Mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings : linking practice and research

This review links practice, funding, and evidence for interventions for mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in humanitarian settings.

 

Psychotherapy of Holocaust survivors – group process analysis

Aim. The paper discusses the effectiveness of group psychotherapy addressed to Holocaust survivors.
 

Methods. The paper is based on many years of its authors’ experience in running such psychotherapy groups. Common psychological problems of the group members and the group dynamics are being discussed and illustrated with the example of work in the group.
 

The safety and efficacy of ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder : the first randomized controlled pilot study

Case reports indicate that psychiatrists administered ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) as a catalyst to psychotherapy before recreational use of MDMA as ‘Ecstasy’ resulted in its criminalization in 1985. Over two decades later, this study is the first completed clinical trial evaluating MDMA as a therapeutic adjunct.

Photography as a nursing instrument in mental health care : how to use clients' photo stories for recovery

The general aim of this thesis was to examine how nurses can use photography to assist psychiatric patients in making meaning of experiences of illness and to help them in the process of recovery. The study is based on a hermeneutic-phenomenological perspective, focusing on processes of experiencing and meaning making in the life world. Existential issues, e.g. the way how people give meaning to their suffering, play an important role in this process of being-in-the world.

Can we facilitate posttraumatic growth in combat veterans?

The Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, currently under development for the U.S. Army, will include a component designed to increase the possibilities for posttraumatic growth in the aftermath of combat. In this article, the author's briefly review studies that provide evidence for this phenomenon in combat veterans, and they suggest elements that such a program might include to facilitate posttraumatic growth. They urge the Army to conduct randomized controlled trials testing the efficacy of the program prior to its implementation.

Ambiguous Expectations and Reduced Confidence: Experience of Somali Refugees Encountering Swedish Health Care

The purpose of this study was to explore Somali refugees' experience of their encounters with Swedish health care. Individual interviews with 20 Somalis were transcribed verbatim and interpreted according to a hermeneutic approach. The findings were expressed in three themes. The first theme, 'expectations when approaching health care', conveys an ambivalence regarding confidence and expectations of treatment and care.

The Psychopharmacology Algorithm Project at the Harvard South Shore Program: An Update on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Background: This project aimed to provide an organized, sequential, and evidence-supported approach to the pharmacotherapy of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), following the format of previous efforts of the Psychopharmacology Algorithm Project at the Harvard South Shore Program.

EMDR versus stabilisation in traumatised asylum seekers and refugees: results of a pilot study

At the end of 2008, there were 16 million asylum seekers and refugees worldwide (UNHCR, 2009). Many refugees are exposed to potentially traumatising situations during several phases of their journey: surviving war or organised violence, including imprisonment and torture; becoming fugitives; leaving their home country, often to stay in refugee camps before being granted a right to stay in a country of settlement; and experiencing the stresses of resettlement and discrimination (Silove, Tarn, Bowles, & Reid, 1991).

Plasma and Erythrocyte Fatty Acid Patterns in Patients with Recurrent Depression: A Matched Case-Control Study.

AbstractBackgroundThe polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) composition of (nerve) cell membranes may be involved in the pathophysiology of depression. Studies so far, focussed mainly on omega-3 and omega-6 PUFAs. In the present study, saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and PUFAs of the omega-3, -6 and -9 series in plasma and erythrocytes of patients with recurrent major depressive disorder (MDD-R) were compared with controls.Methodology and Principal FindingsWe carried out a case-control study.

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