Trauma and mental disorder: multi-perspective depictions in Top Boy.

Psychiatry has often had an uneasy relationship with popular culture as depictions of mental health may be stigmatising and inaccurate. A recent critically acclaimed series, Top Boy, set in a crime-filled fictional housing estate in the London Borough of Hackney offers an informed and fairly balanced insight into broad mental health-related themes including racial trauma embodied in social inequities, the syndemic of mental disorder, substance misuse and gang-based crime as well as the psychosocial ramifications of illustrated mental health conditions. From both idiographic and nomothetic perspectives, Top Boy touches on a rich variety of structural determinants of mental health, as well as individual and environmental predisposition to mental disorder and substance misuse. The show offers an opportunity for education for both the broader society and the groups which suffer these syndemics. An understanding of how structural factors epidemiologically affect what psychiatric conditions individuals are likely to suffer, how they can be better reached by psychiatric services, and what interventions can help improve the socioeconomic factors that lead to the behaviours/paths that individuals end up is vital for public mental health policy.

Indigenous mental healthcare and human rights abuses in Nigeria: The role of cultural syntonicity and stigmatization.

Background: Indigenous mental healthcare using traditional non-western methods termed "unorthodox approaches" has been observed in Nigeria historically. This has been largely due to a cultural preference for spiritual or mystical rather than biomedical formulations of mental disorder. Yet, there have been recent concerns about human rights abuses within such treatment settings as well as their tendency to perpetuate stigmatization. Aim: The aim of this review was to examine the cultural framework for indigenous mental healthcare in Nigeria, the role of stigmatization in its utilization and interrogate the issues of human rights abuses within a public mental health context. Methods: This is a non-systematic narrative review of published literature on mental disorders, mental health service utilization, cultural issues, stigma, and indigenous mental healthcare. Media and advocacy reports related to human rights abuses in indigenous mental health treatment settings were also examined. International conventions on human rights and torture, national criminal legislation, constitutional provisions on fundamental rights and medical ethics guidelines relevant to patient care within the country were examined in order to highlight provisions regarding human rights abuses within the context of care. Results: Indigenous mental healthcare in Nigeria is culturally syntonic, has a complex interaction with stigmatization and is associated with incidents of human rights abuses especially torture of different variants. Three systemic responses to indigenous mental healthcare in Nigeria include: orthodox dichotomization, interactive dimensionalization, and collaborative shared care. Conclusions: Indigenous mental healthcare is endemic in Nigeria. Orthodox dichotomization is unlikely to produce a meaningful care response. Interactive dimensionalization provides a realistic psychosocial explanation for the utilization of indigenous mental healthcare. Collaborative shared care involving measured collaboration between orthodox mental health practitioners and indigenous mental health systems offers an effective as well as cost-effective intervention strategy. It reduces harmful effects of indigenous mental healthcare including human rights abuses and offers patients a culturally appropriate response to their problems.

Plausible subjective experience versus fallible corroborative evidence: The formulation of insanity in Nigerian criminal courts.

Insanity as a defence against criminal conduct has been known since antiquity. Going through significant reformulations across centuries, different jurisdictions across the globe, including Nigeria, have come to adopt various strains of the insanity defence, with the presence of mental disorder being the causative mechanism of the crime as their central theme. A critical ingredient in the Nigerian insanity plea is the presence of 'mental disease' or 'natural mental infirmity' as the basis for the lack of capacity in certain cognitive and behavioural domains resulting in the offence. Mental disorders, which are the biomedical formulations of this critical legal constituent are primarily subjective experiences with variable objective features. Using illustrative cases based on psycho-legal formulation as well as reform-oriented and fundamental legal research, it is shown that Nigerian courts have held that claims of insanity based on the accused person's evidence alone should be regarded as "suspect" and not to be "taken seriously." Thus, Nigerian judicial opinions rely on non-expert accounts of defendants' apparent behavioural abnormalities and reported familial vulnerability to mental illness, amongst other facts while conventionally discountenancing the defendants' plausible phenomenological experiences validated by expert psychiatric opinion in reaching a conclusion of legal insanity. While legal positivism would be supportive of the prevailing judicial attitude in entrenching the validity of the disposition in its tenuous precedential utility, legal realism invites the proponents of justice and fairness to interrogate the merit of such preferential views which are not supported by scientific evidence or philosophical reasoning. This paper argues that disregarding the subjective experience of the defendant, particularly in the presence of sustainable expert opinion when it stands unrebutted is not in the interest of justice. This judicial posturing towards mentally abnormal offenders should be reformed on the basis of current multidisciplinary knowledge. Learning from the South African legislation, formalising the involvement of mental health professionals in insanity plea cases, ensures that courts are guided by professional opinion and offers a model for reform.

The effectiveness of psychoeducation and problem-solving on depression and treatment adherence in adolescents living with HIV in Botswana: an exploratory clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of psychological interventions (PI): psychoeducation, problem-solving, and rehearsal strategies on depression and adherence in HIV-infected adolescents in Botswana. METHODS: Fifty adolescents living with HIV were randomized into control (n = 25) and intervention groups (n = 25), the latter being exposed to five weeks of PI sessions. The PHQ-9 and visual analog scale (VAS) were used to measure the outcomes: depression and adherence at pre-intervention, 5- and 24 weeks post-intervention. RESULTS: The participants' mean age (SD) was 17.38 years (1.1), the two groups being similar in socio-demographic variables: gender (χ2 = 2.22; p = 0.135) and age (U = 285, z = - 0.55, p = 0.579). The intervention group scored significantly lower on depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 [F (1,50) = 12.0, p = 0.001, ƞp2 = 0.20]) and higher on adherence score (VAS [F (1,50) = 13.5, p = 0.001, ƞp2 = 0.22]) than the control group after 5 weeks. The post-hoc analysis showed that the significant improvements in depressive symptoms (z = - 4.03, p < 0.01, r [effect size] = 0.88) and adherence (z = - 4.05, p < 0.01, r = 0.88) at post-test in the intervention group were maintained at 24 weeks. This project was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05482217). CONCLUSION: The 5-week PI showed promising effectiveness in addressing depression and adherence in adolescents living with HIV in Botswana.

Disability and premorbid adjustment in schizophrenia: A retrospective analysis.

Background: Schizophrenia is highly disabling. Though efforts at genetic mapping to identify those at risk of the illness have been promising but same cannot be said about predicting its associated disability before illness-onset (i.e., during premorbid phase). It is envisaged that Schizophrenia-related disability may be ameliorated if premorbid clinical markers are adequately predictive enough to identify those at risk and worked upon them. Aim: This study aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between schizophrenia-related disability and premorbid adjustment. Setting: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the out-patient clinic of the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. Methods: Three hundred patients with the diagnosis of schizophrenia and within the age range of 18-64 years were eligible for the study. Results: Mean age of the participants was 41.9 ± 10.05 years with a slight female dominance (50.7%). Spearman's correlation revealed a direct correlation between disability and premorbid adjustment, albeit rather weak (r s = 0.130, p = 0.025). Conclusion: Pre-diagnostic factors such as premorbid functioning may play a role in the subsequent functioning of an individual post-diagnosis. Other research efforts may focus on yet-to-be identified premorbid factors that may be targets of prevention to reduce disability in schizophrenia. Contribution: This research serves as a pioneer work on disability and premorbid adjustment and has provided a template for the early identification of those at risk of schizophrenia by providing an intervention opportunity at the premorbid stage.

Premorbid adjustment amongst outpatients with schizophrenia in a Nigerian psychiatric facility.

BACKGROUND: Studies from developed countries have shown that poor premorbid adjustment in patients with schizophrenia is associated with poor outcome. However, similar studies in developing countries like Nigeria are few despite the stability of schizophrenia prevalence across cultures. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and correlates of poor premorbid adjustment amongst outpatients with schizophrenia. SETTING: The Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Abeokuta in Ogun State, Nigeria. METHODS: The premorbid adjustment of 300 outpatients with schizophrenia was assessed using the premorbid adjustment scale. Pattern and severity of psychosis, overall illness severity, global assessment of functioning and socio-demographic factors were investigated as correlates of premorbid functioning. RESULTS: About half (53.3%) of the respondents had poor premorbid adjustment and most of them were males (56.9%). Poor premorbid adjustment was associated with male gender (χ 2 = 7.81, p = 0.005) whilst good premorbid adjustment was associated with no or borderline illness severity (χ 2 = 8.26, p = 0.016) as well as no or mild impairment in functioning (χ 2 = 7.01, p = 0.029) amongst the respondents. Positive, negative and general symptomatology were predicted by premorbid adjustment at different developmental stages. CONCLUSION: Consistent with existing literature, poor premorbid adjustment was prevalent amongst patients with schizophrenia in this study and was associated with male gender, poorer clinical outcomes and greater illness severity. Mental health promotion and other preventative approaches are recommended as possible early intervention strategies in dealing with schizophrenia.

Comparison of impulsivity, aggression and suicidality between prisoners in Nigeria who have committed homicide and those who have not.

Most studies of prisoners, the nature of their offending and any related characteristics have been conducted in rich Western countries. In Nigeria, prison conditions differ in many important respects, key among them that prisoners share large communal spaces much of the time-up to 50 men sleeping in the same space as well as spending the day together. Our aim was to compare levels of impulsivity, aggression and suicide-related behaviours between prisoners in one prison in Nigeria who had committed a homicide and those who had not, allowing for socio-demographic factors. A case-control study design was employed with 102 homicide and an equal number of non-homicide offenders. Each participant was interviewed using the Abbreviated Barratt Impulsiveness Scale for impulsivity, the Modified Overt Aggression Scale for aggression, the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview (Module C) for suicide-related behaviours, and a questionnaire for ascertaining socio-demographic characteristics. On bivariate analysis, motor impulsivity was higher among homicide offenders (p = .014) while non-planning was higher among non-homicide offenders (p = .006), but this relationship was affected by demographic variables. Physical aggression levels did not distinguish the two groups, but homicide offenders were less likely to record property-directed and auto-aggressive behaviours (p < .05). By contrast, on average, scores for suicide-related behaviours were lower among the homicide offenders (p = .001), with non-homicide offenders showing a mean score in the high-risk category (13.25; SD, 1.25). As motor impulsivity significantly differentiated the groups, this may be an important measure to add to any risk assessment battery when there are concerns about homicidal behaviours. In this sample, history of interpersonal aggression did not distinguish the groups. People with indications of self-harm or suicide-related behaviours may be at less risk of violence to others, but care should be taken in interpreting this finding as it is not entirely consistent with other findings.

Self-stigma and decision about medication use among a sample of Nigerian outpatients with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: Self-stigma is a common barrier to maintenance therapy and recovery in schizophrenia. We investigated the prevalence of the decision not to use medication as prescribed and describe the multidimensional relationship of self-stigma with such a decision in 370 adults with schizophrenia. METHOD: A multivariate binary logistic regression model was used to examine the relationship between specific aspects of self-stigma (alienation, perceived discrimination, stigma resistance, stereotype endorsement and social withdrawal) and the decision not to take medication, while controlling for other clinical variables. RESULTS: Of the total study participants, 16.5% reported high self-stigma while 39.2% decided not to use their medications. The decision not to use medication was associated with a high self-stigma global score, alienation, perceived discrimination and stigma resistance. Stereotype endorsement and social withdrawal did not demonstrate a relationship with nonuse of medication. Following regression analysis, the decision not to use medication was associated with self-stigma, especially high alienation and perceived discrimination, and other factors including medication side effects, worse psychopathology, not living alone, poor 24-hr medication use recall, and absence of medical comorbidity. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Medication nonuse and self-stigma are prevalent and interrelated in patients on maintenance therapy for schizophrenia. Obtaining routine information during follow-up appointments about medication use including side effects, the symptom profile, and conducting a focused stigma screening can inform clinical discussions regarding medication use in a shared decision-making process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Disability among patients with schizophrenia: A hospital-based study.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia has been described as the most disabling mental disorder, and patients with schizophrenia have been said to be disabled mostly in self-care, occupation, sexual relation and social relationship domains. Previous authors have studied disability among this study population. However, the limitations of these previous works include non-report of the prevalence rates of disability, report on disability limited to only a particular domain of life and the utilization of disability instruments fraught with significant weaknesses. AIM: To determine the prevalence, severity, domains and correlates of disability among outpatients with schizophrenia at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta in Ogun State, Nigeria. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study conducted among three hundred consenting adult outpatients with schizophrenia attending the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Each participant was interviewed with the sociodemographic questionnaire, Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the 36-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule. RESULTS: The prevalence of disability was 78% (with 22% having no disability in any of the domains). Most were disabled in the mild to moderate range. Seventy-seven percent (77%) had mild to moderate disability while only 1% had severe disability. Excluding those free of disability, 98.7% of those with disability had mild to moderate form while only 1.3% had severe form. Highest prevalence rates for disability were reported in the 'participation in society' and 'getting along' domains while the lowest rates were reported in the 'activities' (household, work, school) and 'self-care' domains. Of all the sociodemographic and clinical variables explored, only the PANSS positive, negative and total scores demonstrated significant relationships with disability. CONCLUSION: Consistent with existing literature, disability is very prevalent among patients with schizophrenia and it is associated with higher levels of illness severity. Clinicians have a role in limiting disability by focusing on early and comprehensive treatment approaches.

Psychoactive substance use among outpatients with severe mental illness: A comparative study.

BACKGROUND: Despite several studies on the prevalence and pattern of substance use in Nigeria, there is little information on substance use in patients diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) such as schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder (BD). AIM: The aim of the study was to compare the pattern of psychoactive substance use among outpatients with BD and schizophrenia. SETTING: The study was conducted in a neuropsychiatric hospital in Nigeria. METHODS: Seventy five consecutive patients with a MINI-PLUS diagnosis of BD were compared with an equal number of patients obtained by systematic random sampling with a MINI-PLUS diagnosis of schizophrenia. RESULTS: The respondents with schizophrenia were aged 18-59 years (37.2 ± 9.99) and were predominantly young adult (49, 65.3%), men (46, 61.3%), who were never married (38, 50.7%). Overall, lifetime drug use prevalence was 52%, while for current use, overall prevalence was 21.3%. Participants with BD were aged 18-63 years (36.7 ± 10.29) and were predominantly young adult (53, 70.7%), women (44, 58.7%), who were married (32, 42.7%), with tertiary education (31, 41.3%). Overall, lifetime drug use prevalence was 46.7%, while current overall prevalence was 17.3%. These rates (lifetime and current) for both diagnostic groups are higher than what was reported by the World Health Organization in the global status report of 2014 (0% - 16%). The statistically significant difference between the two diagnostic groups was related to their sociodemographic and clinical variables and psychoactive substance use. CONCLUSION: Psychoactive substance use remains a burden in the care of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and BD. Future policies should incorporate routine screening for substance use at the outpatient department with a view to stemming the tide of this menace.

Perceived expressed emotions in relatives of patients with severe mental illness: A comparative study.

There is paucity of studies on expressed emotion (EE) in families of patients with severe mental illness in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to assess and compare the levels of expressed emotion (LEE) in relatives of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder attending an out-patient clinic in Southwestern Nigeria. One hundred and forty consecutive clinic attendees with Mini-Plus diagnosis of schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder and 140 accompanying relatives were recruited. The patients and relatives were interviewed using a socio-demographic questionnaire. The perceived level of expressed emotion was assessed using the client version of the Level of Expressed Emotion Questionnaire (LEEQ). Although, the prevalence of high expressed emotion was higher among relatives of patients with schizophrenia when compared with relatives of patients with bipolar affective disorder (41% vs 37%), the difference was not statistically significant. The socio-demographic characteristics of the relatives of patients with these disorders were not significantly related to high EE. High expressed emotion is just as prevalent among relatives of patients with bipolar affective disorder as among relatives of patients with schizophrenia and clinicians should give similar attention to early detection of high EE and intervention in this population of patients and their relatives.

A 12 year chart review of childhood and adolescent onset psychosis at a Nigerian tertiary mental health facility.

OBJECTIVES: To review the profile of children and adolescents presenting with psychosis at a specialist mental health facility, and to compare childhood with adolescent onset psychosis. METHOD: Hospital records of all children and adolescents over a 12-year period (1999-2010) were perused to identify those falling under the categories of psychotic disorders. Clinical, socio-demographic, obstetric, and developmental information was extracted. RESULTS: Mean age of the children ((n = 409)) was 15.9 years, with 8.1% aged 12 years or less. The most frequent diagnoses were schizophrenia (40.8%), brief psychotic disorder (25.9%), mood disorder with psychosis (15.2%), and organic psychosis (7.8%). Family history of mental illness was reported among 22.5%. Subjects with childhood onset were significantly less likely than those with adolescent onset to have a family history of mental illness (p = 0.016), more likely to report maternal illness during pregnancy (p = 0.005) and illness during infancy (p = 0.010), and more likely to have a diagnosis of psychotic disorder due to another general medical condition (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The study suggests that antenatal/obstetric factors and illness during infancy may be particularly relevant in psychosis of childhood onset. Family history of mental illness may however be of greater relevance in adolescent onset psychosis.

Correlates of conduct disorder among inmates of a Nigerian Borstal Institution.

BACKGROUND: Juvenile delinquency has become a significant global problem. Conduct disorder (CD), among other psychiatric disorders, has assumed prominence in its association with juvenile offending as well as criminality in adulthood. Despite this knowledge, little attention is given to this problem especially as it affects adjudicated adolescent offenders in developing countries. AIM: To examine the prevalence and correlates of CD among incarcerated adolescents in a Nigerian Borstal Institution and to investigate its independent predictors. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 147 inmates of a Borstal Institution in Abeokuta, South Western Nigeria. A self-administered questionnaire and interviewer administered MINI-KID were used. The associations between conduct disorder and socio demographic as well as forensic variables were investigated using Chi square statistics while logistic regression was used to predict CD. RESULTS: Out of 147 respondents, 83 (56.5 %) met the criteria for CD with a mean age 17.1 ± 1.1. Of the socio-demographic and forensic variables investigated, number of siblings (OR 4. 630; p = 0.010; 95 % CI 1.433-14.964) and previous history of incarceration (OR 4. 99; p = 0.043; 95 % CI 1.048-23.846) emerged as independent predictors of CD. CONCLUSIONS: This study recorded a high prevalence of conduct disorder among a sample of incarcerated juvenile offenders. The association of conduct disorder with large family size and recidivism highlights the need for comprehensive early interventions focused on improving parental supervision in large families as well as other re-training programs aimed at reducing juvenile re-offending.

Self-stigma, quality of life and schizophrenia: An outpatient clinic survey in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Stigma is a major obstacle to the treatment and recovery of people with mental illness. In Nigeria, there is a dearth of information on internalization of stigma and its effect on treatment outcome measures such as quality of life. AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to assess self-stigma among patients with schizophrenia attending a psychiatric hospital outpatient clinic, and the relationship of self-stigma to the socio-demographic, clinical characteristics and quality of life of the patients. METHOD: Two hundred and fifty-six consecutive outpatient attendees of the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta in Nigeria with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) diagnosis of schizophrenia were recruited for the study. The diagnosis of schizophrenia was established with the Structured Clinical Interview Schedule for DSM-IV Axis I disorder (SCID), while item 17 of the Present State Examination was used to ascertain the presence of insight into the illness. The subjects were interviewed with a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the World Health Organization's Quality of Life (WHOQOL-Bref) questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was 39.5 (SD = 10.6) years with males constituting 52.0% of the sample. High self-stigma was found in 18.8% of the subjects. The socio-demographic and clinical correlates of high self-stigma found using univariate analysis were low educational level (χ(2) = 22.69, p < .001), unemployment (χ(2) = 15.9, p < .001), low income (χ(2) = 25.03, p < .001), source of income (χ(2) = 12.52, p = .007) and severity of psychopathology (t = 8.245, p < .001). High self-stigma was associated with poor quality of life in all the domains of WHOQOL-Bref. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that self-stigma was common among subjects with schizophrenia. It is associated with poor treatment outcome, highlighting the need to incorporate stigma intervention strategies into mental health care delivery.

Fatores de risco de apneia obstrutiva do sono entre pacientes ambulatoriais nigerianos / Risk factors of obstructive sleep apnea among nigerian outpatients

Apneia obstrutiva do sono (SAOS) é uma condição médica com consequências adversas. OBJETIVOS: Descrever os fatores de risco associados com OSA em adultos atendidos em uma clínica especializada ambulatorial. Forma de estudo: Estudo clínico prospectivo, entre pacientes ambulatoriais adultos em uma clínica especializada. MÉTODO: Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionário incorporando o BQ e os pacientes foram divididos em riscos de baixa e alta da OSA. Os fatores de risco associados com OSA na análise univariada foram submetidas a um modelo multivariado de regressão logística binária. Odds ratio ajustados com intervalo de confiança de 95% foram calculados para as seguintes variáveis independentes. RESULTADOS: Cento e nove e cinco pacientes participaram do estudo (sexo masculino 56,4%; idade 43,5 ± 15,6 anos; não roncadores habituais 81,5%, risco de alta OSA 17,4%, IMC 24,1 ± 4,6 kg/m²; obesos 12,9%). Seis fatores, incluindo o estado civil e a pressão arterial, foram significativamente associados com SAOS usando análise bivariada, no entanto, idade, horas de trabalho, tabagismo e IMC permaneceu preditivo da OSA na análise de regressão logística. CONCLUSÕES: SAOS é comum entre pacientes nigerianos, pode ser sub-reconhecida e está associada a fatores de risco que são passíveis de estratégias preventivas.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a medical condition with adverse consequences. OSA is credited to be a sleep disorder that disproportionately affects blacks. The Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) is a screening questionnaire for OSA. OBJECTIVE: To describe the risk factors associated with OSA among adults attending an out-patient specialist clinic. Study design: Prospective, clinical study including adult outpatients attending a specialist clinic. METHOD: Data was collected using a questionnaire incorporating the BQ and patients were divided into low and high risks of OSA. The risk factors associated with OSA in the univariate analyses were subjected to a multivariate binary logistic regression model. Adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for these independent variables. RESULTS: One hundred and ninety five patients participated in the study (Males 56.4%; Age 43.5 ± 15.6 years; Non-habitual snorers 81.5%; High risk OSA 17.4%; BMI 24.1 ± 4.6 kg/m²; Obese 12.9%). Six factors including marital status and blood pressure were significantly associated with OSA using bivariate analysis nevertheless age, hours at work, smoking status and BMI remained predictive of OSA on logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: OSA is common among Nigerian outpatients, may be under-recognized and is associated with risk factors that are amenable to preventive strategies.

Mental health legislation in Nigeria: current leanings and future yearnings.

Nigeria's current mental health legislation stems from a lunacy ordinance enacted in 1916 that assumed the status of a law in 1958. The most recent attempt to reform the law was with an unsuccessful Mental Health Bill in 2003. Currently, though, efforts are being made to represent it as an executive Bill sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Health. The present paper reviews this Bill, in particular in light of the World Health Organization's recommendations on mental health legislation.