Emotional Wellbeing and The Healthcare Workforce: A Review
Healthcare systems have long recognized the impact of adverse health events on patients and families, and in recent years have gone further to identify the resulting emotional strains on the healthcare workforce. This attention to emotional health, which has been described as the overall state of one's emotions and the ability to manage and adapt to stressors, is also referred to as "emotional wellness" or "wellbeing." As this concept of wellness expands and evolves in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic into a priority on the wellbeing of those in the helping professions, the current review explores the existing literature on the impact of compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and their relationship to occupational burnout, with the conclusion that the emotional wellness of healthcare stakeholders and the health of an organization itself are not mutually exclusive. A review of these identified areas of occupational wellness is conducted, as well as a summary of findings emphasizing its significant implications for the healthcare workforce moving forward, both in relation to tangible costs to the healthcare industry and its reach to the bedside in the form of reported patient experience.
DOI: 10.29245/2578-2959/2022/2.1150 View / Download PdfMental Health Education, Awareness and Stigma Regarding Mental Illness Among College Students
Objective: The present study examined whether psychoeducational tools are beneficial in improving awareness and reducing stigma regarding mental health. This study aims to increase mental health awareness and reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.
Methods: The study is quantitative research. In this study, 147 students registered in the Abnormal Psychology course, which focuses on mental illness, were recruited. Students signed informed consent and participated in the study voluntarily. Students completed the demographic questions, Beliefs Toward Mental Illness Scale (BTMI), and Stig-9 questionnaire (stig-9).
Results: Our findings revealed a significant difference in beliefs and awareness about mental health and a decrease in stigma after students completed the Abnormal Psychology course. The statistical analysis revealed that students believe mental health is more curable and less embarrassing after taking mental health education. Finally, our findings demonstrated a direct impact of the educational experience on student attitudes toward mental health.
Conclusion: Our finding indicates that mental health education is a promising tool to raise awareness and understanding and reduce the stigma regarding mental health. Providing students with mental health education and training enabled students to learn and understand issues with mental illness. This study demonstrated a direct impact on the educational experience on student attitudes toward mental health.
DOI: 10.29245/2578-2959/2022/2.1258 View / Download PdfComparison of Methamphetamine Induced Psychosis and Primary Psychotic Disorder: Scoping Review of Social Cognition
As many as 43% of methamphetamine users will have a psychotic episode in their lifetime. Of these, 30% will develop a primary psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia. The current state of the literature does not currently allow us to determine who will develop a primary psychotic disorder following a methamphetamine-induced psychosis (MIPD). This distinction is important, since people with a first episode of a psychotic disorder need specific and rapid treatments to ensure optimal recovery. Social cognition could help predict distinct profiles. The aim of this scoping review is to evaluate the literature in order to extract the differences between MIPD and primary psychotic disorders in the domain of social cognition. Articles were recovered from PsychINFO, Medline and Web of science and were retained if they met the following inclusion criteria: (a) original research or meta-analyses, (b) complete or partial sample with a psychotic disorder diagnosis with comorbid methamphetamine use, or MIPD, (c) studies focusing on the difference between a methamphetamine-induced psychosis and a primary psychotic disorder, and (d) studies focusing on social cognition in psychotic or methamphetamine using population. A total of 17 articles were identified, with none directly aiming at distinguishing MIPD and primary psychotic disorder using social cognition. Future studies on social cognition are needed in order to determine differences in the severity of deficits between the two profiles.
DOI: 10.29245/2578-2959/2022/2.1144 View / Download PdfEstablishing Applied Forensic Psychology in Palestine: Legal and Psychological Issues
Forensic Psychology is the branch of psychology focused on the production and application of psychological principles to the legal process including competency, validity of defenses based on mental health behavior, predicting violent behavior, assessing injury and child custody1. Forensic Psychology has evolved in the United States since 2001 when it was recognized as a specialty of the American Psychological Association (APA) and psychologists are now serving the court systems in a wide variety of tasks2. Unfortunately, in developing nations such as Palestine both access to and understanding of the specialty of Forensic Psychology is minimal, leaving critical functions of legal systems where psychological data is needed, unserved and uninformed3.
The following study was conducted in Nablus, West Bank Palestine where the first Master of Clinical Psychology program has produced a cohort of mental health professionals with an expertise in Forensic Psychology. The intervention focused on the training of lawyers (with a specialty in domestic violence and family protection) on the general principles and uses of psychology in the legal system and an introduction of how they could use forensic psychologists to the benefit of the court. The data determined that participants in the one-day training module gain significant understanding and motivation to use forensic psychologists in their practice (.002 level of significance) and that the effect was undifferentiated by age, gender, place of residence or education level).
The current study determines that with a minimal effort legal professionals can gain both understanding and a motivation to use psychological professionals, even in systems where there was no previous exposure to the field. Such openings can change the practice of law and legal systems in a positive way to include the expertise of mental health professionals at every level of governance and jurisdiction. Having access to and incorporating psychological data from qualified professionals into developing legal institutions is critical in insuring human rights and scienced based evidence at every level of societal systems.
DOI: 10.29245/2578-2959/2022/2.1254 View / Download Pdf