Psychological stigma costs as barriers to healthcare use in former soldiers of the German Armed Forces: A qualitative analysis

Individuals decide to use healthcare when the expected benefits outweigh the perceived costs. One of these cost factors in this decision can be stigma. So far, it has not been researched how former soldiers of the German Armed Forces with a service-induced mental illness perceive stigma and how it influences their healthcare use. As stigma is shaped by the socio-cultural context, the setting of the potential healthcare use must be considered. Narrative interviews were conducted with 33 former soldiers with mental health problems. The data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach, in which codes were formed and emerging themes were systemized. The relationship between stigma and healthcare use was analyzed. Occupational discrimination and social exclusion were experienced in both in the military and civilian context, but stigma functioned differently in each context. In the military context, former soldiers’ self-stigma of mentally ill individuals being weak was in stark contrast to their internalized military standards. This contrast let them avoid disclosure and subsequent healthcare use. In civilian context, the participants perceived 2 different stigma costs: mental illness stigma and former soldier stigma (i.e., stigmatization because of their military past). Both were perceived as barriers to healthcare use. A model, illustrating these different stigma costs in the different contexts, was developed. Further research on the link between stigma and healthcare use of this group is urgently needed.     

USAF Special Tactics Operator Combat Exposure and Psychological Stress

Given the length of combat in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere, and the role special operations forces will continue to play, we believe it is imperative to gain understanding of the psychological “wear and tear” associated with sustained combat operations on these highly specialized, highly utilized personnel. This study focused on a seldom-studied group, Air Force Special Tactics (ST) operators, to assess combat exposure, current psychological stress, and preferences for support when needed. This study assessed symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety, sleep, anger, and perceptions of help seeking in 5 ST units. Data revealed that the majority of study participants report distress levels below clinical thresholds; however, 26% struggle with generalized stress/agitation and, at smaller percentages, other distress symptoms that have negative impact on work performance. Combat experiences were comparable or higher than Army and Marine maneuver forces, and greater amounts of exposure related to positive screening for a possible mental health disorder, generalized agitation, and posttraumatic symptoms; combat involving direct fighting and being in high-threat situations were also related to posttraumatic stress. Distress rates for Special Operations Weather personnel were higher. Attitudes toward mental health support were positive however, embedded assets were preferred over base clinic providers. We review these and other findings and offer suggestions for future research in this area.     

Intergenerational occupational transmission: Do offspring walk in the footsteps of mom or dad,or both?

The purpose of this research was to apply the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in order to investigate intergenerational occupational transmission between parents and their children. A sample of 260 undergraduate students completed a questionnaire measuring TPB variables, and congruence was calculated between the parents' occupations and their offspring's chosen profession. Intention to work in the parents' occupations was predicted by attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. Congruence between parents' and their children's occupational choice was predicted by intention and perceived behavioral control. The findings provide support to the relational approach in career choice. Implications of the findings for career counselors and young people's career choices are discussed.     

Representation of mental illness in Christian self-help bestsellers

The present study examined messages about mental illness in 14 contemporary Christian self-help bestsellers. Content analysis revealed that most texts focused upon depression. Categories of textual units included Underlying Assumptions Regarding Depression, Representations of Depression, Roots/Causes/Reasons for Depression, and Christian Responses to Depression. Demonic influence was the most frequently cited reason for depression. Other reasons included negative cognitions, failure as a Christian, and negative emotions. Christian responses to depression included trusting God, religious activity, and individual willpower. Discussion of these results focused upon the problematic impact of these messages upon individuals with depression, and upon suggestions for reducing mental illness stigma in religious communities.     

Correlates of religious,supernatural and psychosocial causal beliefs about depression among Latino immigrants in primary care

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore causal attributions about depression and to identify psychosocial factors associated with these beliefs among Latino immigrants. We interviewed 177 primary care patients with instruments to assess causal beliefs, depressive and somatic symptoms, ethnic identity and stigma. An exploratory factor analysis of the Causal Beliefs scale yielded three factors, “Balance,” “Psychosocial” and “Malevolent Spirituality/Transgressions” that were used as dependent variables in multivariate analyses. Depressive symptoms, age, country of origin and religiosity were significantly associated with particular factors of causal beliefs. Those with higher education were most likely to endorse psychosocial causal beliefs. Stigma pertained to causal beliefs related to “malevolent forces” and “personal transgressions.” In conclusion, psychosocial and religious explanations of illness were strongly endorsed by these Latino immigrants, indicating a dual system of Western-medicine and traditional beliefs. These results suggest culturally-specific interventions for improving health knowledge and communication with patients about depression.     

The Tao of a peaceful mind: the representation of emotional health and healing in traditional Chinese literature

This paper explores the representation of emotional health and healing in traditional Chinese literature, and the holistic relationship between traditional Chinese mental medicine and literature as well as philosophy. The philosophical, moral and aesthetic significance assigned to emotional health and healing not only inspired but also mandated the representation of these subjects in Chinese literature. For many Chinese readers, emotional health is more than a medical concern but is integral to their moral and spiritual wholesomeness, the attainment of which necessarily involves the edifying role of literature. The literary representation of emotional health and healing gave rise to a subculture of emotional health and a medical dilettantism in Chinese society. The mutual inclusivity of the professional and the amateurish is peculiar to traditional Chinese mental medicine. While facilitating popular appreciation of emotional health and helping to validate the legitimacy and efficacy of emotional healing, such a phenomenon also caused a certain degree of charlatanization that undercut the rationality and validity of mental medicine. An investigation into the relationship between traditional Chinese literature and mental medicine provides an interdisciplinary perspective from which to examine the latter's history, theory, and practice, thus shedding a cross-cultural light on modern psychology and psychiatry.     

Structure of the Modern Japanese Family: Evidence From the Results of a Doll Location Test by Adolescents

To test Herzberg's (1966, 1987; Herzberg, Mausner, &; Snyderman, 1959) motivator-hygiene theory, I examined the relationship between work values and job satisfaction. Educators (N # 386) from 18 Canadian secondary schools were asked to report the degree to which they experienced 16 work values and five dimensions of job satisfaction. Factor analysis suggested five sets of work values: intrinsic work-related, intrinsic work-outcome, extrinsic job-related, extrinsic job-outcome, and extrinsic people-related. Regression analyses identified the best predictors for each of the five dimensions of job satisfaction. The results support and extend Herzberg's theory. In addition to those identified by Herzberg, other factors contributed portions of variance to the five dimensions of job satisfaction.     

Selective Attention in Animal Discrimination Learning

The traditional approach to the study of selective attention in animal discrimination learning has been to ask if animals are capable of the central selective processing of stimuli, such that certain aspects of the discriminative stimuli are partially or wholly ignored while their relationships to each other, or other relevant stimuli, are processed. A notable characteristic of this research has been that procedures involve the acquisition of discriminations, and the issue of concern is whether learning is selectively determined by the stimulus dimension defined by the discriminative stimuli. Although there is support for this kind of selective attention, in many cases, simpler nonattentional accounts are sufficient to explain the results. An alternative approach involves procedures more similar to those used in human information-processing research. When selective attention is studied in humans, it generally involves the steady state performance of tasks for which there is limited time allowed for stimulus input and a relatively large amount of relevant information to be processed; thus, attention must be selective or divided. When this approach is applied to animals and alternative accounts have been ruled out, stronger evidence for selective or divided attention in animals has been found. Similar processes are thought to be involved when animals search more natural environments for targets. Finally, an attempt is made to distinguish these top-down attentional processes from more automatic preattentional processes that have been studied in humans and other animals.     

Powerful Occupational Therapists: A Community of Professionals, 1950–1980

A powerful community of therapists changed occupational therapy in the United States between 1950 until 1980. These innovators, primarily women, strategically positioned themselves to market the emerging profession. These therapists, categorized as theorists and futurists, political movers and new and old guard sustainers, determined occupational therapy's direction. Participating in the 1950s rehabilitation, the 1960s equal rights, and the 1970s women's movements, the community of therapists separated from the male-dominated medical model to gain professional and scientific authority. An internal tension arouse between those therapists embracing an objective, and arguably male, science and those supporting a characteristically feminine caring philosophical base.     

Effect of Training on Sensory Room and Cart Usage

In this study, the authors assess the effectiveness of education on the consistency of use of sensory rooms within a large mental health facility. Eleven staff and thirty-six clients received additional multimodal education in sensory strategies, the use of the sensory rooms on their assigned units, and the link between the rooms and clients' personal crisis intervention plans. Staff knowledge and room usage rates were analyzed pre- and post-training. The authors found statistically significant increases in staff knowledge post-training and increases in the use of the sensory rooms by study participants. The results support the effectiveness of training which uses hands-on, population-specific strategies.