What mom thinks matters when it comes to mental illness, study finds

ScienceDaily (June 7, 2011) — A new study led by a Northern Illinois University sociologist shows that while family members often provide critical support, they also can sometimes be the source of stigmatizing attitudes that impede the recovery of mentally ill relatives.

"Negative attitudes of family members have the potential to affect the ways that mentally ill persons view themselves, adversely influencing the likelihood of recovery from the illness," said lead researcher Fred Markowitz, an NIU professor of sociology.

Markowitz and his colleagues, Beth Angell from Rutgers, and Jan Greenberg from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, published their findings in the June issue of Social Psychology Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Sociological Association.

Over an 18-month period, the researchers studied 129 mothers of adult children with schizophrenia.

"In short, what mom thinks matters," Markowitz said. "It's a chain of effects that unfolds.

"We found that when those with mental illness exhibited greater levels of initial symptoms, lower self-confidence and quality of life, their mothers tended to view them in more stigmatized terms -- for example, seeing them as 'incompetent,' 'unpredictable,' and 'unreliable,'" Markowitz continued. "When mothers held these views, their sons and daughters with mental illness were more likely to come to see themselves in similar terms -- what social psychologists call 'the reflected appraisals process.' Importantly, when the individuals with mental illness took on these stigmatizing views of themselves, their symptoms became somewhat greater and levels of self-confidence and quality of life lower."

A long line of research has shown that the stigma associated with mental illness can be a major impediment to recovery, affecting self-esteem and even job prospects. But research has not historically examined the links between stigma, reflected appraisals, identity formation, and recovery, Markowitz said.

"Our study is part of research that is starting to more fully examine how stigma affects the self-concept and identity of those with mental illness," he said.

Markowitz and his colleagues believe it is important to acknowledge that many of the sentiments conveyed toward ill relatives grow out of positive intentions and reflect attempts to cope with the difficulties of having a relative with serious mental illness. Yet, stigmatizing attitudes are of concern because of their potential adverse effects.

"This study highlights the notion that recovery from mental illness is not simply a matter of controlling symptoms as indicated by a strictly 'psychiatric' perspective," Markowitz said. "It is, to a certain extent, a social-psychological process.

"The ways in which people, including family members and service providers, think about persons with mental illness affect the beliefs and actions of the individuals with mental illness, in turn shaping the trajectory of recovery."

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by American Sociological Association, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

Fred E. Markowitz, Beth Angell, and Jan S. Greenberg. Stigma, Reflected Appraisals, and Recovery Outcomes in Mental Illness. Social Psychology Quarterly, June 2011; [link]

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Length of parental military deployment associated with children's mental health diagnoses, study finds

ScienceDaily (July 4, 2011) — Children with a parent who was deployed in the U.S. military efforts Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) for longer periods were more likely than children whose parents did not deploy to receive a diagnosis of a mental health problem, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

According to background information in the article, previous research has attributed children's depression and negative affect to parental military deployments. However, there has not been much research into this topic with regards to the United States' present conflicts, OIF and OEF. "As troops face dynamic and evolving threats (e.g., an increasingly sophisticated array of roadside explosive devices)," write the authors, "the need to anticipate the psychological consequences for their children and to offer timely intervention becomes increasingly important."

Alyssa J. Mansfield, Ph.D., M.P.H., then of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, now of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Honolulu, and colleagues examined electronic medical record data for outpatient care received at military facilities or through military health insurance between 2003 and 2006. The study included children ages 5 years through 17 years who had at least one parent serving on active duty in the U.S. Army. (Children of Reserve and National Guard personnel were excluded.) Researchers used the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, to identify mental health diagnoses.

The study included 307,520 children, of whom 16.7 percent had a mental health diagnosis (most often for stress disorders, depression, behavioral problems, anxiety, and sleep disorders) during the study. More than 62 percent of parents were deployed at least once during the period, for an average of 11 months. The researchers found that mental health diagnoses were more common among children who had a parent who was deployed at least once for military operations in Iraq or Afghanistan. After adjusting the data for age, sex and mental health history, they showed that the likelihood of a mental health diagnosis increased with increases in parental deployment length; other factors included older age groups and male sex. The strongest associations were for acute stress reaction and adjustment disorders, depressive disorders, and behavioral disorders, among the total of 6,579 mental health diagnoses observed in children of deployed parents.

"We observed a clear dose-response pattern such that children of parents who spent more time deployed between 2003 and 2006 fared worse than children whose parents were deployed for a shorter duration," write the authors. "Similar to findings among military spouses, prolonged deployment appears to be taking a mental health toll on children." They urge further research of this issue among other branches of the military as well as the National Guard and Reserves.

Commentary: A Closer Look at the Effect Military Deployment Has on Children

In a commentary, Stephen J. Cozza, M.D., from the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine in Bethesda, Md., provides perspective on the scope of U.S. military deployment and the population it touches. As of 2009, he notes, 44 percent of active duty military members have children (for a total of 1.2 million children), as well as 43 percent of Reserve and National Guard members. Furthermore, since combat operations began in 2001, roughly 2 million U.S. military personnel have deployed at least once.

The article by Mansfield and colleagues, writes Cozza, provides "an important contribution to our understanding of a child's health and its relationship to parental combat deployment." The study, he adds, appears to confirm earlier research into this topic. But it also raises questions, such as what long-term consequences, if any, deployments have on children's health and development.

Cozza recommends that these findings be used to raise national awareness of the problem, both within the military community and without. Since affected children are likely to at some point receive care outside the military health system, he urges civilian clinicians to pay special attention to these patients. "Brief screening for anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, academic difficulties, peer relational problems, or high-risk behaviors (such as substance misuse or unsafe sexual practices) is warranted and will help identify treatment needs," Cozza concludes.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by JAMA and Archives Journals.

Journal References:

Alyssa J. Mansfield; Jay S. Kaufman; Charles C. Engel; Bradley N. Gaynes. Deployment and Mental Health Diagnoses Among Children of US Army Personnel. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2011; DOI: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.123Stephen J. Cozza. Children of Military Service Members: Raising National Awareness of the Family Health Consequences of Combat Deployment. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2011; DOI: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.117

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'One-stop' clinic ups mental health, social work visits for veterans

ScienceDaily (June 10, 2011) — Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who visited a U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) integrated care clinic were much more likely to undergo initial mental health and social work evaluations than veterans who visited a standard VA primary care clinic, according to a study led by a San Francisco VA Medical Center researcher.

The increase was especially significant for women veterans, younger veterans, veterans with mental health diagnoses, and veterans who screened positive for traumatic brain injury.

The study was published on June 7, 2011 in the electronic Online First section of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

The decisive factor was the integrated care model, itself, said the lead author of the study, Karen Seal, MD, MPH, co-founder and co-director of the Integrated Care Clinic at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, which was the site of the study.

Under the conventional VA model, patients are seen by a primary care physician and, if they screen positive for mental illness according to the VA's standard protocol, are referred to a mental health provider. That referral appointment would not necessarily be available the same day, nor in the same clinic.

Under the integrated care model, all patients are referred immediately by their primary care physician to a mental health provider, called the "Post-Deployment Stress Specialist," and a social worker, called the "Combat Case Manager." All visits take place during the same appointment, in the same clinic, with no waiting.

"This demonstrates the value of the integrated care clinic model for our veterans, especially those who may be more vulnerable," said Seal, who is also an associate professor in residence of medicine and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco.

The study also showed, however, that the rate of follow-up mental health care -- the number of subsequent visits with mental health providers that took place after initial evaluation -- was not any higher under the integrated care model than under standard care.

"We are really good at initial engagement, but unfortunately, we are not as successful at helping veterans stay with and complete a course of mental health treatment," said Seal. "We need to learn how to help veterans stick with the more difficult first few sessions of PTSD treatment, so they can get through to the other side when they really start to feel better." Seal explained that successful PTSD treatment usually takes nine to 12 sessions.

The study examined the medical records of 526 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who came to SFVAMC between 2005 and 2009 for their first primary care visit after returning from combat deployment. Veterans who visited after April 1, 2007 -- the date that the Integrated Care Clinic was founded -- were given an appointment at either the Integrated Care Clinic or a conventional care clinic.

The 30-day mental health evaluation rate was 92 percent for the integrated care patients versus 59 percent for standard care patients. The rate for social work evaluation was 77 percent versus 56 percent.

For women veterans, the rate of initial mental health evaluations in integrated care was three times the conventional care rate. "This is good news, because women veterans have a high burden of mental health problems, and, at the same time, a disproportionate number of barriers to care, such as child care issues and other logistical constraints," said Seal.

Seal noted that the overall rate of initial mental health evaluations was higher in the integrated care model even after allowing for an overall VA systemwide improvement in first-time mental health evaluations that occurred after 2007.

She speculated that one promising approach to helping veterans complete their course of PTSD treatment might be the VA Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) model, a new team-based method of providing primary care in the VA system. "One member of the patient care team could be assigned to make reminder phone calls for example, to encourage veterans to stick with and complete their mental health treatment," Seal said.

Co-authors of the study are Greg Cohen, MSW, and Daniel Bertenthal, MPH, of SFVAMC; Beth E. Cohen, MD, MAS, and Shira Maguen, PhD, of SFVAMC and UCSF; and Aaron Daley, MA, of SFVAMC.

The study was supported by funds from the US Department of Defense that were administered by the Northern California Institute for Research and Education.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of California - San Francisco.

Journal Reference:

Karen H. Seal, Greg Cohen, Daniel Bertenthal, Beth E. Cohen, Shira Maguen, Aaron Daley. Reducing Barriers to Mental Health and Social Services for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans: Outcomes of an Integrated Primary Care Clinic. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2011; DOI: 10.1007/s11606-011-1746-1

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Childhood trauma linked to higher rates of mental health problems

ScienceDaily (June 12, 2011) — New research has shown that children's risk for learning and behavior problems and obesity rises in correlation to their level of trauma exposure, says the psychiatrist at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital who oversaw the study. The findings could encourage physicians to consider diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder rather than attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which has similar symptoms to PTSD but very different treatment.

The study examined children living in a violent, low-income neighborhood and documented an unexpectedly strong link between abuse, trauma and neglect and the children's mental and physical health: It reported, for instance, that children experiencing four types of trauma were 30 times more likely to have behavior and learning problems than those not exposed to trauma.

"In communities where there is violence, where children are exposed to events such as shootings in their neighborhoods, kids experience a constant environmental threat," said senior author Victor Carrion, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford. "Contrary to some people's belief, these children don't get used to trauma. These events remain stressful and impact children's physiology."

The new study is being published online June 8 in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect. Carrion collaborated on the research with scientists at the University of New Orleans and the Bayview Child Health Center, part of San Francisco's California Pacific Medical Center.

The findings provide compelling evidence that pediatricians should routinely screen children for trauma exposures, said Carrion, who is also a child psychiatrist at Packard Children's.

"As simple as it may seem, physicians do not ask about trauma," he said. "And kids get the wrong diagnoses."

The study builds on earlier work that linked worsening health in adults with their dose of exposure to nine types of adverse childhood events, including being subject to various kinds of abuse or neglect; having a household member who abused alcohol or drugs, was incarcerated or was mentally ill; having a mother who was treated violently; and not living in a two-parent household. Middle-class men exposed to more of these events had more chronic diseases in adulthood, the prior research found. The results of the current study highlight the need for early identification of such adversity-associated health problems, and early intervention. Obesity, for example, may act as a mediator to other health problems such as diabetes, cardiac risk and inflammatory illness.

To perform the study, the researchers evaluated medical records from 701 children treated at a primary-care clinic in Bayview-Hunter's Point, a San Francisco neighborhood with high rates of poverty and violence. About half the children were African-American; the rest came from other ethnic backgrounds. Each child's exposure to adverse events was scored on a scale from 0 to 9, with one point given for each type of adversity. The researchers also evaluated the medical records for evidence of obesity and learning or behavior problems.

Two-thirds of the children in the study had experienced at least one category of adversity, and 12 percent experienced four or more categories. An adversity score of 4 or higher left kids 30 times as likely to show learning and behavior problems and twice as likely to be obese as those with a score of 0. Children with an adversity score of 1 were 10 times as likely to have learning and behavior problems as those not exposed to trauma.

Prior research has shown that about 30 percent of children in violent communities have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, which can include the learning and behavior problems detected in the current study, Carrion noted. However, a physician unaware of the fact that a child experienced trauma, and noting the child's physiological hyperarousability and cognitive difficulties, may diagnose ADHD instead of PTSD. That's a problem because the two disorders have opposite treatments, he said. Kids with PTSD need psychotherapy, not the stimulant medications given for ADHD.

"Children can recover from PTSD with the appropriate treatment, which is one of approach and not avoidance," Carrion said. "By not asking about trauma, we're utilizing avoidance. We're perpetuating PTSD."

As part of their efforts to address the long-term health problems that stem from childhood trauma, Carrion, his collaborators and several San Francisco community partners are working to launch the Center for Youth Wellness, a one-stop health and wellness center for urban children and families in San Francisco. The Center for Youth Wellness will combine pediatrics with mental health services, educational support, family support, research and best practices in child-abuse response under one roof. With both public and private support, the center will coordinate the services of multiple agencies to give children a safe and accessible place to increase their resilience to adverse life experiences and improve their well-being.

The center, which aims to begin operation by mid-2012, is a partnership between California Pacific Medical Center's Bayview Child Health Center, San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center, San Francisco District Attorney's Office, Stanford's Early Life Stress Research Program at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Tipping Point Community. Nadine Burke, MD, director of the Bayview center, is also a co-author of the study.

"We need to create trauma-informed systems," Carrion concluded, adding that the Center for Youth Wellness hopes to function as a model for such systems across the nation. People working for the welfare of children need to be on the lookout for trauma and know how to intervene, and how to work with the family and with schools, he said. "If trauma goes untreated, it's very costly for the individuals involved and for society in general."

The research was funded by the Lennar Urban Corp. and awards to Carrion from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Evans Foundation.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Stanford University Medical Center.

Journal Reference:

Nadine J. Burke, Julia L. Hellman, Brandon G. Scott, Carl F. Weems, Victor G. Carrion. The impact of adverse childhood experiences on an urban pediatric population. Child Abuse & Neglect, 2011; DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.02.006

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Ways to help teens overcome fears and stigmas of mental illness

ScienceDaily (June 6, 2011) — When teens start experiencing changes in moods or emotions, they tend to fear sharing their blue days with their families and adults who can help them. As a consequence, they often suffer in silence.

Case Western Reserve University KL2 Clinical Research Scholar and Instructor Melissa Pinto-Foltz from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing wants to find the magical elixir that helps teens speak up, seek help and then stick with treatments that get them feeling better.

"About one in five Americans has a mental illness, with half of these individuals first experiencing symptoms of mental illness in their teen years," she said.

Pinto-Foltz's research contributes to efforts nationwide to combat a public health issue, stigma and mental health literacy, made a priority in a U. S. Surgeon General's Report and the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.

She found that a good way to reach teens to help them learn about mental illness and improve negative attitudes about mental illness was through their school.

She studied 156 girls in the 9th and 10th grade in a research project set in public high schools in Louisville, Ky. About half the group participated in a special national program called In Our Own Voice, offered by the National Alliance for Mental Illness, and the other half did not see the program.

More than 200,000 people across the U.S. have seen the In Our Own Voice program, which is frequently given in schools, churches and other community settings. The one-hour program involves learning through storytelling and changing attitudes through interacting with people who are in sustained recovery from mental illness. These individuals tell their personal stories of what it was like to first discover the illness and get through their recovery from the illness.

While the program is widely used across the U.S., no evidence exists that it is effective with teens, nor has the impact of the program been examined for an extended time period.

Pinto-Foltz used the In Our Own Voice program with the teens and reported her findings from the study, "Feasibility, Acceptability, and Initial Efficacy of a Knowledge-Contact Program to Reduce Mental Illness Stigma and Improve Mental Health Literacy in Adolescents," in Social Science and Medicine.

"We tell stories every day to friends, family and co-workers," she said. "The whole idea behind this approach is that people learn about the world through stories, and interacting with people with mental illness may violate previously held stereotypes. We wanted to see if teens responded to these interactions with and stories told by people with mental illness in such a way that it decreased stigma associated with mental illness and improved their knowledge of mental illness."

She followed participants four times over 10 weeks: first to study what stigmas and knowledge they had about mental illness, then in response to the In Our Own Voice program. She conducted follow-up interviews shortly after girls saw the program and again at weeks 4 and 8 to see if there were changes in the their level of stigma associated with mental illness and whether their knowledge of mental illness increased.

Pinto-Foltz's 10-week study found that the girls liked and learned from the In Our Own Voice storytelling program, but the program was too short to change some of the girls' stigmas that they would be more accepting of individuals with mental illness.

"This was our first assessment of In Our Own Voice as it's currently given, and it's a starting point to tackle stigma and improve mental health literacy among adolescents using existing approaches," she said.

In the future, she added that we can increase our chance of combating stigma and increasing mental health knowledge by providing more opportunities for adolescents to interact with the presenters following the program.

She suggested continued interaction with the presenters through projects with the girls or visits to their health classes for further discussions about mental illness.

"The girls were eager for more interaction with the presenters," Pinto-Foltz explained. "They kept asking me when the presenters would return to tell more stories. After the program, the girls had many lingering questions about mental illness. Increasing their interaction with the presenters would allow an opportunity to clarify their questions about mental illness, increase their comfort in interacting with individuals with mental illness, and decrease stigma."

Meanwhile in the follow-up with the girls at four and eight weeks, Pinto-Foltz found that girls who participated in In Our Own Voice had improved mental health knowledge when compared to the girls who did not receive the program.

Stigma levels for both groups remained the same, calling for further examination of approaches to tackle this important and pervasive problem, Pinto-Foltz said.

This research was support by the Midwest Nursing Research Society and the Iota Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Case Western Reserve University.

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Workplace mental health disability leave recurs sooner than physical health leave, CAMH study shows

ScienceDaily (June 29, 2011) — The recurrence of an employee's medical leave of absence from work tends to happen much sooner with a mental health leave than a physical one, a Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) study shows.

Most workers who take a mental health leave from their jobs do not have another disability leave for at least two years, according to a new study from CAMH. In contrast, most who have had a physical health disability leave have almost four years before a second episode.

Mental health disability leaves cost approximately $51 billion a year in Canada in health care and work disruption costs, and those with a previous episode are at higher risk of having another one.

"If we understand the timing of a repeated episode, as well as who is at risk of having a recurrence, we can develop more effective prevention programs to help people stay at work," says Dr. Carolyn Dewa, study lead and head of CAMH's Centre for Research on Employment and Workplace Health. The study was published in the June issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

For their study, Dr. Dewa and colleagues looked at the records of a Canadian company with 13,000 employees from 2003 to 2006. Among this group, 3,593 employees had one or more disability leaves during this period. An episode was at least five continuous days off work related to a medical diagnosis.

Among all workers, 72 per cent who had a disability leave were still at work after a year. Those who were more likely to have a second episode sooner included women, maintenance workers and those with disrupted marriages.

"It's important to be aware that although workers who have had one mental health disability leave are at risk of having a recurrence, it doesn't happen immediately," added Dr. Dewa. "These workers want to be back at work, but unfortunately, sometimes supports to help maintain their health are not available." It is important to do return-to-work planning to help employees transition back after a leave. Workplace resources can be very valuable in sustaining worker well-being and help them remain on the job longer.

It is a complex task to untangle the reasons why mental health disability leave recurs sooner than those for physical health. It is possible the workers in the study had not fully recovered when they returned, because some aspects of their illness were overlooked, the researchers point out.

"The workers' major symptoms may have subsided, but their ability to work may still be impaired due to memory loss or inability to focus," says Dr. Dewa. "The return-to-work forms that physicians fill out don't always ask about a person's functional abilities at work, just about medical symptoms. And workers may attribute symptoms such as memory loss or lack of focus to aging."

If a workers' ability to do their job is impaired, it could create resentment among their colleagues -- and there is growing evidence to suggest social support, both within and outside the workplace, is important to prevent psychiatric disorders. This may explain, for example, why those with disrupted marriages relapsed sooner. Past research also shows a link between low social support and depression in women.

Finding the right balance of providing social support without intruding too much or violating a person's privacy is challenging, but possible, says Dr. Dewa. "Occupational health staff can provide support or just check in with workers who have had a previous disability leave. People like it when you genuinely care about the answer to, 'How are you?'"

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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FEAFES abre la convocatoria del XIV Premio Jaime Albert Solana a los mejores proyectos sobre salud mental.

FEAFES abre la convocatoria del XIV Premio Jaime Albert Solana a los mejores proyectos sobre salud mental.

Los trabajos pueden enviarse hasta el 5 de septiembre.

- La Confederación FEAFES reconocerá con este premio las mejores acciones de difusión del conocimiento de la enfermedad mental desde una visión positiva y de lucha contra el estigma social.

- El jurado, compuesto por profesionales de la Salud Mental y por el presidente de la Confederación, hará público el fallo en noviembre y premiará el mejor proyecto con 6.000 euros.

- Podrán participar todas aquellas personas físicas o jurídicas pertenecientes a FEAFES o vinculadas a ella, así como instituciones científicas o académicas. Madrid, junio de 2011.- La Confederación Española de Agrupaciones de Familiares y Personas con Enfermedad Mental (FEAFES) ha abierto el plazo de convocatoria para su XIV Premio Jaime Albert Solana 2011, que reconoce las mejores acciones de difusión del conocimiento de la enfermedad mental en el campo sanitario, social, laboral y/o legal.

Podrán participar en este premio todas aquellas personas físicas o jurídicas miembros de la Confederación FEAFES o afines a la misma, así como instituciones científicas o académicas que sean autores de cualquier proyecto, investigación o estudio que contribuya al conocimiento de la enfermedad mental y la lucha contra el estigma social que rodea a este ámbito.

El premio, cuya fecha de recepción de documentación finaliza el 5 de septiembre, tendrá una dotación económica de 6.000 euros que se otorgarán al mejor proyecto de mejora del conocimiento social de la enfermedad mental de una forma positiva. Se valorará también la posibilidad de continuidad o replicabilidad de los trabajos presentados.

El jurado hará público su fallo durante el mes de noviembre de 2011 y estará compuesto por profesionales de reconocido prestigio, así como por José María Sánchez Monge, presidente de la organización convocante, quien actuará como secretario.

Desde hace 13 años, el Premio Jaime Albert Solana viene reconociendo la labor realizada por instituciones y particulares en la investigación sobre la enfermedad mental en distintos ámbitos, así como en programas de mejora de la imagen social de las personas con este tipo de trastornos. 

Las bases de esta edición del Premio pueden consultarse en www.feafes.org.

FEAFES.

La Confederación Española de Agrupaciones de Familiares y Personas con Enfermedad Mental (FEAFES) es una entidad sin ánimo de lucro y de interés social que surgió en 1983. Integra a 19 federaciones y asociaciones uniprovinciales, reuniendo a 283 entidades y cuenta con más de 45.000 socios y socias en todo el territorio nacional.

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FEAFES reclama el derecho de las personas con enfermedad mental a participar en su tratamiento.

FEAFES reclama el derecho de las personas con enfermedad mental a participar en su tratamiento.

FEAFES clausuró el pasado 7 de mayo su XVII Congreso en Valladolid.

- Esta reivindicación pertenece a las conclusiones del XVII Congreso FEAFES que ha reunido estos días en Valladolid a 300 miembros de asociaciones de personas con enfermedad mental y familiares.

- La cita bianual del movimiento asociativo FEAFES abordó en Valladolid la coordinación sociosanitaria como “el principal reto” de la atención en salud mental de los próximos años.

- En el acto de Clausura del Congreso participaron el secretario de Estado de Educación y la directora general de Planificación, Calidad, Ordenación y Formación de la Consejería de Sanidad de la Junta de Castilla y León.

Valladolid, mayo de 2011.- Las personas con enfermedad mental deben participar en el tratamiento que se ofrece en las Unidades de Salud Mental y en la formación de los profesionales que atienden este tipo trastornos. Así lo reclamó el presidente de FEAFES, José María Sánchez Monge, durante la Clausura del XVII Congreso del movimiento asociativo de personas con enfermedad mental y familiares celebrado en Valladolid.

Asimismo desde FEAFES exigen “el desarrollo inmediato” de una adecuada atención a las personas con enfermedad mental en sus propios domicilios y de programas de psicoterapia. De este modo, argumentan, se podría “reducir el número de ingresos involuntarios” y el “tratamiento farmacológico”.

Estas reivindicaciones forman parte de las conclusiones que FEAFES ha extraído tras la celebración de su XVII Congreso  en  Valladolid, donde además esta entidad ha reclamado la participación de las personas con enfermedad mental en todos los aspectos de la vida social, con especial énfasis las que se refieren al ámbito de la salud mental, desde “la formación de los profesionales” a “la atención directa” a este colectivo.

 

Compromiso político.

El presidente de FEAFES también subrayó la necesidad de “un mayor compromiso” de todas las Administraciones para conseguir un “verdadero espacio sociosanitario”. Según FEAFES, esto supone un paso necesario para que las personas con enfermedad mental vean reconocidos sus derechos fundamentales como cualquier otro ciudadano.

En particular, Sánchez Monge indicó que la aplicación de la Ley de Promoción de Autonomía Personal para las personas con enfermedad mental en situación de dependencia es todavía “insuficiente, parcial y desigual” entre las diferentes Comunidades Autónomas, por lo que reclamó la mejora de la atención y el mantenimiento de los servicios sociales.

En primera persona.

Durante el Congreso, el Comité Asesor de Personas con Enfermedad Mental de FEAFES reivindicó que tanto las Administraciones Públicas como el conjunto de la sociedad favorezcan la integración de este colectivo.

En ese sentido, dicho Comité reclamó “más y mejores tratamientos” en el entorno domiciliario de los afectados por problemas de salud mental como el modo más eficaz de “evitar muchísimo sufrimiento” a estas personas.

Además, desde el Comité subrayaron la necesidad de apoyar la búsqueda de empleo de las personas con enfermedad mental, como paso necesario para su  integración en la sociedad. Asimismo, el Comité recordó la Convención ONU como una herramienta clave para evitar la vulneración de los derechos de las personas con discapacidad a causa de enfermedad mental

Desaparición del estigma.

Durante el acto de Clausura del Congreso FEAFES, el secretario de Estado de Educación, Mario Bedera, señaló la importancia del conjunto del movimiento asociativo que representa FEAFES. Además afirmó que desde el Ministerio de Educación se comparten los objetivos de FEAFES para lograr la “desaparición del estigma” que aún sufren las personas con problemas de salud mental y conseguir así la “integración social” de este colectivo.  

Por su parte, la directora general de Planificación, Calidad, Ordenación y Formación de la Consejería de Sanidad de la Junta de Castilla y León, Ana Mª Hernando Monge, reconoció el “elevado nivel científico del Congreso” así como “la oportunidad del lema” para afrontar el reto de la coordinación sociosanitaria. En ese sentido expresó que en la actualidad los sistemas de social y sanitario “no tienen más remedio que caminar de la mano”.

Asimismo, el vicepresidente ejecutivo de Fundación ONCE, Alberto Durán, subrayó el apoyo de su organización de “todas y cada una de las reivindicaciones” de FEAFES y animó al movimiento asociativo de personas con enfermedad mental y familiares a que “exija” que se promuevan acciones entorno a la prevención de la aparición de trastornos mentales.

La Confederación Española de Agrupaciones de Familiares y Personas con Enfermedad Mental (FEAFES)

es una entidad sin ánimo de lucro y de interés social que surgió en 1983. Integra a 19 federaciones y asociaciones uniprovinciales, reuniendo a 281 entidades y cuenta con más de 45.000 socios y socias en todo el territorio nacional.

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Length of parental military deployment associated with children's mental health diagnoses, study finds

ScienceDaily (July 4, 2011) — Children with a parent who was deployed in the U.S. military efforts Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) for longer periods were more likely than children whose parents did not deploy to receive a diagnosis of a mental health problem, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

According to background information in the article, previous research has attributed children's depression and negative affect to parental military deployments. However, there has not been much research into this topic with regards to the United States' present conflicts, OIF and OEF. "As troops face dynamic and evolving threats (e.g., an increasingly sophisticated array of roadside explosive devices)," write the authors, "the need to anticipate the psychological consequences for their children and to offer timely intervention becomes increasingly important."

Alyssa J. Mansfield, Ph.D., M.P.H., then of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, now of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Honolulu, and colleagues examined electronic medical record data for outpatient care received at military facilities or through military health insurance between 2003 and 2006. The study included children ages 5 years through 17 years who had at least one parent serving on active duty in the U.S. Army. (Children of Reserve and National Guard personnel were excluded.) Researchers used the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, to identify mental health diagnoses.

The study included 307,520 children, of whom 16.7 percent had a mental health diagnosis (most often for stress disorders, depression, behavioral problems, anxiety, and sleep disorders) during the study. More than 62 percent of parents were deployed at least once during the period, for an average of 11 months. The researchers found that mental health diagnoses were more common among children who had a parent who was deployed at least once for military operations in Iraq or Afghanistan. After adjusting the data for age, sex and mental health history, they showed that the likelihood of a mental health diagnosis increased with increases in parental deployment length; other factors included older age groups and male sex. The strongest associations were for acute stress reaction and adjustment disorders, depressive disorders, and behavioral disorders, among the total of 6,579 mental health diagnoses observed in children of deployed parents.

"We observed a clear dose-response pattern such that children of parents who spent more time deployed between 2003 and 2006 fared worse than children whose parents were deployed for a shorter duration," write the authors. "Similar to findings among military spouses, prolonged deployment appears to be taking a mental health toll on children." They urge further research of this issue among other branches of the military as well as the National Guard and Reserves.

Commentary: A Closer Look at the Effect Military Deployment Has on Children

In a commentary, Stephen J. Cozza, M.D., from the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine in Bethesda, Md., provides perspective on the scope of U.S. military deployment and the population it touches. As of 2009, he notes, 44 percent of active duty military members have children (for a total of 1.2 million children), as well as 43 percent of Reserve and National Guard members. Furthermore, since combat operations began in 2001, roughly 2 million U.S. military personnel have deployed at least once.

The article by Mansfield and colleagues, writes Cozza, provides "an important contribution to our understanding of a child's health and its relationship to parental combat deployment." The study, he adds, appears to confirm earlier research into this topic. But it also raises questions, such as what long-term consequences, if any, deployments have on children's health and development.

Cozza recommends that these findings be used to raise national awareness of the problem, both within the military community and without. Since affected children are likely to at some point receive care outside the military health system, he urges civilian clinicians to pay special attention to these patients. "Brief screening for anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, academic difficulties, peer relational problems, or high-risk behaviors (such as substance misuse or unsafe sexual practices) is warranted and will help identify treatment needs," Cozza concludes.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by JAMA and Archives Journals.

Journal References:

Alyssa J. Mansfield; Jay S. Kaufman; Charles C. Engel; Bradley N. Gaynes. Deployment and Mental Health Diagnoses Among Children of US Army Personnel. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2011; DOI: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.123Stephen J. Cozza. Children of Military Service Members: Raising National Awareness of the Family Health Consequences of Combat Deployment. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2011; DOI: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.117

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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