Sunday, May 25, 2008

Manchester Conference "race Culture & Psychological perspectives 18th June

Mental Health Conference

Mental distress or “madness” is recognised worldwide. However, culture influences the presentation and meaning individuals, family members and community members give to experiences and matters to do with the mind. In one culture mental distress may be seen as a result of demonic possession or as a result of the effects of witchcraft or sorcery requiring spiritual healing. In another cultural context it may be seen as a result of genetically inherited disease such as schizophrenia requiring administration of anti psychotic medication.

What happens when an individual who believes they are possessed by a jinn (spirit) is considered by mental health professionals to be psychotic and is treated with medication as opposed to by a spiritual healer? Is the outcome the same for the individual whether they are treated by a spiritual healer or by anti psychotic medication? To what extent do and can mental health professionals practising within the Western biomedical model work collaboratively with spiritual healers?

What is the best way to treat an individual who believes they have been affected by the “evil eye”? Should the individual seek help from a healer? Should they be prescribed anti depressants and/or offered psychological therapy such as CBT?

Where different cultures have divergent meaning systems, what counts as a symptom and what do the symptoms signify? Are the notions derived from some cultures given less value because of racism or cultural arrogance? Are mental health services equipped to deal with the diverse definitions of what constitutes a ‘problem’ and ‘treatment? How universally applicable is Western biomedical disease medicine? Does one size really fit us all? To what extent are psychological therapies such as psychotherapy which promote an individualised notion of the self applicable across all cultures?

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Ethnic clothes mental health link

Interesting article... wounder how true it really is.... post your view

Ethnic clothes mental health link

Teenage girls from some minority communities who stick to their family customs have better mental health, researchers say.

Queen Mary University of London found Bangladeshi girls who chose traditional rather than Western dress had fewer behavioural and emotional problems.

The team said close-knit families and communities could help protect them.
Pressure to integrate fully could be stressful, the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health reported.

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to mental health problems, and the researchers said that identity, often bound up in friendship choices or clothing, played a role.
They questioned a total of 1,000 white British and Bangladeshi 11 to 14-year-olds about their culture, social life and health, including questions designed to reveal any emotional or mental problems.

Bangladeshi pupils who wore traditional clothing were significantly less likely to have mental health problems than those whose style of dress was a mix of traditional and white British styles.
When this was broken down by gender, it appeared that only girls were affected.
No similar effect was found in white British adolescents who chose a mixture of clothes from their own and other cultures.

More support
Professor Kam Bhui, one of the study authors, said that the result was "surprising" - he had expected that girls who were less fully integrated to show signs of greater strain.
"Traditional clothing represents a tighter family unit, and this may offer some protection against some of the pressures that young people face.

"What it suggests is that we need to assist people who are moving from traditional cultures and becoming integrated into Western societies, as they may be more vulnerable to mental health problems."

Professor James Nazroo, a medical sociologist at the University of Manchester, said that the findings meant that "notions of Britishness" should be dealt with in a sophisticated way.
"There are many ways in which people can be British - these girls who have good mental health, and still have a strong traditional culture, are by implication settled and comfortable with their identities."

Training courses - Mediation

Free Courses!

Want to make a difference?

At work? At home? In life?

We are pleased to inform you of the trainings we will be running over the next few months. Starting in October we are running a Two Day OCN accredited course in Understanding Conflict Resolution at Conflict & Change in East Ham. The course will cover:
-Our own relationship to conflict
-A deeper understanding of anger
-Building on our own skills to work with conflict
-Steps for resolving conflict in our own lives and the community
-Moving on from conflict

The dates for this training are Saturday 28th June and Saturday 5th July 2008, 9:30 – 4:00.

Please note the accreditation is optional and requires written work.Please respond asap to reserve your place on this course.We will follow this up with two One Day trainings that can be taken together or separately. They are:
· Communicating for Results on Tuesday 15th July, and
· Dealing with Prejudice and Discrimination on Tuesday 22nd July.

Please note that completion of ALL FOUR of these days will make you eligible for our 4 Day Mediators Training later in the year.If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We look forward to hearing from you.

For more information about this or other free courses call:
Ed or Jean on 020 8552 2050
Email: training@conflictandchange.co.uk

www.conflictandchange.co.uk