mental health and wellbeing dissertation ideas

Research Topics & Ideas: Mental Health

100+ Mental Health Research Topic Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

If you’re just starting out exploring mental health topics for your dissertation, thesis or research project, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll help kickstart your research topic ideation process by providing a hearty list of mental health-related research topics and ideas.

PS – This is just the start…

We know it’s exciting to run through a list of research topics, but please keep in mind that this list is just a starting point . To develop a suitable education-related research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , and a viable plan of action to fill that gap.

If this sounds foreign to you, check out our free research topic webinar that explores how to find and refine a high-quality research topic, from scratch. Alternatively, if you’d like hands-on help, consider our 1-on-1 coaching service .

Overview: Mental Health Topic Ideas

• Mood disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• Psychotic disorders
• Personality disorders
• Obsessive-compulsive disorders
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Neurodevelopmental disorders
• Eating disorders
• Substance-related disorders

Mood Disorders

Research in mood disorders can help understand their causes and improve treatment methods. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• The impact of genetics on the susceptibility to depression
• Efficacy of antidepressants vs. cognitive behavioural therapy
• The role of gut microbiota in mood regulation
• Cultural variations in the experience and diagnosis of bipolar disorder
• Seasonal Affective Disorder: Environmental factors and treatment
• The link between depression and chronic illnesses
• Exercise as an adjunct treatment for mood disorders
• Hormonal changes and mood swings in postpartum women
• Stigma around mood disorders in the workplace
• Suicidal tendencies among patients with severe mood disorders

Anxiety Disorders

Research topics in this category can potentially explore the triggers, coping mechanisms, or treatment efficacy for anxiety disorders.

• The relationship between social media and anxiety
• Exposure therapy effectiveness in treating phobias
• Generalised Anxiety Disorder in children: Early signs and interventions
• The role of mindfulness in treating anxiety
• Genetics and heritability of anxiety disorders
• The link between anxiety disorders and heart disease
• Anxiety prevalence in LGBTQ+ communities
• Caffeine consumption and its impact on anxiety levels
• The economic cost of untreated anxiety disorders
• Virtual Reality as a treatment method for anxiety disorders

Psychotic Disorders

Within this space, your research topic could potentially aim to investigate the underlying factors and treatment possibilities for psychotic disorders.

• Early signs and interventions in adolescent psychosis
• Brain imaging techniques for diagnosing psychotic disorders
• The efficacy of antipsychotic medication
• The role of family history in psychotic disorders
• Misdiagnosis and delayed treatment of psychotic disorders
• Co-morbidity of psychotic and mood disorders
• The relationship between substance abuse and psychotic disorders
• Art therapy as a treatment for schizophrenia
• Public perception and stigma around psychotic disorders
• Hospital vs. community-based care for psychotic disorders

Personality Disorders

Research topics within in this area could delve into the identification, management, and social implications of personality disorders.

• Long-term outcomes of borderline personality disorder
• Antisocial personality disorder and criminal behaviour
• The role of early life experiences in developing personality disorders
• Narcissistic personality disorder in corporate leaders
• Gender differences in personality disorders
• Diagnosis challenges for Cluster A personality disorders
• Emotional intelligence and its role in treating personality disorders
• Psychotherapy methods for treating personality disorders
• Personality disorders in the elderly population
• Stigma and misconceptions about personality disorders

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

Within this space, research topics could focus on the causes, symptoms, or treatment of disorders like OCD and hoarding.

• OCD and its relationship with anxiety disorders
• Cognitive mechanisms behind hoarding behaviour
• Deep Brain Stimulation as a treatment for severe OCD
• The impact of OCD on academic performance in students
• Role of family and social networks in treating OCD
• Alternative treatments for hoarding disorder
• Childhood onset OCD: Diagnosis and treatment
• OCD and religious obsessions
• The impact of OCD on family dynamics
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder: Causes and treatment

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Research topics in this area could explore the triggers, symptoms, and treatments for PTSD. Here are some thought starters to get you moving.

• PTSD in military veterans: Coping mechanisms and treatment
• Childhood trauma and adult onset PTSD
• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) efficacy
• Role of emotional support animals in treating PTSD
• Gender differences in PTSD occurrence and treatment
• Effectiveness of group therapy for PTSD patients
• PTSD and substance abuse: A dual diagnosis
• First responders and rates of PTSD
• Domestic violence as a cause of PTSD
• The neurobiology of PTSD

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

This category of mental health aims to better understand disorders like Autism and ADHD and their impact on day-to-day life.

• Early diagnosis and interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder
• ADHD medication and its impact on academic performance
• Parental coping strategies for children with neurodevelopmental disorders
• Autism and gender: Diagnosis disparities
• The role of diet in managing ADHD symptoms
• Neurodevelopmental disorders in the criminal justice system
• Genetic factors influencing Autism
• ADHD and its relationship with sleep disorders
• Educational adaptations for children with neurodevelopmental disorders
• Neurodevelopmental disorders and stigma in schools

Eating Disorders

Research topics within this space can explore the psychological, social, and biological aspects of eating disorders.

• The role of social media in promoting eating disorders
• Family dynamics and their impact on anorexia
• Biological basis of binge-eating disorder
• Treatment outcomes for bulimia nervosa
• Eating disorders in athletes
• Media portrayal of body image and its impact
• Eating disorders and gender: Are men underdiagnosed?
• Cultural variations in eating disorders
• The relationship between obesity and eating disorders
• Eating disorders in the LGBTQ+ community

Substance-Related Disorders

Research topics in this category can focus on addiction mechanisms, treatment options, and social implications.

• Efficacy of rehabilitation centres for alcohol addiction
• The role of genetics in substance abuse
• Substance abuse and its impact on family dynamics
• Prescription drug abuse among the elderly
• Legalisation of marijuana and its impact on substance abuse rates
• Alcoholism and its relationship with liver diseases
• Opioid crisis: Causes and solutions
• Substance abuse education in schools: Is it effective?
• Harm reduction strategies for drug abuse
• Co-occurring mental health disorders in substance abusers

Choosing A Research Topic

These research topic ideas we’ve covered here serve as thought starters to help you explore different areas within mental health. They are intentionally very broad and open-ended. By engaging with the currently literature in your field of interest, you’ll be able to narrow down your focus to a specific research gap .

It’s important to consider a variety of factors when choosing a topic for your dissertation or thesis . Think about the relevance of the topic, its feasibility , and the resources available to you, including time, data, and academic guidance. Also, consider your own interest and expertise in the subject, as this will sustain you through the research process.

Always consult with your academic advisor to ensure that your chosen topic aligns with academic requirements and offers a meaningful contribution to the field. If you need help choosing a topic, consider our private coaching service.

You Might Also Like:

Good morning everyone. This are very patent topics for research in neuroscience. Thank you for guidance

What if everything is important, original and intresting? as in Neuroscience. I find myself overwhelmd with tens of relveant areas and within each area many optional topics. I ask myself if importance (for example – able to treat people suffering) is more relevant than what intrest me, and on the other hand if what advance me further in my career should not also be a consideration?

This information is really helpful and have learnt alot

Phd research topics on implementation of mental health policy in Nigeria :the prospects, challenges and way forward.

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

• How it works

Useful Links

How much will your dissertation cost?

Have an expert academic write your dissertation paper!

Dissertation Services

Get unlimited topic ideas and a dissertation plan for just £45.00

Order topics and plan

Get 1 free topic in your area of study with aim and justification

Yes I want the free topic

Mental Health Dissertation Topics

Published by Carmen Troy at January 9th, 2023 , Revised On April 16, 2024

You probably found your way here looking for mental health topics for your final year research project. Look no further, we have drafted a list of issues, and their research aims to help you when you are brainstorming for dissertation or thesis topics on mental health.

PhD-qualified writers of our team have developed these topics, so you can trust to use these topics for drafting your dissertation.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting a brief research proposal or full dissertation service from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an introduction to the topic, research question , aim and objectives, literature review , and the proposed research methodology to be conducted. Let us know if you need any help in getting started.

Check our dissertation examples to understand how to structure your dissertation .

Also read: Psychology dissertation topics & nursing dissertation topics

Latest Mental Health Dissertation Topics for 2024

Review the step-by-step guide on how to write your dissertation here .

• Topic 1: Assessing the Influence of Parents’ Divorce or Separation on Adolescent Children regarding long-term psychological impact.
• Topic 2: Investigating the impact of Trauma and Health-related quality of life on a child’s Mental health and self-worth.

Topic 3: Assessing the effect of Psychological training on males suffering from Post-Surgery Anxiety in the UK.

• Topic 4: Investigating the Relationship between Mental Illness and Suicides- A case study of UK’s Young Adults.

Topic 5: Examining the behaviour of Mental Health Nurses taking care of Schizophrenia Patients in the UK.

Topic 1: an assessment of the influence of parents' divorce or separation on adolescent children in terms of long-term psychological impact..

Research Aim: This study aims to investigate the level of traumas experienced by the children of divorced or separated parents. The principal aim of this study is to explore the long-term psychological impacts of parents’ divorce on the life of children regardless of their gender and age in terms of mental wellbeing, academic performance, and self-worth.

Topic 2: An investigation of the impact of Trauma and Health-related quality of life on the Mental health and Self-worth of a child.

Research Aim: This study aims to assess the long-term impacts of the trauma children face in their early years of life on their overall mental health. Also, numerous studies have emphasized improving the quality of life for children who tend to experience multiple traumas and take them along in adulthood. Therefore, this study also proposed the impacts of traumatic childhood experiences on self-worth, mental health, and vitality of implementing firm intervention before the child reaches adulthood.

Research Aim: Postoperative problems may occur as a result of surgical stress. This study aims to examine different approaches to control post-surgical anxiety and improve patients’ lives in the short and long term, focusing on male patients in the UK. It will also give us an understanding of how psychological training and interventions affect anxiety in male patients and help them overcome this through a systematic review.

Topic 4: Investigating the Relationship between Mental illness and Suicides- A case study of UK's Young Adults.

Research Aim: This study aims to find the relationship between mental illness and suicides and risk factors in the UK. This study will specifically focus on young adults. It will examine different mental disorders and how they have led to suicide and will analyse further studies of people who had died by suicide and find evidence of the presence or absence of mental illness.

Research Aim: Negative behaviours and discrimination have been usually reported as a reason for the inconvenience in the treatment of mentally ill or schizophrenia patients, which negatively impacts the patient’s results. Health care professionals’ attitudes have been regarded as being more negative than the general public, which lowers the outlook for patients suffering from mental illness. This study will examine the behaviour of mental health nurses regarding schizophrenia patients in the UK and also focus on the characteristics associated with nurses’ attitudes.

COVID-19 Mental Health Research Topics

Topic1: impacts of the coronavirus on the mental health of various age groups.

Research Aim: This study will reveal the impacts of coronavirus on the mental health of various age groups

Topic 2: Mental health and psychological resilience during COVID-19

Research Aim: Social distancing has made people isolated and affected their mental health. This study will highlight various measures to overcome the stress and mental health of people during coronavirus.

Topic 3: The mental health of children and families during COVID-19

Research Aim: This study will address the challenging situations faced by children and families during lockdown due to COVID-19. It will also discuss various ways to overcome the fear of disease and stay positive.

Topic 4: Mental wellbeing of patients during the Coronavirus pandemic

Research Aim: This study will focus on the measures taken by the hospital management, government, and families to ensure patients’ mental well-being, especially COVID-19 patients.

Best Mental Health Topics for Your Dissertation in the Year 2023

Topic 1: kids and their relatives with cancer: psychological challenges.

Research Aim: In cancer diagnoses and therapies, children often don’t know what happens. Many have psychosocial problems, including rage, terror, depression, disturbing their sleep, inexpiable guilt, and panic. Therefore, this study is designed to identify and treat the child and its family members’ psychological issues.

Topic 2: Hematopoietic device reaction in ophthalmology patient’s radiation therapy

Research Aim: This research is based on the analysis of hematopoietic devices’ reactions to ophthalmology’s radiation.

Topic 3: Psychological effects of cyberbullying Vs. physical bullying: A counter study

Research Aim: This research will focus on the effects of cyberbullying and physical bullying and their consequences on the victim’s mental health. The most significant part is the counter effects on our society’s environment and human behaviour, particularly youth.

Topic 4: Whether or not predictive processing is a theory of perceptual consciousness?

Research Aim: This research aims to identify: whether or not predictive processing is a theory of perceptual consciousness?

Topic 5: Importance of communication in a relationship

Research Aim: This research aims to address the importance of communication in relationships and the communication gap consequences.

Topic 6: Eating and personality disorders

Research Aim: This research aims to focus on eating and personality disorders

Topic 7: Analysis of teaching, assessment, and evaluation of students and learning differences

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse teaching methods, assessment, and evaluation systems of students and their learning differences

Topic 8: Social and psychological effects of virtual networks

Research Aim: This research aims to study the social and psychological effects of virtual networks

Topic 9: The role of media in provoking aggression

Research Aim: This research aims to address the role of media and in provoking aggression among people

Best Mental Health Topics for Your Dissertation in the Year 2022

Topic 1: what is the impact of social media platforms on the mental wellbeing of adults.

Research Aim: the current study aims to investigate the impact social media platforms tend to have on adults’ mental well-being with a particular focus on the United Kingdom. While many studies have been carried out to gauge the impact of social media platforms on teenagers’ mental well-being, little to no research has been performed to investigate how the health of adults might be affected by the same and how social media platforms like Facebook impact them.

Topic 2: The contemporary practical management approach to treating personality disorders

Research Aim: This research will discuss the contemporary practical management approach for treating personality disorders in mental health patients. In the previous days, much of the personality disorder treatments were based on medicines and drugs. Therefore, this research will address contemporary and practical ways to manage how personality disorders affect the mental state of the individuals who have the disease.

Topic 3: How is Prozac being used in the modern-day to treat self-diagnosed depression?

Research Aim: In the current day and age, besides people suffering from clinical depression, many of the teens and the adults across have started to suffer from self-diagnosed depression. To treat their self-diagnosed depression, individuals take Prozac through all the wrong means, which harms their mental state even more. Therefore, the current study aims to shed light on how Prozac is being used in the modern age and the adverse effects of misinformed use on the patients.

Topic 4: Are women more prone to suffer from mental disorders than men: Comparative analysis

Research Aim: There have been several arguments regarding whether women are more likely to suffer from mental disorders than men. Much of the research carried out provides evidence that women are more prone to suffer from mental disorders. This research study aims to conduct a comparative analysis to determine whether it’s more likely for men or women to suffer from mental disorders and what role biological and societal factors play in determining the trend.

Topic 5: The impact of breakups on the mental health of men?

Research Aim: Several studies have been carried out to discuss how women are affected more by a breakup than men. However, little research material is available in support of the impact the end of a relationship can have on men’s mental health. Therefore, this research study will fill out the gap in research to determine the impact of a breakup on men’s mental health and stability.

Topic 6: A theoretical analysis of the Impact of emotional attachment on mental health?

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the theories developed around emotional attachment to address how emotional attachment can harm individuals’ mental health across the globe. Several theories discuss the role that emotional attachment tends to play in the mind of a healthy being, and how emotional attachment can often negatively affect mental well-being.

Topic 7: How do social media friendships contribute to poor mental health?

Research Aim: This research idea aims to address how social media friendships and networking can often lead to a lack of self-acceptance, self-loathing, self-pity, self-comparison, and depression due to the different mindsets that are present in today’s world.

Topic 8: What role do parents play in ensuring the mental well-being of their children?

Research Aim: It is assumed that parents tend to stop playing a role in ensuring that the mental health and well-being of their children are being maintained after a certain age. Therefore, this study will aim to put forward the idea that even after the children pass the age of 18, activities and their relationship with their parents would always play a role in the way their mental health is being transformed.

Topic 9: A study on the mental health of soldiers returning from Iraq?

Research Aim: This topic idea puts forward the aim that the mental health of soldiers who return from war-struck areas is always a subject of interest, as each of the soldiers carries a mental burden. Therefore, it is vital to understand the soldiers’ mental health returning from Iraq, focusing on what causes their mental health to deteriorate during the war and suggestions of what to do or who to call if they do become unwell.

Topic 10: How the contemporary media practices in the UK are leading to mental health problems?

Research Aim: The media is known to have control and influence over people’s mindsets who are connected to it. Many of the contemporary media practices developed in the UK can negatively impact the mental well-being of individuals, which makes it necessary to analyse how they are contributing to the mental health problems among the UK population.

Topic 11: What is the impact of television advertising on the mental development of children in the UK?

Research Aim: This topic would aim to address how television advertising can negatively impact children’s mental development in the United Kingdom, as it has been observed in many studies that television advertising is detrimental to the mental health of children.

Topic 12: How deteriorating mental health can have an Impact on physical health?

Research Aim: This research aims to address the side-effects of deteriorating mental health on the physical health of individuals in the society, as it is believed that the majority of the physical ailments in the modern-day and age are due to the deteriorating mental health of individuals. The study can address the treatments for many ailments in our society due to deteriorating mental health and well-being.

Topic 13: The relationship between unemployment and mental health

Research Aim: How unemployment relates to concepts, such as a declining economy or lack of social skills and education, has been frequently explored by many researchers in the past. However, not many have discussed the relationship between unemployment and the mental health of unemployed individuals. Therefore, this topic will help address the problems faced by individuals due to unemployment because of the mental blocks they are likely to develop and experience. In the future, it would lead to fewer people being depressed due to unemployment when further research is carried out.

Topic 14: The mental health problems of prisoners in the United Kingdom

Research Aim: While prisoners across the globe are criticised and studied for the negativity that goes on in their mindsets, one would rarely research the mental health problems they tend to develop when they become a prisoner for committing any crime. It is often assumed that it is the life inside the prison walls that impacts the prisoners’ mental health in a way that leads to them committing more crimes. Therefore, this research topic has been developed to study prison’s impact on prisoners’ mental well-being in the United Kingdom to eventually decrease the number of crimes that occur due to the negative environment inside the prisons.

Topic 15: Mental well-being of industry workers in China

Research Aim: While many research studies have been carried out regarding the conditions that the workers in China tend to be exposed to, there is very little supporting evidence regarding the impact such working conditions have on the mindset and mental health of the workers. Therefore, this study aims to address the challenges faced by industry workers in China and the impact that such challenges can have on their mental well-being.

Topic 16: Is the provision of mental health care services in the United Kingdom effective?

Research Aim: Many people have made different assumptions regarding the mental health care services provided across the globe. However, it seems that little to no research has been carried out regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of the provision of mental health care services in the United Kingdom. Therefore, this study aims to put forward research into the mental health care services provided in well-developed countries like the United Kingdom to gauge the awareness and importance of mental health in the region.

Topic 17: What are the mental health problems the minorities in the United Kingdom face?

Research Aim: It is believed that the minorities in the United Kingdom are likely to experience physical abuse, societal abuse and are often exposed to discrimination and unfair acts at the workplace and in their social circle. The study investigates the range of mental problems faced by minorities in the UK, which need to be addressed to have equality, diversity, and harmony.

Topic 18: The impact the Coronavirus has had on the mental health of the Chinese people

Research Aim: The spread of the deadly Coronavirus has led to many deaths in the region of China, and many of those who have been suspected of the virus are being put in isolation and quarantine. Such conditions tend to have hurt the mental health of those who have suffered from the disease and those who have watched people suffer from it. Therefore, the current study aims to address how the Coronavirus has impacted the mental health of the Chinese people.

Topic 19: How to create change in mental health organisations in China?

Research Aim: Research suggests little awareness about mental health in many Asian countries. As mental health problems are on the rise across the globe, it is necessary to change mental health organisations. Therefore, the study aims to discuss how to create change in mental health organisations in the Asian region using China’s example.

Topic 20: Addressing the mental health concerns of the Syrian refugees in the UK

Research Aim: This research project would address the concerns in terms of the refugees’ mental health and well-being, using an example of the Syrian refugees who had been allowed entry into the United Kingdom. This idea aims to put forward the negative effects that migration can have on the refugees and how further research is required to combat such issues not just in the United Kingdom but worldwide.

How Can ResearchProspect Help?

ResearchProspect writers can send several custom topic ideas to your email address. Once you have chosen a topic that suits your needs and interests, you can order for our dissertation outline service which will include a brief introduction to the topic, research questions , literature review , methodology , expected results , and conclusion . The dissertation outline will enable you to review the quality of our work before placing the order for our full dissertation writing service!

Important Notes:

As a mental health student looking to get good grades, it is essential to develop new ideas and experiment on existing mental health theories – i.e., to add value and interest in the topic of your research.

Mental health is vast and interrelated to so many other academic disciplines like civil engineering ,  construction ,  project management , engineering management , healthcare , finance and accounting , artificial intelligence , tourism , physiotherapy , sociology , management , project management , and nursing . That is why it is imperative to create a project management dissertation topic that is articular, sound, and actually solves a practical problem that may be rampant in the field.

We can’t stress how important it is to develop a logical research topic based on your entire research. There are several significant downfalls to getting your topic wrong; your supervisor may not be interested in working on it, the topic has no academic creditability, the research may not make logical sense, there is a possibility that the study is not viable.

This impacts your time and efforts in writing your dissertation as you may end up in the cycle of rejection at the initial stage of the dissertation. That is why we recommend reviewing existing research to develop a topic, taking advice from your supervisor, and even asking for help in this particular stage of your dissertation.

While developing a research topic, keeping our advice in mind will allow you to pick one of the best mental health dissertation topics that fulfill your requirement of writing a research paper and add to the body of knowledge.

Therefore, it is recommended that when finalizing your dissertation topic, you read recently published literature to identify gaps in the research that you may help fill.

Remember- dissertation topics need to be unique, solve an identified problem, be logical, and be practically implemented. Please look at some of our sample mental health dissertation topics to get an idea for your own dissertation.

How to Structure your Mental Health Dissertation

A well-structured dissertation can help students to achieve a high overall academic grade.

• A Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Declaration
• Abstract: A summary of the research completed
• Table of Contents
• Introduction : This chapter includes the project rationale, research background, key research aims and objectives, and the research problems. An outline of the structure of a dissertation can also be added to this chapter.
• Literature Review : This chapter presents relevant theories and frameworks by analysing published and unpublished literature available on the chosen research topic to address research questions . The purpose is to highlight and discuss the selected research area’s relative weaknesses and strengths whilst identifying any research gaps. Break down the topic, and key terms that can positively impact your dissertation and your tutor.
• Methodology : The data collection and analysis methods and techniques employed by the researcher are presented in the Methodology chapter which usually includes research design , research philosophy, research limitations, code of conduct, ethical consideration, data collection methods, and data analysis strategy .
• Findings and Analysis : Findings of the research are analysed in detail under the Findings and Analysis chapter. All key findings/results are outlined in this chapter without interpreting the data or drawing any conclusions. It can be useful to include graphs, charts, and tables in this chapter to identify meaningful trends and relationships.
• Discussion and Conclusion : The researcher presents his interpretation of results in this chapter, and state whether the research hypothesis has been verified or not. An essential aspect of this section of the paper is to draw a linkage between the results and evidence from the literature. Recommendations with regards to implications of the findings and directions for the future may also be provided. Finally, a summary of the overall research, along with final judgments, opinions, and comments, must be included in the form of suggestions for improvement.
• References : This should be completed following your University’s requirements
• Bibliography
• Appendices : Any additional information, diagrams, and graphs used to complete the dissertation but not part of the dissertation should be included in the Appendices chapter. Essentially, the purpose is to expand the information/data.

About ResearchProspect Ltd

ResearchProspect is the world’s best academic writing service that provides help with Dissertation Proposal Writing , PhD Proposal Writing , Dissertation Writing , Dissertation Editing, and Improvement .

Our team of writers is highly qualified. They are experts in their respective fields. They have been working in the industry for a long, thus are aware of the issues and the trends of the industry they are working in.

Free Dissertation Topic

Phone Number

Academic Level Select Academic Level Undergraduate Graduate PHD

Academic Subject

Area of Research

Frequently Asked Questions

How to find mental health dissertation topics.

To find mental health dissertation topics:

• Research recent mental health issues.
• Examine gaps in existing literature.
• Consider diverse populations or perspectives.
• Explore treatment approaches or therapies.
• Look into stigma and societal factors.
• Select a topic that resonates with you for in-depth study.

You May Also Like

Here is a list of Linguistic dissertation topics to help you choose the one studies any one as per your requirements.

Need interesting and manageable Media dissertation topics or thesis? Here are the trending Operations Media dissertation titles so you can choose the most suitable one.

Need interesting and manageable finance and accounting dissertation topics or thesis? Here are the trending finance and accounting dissertation titles so you can choose the most suitable one.

USEFUL LINKS

LEARNING RESOURCES

COMPANY DETAILS

• How It Works

Thesis Helpers

Find the best tips and advice to improve your writing. Or, have a top expert write your paper.

230 Current Mental Health Research Topics For Top Dissertation

Mental health characterizes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It involves the taking of multiple approaches to care for these different areas.

Medical news today notes that our mental health determines how we handle stress, relate to other people, and make healthy and articulate choices.

Mental health research is fast becoming one of the most researched areas in health. With this, so many research works can be chosen from this field. Therefore, as a student writing your essay on mental health, you must conduct extensive research for sufficient information.

Structure Of Mental Health Research Paper Or Essay

Students often have ample information on the chosen mental health nursing research topics, but the challenge they often encounter is properly arranging these topics to communicate knowledge effectively. We’ve prepared a mental illness research paper outline to improve your research paper.

• Abstract. Your abstract provides a summary of the area your topic will be based on and what the aim and objectives of this topic focus are. Your abstract is like a door that leads to your research, so you need to make it interesting and informative.
• Introduction. The introduction is the foremost part of your research paper or essay. Your introduction should always be straightforward, touching across all the relevant information that will be further pieced out subsequently.
• Body. This is the actual content of your research paper or essay. In the body, you are expected to assemble all the various subtitles related and relevant to your topic of interest. All your opinions, findings, research methodology, and discussions will be contained in the body. To create a rich, high quality research paper or essay, the body of your writing must examine relevant data.
• Conclusion. Your conclusion is the part where you are expected to summarise your arguments, thereby restating your thesis. By doing this, you’re bringing everything you’ve examined into consciousness again to remind your readers of the main issues and how it has been developed in the course of your writing.
• Reference List. In the course of your essay, you must have used different sources. As you go along, you should therefore ensure that you keep notes of the books, journals, articles you have read, ensuring that the reference style goes with what your university and college recommend for your class. This way, you’ll stick with what your school dictates as the reference style and be praised by your teachers or professors at the end of the school year. Your references also have to be current.

By using this structure your thesis or dissertation will be way more clear.

Characteristics Of Mental Health Essay

How do you recognize a good essay? How do you know that everyone will welcome your contributions to the mental health essays? It would help if you considered these tips:

• Clear Grammar. In other words, your diction must be grand yet easily understood. If it’s difficult for one to efficiently and thoroughly grasp your work, it’s not great work, and the essay’s purpose could be jeopardized. It would help if you communicated in simple language.
• Conciseness. Conciseness is simply communicating in as few words as possible. As the soul of communication, brevity makes your words last longer in the minds of readers. To achieve this, erase superfluous or elaborative words, be pointed in your writing, and make your sentences too passive.
• Depth and Arguments. Your arguments must be intellectually in depth and high level. With different mental health topics to write about, you need to explore a topic whose arguments you can profoundly develop. With this, you’ll be able to turn the ideas into something exciting and engaging. To create a good essay or an engaging one, this is something your readers look forward to.
• Clear Structure. You must structure your work to relate well with your mental illness research topics. This is the only way to make your readers follow your thoughts without stress. Thus, your essay or paper must have an introduction, a body, the conclusion, and a reference list.

This brief guide should help you have an idea of what a professor is looking for. And now here is a helpful list of topics to consider when writing your bachelor thesis or about mental health in general:

Research Questions About Mental Health

Since the subject, mental health is quite vast and includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being, below are some of the best mental health research questions that allow the student to focus on a particular field of research.

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of delivering mental health care virtually?
• Can mental health conditions limit how a person engages with technology?
• How can physicians maximize the combination of existing treatment options with virtual mental health procedures?
• Have virtual interventions been proven safe?
• What are the measures put in place to ensure that mental health platforms are safe?
• What different effects will the adoption of virtual meetups have on the patients’ appointment time?
• Are virtual therapies as effective as physical therapies?
• Can one ascertain total satisfaction from standard elements of therapy through virtual meetups?
• Does virtual interaction create better avenues for minorities as compared to traditional interface?
• Can the different virtual platforms be used to reach out to people with mental health problems effectively?
• Does obesity affect mental health?
• What are the possible symptoms of mental illness in family members?
• At what point do people with mental illness become destructive?
• What are the causes of anorexia?
• Why does a person with mental illness begin to cut themselves?
• How easily can one treat post-traumatic stress?
• Does childbirth lead to depression?
• Are mental illnesses more prevalent in men or women?
• Is ADHD a mental illness?
• What are the causes of ADHD in young adults?
• Are mental illnesses prevalent in survivors of war?
• Can OCD be termed a mental illness?
• How can one tell when a person begins to develop obsessive-compulsive disorder?
• Are movies, games, etc., some of the leading causes of depression in young adults?
• How can one quickly ascertain if they’re mentally ill or not?
• What are the side effects of drug abuse on mental health?
• A study into medically proven ways of curing ADHD.
• The impacts of ADHD on Young adults.
• A study of the mental effects of excessive consumption of Marijuana
• How ADHD and autism affect young people in the 21st century.
• The mental challenges of living with learning disabilities.

Mental Health Research Paper Topics

Mental health is the psychological and emotional part of human health. Good mental health suggests good cognitive, behavioral, and emotional wellbeing. The following mental health research topics will provide multiple avenues for students to base their research topics on:

• The relationship between depression and weight loss
• The rise of eating disorders in teenagers and adolescents
• The glamorization of mental illness in modern media
• Why is it still somewhat taboo to speak openly about mental health?
• The lasting psychological trauma of rape
• PTSD in modern-day youth
• How positive portrayals of mental illness in movies have helped destigmatize it
• Violence in video games and violence in real life: is there a link between the two?
• The effects of victim-blaming on rape victims
• Is mental illness hereditary?
• why mental health education is relevant in our society
• ADHD in adults: regular, or a problem?
• Harmful misconceptions about OCD
• The relationship between physical health and mental wellness
• Is postpartum depression a modern illness?
• Why is a bipolar disorder more than a mood swing disorder
• The relationship between childhood bullying and self-esteem issues in adults
• Is mental illness more prevalent in men or women?
• Advances in mental health education and research in the last decade
• Living with mental health in the age of social media
• Mental health and Nollywood: a study of mental illness portrayal in Nollywood
• Mental health and social media: how social media has helped to destigmatize mental illness
• Why schools should have functioning guidance counselors for students and teachers
• The importance of including mental health topics in the school curriculum
• The need to create safe spaces for people living with mental health issues.

Mental Health Topics To Write About

Your mental health deals with several health disorders, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and personality disorders. In case your mental health research topics are based on the categorical aspects of mental health, the following are research topics on mental health that you can write about:

• What is mental health?
• Destigmatizing mental health discussions
• Mental health education in Nigerian societies
• Can exposure to violent games and movies cause people to become killers?
• Are sociopaths born or made?
• The importance of self-affirmation to goal achievement
• Why therapy isn’t only for the mentally ill
• Why you have to love yourself to be able to receive love from others
• Living with social anxiety
• Overcoming low self-esteem
• Why OCD is not just about an obsession with keeping things clean
• How self-loathing makes us self-destructive
• The benefits of mental health support groups
• How to handle bullying when your child is the aggressor
• Why do we need time for ourselves
• Is your friend group toxic?
• On low self-esteem and managing relationships
• Why it’s insensitive to refer to the mentally ill as crazy
• Why do we sometimes feel unloved?
• Why it is helpful to have supportive friends and family when going through a hard time
• Medically proven ways to deal with a constant depressive episode
• Why depression pills should be regulated
• Why everyone needs access to pills to relax anxiety
• The importance of antidepressants to neurotics
• How to successfully manage the challenges of living with mental health challenges

Mental Illness Research Paper Topics

Mental illness is a range of mental conditions that affect the mind, how we think, our behaviors. If you’ve been looking for the best mental illness research paper topics, your search stops here. Find below mental illness topics to help with your research:

• The difference between depression and sadness
• Similarities between bipolar disorder
• Treating mental disorders using medication: a study on the pros and cons
• The effects of postpartum depression on family members
• The relationship between bullying and eating disorders
• Common misconceptions about mental illness
• Mental illness in the media: positive influence or harmful perpetuation of stereotypes?
• A study on serial killers: how their childhoods shaped who they became
• Self-esteem issues as a trigger for eating disorders
• A study on the compulsive nature of kleptomania
• A study on how movies shape our perception of mental illness
• Identifying signs and symptoms of sociopathy in children
• A study on the relationship between paranoia and impulsive actions
• The relationship between suicide and low self-esteem
• Genetics and mental illness: a study on mental illness in three generations of family members
• A study on how past traumatic events shape our present
• Why eating disorders are mental disorders
• The portrayal of mental illness in the media in the past fifty years
• Improvements in mental illness diagnosis and treatment in the past century
• Examining the effects of mental illness on the lives of teenagers: a qualitative study
• Examining the impacts of antidepressants in curbing depression
• A study into the root cause of mental health challenges in young adults
• Investigating the causes of mental illness in 80+ adults
• The lingering cases of mental health challenges in older people
• The need for the free accessibility of mental health facilities by students.

Research Topics In Psychiatry

Psychiatry is a vast field of study in medicine. Any psychiatry topics must make the research journey more straightforward. That said, the following are interesting topics in psychiatry:

• Defects of tobacco addiction on the human brain
• Treating schizophrenia: most effective ways
• ADHD: more prevalent in adults than children?
• Perfectionism and OCD: Where do we draw the line?
• Why we should look out for symptoms of depression
• How has the raid of COVID-19 affected the mental health of people?
• What are the factors that provoke depression?
• Bipolar disorders as symptoms of mental illness
• What is the potency of talk therapy in relating to suicidal patients
• Anxiety disorder: symptoms and remedies
• Practical measures in overcoming alcohol abuse in men
• Depression: cyberbullying as a tool for enhancing depressive tendencies in young adults
• The adverse effect of antidepressants on brain activities
• Genetics: A yardstick for determining mental health illness
• Lack of sleep as a tool for building anxiety
• Stress as a buildup for depression
• Side effects of psychiatric treatments on older people
• The effects of COVID-19 on brain activity
• Preventing the excessive usage of sedatives in young adults
• Aging as a measure of depression
• Treating mental illness: Applying classical soul music as a means in the 21st century
• Child mental disorders: curbing unhealthy family relationships
• Postpartum depression is the leading cause of mental illness amongst women
• A study on the distinction between Bipolar I and Bipolar II
• The need for the destigmatization of psychiatric patients

Research Topics In Mental Health Nursing

Mental health nursing is a highly essential field of study that should be considered:

• The challenges involved in psychiatric nursing care
• Mental health risks involved in working with psychiatric patients
• Merits and demerits of mental health nursing careers
• Self-discipline in psychiatry nursing fields
• Nursing ethics: what a nurse should know
• Approaches to nursing theories
• Talk therapy in nursing fields
• Dealing with exposed trauma: a typical nursing experience
• Psychiatry nursing: a walk in the park?
• Limitation of responsibilities by nurses on psychiatric patients
• The essence of skilled nurses in clinical psychology
• Effective patients’ recovery: the roles of nurses in present-day psychiatry
• Practical application of nursing experience in psychiatry wards
• Forbidden practices in nursing homes
• Is psychiatry nursing predominantly a woman’s job?
• Promoting nursing staff shortage in health sectors
• Evaluating anti stigmatization by nurses in psychiatric wards
• Damning effects of psychiatric nursing on nurses
• Mental health illness: are nurses exempted?
• Nursing practices applied in treating children and adults
• Helpful ways mental health nurses administer care to patients
• Ways care for mental health patients can be improved in the hospitals
• Effective ways of caring for mental health patients
• Why mental health nursing should be a specialized healthcare role
• Importance of mental health nursing
• Why mental health nursing should be prioritized as a specialist role

Critical Analysis Research Paper Topics In Mental Health

The following are some critically analyzed paper topics in mental health that will make your research more accessible and give more depth to your essay.

• Problems related to physical and mental health issues in men and women
• Supporting children’s mental health in the 21st century
• Bipolar disorder problem as a mental health challenge
• Mental health and eating disorders
• A mental health project: a research methodology on curbing mental illnesses
• Connecting poverty and mental health problems
• Mental health counseling: a way in the wilderness
• Mental health administration: a necessity in present-day lives
• Mental health and spirituality
• Effects of marijuana on mental health
• The critical role of school psychology in the mental health movement
• Code of ethics for mental health professions worldwide
• Mental health counselors: professionalism in workplaces
• Mental health benefits in the employee benefits packages
• Eliminating stigmatization in mental health diagnoses
• Community mental health as a tool for curbing disorders
• Mental health counselor: a much-needed remedy
• Mental health issues in the criminal justice system
• Refugees and their mental health
• Medical ethics in mental health care
• Child’s mental health and depression in adulthood: a qualitative study
• Transitions in late life: a typical study of mental health concerns
• Mental health nursing: health and illness
• Mental health specialist jobs and career
• Mental health: screening and assessment of nursing personnel
• The role of female mental health in socio-cultural conditions
• Schizophrenia: a dominant mental health disorder
• Mental health practice model for public institutions
• Mental health: research methodologies issues
• Mental health strategies at the workplace

Good Research Questions About Mental Health

Good research questions must be willing to provide concise and thorough answers. Over time, researchers have generated questions that border on mental health that have proven highly effective.

• Should the use of antidepressants be accessible to children?
• Why do people need access to mental health care?
• What is the importance of prioritizing mental health care?
• Is self-care the same as mental health care?
• Is there a correlation between self-care and mental health care?
• How to prioritize mental health
• The study of the growing mental health challenge amongst young adults
• Growth of depression in third-world countries
• The effects of poverty on mental health
• A study on the effects of mental health education on the treatment of the mentally ill
• Institutionalized bullying in schools and its effects on students’ mental health
• The importance of mother’s mental health in the aftermath of childbirth
• Addressing mental health problems in children below the age of ten
• The effects of sudden environmental changes on childrens’ mental health
• The focus on mental health in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic
• Harmful effects of social media on the mental health of Nigerian youth
• Fostering mental health discourse among males
• Trolling and cancel culture and their effects on the mental health of their victims
• The benefits of mental health apps in the lives of individuals
• Measures to promote mental health awareness in religious spheres

Mental Illness Thesis Ideas

By nature, there are several mental illness thesis ideas you can explore. The following are proven great thesis ideas that concern mental health.

• Addressing inadequate measures to combat mental illness in Nigerian societies
• A study on the marginalization of the mentally ill in the society
• Mental illness stigma and seeking help: how mental health stigma affects
• The effects of mental illness stigma in people’s seeking of treatment
• Embracing mental illness discourse in schools and the workplace
• Why mental illness is an illness and not a figment of the imagination
• The relationship between mental illness and violence
• The relationship between childhood abuse and mental illness
• The benefits of support systems to the mentally ill
• Mental illness and the perpetuation of gun violence among youth in the united states
• A study of mental illness portrayals in Nigerian media
• Mental illness portrayals in Nigerian media: harmful or beneficial?
• A study on the harmful effects of certain medications on mental disorders
• Tackling common misconceptions about mental disorders among members of the older generation
• Advancements in mental illness treatment methods
• Breakthroughs in mental illness research in the 50s and 60s
• A study on ethically questionable mental health research experiments in the last 50 years
• Living with mental illness in the age of toxic internet culture
• The increase in cases of depression and anxiety in youths between the early 2000s and late 2010s
• Mental illness and criminality: a study on the relationship between the two
• Drug abuse: a study on how college students engage in drugs
• A study of the nicotine content of harmful drugs
• A critical study of the early stage of mental illness in patients.

Need Help With Your Thesis?

Suppose you are a college or university student who needs high-level advanced psychology dissertation help in preparing for your thesis deadlines and require thesis help from experts in this field. Be assured that we have professional writers online who are professors, teachers, and native writers from various fields. They can assist you in preparing high-quality research works, proofreading, editing, and writing services, all at a cheap rate. You can be sure of custom-written works that will secure you high grades.

Make PhD experience your own

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Open access
• Published: 26 July 2021

A qualitative study about the mental health and wellbeing of older adults in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic

• A. R. McKinlay 1 ,
• D. Fancourt 1 &
• A. Burton 1  

BMC Geriatrics volume  21 , Article number:  439 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

55k Accesses

55 Citations

8 Altmetric

Metrics details

The objective of this study was to examine factors that threatened and protected the wellbeing of older adults living in the UK during social distancing restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Semi-structured telephone or video interviews with 20 adults aged over 70. Purposive sampling methods were used to increase diversity within the group. Transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Participants described potential threats to their wellbeing during the pandemic, including fears for mortality, grieving normal life, and concerns for the future. Participants also described activities and behaviours that helped to protect their mental health, including adopting a slower pace of life, maintaining routine, socialising, and using past coping skills. Many participants drew on their resilience and life experience to self-manage fear and uncertainty associated with the pandemic, using their time during lockdown to reflect or organise end-of-life affairs.

This study provides UK-based evidence that while some older adults experienced challenges during the first wave of COVID-19, many were resilient throughout social distancing restrictions despite early reported concerns of mental health consequences among the older adult population. Our findings highlight the importance of maintaining access to essentials to promote feelings of normality and use of social support to help reduce uncertainty in times of pandemics.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

Existing concerns about the wellbeing of older adults were exacerbated when severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on March 11th, 2020 [ 39 ]. Older adults were identified as especially vulnerable to the virus with high rates of fatalities [ 17 ], particularly in some residential care homes [ 9 , 35 ] during the first wave of the virus [ 23 ]. Hospitalisation rates were high among those living with long term conditions (LTCs) [ 10 , 17 ], many of which affect the older adult population [ 12 , 30 ]. The UK government imposed their first social distancing restrictions on March 23rd, 2020, where adults over the age of 70 were required to self-isolate and “lockdown” at home for 3 months to reduce their infection risk.

Drawing on evidence of negative psychological responses observed during previous epidemics [ 5 ], concerns rose among stakeholders at the start of the pandemic that there would be adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and wellbeing. Whilst under usual circumstances, older adults do tend to experience psychosocial wellbeing that is equal or better than that of younger age groups [ 11 ], it was predicted that due to the specific isolation rules for older adults and their heightened risk from the virus, psychosocial consequences such as loneliness would be exacerbated in older age groups [ 21 ], leading to negative effects on mental and physical health [ 22 , 34 ]. At a population level, mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic was negatively impacted [ 42 ], but evidence suggests older adults on average experienced more stable and less negative outcomes compared with other subgroups [ 20 , 38 ]. It is presently unclear why this was, or what underlying factors accounted for the experiences reported by older adults during lockdown.

Several theories could help to explain the apparent psychological resilience of older adults during the pandemic. Offers of support from social contacts [ 25 ], a stable living environment [ 6 , 7 ], cohabiting with others [ 19 ], and financial security [ 20 ] may have helped protect many in this group against adverse effects of social distancing measures by providing a psychological buffer against distress. Additionally, older adults may draw on previous life experiences to perceive a greater sense of coherence in the events of the pandemic. Sense of coherence theory incorporates comprehensibility (ability to understand and integrate), manageability (ability to navigate and manage) and meaningfulness (sense making) in relation to interpretation of a new health threat [ 1 ]. It has been shown to support better navigation of life stressors [ 1 ] and is a strong predictor of health status among older adults [ 16 ]. Life wisdom accumulated by older age has also been found to increase the use of problem-focused coping skills, which may protect against distress [ 14 ]. However, whether factors such as these do indeed explain the responses amongst older adults remains unexplored.

Understanding the factors that are transferable across age groups is essential in developing future interventions and policy for those most at risk of harm due to social distancing measures during the pandemic. Further, whilst the average mental health symptom scores and wellbeing levels of older adults have been better than amongst younger age groups during the first wave of the pandemic in the UK [ 15 ], this does not necessarily imply that older adults were psychologically unaffected. Therefore, this study explored in detail the experiences of older adults living in the UK, with two specific research questions: (1) How was the mental health of older adults affected during the pandemic? (2) What factors have protected mental health in older adults during this time?

Study design

This research was undertaken as part of the COVID-19 Social Study (CSS) that began on March 21st 2020 [ 6 , 7 ], which is the largest UK panel survey study on social life during the COVID-19 pandemic. The overall aims of this work are to explore the psychosocial impact of the pandemic among people living in the UK. In this qualitative substudy, conducted separately from the CSS survey, we elicited perspectives of older adults through qualitative interviews, which were carried out from May until September in 2020. We deployed phenomenological methodology to interrogate the data and focus on individual accounts of experience, coupled with reflexive thematic analysis techniques for analysing and framing the research data. The University College London Ethics Committee reviewed and approved this study (Project ID: 14895/005). Content in the following sections are informed by the COREQ reporting guidelines [ 37 ].

Recruitment

Eligibility criteria included: aged 70 years or older, and the ability to speak English sufficiently to understand the study participant information sheet and consent form. We recruited participants by listing the substudy in the CSS newsletter (reaching 3919 subscribers), social media, and through two community organisations who circulated study information within their networks. We did not record response rates during recruitment. People interested in participating were asked to contact the research team directly via email. In order to understand a range of individual experiences, we screened for characteristics (such as gender, ethnicity, educational level) based on previous findings highlighting how some demographics factors have been associated with adverse mental health during the pandemic [ 15 ]. Thus, we used purposive sampling methods to ensure that 20 adults aged over 70 were selected from diverse backgrounds in terms of gender, ethnicity, marital status, and living situation. Recruitment ended after 20 one-off interviews, as the lead author AM identified no new themes during the analysis.

A researcher (AM or AB) responded to expressions of interest in the study with further details about the study and an invitation to ask additional questions. All participants then provided written informed consent prior to attending a remote interview by telephone or video call. Participants were offered a £10 shopping voucher as an expression of gratitude. A team of female, postgraduate-level, qualitative healthcare researchers conducted all interviews (AM, AB, LB, AR, SC). No researcher had prior relations with any research participant. Interview times ranged from 16 to 85 min and lasted for 50 min on average. A complete interview guide can be found in Supplementary File  1 . In brief, interview topics included: normal life before the pandemic, understanding of social distancing guidelines, social life, mental health, and prospection (for question examples, refer Table  1 ). Interview guide questions and prompts were developed based on concepts from social integration and health theory [ 2 ] and Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence theory [ 13 ]. For example,  “Has the pandemic meant that you have any worries for the future? How are these different from the worries you had before?” Although all general topics were discussed during interviews, not all questions or prompts were used or indeed relevant to each participant’s unique circumstances. Interviewers were guided about the questions and prompts to use according to participant responses.

Data analysis

Researchers audio recorded the interviews with consent from participants, which were then transcribed verbatim by a professional transcription service. All transcripts were manually checked for anonymity after transcription before importing into Nvivo version 12 for analysis. Transcripts were not returned to participants for comment or correction, nor did they provide feedback on the findings. For consistency of coding approach, AM and AB double coded 3 transcripts at the start of data analysis and discussed issues of salience raised by participants. We did not calculate the intercoder reliability or quantify agreement during this stage [ 29 ], but rather focused on the impressions that both researchers had on topics of importance when coding the same passage of text. The lead researcher (AM) used an inductive and deductive, reflexive thematic analysis approach, informed by Braun and Clarke [ 3 , 4 ]. An initial coding framework was established from the topic guide, which was formulated based on supporting theory regarding social network structure, social ties, social support (i.e., [ 1 , 2 ]). This framework was applied to each transcript through line-by-line coding, then the framework was updated with new codes as AM identified new concepts in the transcripts described by participants. Themes and subthemes were therefore developed based on participant narratives, and these were presented to the CSS research team on 3 occasions throughout the analysis stages for formative feedback.

Of those who agreed to take part, 9 participants were women and 11 men, with an average age of 79 (Table  2 ). Fourteen participants reported having a physical health condition, including hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure and cancer. Two participants had an anxiety-related mental health condition diagnosed prior to the pandemic, and 3 said they had caregiving responsibilities for a spouse or family member.

Participants reported varied and nuanced experiences from the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We therefore generated two overarching themes, each with 4 subthemes. Many participants described potential threats to their wellbeing, including fears for mortality, grieving normal life, restricted access to support, and concerns for the future. However, many spoke of how they protected mental health in response to pandemic-related uncertainty, including adopting a slower pace of life, maintaining routine, socialising, and using past coping skills.

Potential threats to wellbeing

Some participants described a transient period of uncertainty at the start of the first UK lockdown, associated with nervousness and lack of sleep that resolved quickly. Many were understandably concerned about the impact the pandemic was having on their end-of-life experience and consequences for the rest of the world (Table  3 ). Overall, the government restrictions were described as “fair enough” and “required” by many; however, a commonly reported concern among participants was a fear of needing healthcare assistance during the COVID-19 lockdown. Some participants were worried about catching COVID-19 and additional risks due to their age, ethnicity, and medical history. Others said that lockdown measures meant they were unable to engage in activities that usually formed part of their self-care routine.

Concerns about end-of-life, ageing, and mortality

More than half of the group spoke about how the pandemic caused them to think about their experience of end-of-life, ageing, and mortality.

‘It’s just this idea of all of a sudden realising that I’m getting really old. I think that may be the biggest thing, and it’s a combination of getting really old, and the pandemic is probably accentuating it a bit.’ p10, female, aged 75-79

Those who were retired were particularly worried about the physical or cognitive impact of lockdown on their experience of ageing.

‘I thought I’m going to be forced into being isolated at home. Can’t go to the gym, can’t go out walking, I’m going to physically deteriorate. And I really was quite scared about that.’ p1, male, aged 80-84

Some planned for the possibility of becoming unwell from COVID. For instance, one participant had instructed his family to “stay away” should he become gravely ill, to protect them from the virus. For several participants, a reminder of their own mortality risk came from knowing someone who had passed away from COVID:

‘We’ve had one friend who was in his sixties… Suddenly went into hospital went on a respirator and sadly he died. He’s the only person we know who has directly been affected by it. It hits you and it makes you realise your own mortality. Especially when they keep saying it affects older people worse, so you do worry.’ p13, male, aged 75-79

Several participants described concerns about their perceived vulnerability to COVID due to their age, ethnic group, or pre-existing health concerns:

‘It is scary for us at our age. The thought of getting COVID, that really frightens me and frightens me for anybody close to me that if they got it. It really terrifies me. So, we have been very, very careful.’ p11, female, aged 70-74

Grieving the loss of normality

Understandable emotional responses and a longing for normality were frequently described by participants. Some felt the activities they previously enjoyed, like travelling, going to the theatre, or “hitting a tennis ball,” would never return to the normal they were used to. Others said they felt their life was on hold until the virus was under control or a vaccine was introduced.

‘The new normal is not going to be at all like the old normal, I don't think. We won’t really be able to live the kind of life that we lived before until there’s a vaccine, and it looks as though the vaccine is going to be a very long way off.’ p4, female, aged 70-74

Some said they felt grief about the impact COVID was having on the world, particularly regarding death, hardships, and suffering of others.

‘I knew of the wars and the disease and the hunger, but I think COVID has just put a whole blanket round the lot of it and makes it so immense, the state of the world. The horrible state of the world and that is very depressing when you think about it.’ p19, female, aged 80-84

Several said they did not think a COVID vaccine would help life “go back to where we were before.”

‘Whatever happens, even if a vaccine comes, we will never return to shaking strangers’ hands.’ p16, male, aged 75-79

Healthcare concerns

Concerns about catching COVID were variable among the group, but many were more fearful of being hospitalised for any reason because they believed they were at increased risk of death.

‘A lot of people are scared stiff of catching [COVID], I’m not. The only thing I’m scared of is being carted off to a hospital. I want to die peacefully at home, and I would happily do that any night.’ p8, male, aged 90-94

Those living alone in particular worried about the lack of available health services during lockdown, should anything “go wrong” with their health independently from COVID.

‘A friend of mine has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. She’s had to wait about nine weeks for her op… so you worry about if something like that happened to me, would I get the medical attention I need?’ p12, female, aged 75-79

The potential health threat of COVID meant some participants were scared to leave the house.

‘I do feel that perhaps I should be going out more and that sort of thing, but myself and many, many, almost all my friends say that they are very scared to go out.’ p2, female, 70-74

Several participants had decided to self-isolate before the national restrictions were introduced, mainly due to concerns about age-related vulnerability and pre-existing health conditions.

‘Come mid-March when it all happened… we decided ourselves to lockdown before other people did… I’m over 75 and I’ve got blood pressure controlled by medication but I’m over 75. My BMI was over 30… So, I was worried and we were worried. So, we totally shut down.’ p16, male, aged 75-79

Unable to engage with activities that protect wellbeing

Due to social distancing and travel restrictions, some participants were unable to engage in activities such as weekly religious ceremonies, theatre groups, and sports. Although some activities were able to be undertaken online, this was not always possible.

‘Since COVID, [community activities have] all closed down. Well yes, the book club totally because we can’t discuss books over the phone and also people are of an age where you can’t do social media, whatever you call it.’ p19, female, aged 80-84

Several participants commented on the consequences of an abrupt change in routine on their wellbeing during lockdown.

‘That was the first thing that hit me, boredom. I had no idea what the hell am I going to do next, because I was used to a routine and suddenly the routine was completely disrupted…Now suddenly I had nothing to do and I was really lost. I was walking round the house like a bloody zombie trying to find something to do.’ p15, male, aged 80-84

Protective activities and Behaviours

Despite voicing threats to wellbeing, many participants were positive in reflecting on their lockdown experience. This was attributed to a slowed pace of life, maintaining a routine, using coping skills and resources, and accessing social support (Table 3 ).

Slowing the pace of life

The most commonly reported experience during lockdown was feeling like the pace of life had slowed on an individual and societal level, with more time alone to reflect. Although some participants had described a loss of leisure during lockdown, many had found time for new hobbies, reading, crafts, gardening, and learning a new language.

“Sometimes I wake up in the morning, and I think, oh, it’s another day in lockdown, but I think… there are some little positive benefits…Before lockdown, we were all rushing around doing lots of things, and now we’ve had to slow down. And actually, slowing down has been quite nice. And we’re living in the kind of retirement now that, maybe, our grandparents might have lived, when you just cultivate your garden and do your knitting and crochet... But just generally living a slower pace of life.“ p4, female, aged 70-74

Others felt that being required to stay at home presented an opportunity to focus more on their health by going for regular walks and taking up new forms of physical activity. For some, this was the first time in decades they had been so physically active.

“I’ve now started to ride a proper bike as well. I live in a Close, so we don’t get any through traffic and I can cycle around that Close and I do a few laps. But I haven’t ridden a bike for 60 years.” p1, male, aged 80–84

Half of the group said the slowed pace of life gave more time for introspection: “I’m not rushing around so much anymore, it’s given me the time and the opportunity to notice small things.” p4, female, aged 70–74. In particular, many women in the group said they reflected on their life differently and in a more meaningful or positive way than before. Some used this process of reflection to think about the changes they would make to their lives as a result of their pandemic experience.

‘Having grown quite a lot, I feel quite positive about that. I also think I’m going to try and, maybe, achieve more things when I come out of this [lockdown]. I think when you retire, and as you get older, you become very comfortable in your life. I think, perhaps, I was a bit too comfortable. I need to get out and be more proactive.’ p6, female, aged 70-74

Benefits of routine and social responsibility

Nearly half of participants said that maintaining a routine and sense of purpose was important for their wellbeing during the COVID-19 lockdown: “ You have to have a purpose you see. I think mental resilience is all about having a sense of purpose.” (p15, male, aged 80–84).

Many female participants said they experienced meaningful benefits from social responsibilities, such as cooking a meal for family, phoning friends to check in, or caring for a pet:

‘The important thing is to have the necessity to do things. Whether it is to get in touch with people, to write a piece of something… Obligations are a good source of maintaining ones feeling of self-worth, if you like. So I think it’s very important to make sure that whatever it is, even though you may feel oh what a nuisance I’ve got to do that, the very fact of having to do it is a great psychological benefit.’ p3, female, aged 70-74

Social interactions and support

The nature of socialising had changed since the start of lockdown for many but not all participants. Several said they were socialising to try to carry on “life as normal” , particularly keeping in regular contact with family. For some, this resulted in strengthened relationship bonds and connectedness:

‘I think it has made me and my husband stronger really. We’ve never spent as much time together actually… I think we’ve coped with the shopping and organising that. And we’ve been baking together, we’ve never done things like that. And we took it in turns to cook and tidy up after. We have done really well together. I’m really proud of us.’ p11, female, aged 70-74

Utilising skills, experience and accessing practical resources to cope

Participants who had used mental health services in the past spoke of utilising the skills they had previously learned to help cope with the COVID-19 crisis, including use of mindfulness and meditation.

‘I had a wonderful counsellor who I saw about once a year, and she would set me on the right path. And eventually, after many years of trying, I found a mindfulness and meditation book, about the middle of last year… so I feel that that has been a great help to me. Usually I try in the morning and certainly in the evening, before I go to bed, I do some meditation.’ p2, female, 70-74

Others described experiences of hardship in the past that they used as a comparison with COVID times, such as living through war, displacement, and illness:

‘I was diagnosed with what they call non-invasive bladder cancer… Having gone through the concern of something like that, perhaps Covid, you know, you put it into perspective.’ P13, male, aged 75-79

For some who lived alone, they spoke of being accustomed to isolation long before the pandemic arrived: “I’m a fairly sort of isolated person anyway.” p1, male, aged 80–84 . Several said they were accustomed to being alone due to widowhood or retirement, and therefore lockdown did not prompt a dramatic change in their daily living or social life:

‘I’ve been retired for a nice long time… So, in many ways the lockdown, on one side it hasn’t impacted a great deal, because I was used to being at home and certainly over the past two years to being home alone.’ p20, male, aged 80-84

Participants frequently mentioned their access to practical resources and basic necessities that helped reduce uncertainty, such as access to online shopping for home food deliveries and offers from others to drop off medication. Such arrangements had been made during lockdown, with additional support offered by family, friends, and neighbours.

‘I’ve had online shopping every week since lockdown and I haven’t been to any shop. Prescriptions were delivered and anything I wanted, my daughter would fetch.’ p18, female, aged 80-84

In this study, we sought the views of older adults living in the UK about factors that threatened or protected their mental health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study identified understandable emotional responses to the pandemic including fears relating to the virus, the future, and mortality. These are justified in the face of unprecedented circumstances, such as those brought about by COVID-19 [ 28 ]. Overall, older adults mostly described engaging with activities and behaviours that helped to protect their mental health and could explain their improved wellbeing relative to other age-groups. For the most part, participants enjoyed feeling less social pressure and having more time for their hobbies. Similarities in experience were drawn by this group between a slower pace of life germane to retirement and day-to-day realities of the COVID-19 lockdown. As described by older adults in Japan [ 36 ], COVID-19 restrictions introduced comparatively few changes to daily life compared with other groups. Those who experienced greater daily changes and uncertainty, such as parents of young children, working age adults and those affected by financial difficulties, have reported greater levels emotional distress during the pandemic [ 32 ]. Fewer changes and transitions experienced by older adults may therefore explain some of the differences observed in levels of psychological distress.

Congruent with international research [ 25 ], many participants began to self-isolate earlier than guidance required and perhaps consequently, practical arrangements were in place for access to essentials from the outset of lockdown (for instance, food and medication deliveries offered to people aged over 70), resulting in greater sense of coherence of COVID-19 as a potential health threat. Being at home early meant less opportunities for virus exposure, perhaps reducing fear of virus transmission and creating an environment of stable predictability (comprehensibility). Many older adults were offered online shopping slots or received offers of help from friends, family or neighbours for medication collection, meaning access to supplies was not restricted (manageability). And for the most part, older adults in our study made sense of the pandemic with reference to previous major events in their lives, such as war and displacement. Explanations about their behaviours and adherence during this time was described as behaviour “for the greater good” for the rest of society (meaningfulness).

Factors that threatened mental health and wellbeing during COVID-19

Given early evidence publicised on mortality risk for older adults [ 41 ], it is unsurprising participants frequently discussed concerns about their end-of-life. Studies have shown an association between social isolation and reduced physical performance, [ 31 ] causing concern among some participants in our study, with many taking extra steps to preserve their activity levels. While this may have provided positive health benefits in the short term, of most concern is the fear many participants described in leaving the house to access routine or preventative health care, which may have longer-term implications for public health services. Aligned with international research [ 24 ], participants in our study also worried about the impact of COVID-19 on the world and spoke of the impact this had for their wellbeing on a daily basis. Feelings of grief and loss were frequently reported and will likely be felt across many societies in response to the pandemic.

Factors that protected mental health and wellbeing during COVID-19

Quantitative data collected during the first UK lockdown suggests that those with restricted finances and access to basic needs experienced higher levels of adversity during the first wave of the pandemic [ 40 ]. Many participants in our study reported having access to basic supplies (via online shopping slots and medication deliveries) and high levels of perceived social support, which may have helped to create a buffer against stress and uncertainty. National averages showed infrequent experiences of loneliness among older adults during the pandemic [ 26 ], which may be explained by our finding that participants engaged frequently in online methods of interaction, spent time with pets, and/or had regular remote “check-ins” with friends and family to mitigate against loneliness. As such, the heightened concern about loneliness in this age group early on in the pandemic may have led older adults and those around them to proactively take steps that helped prevent these experiences in many individuals. Indeed, many participants reported enhanced feelings of connectedness with social contacts throughout the lockdown, which can prevent isolation and protect against emotional distress [ 34 ]. However, a small number of participants did not feel connected, particularly those who had been separated from their family because of the pandemic, highlighting the difficulties experienced when such support was not available.

Implications

This study highlights a number of important implications. First, the potential threats to wellbeing amongst older adults require further consideration as they have implications for the immediate future and for future pandemics. In trying to remove barriers to healthcare access, supporting older adults in engaging with telecare may be a helpful alternative for some health concerns. However, in our CSS work involving people with mental health conditions in the UK, we found service users felt this was an unhelpful substitute [ 8 , 9 ]. Future research must address indirect health consequences of the pandemic resultant of delayed or diminished access to healthcare during the lockdown. Second, as discussed elsewhere [ 18 ], interventions to mitigate the impact of prolonged isolation on experiences of grief are warranted. Grief can prompt search for meaning and seeking out others with similar experiences. Clinicians play a role in supporting people in processing their grief associated with COVID-19, but spaces online and within groups may also facilitate healing from loss experienced during the pandemic [ 18 ]. Schemes such as social prescribing could be deployed to support older adults psychosocially, and may provide additional support in the aftermath of COVID-19 [ 33 ]. Finally, it is evident that forward-planning by families and communities to address initial concerns about older adults during the pandemic played an important role in supporting their coping and buffering against loneliness, isolation, and uncertainty. For future pandemics, such a response is again encouraged. In particular, interventions that bolster feelings of certainty and connectedness may serve as helpful targets for those experiencing pandemic-related distress.

Strengths and limitations

A strength of this research is that data were collected from participants via purposive recruitment throughout the first UK lockdown and as restrictions began to ease before the second wave. However, findings must be interpreted cautiously. Our participants were generally healthy, with well-established social networks, living in the community, and predominantly without solo caregiving responsibilities. Therefore, their experiences are not likely to be representative of those living with serious health concerns, who may be more likely to have experienced distress during the pandemic [ 27 ]. We conducted interviews via video call or telephone, which meant being able to capture experiences safely amid restrictions, but also means that those without access to the internet or telephone would not have had equitable access to participate and may have faced additional challenges. We also did not collect data on, or sample based on socioeconomic status or previous COVID-19 infection. To our knowledge, no participant had experienced a confirmed diagnosis. Future studies are needed to ascertain how older adults who experienced COVID-19 were impacted psychologically [ 26 ].

Conclusions

Contrary to early concerns at the start of the pandemic, the mental health of older adults fared well compared with other age groups, and this study adds to the literature on this topic by providing evidence as to why these results may have been found. Overall, many participants described their experience of lockdown as a time for reduced social pressures and increased opportunities for personal growth. However, this group experienced challenges, particularly among those who were concerned about staying well, advancing frailty, or hospitalisation risk. This research therefore highlights the importance of nuance when considering the relative better experiences of older adults. It also provides valuable insight into factors that protected wellbeing of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may be utilised by policy makers to support at-risk groups who have experienced psychological hardship during the crisis, including timely access to essential supplies, communicating offers of help to improve perceived support, and providing structure and routine in times of uncertainty.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are not publicly available and are not available from the corresponding author on request due to reasons concerning participant privacy and confidentiality.

Antonovsky A. Health, Stress, and Coping. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc; 1979.

Berkman LF, Glass T, Brissette I, Seeman TE. From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Soc Sci Med. 2000;51(6):843–57.

Article   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Braun V, Clarke V. Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qual Res Sport Exercise Health. 2019;11(4):589–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806 .

Article   Google Scholar  

Braun V, Clarke V. One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis?. Qual Res Psychol. 2020:1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2020.1769238 .

Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S, Greenberg N, et al. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. Lancet. 2020;395(10227):912–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8 .

Article   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Bu F, Steptoe A, Fancourt D. Loneliness during a strict lockdown: trajectories and predictors during the COVID-19 pandemic in 38,217 United Kingdom adults. Soc Sci Med. 2020a;265:113521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113521 .

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Bu F, Steptoe A, Mak HW, Fancourt D. Time-use and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A panel analysis of 55,204 adults followed across 11 weeks of lockdown in the UK: Medrxiv: The Preprint Server for Health Sciences; 2020b. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.18.20177345 .

Burton A, McKinlay AR, Aughterson H, Fancourt D. Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health and wellbeing of adults with mental health conditions in the UK: A qualitative interview study: Medrxiv: The Preprint Server for Health Sciences; 2020a. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.01.20241067 .

Burton JK, Bayne G, Evans C, Garbe F, Gorman D, Honhold N, et al. Evolution and effects of COVID-19 outbreaks in care homes: A population analysis in 189 care homes in one geographical region of the UK. Lancet Healthy Longevity. 2020b;1(1):e21–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-7568(20)30012-X .

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

CDC COVID-19 Response Team, CDC COVID-19 Response Team, Bialek S, Boundy E, Bowen V, Chow N, Cohn A, et al. Severe outcomes among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)—United States, February 12–March 16, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69(12):343–6. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6912e2 .

Charles ST, Carstensen LL. Social and emotional aging. Annu Rev Psychol. 2010;61(1):383–409. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100448 .

Denton FT, Spencer BG. Chronic health conditions: changing prevalence in an aging population and some implications for the delivery of health care services. Can J Aging. 2010;29(1):11–21. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0714980809990390 .

Eriksson M, Lindstrom B. Antonovsky’s sense of coherence scale and its relation with quality of life: A systematic review. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007;61(11):938–44. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2006.056028 .

Etezadi S, Pushkar D. Why are wise people happier? An explanatory model of wisdom and emotional well-being in older adults. J Happiness Stud. 2013;14(3):929–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-012-9362-2 .

Fancourt D, Steptoe A, Bu F. Trajectories of anxiety and depressive symptoms during enforced isolation due to COVID-19 in England: A longitudinal observational study. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020;8(2):141–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30482-X .

Forbes DA. Enhancing mastery and sense of coherence: important determinants of health in older adults. Geriatr Nurs. 2001;22(1):29–32. https://doi.org/10.1067/mgn.2001.113532 .

Garg S, Kim L, Whitaker M, O’Halloran A, Cummings C, Holstein R, et al. Hospitalization rates and characteristics of patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019—COVID-NET, 14 states, March 1–30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69(15):458–64. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6915e3 .

Goveas JS, Shear MK. Grief and the COVID-19 pandemic in older adults. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2020;28(10):1119–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2020.06.021 .

Groarke JM, Berry E, Graham-Wisener L, McKenna-Plumley PE, McGlinchey E, Armour C. Loneliness in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic: cross-sectional results from the COVID-19 psychological wellbeing study. PLoS One. 2020;15(9):e0239698. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239698 .

Holingue C, Badillo-Goicoechea E, Riehm KE, Veldhuis CB, Thrul J, Johnson RM, et al. Mental distress during the COVID-19 pandemic among US adults without a pre-existing mental health condition: findings from American trend panel survey. Prev Med. 2020;139:106231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106231 .

Holmes EA, O’Connor RC, Perry VH, Tracey I, Wessely S, Arseneault L, et al. Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: A call for action for mental health science. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020;7(6):547–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30168-1 .

Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Baker M, Harris T, Stephenson D. Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: A meta-analytic review. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2015;10(2):227–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691614568352 .

Ioannidis JPA, Axfors C, Contopoulos-Ioannidis DG. Second versus first wave of COVID-19 deaths: shifts in age distribution and in nursing home fatalities: Medrxiv: The Preprint Server for Health Sciences; 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.28.20240366 .

Kivi M, Hansson I, Bjälkebring P. Up and about: older adults’ well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Swedish longitudinal study. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2020;76(2):e4–9. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa084 .

Article   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Krendl AC, Perry BL. The impact of sheltering-in-place during the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults’ social and mental well-being. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa110 .

Li LZ, Wang S. Prevalence and predictors of general psychiatric disorders and loneliness during COVID-19 in the United Kingdom. Psychiatry Res. 2020;291:113267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113267 .

Lima CK, de Medeiros Carvalho PM, Lima ID, de Oliveira Nunes JV, Saraiva JS, de Souza RI, et al. The emotional impact of coronavirus 2019-nCoV (new coronavirus disease). Psychiatry Res. 2020;287:112915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112915 .

Morgan C, Rose N. Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020;7(7):e33. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30230-3 .

O’Connor C, Joffe H. Intercoder reliability in qualitative research: debates and practical guidelines. Int J Qual Methods. 2020;19:160940691989922. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919899220 .

Office for National Statistics. (2020). People with long-term health conditions, UK: January to December 2019. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/adhocs/11478peoplewithlongtermhealthconditionsukjanuarytodecember2019

Google Scholar  

Philip KEJ, Polkey MI, Hopkinson NS, Steptoe A, Fancourt D. Social isolation, loneliness and physical performance in older-adults: fixed effects analyses of a cohort study. Sci Rep. 2020;10(1):13908. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70483-3 .

Pierce M, Hope H, Ford T, Hatch S, Hotopf M, John A, et al. Mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal probability sample survey of the UK population. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020;7(10):883–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30308-4 .

Razai MS, Oakeshott P, Kankam H, Galea S, Stokes-Lampard H. Mitigating the psychological effects of social isolation during the covid-19 pandemic. BMJ. 2020:m1904. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1904 .

Santini ZI, Jose PE, York Cornwell E, Koyanagi A, Nielsen L, Hinrichsen C, et al. Social disconnectedness, perceived isolation, and symptoms of depression and anxiety among older Americans (NSHAP): A longitudinal mediation analysis. Lancet Public Health. 2020;5(1):e62–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30230-0 .

Strang P, Fürst P, Schultz T. Excess deaths from COVID-19 correlate with age and socio-economic status. A database study in the Stockholm region. Ups J Med Sci. 2020;125(4):297–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/03009734.2020.1828513 .

Takashima R, Onishi R, Saeki K, Hirano M. Perception of COVID-19 restrictions on daily life among Japanese older adults: A qualitative focus group study. Healthcare. 2020;8(4):450. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8040450 .

Tong A, Sainsbury P, Craig J. Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): A 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups. Int J Qual Health Care. 2007;19(6):349–57. https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzm042 .

van Tilburg TG, Steinmetz S, Stolte E, van der Roest H, de Vries DH. Loneliness and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A study among Dutch older adults. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa111 .

World Health Organisation. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report – 51. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200311-sitrep-51-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=1ba62e57_10

Wright L, Steptoe A, Fancourt D. Are we all in this together? Longitudinal assessment of cumulative adversities by socioeconomic position in the first 3 weeks of lockdown in the UK. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2020:jech-2020-214475. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2020-214475 .

Wu Z, McGoogan JM. Characteristics of and important lessons from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China: summary of a report of 72 314 cases from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. JAMA. 2020;323(13):1239–42. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.2648 .

Xiong J, Lipsitz O, Nasri F, Lui LMW, Gill H, Phan L, et al. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: A systematic review. J Affect Disord. 2020;277:55–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.001 .

Download references

Acknowledgements

The researchers are grateful for the support of AgeUK, the Alzheimer’s Society and Healthwise Wales during recruitment. Many thanks to Anna Roberts, Louise Baxter Sara Esser and Rana Conway for their help with conducting interviews. Thank you to the COVID-19 Social Study Team (Tom May, Katey Warren, Joanna Dawes, and Henry Aughterson) who provided feedback on the themes and subthemes. We wish to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions that helped us to refine this manuscript.

This work was supported by the Nuffield Foundation [WEL/FR-000022583], but the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the Foundation. The study was also supported by the MARCH Mental Health Network funded by the Cross-Disciplinary Mental Health Network Plus initiative supported by UK Research and Innovation [ES/S002588/1], and by the Wellcome Trust [221400/Z/20/Z]. DF was funded by the Wellcome Trust [205407/Z/16/Z].

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Research Department of Behavioural Science and Health, Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7HB, UK

A. R. McKinlay, D. Fancourt & A. Burton

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

DF and AB were involved with study design. AM collected study data and led the analysis and interpretation of study findings, with support from AB. AM wrote the first paper draft. DF and AB provided critical revisions. All authors have read and approve the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. R. McKinlay .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate.

The University College London Ethics Committee reviewed and approved this study (Project ID: 14895/005). After receipt of a Participant Information Sheet and opportunity to ask questions, all participants then provided written informed consent to participate. We confirm that all methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations under ethics approval, including participants’ informed consent to participate.

Consent for publication

All participants provided written informed consent for study publication.

Competing interests

None declared.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Additional file 1..

Interview topic guide: Adult groups.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

McKinlay, A.R., Fancourt, D. & Burton, A. A qualitative study about the mental health and wellbeing of older adults in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Geriatr 21 , 439 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02367-8

Download citation

Received : 14 January 2021

Accepted : 29 June 2021

Published : 26 July 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02367-8

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Older adults
• Mental health
• Social support

BMC Geriatrics

ISSN: 1471-2318

• Submission enquiries: [email protected]
• General enquiries: [email protected]

• Research article
• Open access
• Published: 24 October 2019

A scoping review of the literature on the current mental health status of physicians and physicians-in-training in North America

• Mara Mihailescu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6878-1024 1 &
• Elena Neiterman 2  

BMC Public Health volume  19 , Article number:  1363 ( 2019 ) Cite this article

26k Accesses

58 Citations

11 Altmetric

Metrics details

This scoping review summarizes the existing literature regarding the mental health of physicians and physicians-in-training and explores what types of mental health concerns are discussed in the literature, what is their prevalence among physicians, what are the causes of mental health concerns in physicians, what effects mental health concerns have on physicians and their patients, what interventions can be used to address them, and what are the barriers to seeking and providing care for physicians. This review aims to improve the understanding of physicians’ mental health, identify gaps in research, and propose evidence-based solutions.

A scoping review of the literature was conducted using Arksey and O’Malley’s framework, which examined peer-reviewed articles published in English during 2008–2018 with a focus on North America. Data were summarized quantitatively and thematically.

A total of 91 articles meeting eligibility criteria were reviewed. Most of the literature was specific to burnout ( n  = 69), followed by depression and suicidal ideation ( n  = 28), psychological harm and distress ( n  = 9), wellbeing and wellness ( n  = 8), and general mental health ( n  = 3). The literature had a strong focus on interventions, but had less to say about barriers for seeking help and the effects of mental health concerns among physicians on patient care.

Conclusions

More research is needed to examine a broader variety of mental health concerns in physicians and to explore barriers to seeking care. The implication of poor physician mental health on patients should also be examined more closely. Finally, the reviewed literature lacks intersectional and longitudinal studies, as well as evaluations of interventions offered to improve mental wellbeing of physicians.

Peer Review reports

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” [ 41 ] One in four people worldwide are affected by mental health concerns [ 40 ]. Physicians are particularly vulnerable to experiencing mental illness due to the nature of their work, which is often stressful and characterized by shift work, irregular work hours, and a high pressure environment [ 1 , 21 , 31 ]. In North America, many physicians work in private practices with no access to formal institutional supports, which can result in higher instances of social isolation [ 13 , 27 ]. The literature on physicians’ mental health is growing, partly due to general concerns about mental wellbeing of health care workers and partly due to recognition that health care workers globally are dissatisfied with their work, which results in burnout and attrition from the workforce [ 31 , 34 ]. As a consequence, more efforts have been made globally to improve physicians’ mental health and wellness, which is known as “The Quadruple Aim.” [ 34 ] While the literature on mental health is flourishing, however, it has not been systematically summarized. This makes it challenging to identify what is being done to improve physicians’ wellbeing and which solutions are particularly promising [ 7 , 31 , 33 , 37 , 38 ]. The goal of our paper is to address this gap.

This paper explores what is known from the existing peer-reviewed literature about the mental health status of physicians and physicians-in-training in North America. Specifically, we examine (1) what types of mental health concerns among physicians are commonly discussed in the literature; (2) what are the reported causes of mental health concerns in physicians; (3) what are the effects that mental health concerns may have on physicians and their patients; (4) what solutions are proposed to improve mental health of physicians; and (5) what are the barriers to seeking and providing care to physicians with mental health concerns. Conducting this scoping review, our goal is to summarize the existing research, identifying the need for a subsequent systematic review of the literature in one or more areas under the study. We also hope to identify evidence-based interventions that can be utilized to improve physicians’ mental wellbeing and to suggest directions for future research [ 2 ]. Evidence-based interventions might have a positive impact on physicians and improve the quality of patient care they provide.

A scoping review of the academic literature on the mental health of physicians and physicians-in-training in North America was conducted using Arksey and O’Malley’s [ 2 ] methodological framework. Our review objectives and broad focus, including the general questions posed to conduct the review, lend themselves to a scoping review approach, which is suitable for the analysis of a broader range of study designs and methodologies [ 2 ]. Our goal was to map the existing research on this topic and identify knowledge gaps, without making any prior assumptions about the literature’s scope, range, and key findings [ 29 ].

Stage 1: identify the research question

Following the guidelines for scoping reviews [ 2 ], we developed a broad research question for our literature search, asking what does the academic literature tell about mental health issues among physicians, residents, and medical students in North America ? Burnout and other mental health concerns often begin in medical training and continue to worsen throughout the years of practice [ 31 ]. Recognizing that the study and practice of medicine plays a role in the emergence of mental health concerns, we focus on practicing physicians – general practitioners, specialists, and surgeons – and those who are still in training – residents and medical students. We narrowed down the focus of inquiry by asking the following sub-questions:

What types of mental health concerns among physicians are commonly discussed in the literature?

What are the reported causes of mental health problems in physicians and what solutions are available to improve the mental wellbeing of physicians?

What are the barriers to seeking and providing care to physicians suffering from mental health problems?

Stage 2: identify the relevant studies

We included in our review empirical papers published during January 2008–January 2018 in peer-reviewed journals. Our exclusive focus on peer-reviewed and empirical literature reflected our goal to develop an evidence-based platform for understanding mental health concerns in physicians. Since our focus was on prevalence of mental health concerns and promising practices available to physicians in North America, we excluded articles that were more than 10 years old, suspecting that they might be too outdated for our research interest. We also excluded papers that were not in English or outside the region of interest. Using combinations of keywords developed in consultation with a professional librarian (See Table  1 ), we searched databases PUBMed, SCOPUS, CINAHL, and PsychNET. We also screened reference lists of the papers that came up in our original search to ensure that we did not miss any relevant literature.

Stage 3: literature selection

Publications were imported into a reference manager and screened for eligibility. During initial abstract screening, 146 records were excluded for being out of scope, 75 records were excluded for being outside the region of interest, and 4 papers were excluded because they could not be retrieved. The remaining 91 papers were included into the review. Figure  1 summarizes the literature search and selection.

PRISMA Flow Diagram

Stage 4: charting the data

A literature extraction tool was created in Microsoft Excel to record the author, date of publication, location, level of training, type of article (empirical, report, commentary), and topic. Both authors coded the data inductively, first independently reading five articles and generating themes from the data, then discussing our coding and developing a coding scheme that was subsequently applied to ten more papers. We then refined and finalized the coding scheme and used it to code the rest of the data. When faced with disagreements on narrowing down the themes, we discussed our reasoning and reached consensus.

Stage 5: collating, summarizing, and reporting the results

The data was summarized by frequency and type of publication, mental health topics, and level of training. The themes inductively derived from the data included (1) description of mental health concerns affecting physicians and physicians-in-training; (2) prevalence of mental health concerns among this population; (3) possible causes that can explain the emergence of mental health concerns; (4) solutions or interventions proposed to address mental health concerns; (5) effects of mental health concerns on physicians and on patient outcomes; and (6) barriers for seeking and providing help to physicians afflicted with mental health concerns. Each paper was coded based on its relevance to major theme(s) and, if warranted, secondary focus. Therefore, one paper could have been coded in more than one category. Upon analysis, we identified the gaps in the literature.

Characteristics of included literature

The initial search yielded 316 records of which 91 publications underwent full-text review and were included in our scoping review. Our analysis revealed that the publications appear to follow a trend of increase over the course of the last decade reflecting the growing interest in physicians’ mental health. More than half of the literature was published in the last 4 years included in the review, from 2014 to 2018 ( n  = 55), with most publications in 2016 ( n  = 18) (Fig.  2 ). The majority of papers ( n  = 36) focused on practicing physicians, followed by papers on residents ( n  = 22), medical students ( n  = 21), and those discussing medical professionals with different level of training ( n  = 12). The types of publications were mostly empirical ( n  = 71), of which 46 papers were quantitative. Furthermore, the vast majority of papers focused on the United States of America (USA) ( n  = 83), with less than 9% focusing on Canada ( n  = 8). The frequency of identified themes in the literature is broken down into prevalence of mental health concerns ( n  = 15), causes of mental health concerns ( n  = 18), effects of mental health concerns on physicians and patients ( n  = 12), solutions and interventions for mental health concerns ( n  = 46), and barriers to seeking and providing care for mental health concerns ( n  = 4) (Fig.  3 ).

Number of sources by characteristics of included literature

Frequency of themes in literature ( n  = 91)

Mental health concerns and their prevalence in the literature

In this thematic category ( n  = 15), we coded the papers discussing the prevalence of specific mental health concerns among physicians and those comparing physicians’ mental health to that of the general population. Most papers focused on burnout and stress ( n  = 69), which was followed by depression and suicidal ideation ( n  = 28), psychological harm and distress ( n  = 9), wellbeing and wellness ( n  = 8), and general mental health ( n  = 3) (Fig.  4 ). The literature also identified that, on average, burnout and mental health concerns affect 30–60% of all physicians and residents [ 4 , 5 , 8 , 9 , 15 , 25 , 26 ].

Number of sources by mental health topic discussed ( n  = 91)

There was some overlap between the papers discussing burnout, depression, and suicidal ideation, suggesting that work-related stress may lead to the emergence of more serious mental health problems [ 3 , 12 , 21 ], as well as addiction and substance abuse [ 22 , 27 ]. Residency training was shown to produce the highest rates of burnout [ 4 , 8 , 19 ].

Causes of mental health concerns

Papers discussing the causes of mental health concerns in physicians formed the second largest thematic category ( n  = 18). Unbalanced schedules and increasing administrative work were defined as key factors in producing poor mental health among physicians [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 13 , 15 , 27 ]. Some papers also suggested that the nature of the medical profession itself – competitive culture and prioritizing others – can lead to the emergence of mental health concerns [ 23 , 27 ]. Indeed, focus on qualities such as rigidity, perfectionism, and excessive devotion to work during the admission into medical programs fosters the selection of students who may be particularly vulnerable to mental illness in the future [ 21 , 24 ]. The third cluster of factors affecting mental health stemmed from structural issues, such as pressure from the government and insurance, fragmentation of care, and budget cuts [ 13 , 15 , 18 ]. Work overload, lack of control over work environment, lack of balance between effort and reward, poor sense of community among staff, lack of fairness and transparency by decision makers, and dissonance between one’s personal values and work tasks are the key causes for mental health concerns among physicians [ 20 ]. Govardhan et al. conceptualized causes for mental illness as having a cyclical nature - depression leads to burnout and depersonalization, which leads to patient dissatisfaction, causing job dissatisfaction and more depression [ 19 ].

Effects of mental health concerns on physicians and patients

A relatively small proportion of papers (13%) discussed the effects of mental health concerns on physicians and patients. The literature prioritized the direct effect of mental health on physicians ( n  = 11) with only one paper focusing solely on the indirect effects physicians’ mental health may have on patients. Poor mental health in physicians was linked to decreased mental and physical health [ 3 , 14 , 15 ]. In addition, mental health concerns in physicians were associated with reduction in work hours and the number of patients seen, decrease in job satisfaction, early retirement, and problems in personal life [ 3 , 5 , 15 ]. Lu et al. found that poor mental health in physicians may result in increased medical errors and the provision of suboptimal care [ 25 ]. Thus physicians’ mental wellbeing is linked to the quality of care provided to patients [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 10 , 17 ].

Solutions and interventions

In this largest thematic category ( n  = 46) we coded the literature that offered solutions for improving mental health among physicians. We identified four major levels of interventions suggested in the literature. A sizeable proportion of literature discussed the interventions that can be broadly categorized as primary prevention of mental illness. These papers proposed to increase awareness of physicians’ mental health and to develop strategies that can help to prevent burnout from occurring in the first place [ 4 , 12 ]. Some literature also suggested programs that can help to increase resilience among physicians to withstand stress and burnout [ 9 , 20 , 27 ]. We considered the papers referring to the strategies targeting physicians currently suffering from poor mental health as tertiary prevention . This literature offered insights about mindfulness-based training and similar wellness programs that can increase self-awareness [ 16 , 18 , 27 ], as well as programs aiming to improve mental wellbeing by focusing on physical health [ 17 ].

While the aforementioned interventions target individual physicians, some literature proposed workplace/institutional interventions with primary focus on changing workplace policies and organizational culture [ 4 , 13 , 23 , 25 ]. Reducing hours spent at work and paperwork demands or developing guidelines for how long each patient is seen have been identified by some researchers as useful strategies for improving mental health [ 6 , 11 , 17 ]. Offering access to mental health services outside of one’s place of employment or training could reduce the fear of stigmatization at the workplace [ 5 , 12 ]. The proposals for cultural shift in medicine were mainly focused on promoting a less competitive culture, changing power dynamics between physicians and physicians-in-training, and improving wellbeing among medical students and residents. The literature also proposed that the medical profession needs to put more emphasis on supporting trainees, eliminating harassment, and building strong leadership [ 23 ]. Changing curriculum for medical students was considered a necessary step for the cultural shift [ 20 ]. Finally, while we only reviewed one paper that directly dealt with the governmental level of prevention, we felt that it necessitated its own sub-thematic category because it identified the link between government policy, such as health care reforms and budget cuts, and the services and care physicians can provide to their patients [ 13 ].

Barriers to seeking and providing care

Only four papers were summarized in this thematic category that explored what the literature says about barriers for seeking and providing care for physicians suffering from mental health concerns. Based on our analysis, we identified two levels of factors that can impact access to mental health care among physicians and physicians-in-training.

Individual level barriers stem from intrinsic barriers that individual physicians may experience, such as minimizing the illness [ 21 ], refusing to seek help or take part in wellness programs [ 14 ], and promoting the culture of stoicism [ 27 ] among physicians. Another barrier is stigma associated with having a mental illness. Although stigma might be experienced personally, literature suggests that acknowledging the existence of mental health concerns may have negative consequences for physicians, including loss of medical license, hospital privileges, or professional advancement [ 10 , 21 , 27 ].

Structural barriers refer to the lack of formal support for mental wellbeing [ 3 ], poor access to counselling [ 6 ], lack of promotion of available wellness programs [ 10 ], and cost of treatment. Lack of research that tests the efficacy of programs and interventions aiming to improve mental health of physicians makes it challenging to develop evidence-based programs that can be implemented at a wider scale [ 5 , 11 , 12 , 18 , 20 ].

Our analysis of the existing literature on mental health concerns in physicians and physicians-in-training in North America generated five thematic categories. Over half of the reviewed papers focused on proposing solutions, but only a few described programs that were empirically tested and proven to work. Less common were papers discussing causes for deterioration of mental health in physicians (20%) and prevalence of mental illness (16%). The literature on the effects of mental health concerns on physicians and patients (13%) focused predominantly on physicians with only a few linking physicians’ poor mental health to medical errors and decreased patient satisfaction [ 3 , 4 , 16 , 24 ]. We found that the focus on barriers for seeking and receiving help for mental health concerns (4%) was least prevalent. The topic of burnout dominated the literature (76%). It seems that the nature of physicians’ work fosters the environment that causes poor mental health [ 1 , 21 , 31 ].

While emphasis on burnout is certainly warranted, it might take away the attention paid to other mental health concerns that carry more stigma, such as depression or anxiety. Establishing a more explicit focus on other mental health concerns might promote awareness of these problems in physicians and reduce the fear such diagnosis may have for doctors’ job security [ 10 ]. On the other hand, utilizing the popularity and non-stigmatizing image of “burnout” might be instrumental in developing interventions promoting mental wellbeing among a broad range of physicians and physicians-in-training.

Table  2 summarizes the key findings from the reviewed literature that are important for our understanding of physician mental health. In order to explicitly summarize the gaps in the literature, we mapped them alongside the areas that have been relatively well studied. We found that although non-empirical papers discussed physicians’ mental wellbeing broadly, most empirical papers focused on medical specialty (e.g. neurosurgeons, family medicine, etc.) [ 4 , 8 , 15 , 19 , 25 , 28 , 35 , 36 ]. Exclusive focus on professional specialty is justified if it features a unique context for generation of mental health concerns, but it limits the ability to generalize the findings to a broader population of physicians. Also, while some papers examined the impact of gender on mental health [ 7 , 32 , 39 ], only one paper considered ethnicity as a potential factor for mental health concerns and found no association [ 4 ]. Given that mental health in the general population varies by gender, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation, it would be prudent to examine mental health among physicians using an intersectional analysis [ 30 , 32 , 39 ]. Finally, of the empirical studies we reviewed, all but one had a cross-sectional design. Longitudinal design might offer a better understanding of the emergence and development of mental health concerns in physicians and tailor interventions to different stages of professional career. Additionally, it could provide an opportunity to evaluate programs’ and policies’ effectiveness in improving physicians’ mental health. This would also help to address the gap that we identified in the literature – an overarching focus on proposing solutions with little demonstrated evidence they actually work.

This review has several limitations. First, our focus on academic literature may have resulted in overlooking the papers that are not peer-reviewed but may provide interesting solutions to physician mental health concerns. It is possible that grey literature – reports and analyses published by government and professional organizations – offers possible solutions that we did not include in our analysis or offers a different view on physicians’ mental health. Additionally, older papers and papers not published in English may have information or interesting solutions that we did not include in our review. Second, although our findings suggest that the theme of burnout dominated the literature, this may be the result of the search criteria we employed. Third, following the scoping review methodology [ 2 ], we did not assess the quality of the papers, focusing instead on the overview of the literature. Finally, our research was restricted to North America, specifically Canada and the USA. We excluded Mexico because we believed that compared to the context of medical practice in Canada and the USA, which have some similarities, the work experiences of Mexican physicians might be different and the proposed solutions might not be readily applicable to the context of practice in Canada and the USA. However, it is important to note that differences in organization of medical practice in Canada and the USA do exist, as do differences across and within provinces in Canada and the USA. A comparative analysis can shed light on how the structure and organization of medical practice shapes the emergence of mental health concerns.

The scoping review we conducted contributes to the existing research on mental wellbeing of American and Canadian physicians by summarizing key knowledge areas and identifying key gaps and directions for future research. While the papers reviewed in our analysis focused on North America, we believe that they might be applicable to the global medical workforce. Identifying key gaps in our knowledge, we are calling for further research on these topics, including examination of medical training curricula and its impact on mental wellbeing of medical students and residents, research on common mental health concerns such as depression or anxiety, studies utilizing intersectional and longitudinal approaches, and program evaluations assessing the effectiveness of interventions aiming to improve mental wellbeing of physicians. Focus on the effect physicians’ mental health may have on the quality of care provided to patients might facilitate support from government and policy makers. We believe that large-scale interventions that are proven to work effectively can utilize an upstream approach for improving the mental health of physicians and physicians-in-training.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

United States of America

World Health Organization

Ahmed N, Devitt KS, Keshet I, Spicer J, Imrie K, Feldman L, et al. A systematic review of the effects of resident duty hour restrictions in surgery: impact on resident wellness, training, and patient outcomes. Ann Surg. 2014;259(6):1041–53.

Article   Google Scholar  

Arksey H, O’Malley L. Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Methodol. 2005;8(1):19–32.

Atallah F, McCalla S, Karakash S, Minkoff H. Please put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others: a call to arms to battle burnout. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2016;215(6):731.e1.

Baer TE, Feraco AM, Tuysuzoglu Sagalowsky S, Williams D, Litman HJ, Vinci RJ. Pediatric resident burnout and attitudes toward patients. Pediatrics. 2017;139(3):e20162163. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2163 .

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Blais R, Safianyk C, Magnan A, Lapierre A. Physician, heal thyself: survey of users of the Quebec physicians health program. Can Fam Physician. 2010;56(10):e383–9.

PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Brennan J, McGrady A. Designing and implementing a resiliency program for family medicine residents. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2015;50(1):104–14.

Cass I, Duska LR, Blank SV, Cheng G, NC dP, Frederick PJ, et al. Stress and burnout among gynecologic oncologists: a Society of Gynecologic Oncology Evidence-based Review and Recommendations. Gynecol Oncol. 2016;143(2):421–7.

Chan AM, Cuevas ST, Jenkins J 2nd. Burnout among osteopathic residents: a cross-sectional analysis. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2016;116(2):100–5.

Chaukos D, Chad-Friedman E, Mehta DH, Byerly L, Celik A, McCoy TH Jr, et al. Risk and resilience factors associated with resident burnout. Acad Psychiatry. 2017;41(2):189–94.

Compton MT, Frank E. Mental health concerns among Canadian physicians: results from the 2007-2008 Canadian physician health study. Compr Psychiatry. 2011;52(5):542–7.

Cunningham C, Preventing MD. Burnout. Trustee. 2016;69(2):6–7 1.

PubMed   Google Scholar  

Daskivich TJ, Jardine DA, Tseng J, Correa R, Stagg BC, Jacob KM, et al. Promotion of wellness and mental health awareness among physicians in training: perspective of a national, multispecialty panel of residents and fellows. J Grad Med Educ. 2015;7(1):143–7.

Dyrbye LN, Shanafelt TD. Physician burnout: a potential threat to successful health care reform. JAMA. 2011;305(19):2009–10.

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Epstein RM, Krasner MS. Physician resilience: what it means, why it matters, and how to promote it. Acad Med. 2013;88(3):301–3.

Evans RW, Ghosh K. A survey of headache medicine specialists on career satisfaction and burnout. Headache. 2015;55(10):1448–57.

Fahrenkopf AM, Sectish TC, Barger LK, Sharek PJ, Lewin D, Chiang VW, et al. Rates of medication errors among depressed and burnt out residents: prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2008;336(7642):488–91.

Fargen KM, Spiotta AM, Turner RD, Patel S. The importance of exercise in the well-rounded physician: dialogue for the inclusion of a physical fitness program in neurosurgery resident training. World Neurosurg. 2016;90:380–4.

Gabel S. Demoralization in Health Professional Practice: Development, Amelioration, and Implications for Continuing Education. J Contin Educ Health Prof 2013 Spring. 2013;33(2):118–26.

Google Scholar  

Govardhan LM, Pinelli V, Schnatz PF. Burnout, depression and job satisfaction in obstetrics and gynecology residents. Conn Med. 2012;76(7):389–95.

Jennings ML, Slavin SJ. Resident wellness matters: optimizing resident education and wellness through the learning environment. Acad Med. 2015;90(9):1246–50.

Keller EJ. Philosophy in medical education: a means of protecting mental health. Acad Psychiatry. 2014;38(4):409–13.

Krall EJ, Niazi SK, Miller MM. The status of physician health programs in Wisconsin and north central states: a look at statewide and health systems programs. WMJ. 2012;111(5):220–7.

Lemaire JB, Wallace JE. Burnout among doctors. BMJ. 2017;358:j3360.

Linzer M, Bitton A, Tu SP, Plews-Ogan M, Horowitz KR, Schwartz MD, et al. The end of the 15-20 minute primary care visit. J Gen Intern Med. 2015;30(11):1584–6.

Lu DW, Dresden S, McCloskey C, Branzetti J, Gisondi MA. Impact of burnout on self-reported patient care among emergency physicians. West J Emerg Med. 2015;16(7):996–1001.

Maslach C, Schaufeli WB, Leiter MP. Job burnout. Annu Rev Psychol. 2001;52:397–422.

McClafferty H, Brown OW. Section on integrative medicine, committee on practice and ambulatory medicine, section on integrative medicine. Physician health and wellness. Pediatrics. 2014;134(4):830–5.

Miyasaki JM, Rheaume C, Gulya L, Ellenstein A, Schwarz HB, Vidic TR, et al. Qualitative study of burnout, career satisfaction, and well-being among US neurologists in 2016. Neurology. 2017;89(16):1730–8.

Peterson J, Pearce P, Ferguson LA, Langford C. Understanding scoping reviews: definition, purpose, and process. JAANP. 2016;29:12–6.

Przedworski JM, Dovidio JF, Hardeman RR, Phelan SM, Burke SE, Ruben MA, et al. A comparison of the mental health and well-being of sexual minority and heterosexual first-year medical students: a report from the medical student CHANGE study. Acad Med. 2015;90(5):652–9.

Ripp JA, Privitera MR, West CP, Leiter R, Logio L, Shapiro J, et al. Well-being in graduate medical education: a call for action. Acad Med. 2017;92(7):914–7.

Salles A, Mueller CM, Cohen GL. Exploring the relationship between stereotype perception and Residents’ well-being. J Am Coll Surg. 2016;222(1):52–8.

Shiralkar MT, Harris TB, Eddins-Folensbee FF, Coverdale JH. A systematic review of stress-management programs for medical students. Acad Psychiatry. 2013;37(3):158–64.

Sikka R, Morath J, Leape L. The quadruple aim: care, health, cost and meaning in work. BMJ Qual Saf. 2015;24(10):608–10. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2015-004160 .

Tawfik DS, Phibbs CS, Sexton JB, Kan P, Sharek PJ, Nisbet CC, et al. Factors Associated With Provider Burnout in the NICU. Pediatrics. 2017;139(5):608. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-4134 Epub 2017 Apr 18.

Turner TB, Dilley SE, Smith HJ, Huh WK, Modesitt SC, Rose SL, et al. The impact of physician burnout on clinical and academic productivity of gynecologic oncologists: a decision analysis. Gynecol Oncol. 2017;146(3):642–6.

West CP, Dyrbye LN, Erwin PJ, Shanafelt TD. Interventions to prevent and reduce physician burnout: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 2016;388(10057):2272.

Williams D, Tricomi G, Gupta J, Janise A. Efficacy of burnout interventions in the medical education pipeline. Acad Psychiatry. 2015;39(1):47–54.

Woodside JR, Miller MN, Floyd MR, McGowen KR, Pfortmiller DT. Observations on burnout in family medicine and psychiatry residents. Acad Psychiatry. 2008;32(1):13–9.

World Health Organization. (2001). Mental disorders affect one in four people.

World Health Organization. Promoting mental health: concepts, emerging evidence, practice (Summary Report). Geneva: World Health Organization; 2004.

Download references

Acknowledgements

Not Applicable.

Not Applicable

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, 55 Laurier Ave E, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada

Mara Mihailescu

School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

Elena Neiterman

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

M.M. and E.N. were involved in identifying the relevant research question and developing the combinations of keywords used in consultation with a professional librarian. M.M. performed the literature selection and screening of references for eligibility. Both authors were involved in the creation of the literature extraction tool in Excel. Both authors coded the data inductively, first independently reading five articles and generating themes from the data, then discussing their coding and developing a coding scheme that was subsequently applied to ten more papers. Both authors then refined and finalized the coding scheme and M.M. used it to code the rest of the data. M.M. conceptualized and wrote the first copy of the manuscript, followed by extensive drafting by both authors. E.N. was a contributor to writing the final manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mara Mihailescu .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate, consent for publication, competing interests.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Mihailescu, M., Neiterman, E. A scoping review of the literature on the current mental health status of physicians and physicians-in-training in North America. BMC Public Health 19 , 1363 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7661-9

Download citation

Received : 29 April 2019

Accepted : 20 September 2019

Published : 24 October 2019

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7661-9

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Mental health
• Mental illness
• Medical students
• Scoping review
• Interventions
• North America

BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

• General enquiries: [email protected]

• +44 7897 053596
• [email protected]

Get an experienced writer start working

Review our examples before placing an order, learn how to draft academic papers, mental health dissertation topics.

History Dissertation Topics

Dissertation Proposal – Student Submitted

• Dissertation Topics

Mental health is the state of mind based on emotional, psychological, and social satisfaction. Our ability to think, feel, and act is related to our mental health. Research in mental health requires a healthy mind with a passion for exploring knowledge. Students who want to succeed in their dissertations should look for exciting mental health dissertation topics.

Psychology Dissertation Examples

Premier Dissertations has developed a list of amazing mental health dissertation ideas for 2024 .

If you would like to choose any topic from the given list, simply drop us a WhatsApp or an Email .

You may also like to review ;

Psychology Dissertation Topics | Healthcare Management Dissertations Topics

3-Step  Dissertation Process!

Get 3+ Topics

Dissertation Proposal

Get Final Dissertation

Mental health research topics for 2024.

Testimonials

Very satisfied students

This is our reason for working. We want to make all students happy, every day. Review us on Sitejabber

List of Best Mental Health Thesis Topics

How does it work .

Fill the Form

Writer Starts Working

3+ Topics Emailed!

Researched-based mental health project titles, top trending research topics in mental health, prime dissertation topics in mental health, importance of having a good dissertation topic on mental health.

Selecting an impactful dissertation topic on mental health is crucial for students and researchers. Premier Dissertation stands out as an exceptional platform, offering an extensive array of well-crafted topics, including mental health research questions, research questions about the mental health of students, and compelling thesis ideas. With its comprehensive selection, Premier Dissertation serves as a valuable resource, empowering students and researchers to delve into critical issues, conduct insightful studies, and make meaningful contributions to the field of mental health.

Review the Full List of Dissertation Topics

Be sure to check our website  frequently because our expert writers will add to the list of mental health dissertation topics. They are free for students to read and get an idea for their project management dissertation.

Get an Immediate Response

Discuss your requirements with our writers

WhatsApp Us Email Us Chat with Us

Get 3+ Free   Dissertation Topics within 24 hours?

Your Number

Academic Level Select Academic Level Undergraduate Masters PhD

Area of Research

Discover More:

Related posts

100+ Correlational Research Topics

180+ ABM Research Topics For Students | 2024

Top 55 STEM Research Topics

Comments are closed.

Frontiers | Science News

• Science News

Research Topics

Five research topics exploring the science of mental health.

Mental wellbeing is increasingly recognized as an essential aspect of our overall health. It supports our ability to handle challenges, build strong relationships, and live more fulfilling lives. The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes the importance of mental health by acknowledging it as a fundamental human right.

This Mental Health Awareness Week, we highlight the remarkable work of scientists driving open research that helps everyone achieve better mental health.

Here are five Research Topics that study themes including how we adapt to a changing world, the impact of loneliness on our wellbeing, and the connection between our diet and mental health.

All articles are openly available to view and download.

1 | Community Series in Mental Health Promotion and Protection, volume II

40.300 views | 16 articles

There is no health without mental health. Thus, this Research Topic collects ideas and research related to strategies that promote mental health across all disciplines. The goal is to raise awareness about mental health promotion and protection to ensure its incorporation in national mental health policies.

This topic is of relevance given the mental health crisis being experienced across the world right now. A reality that has prompted the WHO to declare that health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing.

View Research Topic

2 | Dietary and Metabolic Approaches for Mental Health Conditions

176.800 views | 11 articles

There is increased recognition that mental health disorders are, at least in part, a form of diet-related disease. For this reason, we focus attention on a Research Topic that examines the mechanistic interplay between dietary patterns and mental health conditions.

There is a clear consensus that the quality, quantity, and even timing of our human feeding patterns directly impact how brains function. But despite the epidemiological and mechanistic links between mental health and diet-related diseases, these two are often perceived as separate medical issues.

Even more urgent, public health messaging and clinical treatments for mental health conditions place relatively little emphasis on formulating nutrition to ease the underlying drivers of mental health conditions.

3 | Comparing Mental Health Cross-Culturally

94.000 views | 15 articles

Although mental health has been widely discussed in later years, how mental health is perceived across different cultures remains to be examined. This Research Topic addresses this gap and deepens our knowledge of mental health by comparing positive and negative psychological constructs cross-culturally.

The definition and understanding of mental health remain to be refined, partially because of a lack of cross-cultural perspectives on mental health. Also, due to the rapid internationalization taking place in the world today, a culturally aware understanding of, and interventions for mental health problems are essential.

4 | Adaption to Change and Coping Strategies: New Resources for Mental Health

85.000 views | 29 articles

In this Research Topic, scientists study a wider range of variables involved in change and adaptation. They examine changes of any type or magnitude whenever the lack of adaptive response diminishes our development and well-being.

Today’s society is characterized by change, and sometimes, the constant changes are difficult to assimilate. This may be why feelings of frustration and defenselessness appear in the face of the impossibility of responding adequately to the requirements of a changing society.

Therefore, society must develop an updated notion of the processes inherent to changing developmental environments, personal skills, resources, and strategies. This know-how is crucial for achieving and maintaining balanced mental health.

5 | Mental Health Equity

29.900 views | 10 articles

The goal of this Research Topic is to move beyond a synthesis of what is already known about mental health in the context of health equity. Rather, the focus here is on transformative solutions, recommendations, and applied research that have real world implications on policy, practice, and future scholarship.

Attention in the field to upstream factors and the role of social and structural determinants of health in influencing health outcomes, combined with an influx of innovation –particularly the digitalization of healthcare—presents a unique opportunity to solve pressing issues in mental health through a health equity lens.

The topic is opportune because factors such as structural racism and climate change have disproportionately negatively impacted marginalized communities across the world, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, and transition-age youth and young adults. As a result, existing disparities in mental health have exacerbated.

Post related info

May 13, 2024

Frontiers Science Communications

Post categories, featured news, related subjects, research topics, related content.

Opening health for all: 7 Research Topics shaping a healthier world

Frontiers' Research Topic publishing program: pioneering the future of scientific publishing

Frontiers institutional partnerships update – winter 2024

Latest posts.

Babies in the womb exposed to two languages hear speech differently when born

Biodiversity loss: three Research Topics revealing threats and solutions

Screen time not the main factor making parent-child interactions worse, study finds

A devastating fire 2,200 years ago preserved a moment of life and war in Iron Age Spain — right down to a single gold earring

Mariana Fuentes - Changing the currency of conservation

Mental Health Nursing Research Topics: Inspiring Ideas for Students

This article was written in collaboration with Christine T. and ChatGPT, our little helper developed by OpenAI.

Mental health nursing is an essential field that requires ongoing research to improve patient outcomes and enhance the overall quality of care. As a student in this field, you can contribute to this important work by conducting research projects.

One of the biggest challenges you may face when starting a research project is deciding on a topic. This article has compiled a list of relevant and inspiring mental health nursing research topics to help you get started.

Examples of Mental Health Nursing Research Topics

The effectiveness of mindfulness practices on mental health outcomes.

Mindfulness practices, such as meditation and yoga, have become increasingly popular in recent years as a way to reduce stress and improve overall well-being. Research has shown that these practices may also effectively treat mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. As a mental health nursing student, you could investigate the impact of mindfulness practices on mental health outcomes.

• The impact of mindfulness practices on depression symptoms
• The effect of mindfulness on anxiety and stress reduction
• Mindfulness as a tool for coping with chronic pain
• The benefits of mindfulness for people with substance abuse disorders
• Mindfulness-based interventions for PTSD
• The role of mindfulness in promoting better sleep
• Comparing the effectiveness of different types of mindfulness practices on reducing anxiety symptoms
• Exploring the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the benefits of mindfulness meditation
• The impact of mindfulness practices on sleep quality and mental health
• Evaluating the long-term effects of regular mindfulness practices on emotional well-being
• Mindfulness interventions in schools and their effects on student mental health
• Mindfulness and eating disorders: effects on body image and eating behavior
• Mindfulness and anger management
• Mental health and gender inequality
• The effect of mindfulness on attention and focus
• Mindfulness as a strategy to enhance emotional intelligence
• Mindfulness and workplace stress
• Mindfulness and burnout in healthcare professionals
• The impact of mindfulness on cognitive function in older adults
• Mindfulness and self-compassion: effects on self-esteem and self-worth
• Mindfulness as a complement to medication for mental health treatment
• Mindfulness-based interventions for people with schizophrenia
• Mindfulness for children and adolescents with ADHD
• The effect of mindfulness on symptoms of bipolar disorder
• Mindfulness and social anxiety
• Mindfulness and parenting: effects on stress and well-being
• The impact of mindfulness on academic performance
• Mindfulness and addiction recovery: effects on relapse prevention
• Mindfulness and personality disorders
• Mindfulness and body image dissatisfaction
• Mindfulness and chronic illness: effects on quality of life
• Mindfulness for people with borderline personality disorder
• The impact of mindfulness on self-harm and suicidal ideation
• Mindfulness for people with eating disorders in recovery
• Mindfulness and resilience: effects on coping with adversity
• The drug abuse and associated disorders: an overview of the anti-drug policy and the need for policy change
• Mindfulness and self-compassion in cancer patients
• The effect of mindfulness on symptoms of OCD
• Mindfulness-based interventions for people with anxiety disorders
• Mindfulness and creativity: effects on artistic expression and well-being
• Mindfulness for people with chronic fatigue syndrome
• Mindfulness and pain management: effects on chronic pain
• Mindfulness and emotional regulation in people with autism
• Mindfulness for people with borderline intellectual functioning
• The effect of mindfulness on symptoms of postpartum depression
• Mindfulness and social connectedness: effects on loneliness and isolation
• Mindfulness and spirituality: effects on well-being and connection to something larger

Medical Studies Overwhelming?

Delegate Your Nursing Papers to the Pros!

Get 15% Discount

+ Plagiarism Report for FREE

The Role of Nutrition in Mental Health

Research has shown that diet and nutrition can significantly affect mental health outcomes. For example, certain nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, have been linked to improved mood and cognitive function. As a mental health nursing student, you could explore the impact of nutrition on mental health outcomes and investigate the effectiveness of nutritional interventions in managing mental health conditions.

• The impact of nutrient deficiencies on mental health
• The role of omega-3 fatty acids in brain function and mental health
• The effect of vitamin D on mood and anxiety
• The connection between gut health and mental health
• The influence of caffeine on anxiety and sleep
• The effects of sugar on mental health and cognitive function
• The relationship between gut health, diet, and mood disorders
• Evaluating the effects of probiotics on mental health outcomes
• Impact of vitamin D deficiency on depressive symptoms
• Dietary interventions for managing ADHD symptoms in children
• The link between sugar intake and anxiety: a closer look
• The impact of nutrition on ADHD symptoms
• The role of antioxidants in protecting against oxidative stress and improving mental health
• The effects of probiotics on mental health and mood
• The connection between iron deficiency and depression
• The role of magnesium in anxiety and depression
• The impact of food allergies and intolerances on mental health
• The effect of B vitamins on cognitive function and mental health
• The influence of alcohol on mental health and well-being
• The role of nutrition in the prevention of dementia and cognitive decline
• The effects of caffeine withdrawal on mental health
• The connection between nutrition and schizophrenia symptoms
• The role of amino acids in brain function and mental health
• The effect of carbohydrates on mood and energy levels
• The impact of diet on sleep quality and quantity
• The influence of processed foods on mental health
• The role of nutrition in the treatment of eating disorders
• The connection between nutrition and bipolar disorder symptoms
• The effect of zinc on mental health and cognitive function
• The impact of phytochemicals on brain health and mental well-being
• The role of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of anxiety disorders
• The effects of dehydration on cognitive function and mood
• The connection between nutrition and ADHD medication effectiveness
• The role of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of depression
• The effect of amino acid supplementation on depression and anxiety
• The impact of low-carbohydrate diets on mental health and mood
• The influence of social and cultural factors on nutrition and mental health
• The role of nutrition in the management of stress and cortisol levels
• The effects of specific diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, on mental health outcomes
• The connection between nutrition and substance abuse recovery
• The role of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of postpartum depression
• The effect of omega-3 supplementation on cognitive function and memory
• The impact of vegetarian and vegan diets on mental health and well-being
• The connection between nutrition and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
• The role of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health

Social media has become integral to our daily lives, but research has also shown that it can hurt mental health. For example, excessive social media use has been linked to increased feelings of anxiety and depression. As a mental health nursing student, you could investigate the impact of social media on mental health outcomes and explore the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing the harmful effects of social media.

• The connection between social media use and depression
• The impact of social media on body image and self-esteem
• The effect of social media on sleep quality and quantity
• The relationship between social media addiction and mental health
• The influence of cyberbullying on mental health outcomes
• The role of social media in the development of anxiety disorders
• The effects of social media on interpersonal relationships and social skills
• The connection between social media use and suicide risk
• The correlation between social media usage patterns and self-esteem levels
• Effects of social media detox on mental health outcomes
• Evaluating the role of social media in the rise of body dysmorphia among teenagers
• The relationship between cyberbullying on social media platforms and depression
• Influence of social comparison on social media and its impact on mental health
• The impact of social media on attention span and focus
• The effect of social media on academic performance and stress
• The relationship between social media use and eating disorders
• The influence of social media on body dysmorphia
• The role of social media in the development of addiction and substance abuse disorders
• The effects of social media on the brain and cognition
• The connection between social media use and stress levels
• The impact of social media on political beliefs and mental health outcomes
• The effect of social media on self-compassion and self-care
• The relationship between social media use and personality disorders
• The influence of social media on social comparison and envy
• The role of social media in the development of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• The effects of social media on creativity and mental health
• The connection between social media use and addiction to video games
• The impact of social media on attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• The effect of social media on decision-making and impulsivity
• The relationship between social media use and loneliness
• The influence of social media on phobias and anxieties
• The role of social media in the development of trauma-related disorders
• The effects of social media on emotional regulation and mental health
• The connection between social media use and paranoia
• The impact of social media on cultural and societal attitudes toward mental health
• The effect of social media on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• The relationship between social media use and narcissistic personality disorder
• The influence of social media on obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors
• The role of social media in the development of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
• The effects of social media on body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs)
• The connection between social media use and self-harm behaviors
• The impact of social media on emotional contagion and mental health outcomes
• The effect of social media on emotional intelligence and empathy
• The relationship between social media use and phubbing (phone snubbing)
• The influence of social media on identity formation and mental health

The Effectiveness of Art Therapy in Treating Mental Health Conditions

Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses creative expression to improve mental health outcomes. As a mental health nursing student, you could investigate the effectiveness of art therapy in treating mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

• The role of art therapy in treating anxiety disorders
• The effectiveness of art therapy in managing depression
• Art therapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Art therapy for improving social skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorders
• The anatomy and physiology of anxiety disorder: hereditary factors and statistical facts
• The benefits of art therapy in treating addiction and substance abuse disorders
• Art therapy for promoting self-expression and emotional regulation in children with ADHD
• Art therapy as a tool for managing PTSD symptoms in veterans
• The role of music therapy in improving mental health outcomes in dementia patients
• Exploring the benefits of dance therapy for individuals with mood disorders
• Evaluating the therapeutic effects of visual arts on children with behavioral disorders
• The impact of group art therapy sessions on building social skills in autistic individuals
• The effectiveness of art therapy in managing chronic pain and illness-related stress
• Art therapy for enhancing communication and reducing aggression in individuals with dementia
• The benefits of art therapy in managing symptoms of schizophrenia
• Art therapy as a treatment for borderline personality disorder
• The effectiveness of art therapy in improving body image and self-esteem
• The delicate dance: balancing art and science in the nursing profession
• Art therapy for reducing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• The role of art therapy in managing anger and aggression in individuals with intellectual disabilities
• Art therapy for promoting mindfulness and reducing stress in cancer patients
• The effectiveness of art therapy in managing symptoms of eating disorders
• Art therapy for improving cognitive functioning in individuals with traumatic brain injuries
• The benefits of art therapy in reducing symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome
• Art therapy as a treatment for individuals with chronic pain and fibromyalgia
• The effectiveness of art therapy in improving sleep quality and quantity
• Art therapy for promoting relaxation and reducing anxiety in individuals with hypertension
• The role of art therapy in treating individuals with dissociative identity disorder
• Art therapy for enhancing creativity and promoting personal growth
• The benefits of art therapy in improving the overall quality of life in individuals with mental health conditions
• Art therapy as a treatment for individuals with multiple sclerosis
• The effectiveness of art therapy in managing symptoms of bipolar disorder
• Art therapy for improving social functioning and reducing isolation in individuals with schizophrenia
• The role of art therapy in promoting spirituality and reducing existential anxiety
• Nursing: a beautiful blend of art and science
• Art therapy for promoting self-compassion and self-care in individuals with chronic illness
• The benefits of art therapy in managing symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Art therapy as a treatment for individuals with personality disorders
• The effectiveness of art therapy in reducing symptoms of agoraphobia
• Art therapy for promoting emotional resilience and coping skills in individuals with chronic pain
• The role of art therapy in managing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
• Art therapy for improving communication and reducing aggression in individuals with traumatic brain injuries
• The benefits of art therapy in promoting self-awareness and personal insight
• Art therapy as a treatment for individuals with gender identity disorder
• The effectiveness of art therapy in reducing symptoms of borderline intellectual functioning
• Art therapy for promoting emotional expression and reducing anxiety in individuals with speech disorders
• The role of art therapy in promoting cognitive flexibility and problem-solving skills
• Art therapy for improving body awareness and reducing symptoms of somatic disorders

The Impact of Trauma on Mental Health Outcomes

Trauma can profoundly impact mental health outcomes, and understanding the relationship between trauma and mental illness is essential for effective care. As a mental health nursing student, you could investigate the impact of trauma on mental health outcomes and explore the effectiveness of interventions to reduce the negative effects of trauma.

• The effects of childhood trauma on mental health in adulthood
• The impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on mental health outcomes
• The role of resilience in mitigating the effects of trauma on mental health
• The prevalence of trauma in marginalized populations and its impact on mental health
• The effects of trauma on brain development and mental health outcomes
• The impact of trauma on the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• The relationship between trauma and substance use disorders
• The role of social support in mitigating the effects of trauma on mental health
• The effects of trauma on attachment and interpersonal relationships
• The impact of trauma on physical health outcomes
• Exploring the physiological changes in the brain after experiencing trauma
• Evaluating the effectiveness of EMDR therapy for trauma survivors
• The long-term mental health outcomes of childhood trauma
• Comparing the effects of single incident trauma vs. prolonged trauma on mental health
• The role of support groups in aiding trauma recovery
• The effects of trauma on cognitive functioning and memory
• The relationship between trauma and depression
• The impact of trauma on anxiety and anxiety disorders
• The role of trauma in the development of personality disorders
• The effects of trauma on sleep quality and quantity
• The relationship between trauma and self-esteem
• The impact of trauma on emotion regulation and impulsivity
• The effects of trauma on suicidal ideation and behavior
• The role of trauma in the development of dissociative disorders
• The impact of trauma on parenting and child-rearing practices
• The effects of trauma on sexual health and relationships
• The relationship between trauma and eating disorders
• The impact of trauma on social functioning and integration
• The effects of trauma on work productivity and employment outcomes
• The role of cultural factors in the experience and impact of trauma on mental health
• The effects of trauma on spirituality and faith-based coping mechanisms
• The relationship between trauma and anger management
• The impact of trauma on sexual and gender identity development
• The effects of trauma on executive functioning and decision-making abilities
• The role of trauma in the development of the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• The impact of trauma on aging and geriatric mental health
• The effects of trauma on identity development and self-concept
• The relationship between trauma and borderline personality disorder (BPD)
• The impact of trauma on coping strategies and resilience
• The effects of trauma on healthcare utilization and healthcare outcomes
• The role of trauma in the development of anxiety and stress-related disorders
• The impact of trauma on social and emotional intelligence
• The effects of trauma on emotion recognition and empathy
• The relationship between trauma and bipolar disorder
• The role of trauma in the development of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders

The Interdisciplinary Approach in Mental Health Nursing

Mental health nursing is not an isolated field. It thrives on interdisciplinary collaboration, where professionals from various disciplines come together to offer holistic care to patients. As the understanding of mental health broadens, it’s imperative for nursing students to recognize the value of interdisciplinary approaches in optimizing patient outcomes.

Benefits of an Interdisciplinary Approach:

• Holistic Care

Drawing expertise from fields like psychology, nutrition, social work, and even art therapy ensures a well-rounded approach to patient care.

• Enhanced Patient Outcomes

Collaborative efforts often lead to better patient outcomes as they address various facets of a patient’s well-being.

• Continued Learning

Interacting with professionals from diverse backgrounds provides an excellent opportunity for learning and professional growth.

Key Areas of Collaboration:

• Psychology and Psychiatry

Understanding the psychological underpinnings of mental disorders and collaborating with psychologists and psychiatrists is fundamental. It ensures that therapeutic interventions are complemented by appropriate medical treatments.

• Social Work

Social workers play a crucial role in patient rehabilitation, ensuring they have the necessary support systems in place, be it family counseling or community reintegration.

As the link between nutrition and mental health becomes increasingly evident, collaboration with nutritionists can guide dietary interventions to complement therapeutic strategies.

• Alternative Therapies

Fields like art therapy, music therapy, and even physical therapy offer alternative avenues for patient recovery. Understanding and collaborating with professionals from these fields can enhance patient care.

For nursing students, embracing the interdisciplinary approach is not just about improving patient care but also about enhancing their professional expertise. By understanding the broader landscape of mental health care, students prepare themselves for the diverse challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in their careers.

Choosing a research topic can be challenging, but with the right inspiration and guidance, you can find a relevant and inspiring topic with the right inspiration and guidance. These mental health nursing research topic ideas are just a starting point – there are countless other areas of research in this field that you can explore. With dedication and hard work, you can make a valuable contribution to the field of mental health nursing and help improve the lives of those struggling with mental illness.

📎 Related Articles

1. Top Nursing Argumentative Essay Topics: Engage in Thought-Provoking Debates 2. Top Nursing Topics for Discussion: Engaging Conversations for Healthcare Professionals 3. Key EBP Nursing Topics: Enhancing Patient Results through Evidence-Based Practice 4. Top Nursing Research Topics for Students and Professionals 5. Nursing Debate Topics: The Importance of Discussing and Debating Nursing Issues 6. Mental Health – Health Topics | Healthy Schools 7. NIMH » Health Topics 8. Mental Health Topics and Resources for Patients and Families 9. Exploring Controversial Issues in Nursing: Key Topics and Examples 10. Pediatric Nursing Research Topics for Students: A Comprehensive Guide

Table of content

Crafted with Care:

Nursing Essays!

Precision, Passion, & Professionalism in Every Page.

• Why Choose Us
• Vision and Mission
• Hire Writers
• How it Works

13+ Best Mental Health Dissertation Ideas to Ace Your Paper

Table of Contents

How to Choose Perfect Mental Health Dissertation Topics?

Best mental health dissertation ideas for writing your paper, list of points you should cover in your mental health dissertation, which words to not use while writing on mental health dissertations, do not know how to approach mental health dissertation consider us.

Are you writing about mental health for the first time? Does it make you nervous because writing and researching is taking a toll on your time? If yes, you are at the right place because Assignment Desk is a one-stop solution for all your academic worries, be it picking or researching the best mental health dissertation ideas; our experts are always there to assist. Nevertheless, if you want to know the trick to choose the best issue, without any second thought, continue reading! 

Need Personalised Assistance from Our Experts?

Share Your Requirements via Whatsapp!

Plenty of topics come your way when you research mental health dissertation ideas. But choosing from a pool of issues becomes a task. Thus, in such a case, here are some points you should consider that will help you make the best decision.

1. A Topic that Interests You

Interest is the main point you should consider before finalizing a pool of mental health dissertation topics . You should pick the one to which you can relate. These factors ensure that the paper looks compelling and attention-grabbing. The reason is that it is your choice and makes it easy to put your thoughts into the document.

2. A Topic that Matters to People

It is essential to pick the one that matters to people when choosing an issue from a list of mental health research topics. It means the one with which people can associate and find relevant information inside the document.

3. A Topic that Is Trending

Trending topics are more captivating and grab more attention from the audience. The reason is that information is limited, and readers want answers to their questions. If you choose the latest mental health dissertation ideas , it is more likely to gauge the reader's attention.

4. A Topic that Challenges You

You always level up when you choose to work on a different type. It enhances your skills and builds your confidence. Thus, if you want to present something extraordinary, pick the one that is not easy to read and has limited information. Taking advantage of online dissertation help  is an ideal choice if you want to deliver something exceptional.

5. A Topic that Audience Connects With

You may like a topic and want to write about it. But this is not the appropriate criterion. Focus on thinking from both perspectives. Research thoroughly and find out what mental health research topics you find amusing. Does it have a tendency to engage the reader too? If yes, then you must definitely go with it.

We hope; you know the ideal strategy for picking dissertation topics on mental health . When you follow all of them wholeheartedly, there is a guarantee that you will never get stuck anywhere. Thus, you can use this approach while studying any issue. It works for every paper, and you can entirely rely on it. But as of now, do you want to know about irreplaceable mental health dissertation ideas that can help you score A+ grades without any doubt? If yes, continue reading!

Need Help with Dissertation?

Get a 100% Original Dissertation Written by EXPERTS

Here is a list of mental health dissertation ideas that you can definitely use to write your paper.

• The relationship between obesity and depression
• The connection between violence in games and real-life
• What Is the Possibility of mental health to be hereditary?
• What is the relationship between physical well-being and mental health?
• Is mental health popular in men or women?
• How social media affects the mental health of a person?
• The urgency to create a positive space for those who are living with mental health issues
• Importance of making people aware of mental health problems
• Does mental health issues develop with age, or is it genetic?
• What is the difference between sadness and depression?
• How unhealthy eating habits are the reason for mental disorders
• How COVID-19 impacted the health of many people
• How ageing is a sign of depression
• How talking with somebody can reduce the risk of mental illness

These pointers contain both child and adolescent mental health dissertation ideas . But while talking about any of the above topics, do not miss writing about some problems that can make mental health issues more severe.

The reason there is an increasing number of mental issues is because people do not have a good lifestyle. It is the root cause of many mental health-related subjects. Thus, have a look at them

1. Sedentary Lifestyle

A sedentary lifestyle is increasing every day because, be it students or working professionals, they finish their work and sit almost every time, which is not the correct practice. In order to have a good lifestyle, one must practise keeping the body moving and exercising daily.

2. Excessive Mobile Phones

With the technology uprising, everyone can access almost everything on their mobile phones, resulting in excessive use. But many do not know that the overuse of mobile phones cuts social interaction and can be one of the causes of mental health issues. Thus, while writing on one of the mental health research topics, highlight this point.

3. Messy Environment

An uncluttered space creates a negative aura. Just imagine if a person does not feel well from within and then lives in an unorganised environment, which elevates the risk of mental problems. Thus, while writing on any one mental health dissertation topics tell the audience the significance of living in a positive space.

4. Unhealthy Diet

An unhealthy diet is one of the reasons that a large group of people today face mental health issues. The reason is obvious, junk food makes a person lethargic and can indirectly affect your brain. Thus, you can explain the significance of healthy eating to people unfamiliar with this fact.

5. Hiding Emotions

Not sharing or talking to anyone is the most common issue you will come across. They fear speaking their hearts out, and thus it becomes one of the most severe diseases. Thus, you should spread awareness among people as to how sharing your opinions can resolve many problems.

You will find these pointers when you refer to mental health dissertation examples. Thus, club these pointers together to make a section of your dissertation using appropriate words. Explore the common mistakes you can make in the upcoming paragraph.

Struggling to Find Best Dissertation Topic?

Get a Unique Title & Dissertation Proposal Outline for FREE!

When you plan a dissertation , what you think and write sometimes mismatch. It happens because you start drafting whatever comes to your mind; you write it without focusing on the tone and language used. But this is not right when you are writing about mental health . Thus, here are some words you should never use because they can have a negative impact on whoever reads them. Therefore, for any academic paper, you can seek nursing dissertation help .

1. Psychotic

Psychotic is a term that no one enjoys hearing or reading about. Thus, avoid using this term.

Instead: You can use clinical terms such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, which do not offend the third party.

Do not use the word victim or suffers because it implies to the third person that they are hopeless and are facing any severe disease.

Instead: You can use the term lives with or has, which makes the situation look more normal. If finding the right word is not your cup of tea, you can seek dissertation editing service from us for the best results.

3. Mentally Ill

Mentally ill is a term that makes the other person feel like they are suffering from an exceptional disease, which they are not.

Instead: Mental health, is used in such a way that makes the reader think that it is common these days and can be cured with proper care and attention.

These are some words you should avoid, even if you find them while researching dissertation ideas around mental health. Still, if you have doubts or are nervous to pick up your paper, we have a solution, Assignment Desk. In the next section, learn why we can be the ideal choice.

Working on a mental health or public health dissertation topic becomes a challenging task because you have to pay attention to each word you are using in your paper. You must ensure not to use words and phrases that can hurt the reader's sentiments. It is because you have to be specific and particular with the terminologies. Thus, taking  dissertation writing services  from Assignment Desk is the best choice you can make. Our experts are proficient and promise to create compelling content. Also, they know the tactics for writing effectively. We have an in-house team of writers, proofreaders, and editors who put in their hard work to help you score A+ grades. Moreover, they are available around the clock, which means you can resolve your queries at any time. Thus, you can take help from us because writing about mental health is a sensitive matter and should not have any scope for errors. So, grab this chance and do not miss this golden opportunity.

Share Your Requirements Now for Customized Solutions.

Delivered on-time or your money back

Our Services

• Assignment Writing Service
• Essay Writing Help
• Dissertation Writing Service
• Coursework Writing Service
• Proofreading & Editing Service
• Online Exam Help
• Term paper writing service
• Ghost Writing Service
• Case Study Writing Service
• Research Paper Writing Service
• Personal Statement Writing Service
• Resume Writing Service
• Report Writing Service

To Make Your Work Original

Check your work against paraphrasing & get a free Plagiarism report!

Check your work against plagiarism & get a free Plagiarism report!

Quick and Simple Tool to Generate Dissertation Outline Instantly

Get citations & references in your document in the desired style!

Make your content free of errors in just a few clicks for free!

Generate plagiarism-free essays as per your topic’s requirement!

Generate a Compelling Thesis Statement and Impress Your Professor

FREE Features

• Topic Creation USD 3.87 FREE
• Outline USD 9.33 FREE
• Unlimited Revisions USD 20.67 FREE
• Editing/Proofreading USD 28 FREE
• Formatting USD 8 FREE
• Bibliography USD 7.33 FREE

Get all these features for

USD 80.67 FREE

RELATED BLOGS

50+ In- Depth Geography Dissertation Ideas & Topics [2024]

A Comprehensive List of 35+ Trending Brexit Dissertation Topics

Interesting 40+ Early Childhood Studies Dissertation Ideas

Top 50 Unique Topics for Writing Palliative Care Dissertation

45+ Best Supply Chain Management Dissertation Topics 2024

How to Write a Compelling Dissertation Outline?

Professional assignment writers.

Choose a writer for your task among hundreds of professionals

Please rotate your device

We don't support landscape mode yet. Please go back to portrait mode for the best experience

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Know more

Calculate the Price

Professional Academic Help at Pocket-Friendly Prices!

Estimated Price

Limited Time Offer

Exclusive Library Membership + FREE Wallet Balance

1 Month Access !

5000 Student Samples

10,000 Answers by Experts

Get $300 Now

May 17, 2024

Ask the expert: How are mental health and wellness connected in the Black community — and beyond?

Mental health has become a part of wellness discussions in schools, workplaces and health care organizations. In higher education, there has been a greater focus on mental health as one component of wellness that supports students in learning and persisting through to graduation. LeConté Dill , associate professor of African American and African Studies at Michigan State University, finds her students are taking control of their health more holistically in ways that include creative expression, community building and therapy.

Dill has spent 25 years working with and researching public health, health and social policy, and intersections of the arts and health. She has been writing, publishing and teaching poetry even longer. During her doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, she studied how creative expression and writing can be used to understand and articulate health issues, particularly among youth of color in urban neighborhoods.

A certified mindfulness instructor, Dill is focused on ensuring her teaching and research intersect with the arts and humanities and health care fields to explore ways of centering wellness for all. Her most recent funded project at MSU enables her work specifically with Black women in student and staff roles to better understand how community-building and wellness practices are supported through physical space and time together.

Here, Dill discusses how a broader understanding of wellness could affect modern public health now and in the future.

How does mental health relate to overall health and wellness?

In the United States, mental health and public health are seen as different. It’s not just in framing, it’s how agencies from the federal, state and local levels are run and funded.

I’ve worked in public health departments and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and their focus is on physical health and diseases. Mental health is in a separate office or department at national, state and county levels fragmenting health and wellness within these agencies and within our own understandings. This fragmentation can lead to poor health outcomes and well-being. We have to cut across these silos as we think about people’s holistic health.

There are eight dimensions of wellness — emotional, spiritual, physical, financial, social, intellectual, environmental and vocational — and those give us a more holistic frame. It is important to also consider how we foster wellness collectively and think about being accountable to each other and to community-building.

Why is mental health and wellness important, especially for Black women and girls?

Being a Black woman, if I’m only hearing about health disparities, health inequities, negative statistics and narratives, that’s depressing.

The narrative is that Black people don’t go to therapy or that Black people don’t engage in mental health. It’s not that there isn’t a stigma or barriers to access, but some of the most marginalized folks are indeed engaging in and demanding mental health support in different ways.

For Black women and girls, trained therapists are critical, but there are other mental health practitioners in their communities. It could be faith-based leaders or cross-generation ‘sista circles’ of Black women who act as support groups or community leaders and folks living out expansive types of health and wellness practices and cultural practices. People are engaging in it more than we talk about.

A lot of my research has been with middle school and high school students, and I work closely with college students as well. They are readily asking for mental health support, seeking it out. They’re engaging in types of therapy and asking for it in a way that’s different from my generation and the generations prior. I’m excited and grateful for this.

What are some missed connections in the public health system?

Right before I started my doctorate, I was working in the Department of Public Health for the city of Berkeley, California. The release of the city’s health status report found that 30% of Berkeley’s Black population had left in the previous 10-year period. We casually talked about this as we discussed social determinants of health, but we weren’t really asking questions of why these people left or where they went or how it was related to health inequities.

Because my doctoral program in public health drew upon approaches from multiple academic disciplines,

I went to classes in the departments that were asking these questions. They weren’t always calling it health or tied to health, but they were talking about the social and structural determinants that we talk about in the public health field. Sociology was theorizing about social factors. Urban planning was creating interventions and doing historical analysis. Education was connecting changes with public agencies and policies. English was putting language to social phenomena that connect to personal experiences.

By studying in these different departments, I was able to learn that public health might talk about social determinants and health equity, but it didn’t always have the framing or the analysis for the deeper story.

What kind of training is important for the health care practitioners of tomorrow?

Because of the way health care is structured in the U.S., the psychologists are not in the same learning spaces as the future physicians or as the social workers or as the public health practitioners when they’re getting advanced training. They could be but, oftentimes, it’s not the way that schools are created. And they definitely are not in the same learning spaces as the city planners or educators or historians or artists. But again, they could be. In thinking about connecting this learning, this teaching, this training — it’s apparent these divisions hamper practitioners from deepening their learning and understanding for the benefit of the larger community.

When I’m teaching in the public health and medical space, I remind students that they are telling and collecting stories all the time. Health histories, intake conversations — it’s storytelling and, in addition to being for patients and clients, it’s also for health practitioners. It’s helping them remember — remembering the practices of wellness that patients and community members already have or remembering tools of family members, of ancestors, of cultural touchstones. These are wells of knowledge that aren’t in traditional health textbooks.

In health care, a lot of practitioners do practice art as an outlet, but don’t always connect that to their method or their practices in their offices, clinics or waiting rooms. The arts expose us to deeper histories, as well as to strategies of recovery, rehabilitation and healing.

Media Contacts

Alex Tekip & Beth Bonsall

Related health stories

Ask the expert: disadvantaged neighborhoods and mental health.

• Walstrom family gift to MSU supports women’s health research, medical care
• New research: 1 in 5 U.S. adults lost to suicide had recent jail experience

more content from this collection

Diversity and belonging

Sociology and humanities pre-law student named msu's 14th udall scholar, sylvia b. kruger haggadah collection at msu libraries tells story of liberation, overcoming challenges and finding resources to succeed, student view: finding my purpose in prism, ask the expert: how is spirituality expanding beyond religion, student view: celebrating ramadan as a university student, msu celebrates 38th annual powwow of love, faculty voice: arab americans changing racial categories and the future of inclusion, student view: the importance of sustainability in fashion, the 20th anniversary of apa studies is a milestone of persistence, see full collection.

May 21, 2024

Student view: Exploring water insecurity

Msu researchers honored for scientific excellence, msutoday weekly update.

The MSUToday Weekly Update email showcases how Spartans are making a difference through academic excellence, research impact and community outreach. Get inspired by these stories of innovation, collaboration and determination. Plus, enjoy photos and videos of campus and more MSU content to help keep you connected to the Spartan community.

Connect With Us

THREE ESSAYS ON COLLEGE STUDENT ACADEMIC SUCCESS AND WELL-BEING

Add to collection, downloadable content.

• Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Public Policy
• A college education can represent a path toward a stable career, social and health benefits, or upward mobility for students. However, a large proportion of students who enroll in college fail to complete a degree. Despite the potential benefits of a college education, students encounter a number of barriers to college success. In this dissertation, I explore how policies and student characteristics interact to produce varied student outcomes. In the first chapter, I (along with my co-author, Steven W. Hemelt) explore which students benefit from high-quality academic advising, and which advisor practices are associated with high-quality advising. We find that students initially assigned to high-VA advisors are more likely to complete college in 5 years. In the second chapter, I explore whether differential grade sensitivity can explain some of the gaps in persistence and completion between first-generation college students and their continuing-generation peers. Findings indicate that first-generation students at the bottom of the GPA distribution are less likely to persist and complete degrees than their continuing-generation peers with similar grades. Finally, the third chapter explores the effect of state-level liquor taxes on crime rates on college campuses. My results suggest that increasing the excise tax on liquor may decrease rates of sex offenses, violent offenses, and drug or weapon offenses. Each of these topics contribute to the larger literature on the academic success and general well-being of college students. In doing so, this dissertation aims to contribute to the body of knowledge on how institutions and policymakers can create environments that facilitate student success and well-being.
• Education policy
• education policy
• higher education policy
• student success
• postsecondary
• https://doi.org/10.17615/qnfx-bs77
• Dissertation
• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
• Hemelt, Steven W
• Addo, Fenaba R
• Moulton, Jeremy
• Edmunds, Julie
• Klasik, Daniel
• Doctor of Philosophy
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School

This work has no parents.

Select type of work

Master's papers.

Deposit your masters paper, project or other capstone work. Theses will be sent to the CDR automatically via ProQuest and do not need to be deposited.

Scholarly Articles and Book Chapters

Deposit a peer-reviewed article or book chapter. If you would like to deposit a poster, presentation, conference paper or white paper, use the “Scholarly Works” deposit form.

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Deposit your senior honors thesis.

Scholarly Journal, Newsletter or Book

Deposit a complete issue of a scholarly journal, newsletter or book. If you would like to deposit an article or book chapter, use the “Scholarly Articles and Book Chapters” deposit option.

Deposit your dataset. Datasets may be associated with an article or deposited separately.

Deposit your 3D objects, audio, images or video.

Poster, Presentation, Protocol or Paper

Deposit scholarly works such as posters, presentations, research protocols, conference papers or white papers. If you would like to deposit a peer-reviewed article or book chapter, use the “Scholarly Articles and Book Chapters” deposit option.

European Education Area

Quality education and training for all

Supporting wellbeing at school: new guidelines for policymakers and educators

These are the first outcomes of the European Commission's expert group on enhancing supportive learning environments for vulnerable learners and for promoting wellbeing and mental health at school.

The 2 sets of guidelines address:

• education policymakers
• school leaders, teachers and educators

Key recommendations

In total, the guidelines provide 11 recommendations to implement a whole-system and whole-school approach to wellbeing and mental health. These recommendations include

• emphasis on prevention: building competencies, through social and emotional learning, safeguarding physical activities and nutrition, ensuring equity through targeted measures
• sustainable capacity increase: policymakers should take into account the additional resources needed for teacher training and professional development
• empowering educators to innovate in teaching while maintaining their own wellbeing
• including the youth in shaping their learning experience
• effectively support educators and youth though building robust networks with stakeholders from different sectors

The activity of the expert group is part of the Pathways to School Success, a flagship initiative of the European Education Area. These experts include researchers, academics, teachers and school principals, teacher trainers, school and child psychologists.

The aim of the is expert group is to develop evidence-based policy recommendations and guidelines to address the wellbeing challenges young people and teachers are facing. These challenges include

• children and teenagers: the current decrease of wellbeing and mental health coupled with a decline in school performance could impact their education experience and later on, their employability and health
• teachers: the lack of adequate resources, training and support has led a decrease in wellbeing, impacting the attractiveness of the profession and leading to teacher shortages

The final report is due June 2024.

Related content

Publications, thanks for your feedback.

We are happy to see that your experience was positive. Don't forget to share the pages you like with your friends and colleagues.

If you need to ask a question, please contact Europe direct .

UCL Institute of Mental Health

• Partnerships
• IoMH Conference

5th Annual Institute of Mental Health (IoMH) International Conference

18 September 2024, 9:30 am–5:00 pm

A conference covering a diverse range of topics on mental health research, featuring internationally-renowned expert speakers from UCL and beyond. Supported by UCL’s Grand Challenge of Mental Health & Wellbeing and MHRUK

Event Information

Availability.

Early Bird tickets are now open until 1 st July 2024 . Please book via UCL Ticketing, where you will find the discount code. Further discounted tickets are available to students. 

09:30 (registration from 8.30) - 17.00

Booking (in person) is now open for the only major UK multidisciplinary academic Mental Health conference covering the range of important and controversial topics and featuring internationally renowned speakers from UCL and beyond. This year's conference will feature talks on  Dementia, Autism, Climate Change, and Psychiatric Genetics . 

Speakers include Prof Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele (Columbia University, USA), Prof Ginny Russell (University of Exeter), Prof Antonia Hamilton (UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience), Prof Siddarthan Chandran (UK Dementia Research Institute), Dr Liz Marks (University of Bath) and Prof Sir Michael Owen , Chair of Mental Health Research UK.  

You can find the full programme and list of speakers on our  conference webpage . 

This event is open to academics, researchers, clinicians, students and people with lived experience.

Concessions

Exploring the Influence of Religiosity and Intelligence on Seniors’ Cognitive Well-being and Mental Health

R eligion and intelligence are two complex and controversial topics that have fascinated researchers for decades. But how do they relate to each other, and what are the implications for cognitive and mental health in older adults?

A well-established finding in psychology is that religiosity and intelligence are negatively correlated. This means that, on average, people who are more religious tend to score lower on intelligence tests, and vice versa. However, this does not mean that being religious makes you less intelligent, or that being intelligent makes you less religious. Correlation does not imply causation, and there are many factors that could influence this relationship.

One possible explanation is that people who rely more on intuition than on analytical thinking might be more likely to hold religious beliefs. Intuition is a fast and effortless way of solving problems, but it can also lead to errors when it conflicts with logic and evidence. Analytical thinking, on the other hand, is a slow and effortful way of solving problems, but it can also lead to more accurate and rational conclusions. Some studies have suggested that people who score higher on measures of intuitive thinking tend to be more religious, while people who score higher on measures of analytical thinking tend to be less religious.

However, this does not mean that religious people are irrational or that non-religious people are rational. There are many types and dimensions of religiosity, and some of them might have positive effects on cognitive and mental health. For instance, one form of religiosity that has been shown to protect against cognitive decline in older adults is church attendance. Going to church regularly might provide social and communal support, as well as cognitive stimulation, that could enhance brain function and prevent dementia.

Another form of religiosity that has been linked to better mental health in older adults is spirituality. Spirituality is a broad concept that refers to a sense of connection with something greater than oneself, such as a transcendent force, a higher power, or a sacred reality. Spirituality can be expressed through various practices, such as prayer, meditation, or contemplation. Spirituality can also be independent of any specific religion or belief system. Some studies have found that people who have high levels of spirituality, intrinsic religiosity (meaning that religion is personally important and meaningful), and religious affiliation tend to have lower levels of depression and anxiety, as well as higher levels of life satisfaction, meaning in life, social relations, and psychological well-being.

A recent study that examined the relationship between religiosity and intelligence in a large sample of older adults found some interesting results. The study measured both religious belief (how strongly one believes in God or a higher power) and religious attendance (how often one attends religious services or activities) in over 6,000 participants aged 79 and over. The study also measured intelligence at two time points: in childhood (when the participants were 11 years old) and in old age (when the participants were 79 years old).

The study found that religious belief, but not attendance, was negatively related to intelligence in old age. This means that people who had stronger religious beliefs tended to have lower intelligence scores, but this was not the case for people who attended religious services more frequently. However, the effect size of this relationship was small, and much smaller than in previous studies of younger participants. This suggests that the negative correlation between religiosity and intelligence might weaken with age, or that other factors might moderate this relationship in older adults.

The study also found that neither religious belief nor attendance had any effect on cognitive change over time. This means that being more or less religious did not influence how much one’s intelligence increased or decreased from childhood to old age, or across the ninth decade of life. This suggests that religiosity and intelligence might have different trajectories and influences on cognitive aging.

The study’s authors concluded that the relationship between religiosity and intelligence is complex and multifaceted, and that more research is needed to fully understand the nuances and implications of this relationship for cognitive and mental health in older adults. They also emphasized that religiosity and intelligence are not mutually exclusive, and that both can have positive and negative effects on various aspects of well-being.

Relevant articles:

– The negative link between religiosity and intelligence remains stable over time in older adults. Researchers found no evidence to suggest that religious practices, such as praying or attending religious services, have a protective effect

– Religiosity is negatively associated with later-life intelligence, but …

– Religiosity/Spirituality and Mental Health in Older Adults: A …

More From Forbes

An employer’s guide to mental health awareness in the workplace.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

The stresses and pressure at the office or working remotely can be a cause of the deterioration of ... [+] employees’ mental health and emotional wellbeing.

May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, and creates the opportunity for organizations to bring mental, emotional and physical wellbeing to the forefront. It facilitates in helping to reduce any stigmas surrounding behavioral health issues and highlight how mental illness can impact the workplace, society, families and others.

Stress And Anxiety In The Workplace

The stresses and pressure at the office or working remotely can be a cause of the deterioration of employees’ mental health and emotional wellbeing. The Society of Human Resource Management found that one in three Americans say their mental health is negatively impacted by their jobs. About 30% of the 1,000 workers surveyed in the SHRM study self-reported feeling overwhelmed, and 29% said their jobs make them feel anxious at least once a week.

Some of the reasons for mental health issues and burnout can be due to unreasonable deadlines, a heavy workload, long hours, a toxic environment and a lack of appreciation, recognition, psychological safety and financial security.

Anxiety has surged in recent years, becoming the top mental health issue affecting American workers. Mental health provider ComPsych found that nearly a quarter of people (24%) who reached out for mental health assistance last year did so to help cope with anxiety—topping depression, stress, relationship issues, family issues, addiction and grief.

“It’s clear that as a society, we’ve become more anxious in recent years, and for good reason,” said Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz, founder, CEO and chairman of ComPsych, in a statement. “From the pandemic to ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, civil unrest, an unpredictable economy and increasingly polarized political rhetoric surrounding elections, there is a persistent underlying feeling of apprehension and worry.”

iOS 17.5.1: Apple Fixes Frustrating iPhone Photos Glitch

Trump prosecutor fani willis easily wins her democratic primary while judge in georgia case reelected, google chrome under attack do this one thing now.

“For business leaders, there is an imperative to help employees cope with these feelings. Companies who invest in resources for employees ultimately benefit by attracting and retaining a healthier and more productive workforce, allowing both employees and companies to thrive,” he added.

What Managers Should Do Now

Managers should encourage employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance and promote taking advantage of vacation days and paid time off. They can provide flexible schedules or hybrid and remote work options to help employees manage stress and prioritize self-care.

Supervisors should be cognizant of the workloads and deadlines assigned to their employees. Managers should be trained to recognize signs of mental distress and how to respond appropriately. Human resources can disseminate micro-surveys to regularly gauge how workers are feeling. Armed with the anonymous data, they can take appropriate actions to remedy situations.

With a growing need for accessible mental healthcare , employers should emphasize mental health benefits, employee assistance programs, available counseling services offered through the company’s health plans and provide information on how employees can access these resources confidentially.

Organizations can invite mental health professionals and therapists to hold training sessions, and corporate leadership should encourage open discussions about mental health to normalize the conversation.

Moreover, employers can partner with corporate wellness providers to help foster overall health and a more engaged workforce.

Wellhub, formerly known as Gympass, is a comprehensive corporate wellbeing solution connecting millions of employees to a diverse network of partners for not only fitness but also, mindfulness, therapy, nutrition and sleep.

“The rebrand from Gympass to Wellhub is a natural evolution that reflects our commitment to providing a holistic wellbeing solution more than anything else,” said Wellhub founder and CEO Cesar Carvalho in a Zoom interview.

“Today, Wellhub is helping to solve the wellbeing crisis that is plaguing the global workforce,” Carvalho added, by providing a “turnkey solution that unlocks a variety of quality wellness services all in one place.”

It is a business-to-business platform, which means that companies will pay for the app, which enables their workers to gain access to a wide array of worldwide wellness programs, including gyms, studios, Yoga and online videos that workers can attend together. Member companies can help their team explore over 600 activities across the U.S., Europe and Latin America. Employees have over 50,000 studios globally, and more than 70 different wellness apps to choose from that will help improve their overall mental, physical and emotional health.

According to Wellhub’s site, it has helped its corporate clients boost employee physical activity by 178%, reduce annual employee healthcare costs by 25% and improve worker retention by 43%.

The unicorn startup was founded in 2012 in Brazil and has grown to 2.7 million subscribers across 15,000 corporate clients in 11 countries.

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

Join The Conversation

One Community. Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts. 

Forbes Community Guidelines

Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.

In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site's  Terms of Service.   We've summarized some of those key rules below. Simply put, keep it civil.

Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:

• False or intentionally out-of-context or misleading information
• Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language or threats of any kind
• Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author
• Content that otherwise violates our site's  terms.

User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:

• Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected
• Racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminatory comments
• Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk
• Actions that otherwise violate our site's  terms.

So, how can you be a power user?

• Stay on topic and share your insights
• Feel free to be clear and thoughtful to get your point across
• ‘Like’ or ‘Dislike’ to show your point of view.
• Protect your community.
• Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules.

Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site's  Terms of Service.