Health-related quality of life in endometriosis: The influence of endometriosis-related symptom presence and distress.

This international cross-sectional study examined the relationships between endometriosis-related symptom experience and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in 318 women with endometriosis. Measures of symptom burden and distress, pain, psychological wellbeing, and HRQoL were collected via an online survey. Age, symptom duration, burden, and distress were associated with lower psychological wellbeing and HRQoL, with small to medium effect sizes. Somatic concern, depression, pain, dysmenorrhea, clitoral pain, dyspareunia, and bloating were found to be significant correlates of HRQoL. The findings highlight the importance of considering a broader range of endometriosis-related symptoms than pain alone and the ongoing need to reduce diagnostic delay in endometriosis.

Does COVID-19 pose a challenge to the diagnoses of anxiety and depression? A psychologist's view.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to predictions of a widespread mental health crisis. However, this makes little sense when fear and anxiety are so understandable in context. The individualisation and medicalisation of normal human reactions disconnects us from our feelings and from the appropriate solutions, in relation to the pandemic and more generally. We have an opportunity to challenge this pervasive way of thinking, and thus be in a position to create a fairer society that is better for everyone's emotional well-being.

El Marco de Poder, Amenaza y Significado: un sistema conceptual no diagnóstico alternativo / The Power Threat Meaning framework: an alternative nondiagnostic conceptual system

Este artículo resume los resultados recientemente publicados de un proyecto de investigación cuyo objeto es desarrollar un sistema conceptual que incorpore factores sociales, psicológicos y biológicos como alternativa al diagnóstico psiquiátrico funcional. Se describen brevemente los principios que subyacen al Marco de Poder, Amenaza y Significado junto con sus principales características y las diferencias respecto a los enfoques diagnósticos. Entre estos principios se incluye el supuesto de que lo que pueden llamarse "síntomas psiquiátricos" son respuestas comprensibles a entornos con frecuencia muy adversos y que estas respuestas, tanto evolutivas como influidas socialmente, cumplen funciones protectoras y ponen de manifiesto la capacidad humana de dotar de significado a las experiencias, así como la agencialidad. Describimos cómo interactúan los elementos del Marco de Poder, Amenaza y Significado para hacer explícitos los nexos entre las amenazas ambientales y las respuestas a dichas amenazas, y para delinear algunos Patrones Generales Provisionales probabilísticos -agrupados por su significado personal, social y cultural-, que describen lo que las personas hacen, no los "trastornos" que "tienen". Concluimos esbozando algunas implicaciones del Marco para la construcción de narrativas y pensar el sufrimiento en las diferentes culturas

This article summarizes the results of a recently published project to develop a conceptual system incorporating social, psychological, and biological factors as an alternative to functional psychiatric diagnosis. The principles underlying the Power Threat Meaning Framework are briefly described, together with its major features and differences from diagnostic approaches. These include the assumptions that what may be called psychiatric symptoms are understandable responses to often very adverse environments and that these responses, both evolved and socially influenced, serve protective functions and demonstrate human capacity for meaning making and agency. We describe how the elements of the Power Threat Meaning Framework interact to restore links between environmental threats and threat responses, and to enable us to outline some probabilistic Provisional General Patterns, grouped by personal, social, and cultural meaning, describing what people do, not the "disorders" they "have." We conclude by outlining some implications of the Framework for narrative construction and for thinking about distress across cultures

Clients' experiences of formulation in cognitive behaviour therapy.

OBJECTIVES: To explore clients' experiences of formulation in cognitive behaviour therapy for depression and/or anxiety, as reported after the end of therapy. DESIGN: A qualitative study using inductive thematic analysis. METHOD: Ten clients who had completed a course of cognitive behaviour therapy for depression and/or anxiety participated in semi-structured interviews within a month of finishing therapy. RESULTS: Four overarching themes were identified: Formulation helps me to understand my problems; formulation leads to feeling understood and accepted; formulation leads to an emotional shift and formulation enables me to move forward. CONCLUSIONS: Formulation is a powerful therapeutic tool that can be highly beneficial to clients, leading to an increased understanding of their difficulties, feeling understood and accepted and a sense of relief. The process of formulation can also result in distress, however, when associated with an increased awareness of the nature of one's difficulties, the implications of the formulation for one's sense of identity and being presented with a formulation that is perceived to be inaccurate. In some cases, this distress decreased during therapy, while for others, distress lasted beyond the end of therapy. Formulation enabled many participants to move forwards from their difficulties, leading them to feel empowered, helping them to cope, enabling them to talk more openly, in contrast to previous therapy which had not focused on formulation. Clinical implications indicate that formulation should be undertaken in a sensitive and collaborative way to maximize its benefits and minimize any possible negative effects. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Formulation can be highly beneficial for clients enabling them to move forwards from their difficulties. It is important to be mindful of clients' possible adverse reactions to the formulation, so that these can be resolved during therapy. Formulation should be undertaken attentively sensitively and collaboratively to maximize its benefits and minimize negative effects.

'Chipping in': clinical psychologists' descriptions of their use of formulation in multidisciplinary team working.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate clinical psychologists' accounts of their use of psychological case formulation in multidisciplinary teamwork. DESIGN: A qualitative study using inductive thematic analysis. METHODS: Ten clinical psychologists working in community and inpatient adult mental health services who identified themselves as using formulation in their multidisciplinary team work participated in semi-structured interviews. RESULTS: Psychological hypotheses were described as shared mostly through informal means such as chipping in ideas during a team discussion rather than through explicit means such as staff training or case presentations that usually only took place once participants had spent time developing their role within the team. Service context and staff's prior experience were also factors in how explicitly formulation was discussed. Participants reported that they believed that this way of working, although often not formally recognized, was valuable and improved the quality of clinical services provided. CONCLUSIONS: More investigation into this under-researched but important area of clinical practice is needed, in order to share ideas and support good practice.

Patients' perceptions of the process of consenting to electroconvulsive therapy.

BACKGROUND: The concept of valid consent has become important for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). However, many patients feel that they do not have enough information before consenting and a significant minority feel coerced into consenting. Little is known about what factors account for these views. AIM: To explore patients' perceptions about how they consented to ECT. METHOD: Twelve participants were interviewed about their experiences of consenting to ECT. Interviews were subjected to a thematic analysis. RESULTS: Participants' perceptions of consenting to ECT were complex, and interpersonal factors were found to be important. Many participants felt that they had consented without adequate information from medical sources and that they had little choice to agree. Two participants consented to ECT as either a form of self-harm or hoping it would kill them. CONCLUSION: Consenting to ECT is more complex than currently recognised and involves interpersonal and systemic factors. As a result, people may consent because they feel that they have little choice. Implications for practice are discussed.

A review of co-morbidity between infectious and chronic disease in Sub Saharan Africa: TB and diabetes mellitus, HIV and metabolic syndrome, and the impact of globalization.

BACKGROUND: Africa is facing a rapidly growing chronic non-communicable disease burden whilst at the same time experiencing continual high rates of infectious disease. It is well known that some infections increase the risk of certain chronic diseases and the converse. With an increasing dual burden of disease in Sub Saharan Africa the associations between diseases and our understanding of them will become of increased public health importance. AIMS: In this review we explore the relationships reported between tuberculosis and diabetes mellitus, human immunodeficiency virus, its treatment and metabolic risk. We aimed to address the important issues surrounding these associations within a Sub Saharan African setting and to describe the impact of globalization upon them. FINDINGS: Diabetes has been associated with a 3-fold incident risk of tuberculosis and it is hypothesised that tuberculosis may also increase the risk of developing diabetes. During co-morbid presentation of tuberculosis and diabetes both tuberculosis and diabetes outcomes are reported to worsen. Antiretroviral therapy for HIV has been associated with an increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome and HIV has been linked with an increased risk of developing both diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Globalization is clearly related to an increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It may be exerting other negative and positive impacts upon infectious and chronic non-communicable disease associations but at present reporting upon these is sparse. CONCLUSION: The impact of these co-morbidities in Sub Saharan Africa is likely to be large. An increasing prevalence of diabetes may hinder efforts at tuberculosis control, increasing the number of susceptible individuals in populations where tuberculosis is endemic, and making successful treatment harder. Roll out of anti-retroviral treatment coverage within Sub Saharan Africa is an essential response to the HIV epidemic however it is likely to lead to a growing number of individuals suffering adverse metabolic consequences. One of the impacts of globalization is to create environments that increase both diabetes and cardiovascular risk but further work is needed to elucidate other potential impacts. Research is also needed to develop effective approaches to reducing the frequency and health impact of the co-morbidities described here.

Exploring the meaning of separation in second-generation young South Asian women in Britain.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the experiences of young second-generation South Asian women living in Britain; to try and understand their experiences, deconstruct the term cultural conflict and understand it within a psychological framework. In particular, the aim was to explore issues of separation and individuation, and the meanings attributed to these concepts. DESIGN: An interview-based study using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to analyse the data. METHODS: Interviews were conducted with six second-generation South Asian women aged 16-20, who had no prior contact with mental health services. RESULTS: Five main themes were identified from the analysis: differences in the meaning of adulthood, community policing, pressures and stressors, protective factors/coping and barriers to coping. CONCLUSIONS: The participants' perceived differences in the meaning of adulthood in Asian cultures in comparison with Western cultures. These differences, in conjunction with the community policing that they were exposed to, contributed to the pressures and stressors - in particular lack of control and a desire to make individual decisions. The results indicated that the differences in the meaning of adulthood in a collective culture challenged the assumptions of the separation-individuation model, and was a key element in cultural conflict. This highlighted the complexities of generalizing research findings across all social groups, and questioned the validity of applying existing psychological theory to this population. The clinical implications of coping/protective factors and barriers to coping were discussed.

Discourse analysis and the experience of ECT.

The authors present a discourse analysis of an influential paper on the experience of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). By focusing on how patients are construed in this article, they deconstruct the ways in which the case for ECT as 'helpful and not particularly frightening' is made. They argue that, as with all academic writing, a discourse of scientific objectivity can be used to privilege certain views and promote certain interests.