Witness as Victim: Clinical Encounters with Children Who Observed Violence

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<bold>Introduction</bold>: Mental illness remains a significant issue for refugees worldwide. However, there remains a stigma surrounding mental health, mental illness, and mental health treatment throughout the world. Cultural stigma is just one of many barriers to mental health care for refugees that needs to be addressed.
<bold>Purpose</bold>: The purpose of this review was to distinguish the perceptions of mental health among refugees according to country of origin, because knowing these cultural differences can break some of the barriers and lead to better treatment approaches to mental health care for refugees.
<bold>Methodology</bold>: An extensive literature review of relevant articles published between 2000 and 2021 was performed using the databases APA PsycInfo, Global Health, MEDLINE via Ovid, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, and Google Scholar. The following groupings of search terms were used: (i) refugees, asylum seekers, displaced, and migrants; (ii) perceptions of mental illness, perceptions of mental health, and stigma of mental illness.
<bold>Results</bold>: There were numerous similarities and differences in the perceptions of mental health among refugees from different cultures. There were similarities in terms of mental health stigma, with certain cultures thinking of mental health/illness as taboo, as shameful, or associating it with evil spirits. A few of the cultures studied had similar ideas about the causes of mental illness, believing it was due to traumatic events or possession by evil spirits. The refugee groups had some common treatment options, including informal conversation, religious-based ideas, and community-level solutions. Some of the differences between refugees from different cultures involved certain symptoms associated with mental health, including physical symptoms, and differing degrees of religiosity.
<bold>Conclusions</bold>: This review of the perceptions of mental health held by refugees from countries around the world highlights the importance of cultural differences. Mental health care in this population should focus on cultural competency and community-level solutions and include mobile health clinics and telehealth.
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What mental illness means in different cultures: perceptions of mental health among refugees from various countries of origin

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<bold>Introduction:</bold> The COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging the health care systems and public wellbeing unprecedentedly. The United Kingdom and Turkiye were the countries worst hit by the pandemic in the World Health Organization European region.
<bold>Purpose</bold>: This review investigated the mental health policies in these countries which draw a contrasting pattern of mental health care, sociodemographic background, and income level. Following the investigation, we recommended the possible directions to be pursued by European policymakers
<bold>Methodology</bold>: The documents were picked from the health policy sections from the websites of international organizations (European Parliament, OECD, WHO, UN), online data and policy reports of national ministerial bodies, and general web search. Later, the papers were reviewed and the author identified the main concepts of the responses to discuss after policy review. The study was designed as a review; therefore, no statistical framework was conducted.
<bold>Results</bold>: Identified concepts were as follows: a) continuing service provision for people with mental health conditions, b) digital mental health care interventions, c) building psychological resilience for citizens.
<bold>Conclusions</bold>: A strategy only focusing on treating mental health conditions will not be sustainable during the post-pandemic era. It is essential to address mental health in all policies to foster a strong mental health care system.
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Mental health policy reactions during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in two worst-hit WHO European countries: a narrative review and lessons for the aftermath of mental health care.

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<bold>Introduction:</bold> The COVID-19 outbreak has become a challenging crisis for public health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the indefinite closure of educational institutions in Bangladesh has a severe impact on the mental health of students.
<bold>Purpose</bold>: The purpose of this study is to investigate factors that might have considerable influence on the mental health of students during quarantine in Bangladesh though they did not explore in previous studies on mental health status during the pandemic.
<bold>Methodology</bold>: A standardized questionnaire was generated using PH9 and GAD7 to measure depression and anxiety levels. A total of 203 responses were collected from university students of Bangladesh through social media.
<bold>Resul</bold>ts: Descriptive statistics found that 37% of the students experienced moderate to severe anxiety while 54% faced moderate to severe depression. Ordinal Logistic Regression analysis found that anxiety is significantly related to gender, students’ current affiliation status in university (e.g., sophomore, masters), and time spent on watching TV while depression was related to family member’s contact with Covid-19, performing multiple activities as hobbies, and spending time in reading and writing.
<bold>Conclusions</bold>: This study adds valuable findings in the existing literature, and it will help Students, university authorities, and government can take productive steps to tackle mental health issues.
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Prevalence of depression and anxiety among university students during COVID-19 in Bangladesh: A cross sectional study

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 7 (2024): Issue 1 (January 2024)

Volume 6 (2023): Issue 1 (January 2023)

Volume 5 (2022): Issue 2 (June 2022)

Volume 4 (2021): Issue 1 (October 2021)

Volume 3 (2020): Issue 1 (November 2020)

Mental Health: Global Challenges

 Mental Health: Global Challenges Journal is an open access, peer-reviewed journal, with the primary aim of promoting thought, dialogue, and debate on topics related to mental health. It is an issue and a reality of major global concern, though it is often left to the margins as a topic of conversation. With one of the major aims to challenge and breaking the stigma of mental health, whilst promoting better health and health care, this journal has a general focus on mental health, mental health care systems, approaches to better mental health, mental health challenges for individuals, families, and groups in different cultures and contexts, mental health and trauma, as well as mental health and conflict, amongst other related aspects.   More specifically, Mental Health: Global Challenges Journal is a journal dedicated to studies of international interest related to mental health and mental health care systems in the global context of social challenges. Therefore, we encourage papers which focus on a variety of topics related to this complex issue. Some examples are as follows: the impact of stigma on mental health and mental health care, mental health and migration, mental health in the time of military conflicts, mental health post conflict, mental health in the workplace, mental health and gender, societal attitudes and approaches to mental health, higher education and mental health care, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to mental health, cultural as well as cross-cultural challenges related to mental health and related topics. The journal especially encourages manuscripts which may be of interest to policy makers and/or practitioners.   The journal accepts high quality English language manuscripts in the form of empirical research studies, case studies, theoretical articles, reviews, and some extended abstracts.   Archiving   Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.   Plagiarism Policy   The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 