An investigation into the psychological impact of unemployment and coping mechanisms amongst graduates in Pietermaritzburg
- Authors: Nkasa, Nonjabulo Fortunate
- Date: 2022-12
- Subjects: Unemployment -- Social aspects , Mental health
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/60209 , vital:63539
- Description: Graduates expect to find employment after completing their tertiary qualifications, but they often face various challenges in finding employment. These challenges may be due to a variety of factors such as the type of qualification, structural changes in the economy, lack of experience, or the lack of relevant social networks. This has the potential to affect a graduate’s psychological well-being. The current study explored the psychological impact of unemployment in 100 unemployed graduates between 21 and 35 years of age in Pietermaritzburg. The study was quantitative and used two questionnaires, the GHQ-12 and a self-designed questionnaire, to collect data. Purposive sampling was used to obtain research participants. The Excel spreadsheet and a statistical software package called JASP (2020, version 0.12) was used to analyse data. The findings revealed that unemployment had a negative impact on the participants’ psychological well-being. Participants experienced feelings of high anxiety and depression, and felt stigmatised. Participants also felt shame and experienced lower self-esteem. Unemployment had a financial impact on participants, including financial dependency on family and friends. Some participants blamed themselves, the government system, and the education system for their unemployment. Participants reported to have a positive attitude towards employment, including remaining optimistic about their chances of finding employment. Participants used adaptive coping mechanisms, such as keeping a positive attitude, and maladaptive coping mechanisms, such as hiding their feelings. Further research needs to focus on psychological services that could assist unemployed graduates to find employment through building and maintaining their self-esteem and confidence which are key factors when initially seeking and obtaining work. Unemployment and its impact on psychological well-being has been shown to be to be a complex subject that requires intervention from different parties such as employers and health-care workers, as well as the education system. Keywords: Coping, graduates, psychological impact and unemployment , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-12
The impact of COVID-19 on depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress levels in doctors and nurses at a South African health facility
- Authors: Finger-Motsepe, Kelebogile
- Date: 2021-12
- Subjects: COVID-19 (Disease) , Mental health
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27920 , vital:70880
- Description: Introduction: The emergence of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (Covid-19) has wrought profound and enduring transformations in global health, economic dynamics, and social interactions. However, the comprehensive quantification of the psychological repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic remains elusive and is poised to compound the preexisting burden of mental health disorders within the general populace. Elevated transmission rates, rapid disease progression within vulnerable demographics, and the absence of definitive curative or preventive measures have collectively contributed to a heightened worldwide state of stress and anxiety. Extensive research has demonstrated that the apprehension and stress associated with Covid-19 are markedly pronounced among healthcare professionals, commonly referred to as front-line workers, in comparison to the general population. The Covid-19-related psychological distress is anticipated to act as a catalyst, exacerbating mental health conditions within high-risk groups. Aims and Objectives: This study endeavours to ascertain the prevalence and severity of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among medical doctors and nurses employed at a regional hospital in South Africa. Methodology: A cross-sectional investigation was conducted to evaluate the presence of anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms among medical doctors and nurses working at a Regional Hospital situated in the Free State Province of South Africa. A purposive sample of 200 participants, comprising all willing doctors and nurses employed at the study site, was enrolled in the study. Findings: The participants exhibited an average age of 42 years and an average tenure of approximately 72 months at the hospital. The majority of participants were of African descent, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:2.3. Female healthcare workers reported significantly higher instances of PTSD than their male counterparts. In the aggregate, 71.4percent of doctors reported symptoms indicative of depression, 73.2percent reported anxiety-related symptoms, and 19.6percent reported PTSD-related symptoms. Among nurses, 72percent displayed clinically significant symptoms of depression, 81percent exhibited anxiety-related symptoms, and 27.7percent manifested symptoms suggestive of PTSD. A moderately robust positive correlation was discerned between PTSD and Anxiety (p = .000; r = .466) as well as PTSD and Depression (p = .000; r = .315). Additionally, a strong positive correlation was identified between Anxiety and Depression (p = .000; r = .631). A statistically significant disparity (p = .030) in anxiety levels was observed among workers in different risk-prone areas. Nurses reported substantially higher levels of anxiety (p = .039; M = 10.63, sd = 4.03) compared to doctors (M = 9.01, sd = 3.80) and administrators (M = 10.50, sd = 4.32). Moreover, both nurses (M = 27.06, sd = 13.61) and administrators (M = 33.33, sd = 14.44) exhibited significantly higher instances of PTSD (p = .003) than doctors (M = 19.96, sd = 15.03). Conclusions: The healthcare workers under scrutiny reported elevated levels of anxiety and depression attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic, although the prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms was comparatively lower within the hospital setting. Furthermore, this study illuminates that depressive, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms were more prevalent among nurses than doctors. Additionally, healthcare professionals operating in high-risk Covid-19 environments, such as the Covid-19 ward, demonstrated heightened levels of anxiety when juxtaposed with their counterparts stationed in low-risk Covid-19 areas within the healthcare facility. , Thesis (MPH) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2021-12
Therapists' constructs of healthy functioning as aspirational goal in transformative psychotherapy
- Authors: Steyn, Reinette
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Psychotherapy , Mental health -- South Africa , Mental health
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3064 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002573 , Psychotherapy , Mental health -- South Africa , Mental health
- Description: This dissertation reviews the ways in which psychotherapists working in relatively long-term 'transformational' therapies construct the outcome goals of their interventions. It is generally accepted that a therapist's beliefs about what constitutes mental health will influence the client, and will therefore facilitate a certain outcome accordingly. A problem in a long-term, 'non-directive' therapy is that the eventual outcome is not always visible in the interim development of the client or in the business of individual sessions. Without a clearly defined 'plan' or 'goal' there is a real danger of the intervention having opposite results to what would have been desirable, or no noticeably beneficial results, both of which can be an abuse of the client's investment and trust in the process. The absence of clearly constructed goals makes it difficult to assess efficacy of a therapeutic method used to attain an improved state of mental health that will be lasting, i.e. a positive 'transformation'; it also problematises comparisons across orientations. The identification of explicit goals is of special importance in a developing 'third-world' community like South Africa, where western ('European') concepts of mental health are being offered as an alternative to so-called 'indigenous healing' and where different cultural communities may have different expectations, needs or demands of their members 'in health'. Individual-based therapeutic orientations included in the research were psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic therapies, including object-relational therapies with various emphases and self psychology, as well as transformative types of hypnosis, Gestalt therapy, client-centred therapy and transactional analysis. Twenty of the semi-structured interviews with 52 therapists working in one or more of these areas were selected for construct analysis. Through analysis of the constructs of mental health as aspirational goal that emerged in therapists' talking about their experience of the process and the consequences of therapy observed in their patients, it appeared that there are generalisable constructs across various orientations in the transformative therapies. It is hoped that these constructs may serve as a foundation for further research in the problem areas indicated, but also that therapists working in the field may use this research not only as a basis for self-evaluation, but for adding to the constructs from their own experience, to the further enrichment of the whole field of work.
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- Date Issued: 2000