International Journal of Social Psychiatry

Three southern provinces of Thailand, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, have been involved in a long period of unrest due to differences between the population in the provinces and the Thai government with regard to language, culture and governance. The objectives of this article are to examine the effects of everyday stressors due to the conflict, including economic stress and migration, as well as the effect of religiosity on the reporting of psychiatric symptoms among adults in the three provinces.

Data were drawn from a survey conducted in 2014. The survey included a probability sample of 2,053 Muslim adults aged 18–59 years.Mental health was assessed using World Health Organization’s (WHO) Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) of 20 questions. Multilevel models were estimated to examine the influence of economic stress due to the conflict, as well as community and individual aspects of migration and religion on mental health.

The data showed that migration from the household and the community and the economic effects of the unrest were associated with reporting of more psychiatric symptoms among adults in the southern provinces. Religion was related to reporting of fewer psychiatric symptoms at the individual and the community levels.

The study documented increased reporting of psychiatric symptoms among persons reporting perceived household economic stress due to the conflict and the migration of family members.

Depression literacy in general population constitutes an ability to understand depression, with knowledge of disease, its risk factors and symptoms. High levels of depression literacy promote early intervention, potentially reducing related disability.

This study investigated the depression literacy in women visitors to clinics of a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Women of 18 and more years were surveyed during their visit to primary and other healthcare clinics of a public hospital in Riyadh. Knowledge on depression symptoms, causes and management approaches identified depression literate women scoring more than 30 points on a 42-item tool.

Of the 409 participants, 65.5% were depression literate, 50% educated as college and above, 64.3% married, 50.7% housewives, 62.4% reported use of multiple information sources (range, 0–8) and had a mean age of 34.9 (standard deviation (SD), 12.4) years. In a logistic regression model, participants scoring less than 30 for depression literacy were significantly associated with women having less than college-level education, divorced marital status and use of decreasing number of learning resources.

Women with low education divorced; using fewer information sources need specific considerations by healthcare providers for assessment of depressive disorders in this setting.

Suicide is an important, preventable, public health problem worldwide, caused by the interaction of numerous environmental, biological and psychosocial factors.

This study aimed to identify the factors associated with suicidal attempts in Isfahan, Iran, in 2015.

In this case–control study, 175 cases who committed suicide and were admitted to emergency services were compared with 175 controls selected among outpatients from the same hospital without any history of suicide attempt. Demographic, psychosocial, personality traits, religiosity, coping skills, stressful life events, socioeconomic status and psychiatric distress were compared between groups. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent risk factors for suicide.

Marital status, education, socioeconomic status, psychological distress, perceived social support, stress coping strategies, personality, religious beliefs, stress life events and general health condition were significantly different between groups. The regression analysis revealed that perceived social support (odds ratio (OR) = 0.962, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.94–0.984), religious beliefs (OR = 0.923, 95% CI: 0.867–0.984) and stressful life event (OR = 1.524, 95% CI: 1.251–1.856) were significantly associated with suicide attempts.

Our finding showed that religious beliefs, perceived social support and stressful life events are the main factors associated with suicide attempts. So, positive strategies such as improvements in life skills to control stressful life events, religiosity and perceived social support can be used to control suicide attempts.

The stigma of mental illness and the ensuing social exclusion are due to the lack of knowledge on the causality of mental illness.

The purpose of this study was to record the stigmatic attitudes of health professionals towards depression, patients suffering from it and the available therapeutic approaches.

The sample of the study included 609 health professionals working in the General Hospital of Corinth. The collection of the empirical material was performed using an anonymous questionnaire. The statistical analysis was performed with the statistical program SPSS 17.0.

Although the health professionals showed more optimistic attitudes towards the abilities of the mentally ill, they seem to maintain stereotypes, proving that stigmatization of the mentally ill and prejudice around mental illness continue to exist. Participants identified psychosocial and psychotherapeutic interventions as the most effective forms of therapy, such as supportive social destination (74.4%), healthy eating and physical activity (67.9%), psychoanalysis (60.6%), relaxation techniques (60.5%) and counselling (53.2%), recording ambivalent attitudes towards psychiatric medicines, questioning their effectiveness. The economic crisis has had a direct impact on health professionals as well burdened their psyche (78.3%) and created problems in everyday work (86.7%).

Health professionals must be protagonists, free from the stigma attached to mental illness as only in this way will they be able to transmit optimism and feelings of acceptance.

There is a growing understanding of the importance of the social factors of posttraumatic stress disorder.

This study expands research on association between posttraumatic stress and social factors by introducing the measure of the acceptance of social changes and evaluating possible links between posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and acceptance of social changes.

A general population sample (n = 778) aged from 18 to 89 years (M = 40.2) from Lithuania participated in our study, of whom 68% reported exposure to traumatic events. Posttraumatic stress reactions were measured with the Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R), and acceptance of social changes was measured with the Acceptance of Social Changes Instrument (SOCHI) developed by the authors of this study.

About 8% of the participants had a potential posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis. Acceptance of social changes was negatively associated with posttraumatic stress. PTSD was related to lower acceptance of social changes (d = .61). Structural equation model (SEM) revealed the mediating role of PTSD for acceptance of social changes following trauma exposure.

Findings of our study indicate that the acceptance of social changes might be an important psychosocial factor of PTSD.

Social interventions to support people with severe mental illness are important to improving the quality of life. The perspectives of users are essential in this process. This article explores users’ experiences, investments and concerns of a befriending programme.

Focus group and individual qualitative interviews with service users.

Overall, the experiences with the programme were positive, and the social interaction was highly valued. However, that the relationships were arranged and facilitated by mental health workers remained an unresolved concern even after several years.

People with severe mental illness benefit from relationships despite the need of professional assistant.

Few studies have examined the impact of persistent symptoms of schizophrenia, especially with respect to patient-reported outcomes (PROs), carer burden and health economic impact.

Analyse data relating to burden and severity of illness, functional impairment and quality of life for patients with persistent symptoms of schizophrenia.

A cohort of stable outpatients with persistent symptoms of schizophrenia across seven countries were assessed in a multicentre, non-interventional, cross-sectional survey and retrospective medical record review using PRO questionnaires, clinical rating scales and carer questionnaires.

Overall, 1,421 patients and 687 carers were enrolled. Approximately two-thirds of patients had moderate/mild schizophrenia with more severe negative symptoms predominating. Patients showed impaired personal/social functioning and unsuitability for work correlated with various patient factors, most notably symptom-related assessments. Quality-of-life assessments showed 25% to ⩾30% of patients had problems with mobility, washing or dressing. Carer burden was also considerable, with carers having to devote an average of 20.5 hours per week and notable negative impact on quality-of-life measures. Healthcare resource utilisation for in-hospital, outpatient and other care provider visits was significant.

These results demonstrate the significant burden of schizophrenia for patients, carers and society and highlight the need for improved treatment approaches.

As young Australian males are at a high risk of suicide, the identification of risk factors other than psychopathology is vital for the development of comprehensive suicide prevention measures.

The study investigated whether there were differences in risk factors and pathways to suicide in young adult males from Queensland, Australia, with and without a diagnosable psychiatric disorder.

A case–control, psychological autopsy method was applied using a control group of young males who had died suddenly from causes other than suicide.

Suicide cases without a psychiatric diagnosis more frequently displayed behaviours indicative of their suicidality (such as previous attempts, disposing of possessions and making statements of hopelessness) than controls without a diagnosis. Suicides without a diagnosis also displayed more ‘difficult’ personality traits, such as higher levels of neuroticism and aggression. They also experienced poorer quality of life and were significantly more likely than their controls to have experienced a recent separation from a spouse or partner.

The results of this study confirmed the existence of several distinct characteristics of young males who die by suicide in the absence of any diagnosable psychiatric disorder.

Suicide is a significant public health issue worldwide, resulting in loss of lives, and burdening societies.

To describe and analyze the time trends of suicide rates (SRs) in the Slovak Republic in 1993–2015 for targeted suicide prevention strategies.

Data for this study were obtained from the mortality database of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. Crude and standardized annual SRs were calculated. Trends and relative risks of suicide according to age and sex were analyzed by joinpoint regression and negative binomial regression.

In total, there were 14,575 suicides in the Slovak Republic in the period 1993–2015 (85.3% were men). The overall average age-standardized SR for the study period was 11.45 per 100,000 person years. The rate increases with age, the highest is in men aged 75+ (42.74 per 100,000 person years). Risk of suicide is six times higher in men than in women and nine times higher in men than in women in the age group 25–34. The time trend of SRs is stable or decreasing from 1993 to 2007, but increasing after 2007, corresponding with increased unemployment rate in the country.

The SR in the Slovak Republic is slightly below the average of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations. Highest SR is observed in men of working age and in retirement. Society might benefit from a strategy of education for improving the recognition of suicide risks.

After the end of Second World War, the recent experience of the Nazi horrors stimulated a debate about the political use of psychiatry. Over the years, the focus shifted on major dictatorships of the time and especially on Soviet Union.

This article aims to provide a critical review of the ways in which psychiatry was used by totalitarian regimes of the 20th century.

We summarized relevant literature about political use of psychiatry in totalitarian regimes of the 20th century, with particular focus on Fascism, Nazism, Argentina dictatorship, Soviet Union and China.

One of the features that are common to most of the dictatorships is that the use of psychiatry has become more prominent when the regimes have had the need to make more acceptable the imprisonment of enemies in the eyes of the world. This for example happened in the Nazi regime when sterilization and killing of psychiatric patients was explained as a kind of euthanasia, or in the Soviet Union after the formal closure of the corrective labor camps and the slow resumption of relations with the capitalistic world, or in China to justify persecution of religious minorities and preserve economic relations with Western countries.

Psychiatry has been variously used by totalitarian regimes as a means of political persecution and especially when it was necessary to make acceptable to public opinion the imprisonment of political opponents.