Vulnerable and without protection: Lifetime experiences of abuse and its influence on mental ill health -—An interview study among Swedish women within general psychiatric care

Violence against women is a major global public health issue, and experiencing violence has substantial consequences for the lives of abused women. This study aims to illustrate experiences of abuse and its influence on mental ill health among women seeking general psychiatric care. Ten women seeking general psychiatric care in southern Sweden participated in a qualitative interview study. Content analysis resulted in four categories: Living in fear that persistently influences the substance of life, living with the sense of being worthless, living with a constant question about who you are and living between hope and despair. The theme evolving from the analysis was: Being vulnerable and without protection in a frightful reality that limits one’s possibilities of living and being the person one wishes to be. The results showed that the women described their mental ill health not only in terms of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation and self-harm, but also in relation to feelings of hope and despair, fear, worthlessness and living with a constant question about who they are. The abuse reduces freedom of action, and leads to feelings of insecurity, of not having any boundaries, isolation, and self-contempt and a need to escape. This study provides knowledge of abused women self-reported mental ill health in relation to abuse.

Experiences of Psychiatric Day-Care Patients during the Introductory Period in Japan

Psychiatric day care plays an important role as transitional support after discharge in Japan. However, interruption rate of the day care treatment is high during the introductory period. The purpose of this study was to clarify the experiences of psychiatric day-care patients during the introductory period and find an approach to care. A qualitative study with thirteen patients at the introductory period was designed to explore participant’s experiences through semi-structured interviews. At first, patients were confused about their attitude because they paid attention to themselves, and consequently closed their involvement with others. However, through therapeutic day care activities, they attempted to adapt themselves and gradually turned their attention toward others and accumulated interpersonal experiences. As interactions with others became more frequent, they became conscious of themselves and others. Finally, while having worries about the future, they looked toward recovery and became aware that they were changing. Experiences of patients during the introductory period were essential to their recovery and gave meaning to their day care usage. Nurses should collaborate with patients to determine whether day care would serve to open a patient’s life to new possibilities.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation enhanced by neuronavigation in the treatment of depressive disorder and schizophrenia

This editorial assesses the advancements in neuronavigation enhanced repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for depressive disorder and schizophrenia treatment.Conventional repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation faces challenges due to the intricacies of brain anatomy and patient variability.Neuronavigation offers innovative solutions by integrating neuroimaging with three-dimensional localization to pinpoint brain regions and refine therapeutic targeting.This systematic review of recent literature underscores the enhanced efficacy of neuronavigation in improving treatment outcomes for these disorders.This editorial highlights the pivotal role of neuronavigation in advancing psychiatric care.