Beyond The Body
  • Home
  • About
  • Contributors
  • Contact

The Global Impact of Anxiety and Depression

3/1/2017

3 Comments

 
Picture
Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report that examined the global health impact of common mental health issues including depression and anxiety. The report provides estimates of the prevalence of such conditions globally, and how these prevalence has changed in the last decade, in addition to the overall consequences on our health and well-being.

Most strikingly, the report demonstrates that over 300 million people worldwide or 4.4% of the global population are affected by depression; an increase of 18% in the last decade. In addition, the WHO has now ranked depression as the leading cause of disability worldwide (leading to 50 million Years Lived With Disability), due to the considerable losses on health and functioning it causes. 

Anxiety disorders was also found to affect over 250 million people worldwide or 3.6% of the global population; an increase of 14.9% in the last decade. Anxiety disorders are ranked 6th in terms of contributing to global disability.
"When long-lasting and with moderate or severe intensity, depression may become a serious health condition leading, at its worst, to suicide. According to the report, some 800,000 people kill themselves every year, a significant number of them young adults between the ages of 15 and 29."

For the full report, click here:
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/254610/1/WHO-MSD-MER-2017.2-eng.pdf?ua=1

For a shorter synopsis of the report, visit:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=56230#.WL3-zTveLVo


3 Comments

Using Art To Advocate For Mental Health In Black Communities

8/8/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture
Having experienced depression and anxiety firsthand, and living in a community in South Africa called Lebowakgomo, where mental illness is rarely discussed and more often ignored or misdiagnosed, photographer Tsuko Maela used his craft to help others suffering from mental health conditions. 

His series, "Abstract Peaces", acts like a visual diary, chronicling "a person who was trying to breath during a very difficult time, trying to find themselves, trying to make sense of their struggle. And what they found was peace." Through his art, Maela hopes to help advocate for mental health, especially among the black communities in both South Africa and around the world. The biggest message Maela works depict is that there is no shame in mental illness, rather there is an opportunity to break the silence by sharing stories of experience, recovery, and hope.

""Growing up in a black community you quickly learn that there is a list of problems that do not ‘affect’ black people:
Mentally ill? Bewitched, or you simply study too hard.

Depressed? Lighten up, you’ve been watching way too many of those white teen movies.

Seeing a psychologist? You’re weak and should probably stop that before the neighbours find out.""


To check out this story and Maela's works of art click here:
http://10and5.com/…/using-photography-to-destigmatise-ment…/
http://abstractpeaces.tumblr.com

1 Comment

Global Mental Health - Indonesia and the Practice of 'Pasung'

3/21/2016

2 Comments

 
PicturePhoto by: Andrea Star Reese
Today, the Human Rights Watch released a shocking and disturbing report regarding the treatment of thousands of individuals living in Indonesia with ‪mental illness‬ and related disabilities. The report, aptly titled "Living In Hell", discusses how over 18,000-19,000 Indonesians live in "pasung", a practice that involves individuals being shackled and confined and forced to eat, sleep, defecate and urine in their small cell or room. While the Human Rights Watch report that these facilities put individuals at risk of physical ailments as well as physical and sexual abuse, they also report that treatments ranging from traditional herbal concoctions and rituals to ECT without anesthesia are forced onto those who live there.

Though the Indonesian government considered "pasung" inhumane and subsequently banned the use of the practice back in 1977, it continues to be utilized today. The report points to both the culturally held beliefs about mental illness, as well as an extreme lack of psychiatrists and mental healthcare facilities/services across the country as major barriers to more appropriate and humane mental health care.

"Across Indonesia, there is a widespread belief that mental health conditions are the result of possession by evil spirits or the devil, having sinned, displayed immoral behavior, or lacking faith. As a result, families typically first consult faith or traditional healers and often only seek medical advice as a last resort.

Even if they do look for access to medication, however, people may find it impossible to access it. Ministry of Health data shows that nearly 90 percent of those who may want to access mental health services cannot. The country of 250 million people has only 48 mental hospitals, more than half of them located in just four provinces of Indonesia’s 34 provinces. Eight provinces have no such hospitals, and three have no psychiatrists. In all of Indonesia there are just 600 to 800 psychiatrists—or one trained psychiatrist per 300,000 to 400,000 people. The few facilities and services that exist often do not respect the basic rights of people with psychosocial disabilities and contribute to the abuses against them."

You can read more about the report via the video below and the following articles and photo documentation:
https://www.hrw.org/node/287537
http://time.com/4265623/indonesia-mental-illness-chains-pasung-hrw/

2 Comments

Psych In The News - Week 84

11/29/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
Catch up on all the news related to mental health and psychiatry from last week!


Read More
1 Comment

Global Mental Health - North Korea's Approach to Mental Illness

11/12/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
While once rated one of the "happiest" countries in the world, it is not so surprising then that in North Korea ‪mental illness‬ is rarely discussed or heard of outside of politics.

However, in this interesting article below we gain a greater understanding of the ‪mental health‬ system in North Korea and how common mental illnesses are managed from isolating those with ‪schizophrenia‬ to treating ‪depression‬ as a physical rather than emotional or mental illness.

"Internal medicine doctors and neurologists rather than psychiatrists treat what are considered the less serious cases of mental duress. The North Koreans do not have a real concept of depression; the media rarely even use the term unless they are projecting it as one of a number of sicknesses endemic to a bourgeois capitalist society like America. Instead, the preferred terms for any kind of neuroticism are cardiac neurosis and neurasthenia (an outdated category of diagnosis in modern psychiatry). Conditions such as prolonged anxiety, insomnia or fatigue that in the West one might associate with a psychological condition are considered physical rather than mental ailments, and the treatment such as herbal medicine accordingly targets the body more than the mind."

For the full article click here: http://www.nknews.org/2014/12/a-look-into-the-dprk-mental-health-system/


1 Comment

Psych In The News - Week 83

11/8/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
Catch up on all the news related to mental health and psychiatry from last week!


Read More
1 Comment

Psych In The News - Week 81

10/25/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
Catch up on all the news related to mental health and psychiatry from last week!


Read More
1 Comment

The Diversity of Mental Illness

10/21/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
‎Mental health‬ activist Dior Vargas recently founded an initiative called "People of Colour and Mental Illness Photo Project" which aims to "eradicate the ‪stigma‬ of mental illness within communities of colour and show a diverse representation of those who live with these conditions".

Prior to starting the project, Vargas had taken notice of how the media often fail to represent ‪mental illness‬ in other ethnicities besides Caucasian, and she wanted to set the record straight, in addition to encouraging conversation about mental illness among these communities and let affected individuals know that they are not alone.

While Vargas hopes to create a book with all the photos individuals have sent in the near future, you can see some of the photos and learn more about the project here:
http://diorvargas.com/poc-mental-illness/
http://www.buzzfeed.com/fionarutherford/this-photo-series-is-eradicating-the-stigma-of-mental-illnes#.ru2RwMG4Y
1 Comment

Global Mental Health: Traditional Healing and Western Myths

10/20/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
In this interesting article, director of The University of British Columbia (UBC) Global Reporting Centre, Peter Klein shares how ‪mental illness‬ is perceived and treated in countries around the globe including India, Togo, Benin, and Somalia.

While those who inhabit the Western world may question the traditional healing methods employed in these countries and consider them to be futile if not harmful treatments founded upon little evidence, Klein shows us that we are not exempt even in Europe or North America with our beliefs in myths and harmful stigmatizing views of ‪mental health‬ conditions.

"We fear what we don’t understand, and the bottom line is that we still don’t understand many of the causes, or the treatments, of psychiatric conditions. As a result, we are plagued with shame around mental illness all over the world, but stigma is just the symptom. Ignorance is the cause. Science and education are the cure."

1 Comment

Psych In The News - Week 80

10/11/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
Catch up on all the news related to mental health and psychiatry from last week!


Read More
1 Comment
<<Previous

    Description

    Supporting and enhancing students' and health professionals' knowledge and understanding of mental health and psychiatry

    Archives

    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All
    Aboriginal Mental Health
    Abuse
    Addiction
    ADHD
    Advocacy
    Agitation
    Alcohol
    Alcohol Withdrawal
    All
    Alzheimer's Disease
    Animals
    Antipsychotic
    Anxiety
    App
    Art
    Autism Spectrum
    Awareness
    Barriers To Care
    Bereavement
    BIID
    Bipolar
    Books
    Borderline
    BPSD
    Caregivers
    Catatonia
    CBT
    Child Psychiatry
    Complicated Grief
    Concussion
    CPA
    Cultural Psychiatry
    Delirium
    Dementia
    Depression
    Dermatillomania
    Diagnosis
    Documentary
    DSM 5
    Dual Diagnosis
    Eating Disorders
    ECT
    Education
    Educational Resource
    Epilepsy
    Ethics
    Exercise
    Factitious Disorder
    Film
    Food
    Forensic Psychiatry
    Gambling
    Gaming Addiction
    Gender Dysphoria
    Geriatric Psychiatry
    Global Mental Health
    Harm Reduction
    Heart Attack
    Hoarding Disorder
    Humanities
    Infographic
    Initiatives
    IPad
    Language
    Law
    LGBTQ
    Loneliness
    Malingering
    Mania
    Medication
    Meditation
    Mens Mental Health
    Mental Health
    Mental Health Law
    Mental Status Exam
    Military
    Mind-body Wellness
    Mindfulness
    Mood Disorder
    Music
    Neurodevelopmental
    Neuropsychiatry
    News
    Ocd
    Panic Disorder
    Parksinson's Disease
    Patient Perspective
    PDD
    Personality Disorders
    Phobia
    Physical Health
    Physician Suicide
    Physician Wellness
    Poems
    Pop Culture
    Postpartum
    PPD
    Prevention
    Psych Assessment
    Psychiatry
    Psychoanalysis
    Psychosis
    Psychotherapy
    Ptsd
    Recovery
    Refugee Mental Health
    Relationships
    Reproductive Mental Health
    Research
    Resiliency
    Safety
    Schizoaffective Disorder
    Schizophrenia
    Screening
    Seasonal-affective-disorder
    Selective Mutism
    Self Harm
    Self-harm
    Ses
    Sexual Disorders
    Sleep Disorder
    Social Anxiety
    Social Isolation
    Social Media
    Somatic Symptoms And Disorders
    Sports
    Stigma
    Stress
    Stress Injury
    Student Mental Health
    Substance Use
    Suicide
    Surgery
    Technology
    TED
    Therapy
    Tools
    Transgender Mental Health
    Treatment
    Trichotillomania
    Womens Mental Health
    Youth

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.