatest challenges is patchy mental health record. Poor data hinders the conceptualisation and the analyses of the effect of common mental disorders on economic growth and development. This paper explores the theoretical and empirical macro-growth effects of CMDs in sub-Saharan Africa. Preliminary theorizing and evidence suggest that improvement in CMDs is likely to be a stimulus to growth in SSA. We explore further the performance of a non-psychometric instrument known as the K-6 as a cost-effective instrument with which to measure community mental health in household surveys across populations that have various levels of infrastructure and literacy. The K-6 instrument which is a semi-structured questionnaire includes six non-specific psychometric items measuring negative affective states or psychological distress. We also collect socioeconomic data during the survey which enabled us to study the determinants of common mental health conditions among urban and rural households in Ghana. Urban and rural communities were analysed separately because they may demonstrate different determinants of CMDs. We report the outcome of the simple non-psychometric survey as well as the results from logistic regressions showing the factors that affect common mental disorders among the survey respondents. The results show that both urban and rural groups experienced diminished mental health during the food and fuel price hikes of 2008 and 2009, and from the global financial crises over the same period, compared with those who reported no mental distress. The coefficients from the logistic regression estimated by the maximum likelihood show spatial variations in mental health indicators by age, education, and per capita income. For this study, gender did not appear to be a good predictor of any of the specific psychological distress measures assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to establish whether changes in the socioeconomic context were associated with changes in population-level antenatal mental health indicators in Vietnam.Methods: Social, economic and public policies introduced in Vietnam (1986-2010) were mapped. Secondary analyses of data from two cross-sectional community-based studies conducted in 2006 (n = 134) and 2010 (n = 419), involving women who were ≥ 28 weeks pregnant were completed. Data for these two studies had been collected in structured individual face-to-face interviews, and included indicators of antenatal mental health (mean Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale Vietnam-validation (EPDS-V) score), intimate partner relationships (Intimate Bonds Measure Vietnam-validation) and sociodemographic characteristics. Socioeconomic characteristics and mean EPDS-V scores in the two study years were compared and mediation analyses were used to establish whether indicators of social and economic development mediated differences in EPDS-V scores.Results: Major policy initiatives for poverty reduction, hunger eradication and making domestic violence a crime were implemented between 2006 and 2010. Characteristics and circumstances of pregnant women in Ha Nam improved significantly. Mean EPDS-V score was lower in 2010, indicating better population-level antenatal mental health. Household wealth and intimate partner controlling behaviours mediated the difference in EPDS-V scores between 2006 and 2010.Conclusions: Changes in the socioeconomic and political context, particularly through policies to improve household wealth and reduce domestic violence, appear to influence women's lives and population-level antenatal mental health. Cross-sectoral policies that reduce social risk factors may be a powerful mechanism to improve antenatal mental health at a population level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The APEC Mental Health Roadmap has a vision to strengthen mental health and reduce the economic impact of mental illness in the Asia Pacific. To facilitate its implementation, the APEC Digital Hub will heighten exchange and dissemination of best practices in Asia Pacific mental health partnerships, and increase multi-sectoral recognition to invest in mental health to support economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article documents a strong connection between unemployment and mental distress using data from the Spanish National Health Survey. We exploit the collapse of the construction sector to identify the causal effect of job losses in different segments of the Spanish labor market. Our results suggest that an increase of the unemployment rate by 10 percentage points due to the breakdown in construction raised reported poor health and mental disorders in the affected population by 3 percentage points, respectively. We argue that the size of this effect responds to the fact that the construction sector was at the center of the economic recession. As a result, workers exposed to the negative labor demand shock faced very low chances of re-entering employment. We show that this led to long unemployment spells, stress, hopelessness, and feelings of uselessness. These effects point towards a potential channel for unemployment hysteresis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]