Formal and Informal Social Networks of Women with Serious Mental Illness

The case study method was used to describe formal and informal social networks of four women with serious mental illness and to capture what happens in network interactions. Supportive roles were identified, with significant overlap between roles performed by formal and informal network members. In contrast to many studies, this study's participants all showed reciprocity in relationships. Network relationships, while supportive, often were conflicted. Themes related to stability of relationships were identified. Practice recommendations include recognition of each person's "context" apart from his or her illness and the importance of capitalizing on positive factors within the person's life context. Further research is needed to identify confirming and contradictory findings.     

Social Support for and Through Exercise and Sport in a Sample of Men with Serious Mental Illness

Social support is important for people experiencing serious mental illness and is also important during the initiation and maintenance of exercise. In this article we draw on interpretive research into the experiences of 11 men with serious mental illness to explore four dimensions of social support both for and through exercise. Our findings suggest that informational, tangible, esteem, and emotional support were both provided for and given by participants through exercise. We conclude that experiences of both receiving and giving diverse forms of support in this way are significant for some people living with and recovering from serious mental illness.     

Differences in Automatic Thoughts Presented During Sexual Activity Between Sexually Functional and Dysfunctional Men and Women

The study is aimed at investigating the differences between individuals with and without sexual dysfunction on the automatic thoughts content (reported as usually presented) during sexual activity. A total of 491 individuals (163 women and 232 men without sexual problems and 47 women and 49 men with a DSM-IV diagnosis of sexual dysfunction) answered the Sexual Modes Questionnaire (SMQ; Nobre and Pinto-Gouveia (J Sex Res 40:368–382, 2003). Results indicated that men and women with sexual dysfunction reported having had significantly more negative thoughts during sexual activity compared to sexually healthy individuals. Failure and disengagement thoughts (I’m not satisfying my partner, I’m not getting turned on, when will this be over?), sexual abuse thoughts (this is disgusting, he only wants to satisfy himself), and lack of erotic thoughts were significantly more common in women with sexual dysfunction compared to sexually healthy women. Additionally, men with sexual dysfunction presented significantly higher scores on erection concern thoughts (I must be able to have intercourse, I must achieve an erection), failure anticipation thoughts (this is not going anywhere, I’m condemned to failure), and lack of erotic thoughts compared to men without sexual dysfunction. Overall, findings support clinical observations and experimental findings, indicating that cognitive distraction from erotic cues is strongly associated with sexual dysfunction. The increased use of cognitive techniques on the treatment of sexual dysfunction is a major implication of the study.     

Domestic Violence in Women with Serious Mental Illness Involved with Child Protective Services

The purpose of this study is to describe mothers with serious mental illness who have experienced domestic violence and are involved with child protective services. One hundred twenty-two files from the Department of Child and Family Services were reviewed. According to this retrospective review, the majority of the mothers and children had been exposed to domestic violence (62.6%%). Mothers with the diagnoses of major depression-single episode and major depression-recurrent were most likely to have disclosed domestic violence exposure, compared to mothers with other serious mental illnesses. Our findings, and that of other cited studies, support the practice of routine assessment of domestic violence in women with serious mental illnesses, identification of safe havens for mothers and children, and access to continuing parenting support for these vulnerable family groups.     

Barriers to Collaboration Between Mental Health Professionals and Families in the Care of Persons with Serious Mental Illness

Mental health professionals do not often collaborate with families when providing treatment to the mentally ill, even though research shows better patient outcomes with family involvement. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) developed a course, Professional Provider Family Education Course (PP FEC), to educate mental health providers in outreach to families. This article reports the findings of a study which evaluated the PP FEC and identified barriers to collaboration between families and mental health professional providers.     

Exploring Lived Experiences of Persons with Severe Mental Illness: A Review of the Literature

This paper describes a literature review concerning the use of phenomenology to explore the experiences of persons with severe mental illness. Data from 35 publications were abstracted and summarized. The congruence between philosophical underpinnings and methods are critiqued. Findings of individual studies are summarized and reveal desires for normalcy, social relationships, meaningful activities, and opportunities for involvement and participation in treatment. The experience of suffering demonstrated the grave effect of severe mental illness on the individual's life experience. Utilization of phenomenology as a philosophy and methodology can guide the development of interventions that honor individual experience and meaning.     

Wellness Profile of Midlife Women with a Chronic Illness

Among issues important to women's health are their wellness profiles including indicators such as activity level, weight status, breakfast and snacking patterns, health status perceptions, and alcohol and tobacco use. This is particularly true for midlife women with a long-term illness. The purpose of this study is to identify the wellness profile of a group of midlife women with multiple sclerosis (MS), and to compare their life-style indicators with national health statistics. Overall, the women in the study group indicated a lower perception of their health status and were less active. However, the women in this study group demonstrated healthier body weights, used less tobacco and alcohol, had better breakfast patterns, and comparable snacking patterns, indicating that may be more attuned to their bodies than women without chronic illnesses. Identifying women's wellness profiles can assist practitioners in addressing the issues of health for women managing a long-term illness.     

Relationship Between Exercise Heart Rate and Age in Men vs Women

ObjectiveTo analyze a large cohort of patients who underwent exercise testing and also report sex differences in other exercise heart rate (HR) parameters to determine whether separate sex-based equations to predict peak HR are indicated.Patients and MethodsPatients aged 40 to 89 years who performed treadmill exercise tests (Bruce protocol) from September 21, 1993, to December 20, 2010, were included. Patients with cardiovascular disease or taking HR-attenuating drugs were excluded. After analyses on preliminary cohort, peak HR–modifying factors were eliminated to obtain a pure data set. Analysis of variance was used to test difference in HR responses by sex with age adjustment.ResultsA total of 37,010 patients (67.3% men) were included in the preliminary cohort. Men had higher peak HR (166±17 vs 163±16 beats/min [bpm]; P<.001), HR reserve (90±19 vs 84±17 bpm; P<.001), and HR recovery (19±8 vs 18±9 bpm; P<.03). Poor exercise capacity, current smoking, diabetes, and obesity had significant peak HR–lowering effects (all P<.001). In a pure cohort of 19,013 patients (51.3% of full cohort) without these factors, regression lines approximated more closely the traditional line of 220 – age. For men, the regression line in our final cohort was peak HR = 220 – 0.95 × age. For women, both slope (0.79 bpm/y) and intercept (210 bpm) were still substantially different from those obtained with the traditional formula.ConclusionThe HR responses to exercise are different in men and women. The HR response of men was close to that obtained with the traditional formula, but peak HR in women had a lower intercept and decreased more slowly with age. A separate formula for peak HR in women appears to be appropriate.     

Psychometric Assessment of the Depressive Cognition Scale in Women Family Members of Adults with Serious Mental Illness

Family members of persons with serious mental illness (SMI) are vulnerable to depression, and early identification of cognitive depressive symptoms is important to prevent it. The Depressive Cognition Scale (DCS) may be beneficial for early detection, but the scale's psychometrics have not been tested in family members of persons with SMI. In this study, 60 women relatives of adults with SMI completed the eight-item DCS and measures of caregiver burden, resourcefulness, sense of coherence, and quality of life. A Cronbach's alpha of .87 indicated internal consistency. Construct validity was supported by correlations with caregiver burden (.40), resourcefulness (–.65), sense of coherence (–.77), and quality of life (–.70). Confirmatory factor analysis produced a single factor with 48% of the variance explained and factor loadings >.45 for all items. The findings suggest the DCS is useful for early detection of depression in women relatives of adults with SMI.     

Police Experiences of Committing People with Mental Illness to a Hospital

To a large extent today, caring for people with mental illness takes place outside of institutional care. Sometimes, assistance from a special police group may be required to commit the patient to a hospital for continued psychiatric treatment. The aim of this study was to describe a group of police officers and their experiences of committing individuals with mental illness to the hospital for treatment. Two specialised commitment groups within the police were interviewed. A qualitative content analysis was used to identify topics of greater significance in the data. The interviews show that the informants desire greater cooperation with psychiatric care personnel and want to know more about mental illness and how to approach those with mental illness.     

重性精神疾病患者的家庭负担调查

目的探讨重性精神疾病患者的疾病家庭负担。方法采用疾病家庭负担量表(FBS),对148 例符合ICD-10 诊断标准的精神分裂症和双相障碍患者的照顾者进行评定。结果精神分裂症和双相障碍患者的疾病家庭负担普遍存在,涉及多个维度。各维度影响达中度以上的分别为家庭关系(51%)、家庭娱乐活动(50%)、家庭日常活动(45%)、经济负担(43%)、家庭成员心理健康(36%)、家庭成员身体健康(32%)。年轻、自费及无个人收入患者的疾病家庭负担更重。结论提示需制定综合的心理社会干预措施,有效减轻照顾者的家庭负担。