The introduction and implementation of open dialogue in a day center in Athens, Greece: experiences and reflections of mental health professionals.

Introduction: The present study is part of a large-scale original action-research project aiming to assess the introduction and implementation of the Open Dialogue approach within the clinical practice of an established multidisciplinary team in a Day Centre in Athens, Greece. More specifically, it aimed to explore the experiences of professionals within the process of implementation both in relation to their clinical practice and their professional identity. Methods: Data collection employed a focus group, which was set up to explore professional reflections of the implementation and research processes since the introduction of the model. Thematic Analysis of transcripts revealed two main themes that correspond to the impact of Open Dialogue on professionals' clinical practice and on team dynamics, respectively. Results: Professionals identify several challenges in implementing OD, such as difficulties in linking theory to practice, containing uncertainty, and addressing cultural barriers to dialogical ways of working. Professionals further reflect on their own internal journey stemming from the implementation of Open Dialogue that has led them to greater openness and growth, personally and as a team. Discussion: The role of mental health professionals is being acknowledged as being at the frontline of any meaningful psychiatric reform through the assimilation and promotion of humanistic paradigms aiming towards a change of culture in psychiatric care across different contexts. Despite variations in implementation across different contexts, the importance of consolidating and embracing Open Dialogue as a philosophical framework underpinning mental health care is being discussed.

Corrigendum: COVID-19 and parents of children with epilepsy: experiences and positive changes.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1079518.].

Improvements in Compassion and Fears of Compassion throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multinational Study.

During large-scale disasters, social support, caring behaviours, and compassion are shown to protect against poor mental health outcomes. This multi-national study aimed to assess the fluctuations in compassion over time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents (Time 1 n = 4156, Time 2 n = 980, Time 3 n = 825) from 23 countries completed online self-report questionnaires measuring the flows of compassion (i.e., Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales) and fears of compassion toward self and others and from others (i.e., Fears of Compassion Scales) and mental health at three time-points during a 10-month period. The results for the flows of compassion showed that self-compassion increased at Time 3. Compassion for others increased at Time 2 and 3 for the general population, but in contrast, it decreased in health professionals, possibly linked to burnout. Compassion from others did not change in Time 2, but it did increase significantly in Time 3. For fears of compassion, fears of self-compassion reduced over time, fears of compassion for others showed more variation, reducing for the general public but increasing for health professionals, whilst fears of compassion from others did not change over time. Health professionals, those with compassion training, older adults, and women showed greater flows of compassion and lower fears of compassion compared with the general population, those without compassion training, younger adults, and men. These findings highlight that, in a period of shared suffering, people from multiple countries and nationalities show a cumulative improvement in compassion and reduction in fears of compassion, suggesting that, when there is intense suffering, people become more compassionate to self and others and less afraid of, and resistant to, compassion.

Lived experiences, perceived positive outcomes, and post-traumatic growth among parents with children with epilepsy: A qualitative study.

Childhood-onset epilepsy alters the everyday life of parents who have children or adolescents with epilepsy (CAWE). The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of Greek parents with CAWE, including perceived positive outcomes in their lives, where research in this area is limited. Fifteen parents took part in semi-structured interviews which were conducted online due to the social distancing measures imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Main results showed that parents with CAWE experience stress, somatic symptoms, mood swings, fear along with feelings of anger, and a sense of injustice. Positive outcomes were identified at a personal level, in parenting skills, and in achieving family cohesion. Parents reported that they had achieved increased personal strength, new perspectives, better life appreciation, and changes in their spiritual beliefs. Moreover, they mentioned the acquisition of new parenting skills which helped them become better caregivers as well as feeling more united with other family members. The changes that parents identified are discussed in relation to aspects of the Post-Traumatic Growth construct, and future recommendations and implications for practice are proposed.

Compassion Protects Mental Health and Social Safeness During the COVID-19 Pandemic Across 21 Countries.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented detrimental impact on mental health in people around the world. It is important therefore to explore factors that may buffer or accentuate the risk of mental health problems in this context. Given that compassion has numerous benefits for mental health, emotion regulation, and social relationships, this study examines the buffering effects of different flows of compassion (for self, for others, from others) against the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on depression, anxiety, and stress, and social safeness. Methods: The study was conducted in a sample of 4057 adult participants from the general community population, collected across 21 countries from Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, Asia, and Oceania. Participants completed self-report measures of perceived threat of COVID-19, compassion (for self, for others, from others), depression, anxiety, stress, and social safeness. Results: Perceived threat of COVID-19 was associated with higher scores in depression, anxiety, and stress, and lower scores in social safeness. Self-compassion and compassion from others were associated with lower psychological distress and higher social safeness. Compassion for others was associated with lower depressive symptoms. Self-compassion moderated the relationship between perceived threat of COVID-19 on depression, anxiety, and stress, whereas compassion from others moderated the effects of fears of contracting COVID-19 on social safeness. These effects were consistent across all countries. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the universal protective role of compassion, in particular self-compassion and compassion from others, in promoting resilience by buffering against the harmful effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and social safeness. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-021-01822-2.

Lived experiences of Idiopathic Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients and the perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aim of this qualitative, experiential study is to explore the lived experiences of Idiopathic Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients related to psycho-emotional, social, and professional dimensions of their lives in general and, secondly, how they are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online on a sample of 10 IBD Greek-speaking patients by the end of the first lockdown period in Greece (June 2020). Thematic Analysis was employed. Research findings include participant psycho-emotional experiences, perceived social and work-related implications of the IBD disease, social support, and perceived positive outcomes in patients' lives, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Erratum: Wearables in sociodrama: An embodied mixed-methods study of expressiveness in social interactions-CORRIGENDUM.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1017/wtc.2022.7.].

Wearables in sociodrama: An embodied mixed-methods study of expressiveness in social interactions.

This mixed-methods study investigates the use of wearable technology in embodied psychology research and explores the potential of incorporating bio-signals to focus on the bodily impact of the social experience. The study relies on scientifically established psychological methods of studying social issues, collective relationships and emotional overloads, such as sociodrama, in combination with participant observation to qualitatively detect and observe verbal and nonverbal aspects of social behavior. We evaluate the proposed method through a pilot sociodrama session and reflect on the outcomes. By utilizing an experimental setting that combines video cameras, microphones, and wearable sensors measuring physiological signals, specifically, heart rate, we explore how the synchronization and analysis of the different signals and annotations enables a mixed-method that combines qualitative and quantitative instruments in studying embodied expressiveness and social interaction.

The role of social connection on the experience of COVID-19 related post-traumatic growth and stress.

BACKGROUND: Historically social connection has been an important way through which humans have coped with large-scale threatening events. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns have deprived people of major sources of social support and coping, with others representing threats. Hence, a major stressor during the pandemic has been a sense of social disconnection and loneliness. This study explores how people's experience of compassion and feeling socially safe and connected, in contrast to feeling socially disconnected, lonely and fearful of compassion, effects the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic stress. METHODS: Adult participants from the general population (N = 4057) across 21 countries worldwide, completed self-report measures of social connection (compassion for self, from others, for others; social safeness), social disconnection (fears of compassion for self, from others, for others; loneliness), perceived threat of COVID-19, post-traumatic growth and traumatic stress. RESULTS: Perceived threat of COVID-19 predicted increased post-traumatic growth and traumatic stress. Social connection (compassion and social safeness) predicted higher post-traumatic growth and traumatic stress, whereas social disconnection (fears of compassion and loneliness) predicted increased traumatic symptoms only. Social connection heightened the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on post-traumatic growth, while social disconnection weakened this impact. Social disconnection magnified the impact of the perceived threat of COVID-19 on traumatic stress. These effects were consistent across all countries. CONCLUSIONS: Social connection is key to how people adapt and cope with the worldwide COVID-19 crisis and may facilitate post-traumatic growth in the context of the threat experienced during the pandemic. In contrast, social disconnection increases vulnerability to develop post-traumatic stress in this threatening context. Public health and Government organizations could implement interventions to foster compassion and feelings of social safeness and reduce experiences of social disconnection, thus promoting growth, resilience and mental wellbeing during and following the pandemic.

Fears of compassion magnify the harmful effects of threat of COVID-19 on mental health and social safeness across 21 countries.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is a massive global health crisis with damaging consequences to mental health and social relationships. Exploring factors that may heighten or buffer the risk of mental health problems in this context is thus critical. Whilst compassion may be a protective factor, in contrast fears of compassion increase vulnerability to psychosocial distress and may amplify the impact of the pandemic on mental health. This study explores the magnifying effects of fears of compassion on the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on depression, anxiety and stress, and social safeness. METHODS: Adult participants from the general population (N = 4057) were recruited across 21 countries worldwide, and completed self-report measures of perceived threat of COVID-19, fears of compassion (for self, from others, for others), depression, anxiety, stress and social safeness. RESULTS: Perceived threat of COVID-19 predicted increased depression, anxiety and stress. The three flows of fears of compassion predicted higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress and lower social safeness. All fears of compassion moderated (heightened) the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on psychological distress. Only fears of compassion from others moderated the effects of likelihood of contracting COVID-19 on social safeness. These effects were consistent across all countries. CONCLUSIONS: Fears of compassion have a universal magnifying effect on the damaging impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and social safeness. Compassion focused interventions and communications could be implemented to reduce resistances to compassion and promote mental wellbeing during and following the pandemic.

Experiences of Recovery in EPAPSY's Community Residential Facilities and the Five CHIME Concepts: A Qualitative Inquiry.

In the context of the reform of psychiatric services in Greece, the debate about the concept of recovery is still growing. Recovery is defined as a path through which individuals facing mental health challenges are enabled to regain and further develop significant relationships with family, friends, the community, and themselves and at the same time to cope with the detrimental effects of stigma through empowerment. The present qualitative study aims to explore the experiences of people living in EPAPSY's (Association for Regional Development and Mental Health) community residential facilities focusing mainly upon the key concepts of the CHIME (connectivity, hope, identity, meaning, and empowerment) conceptual framework of recovery. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participants living and receiving mental health care in a residential facility of EPAPSY. The participants' accounts were analyzed using thematic analysis in a deductive and inductive manner. The research findings highlighted, among others, the challenges the participants faced during their early years in family and school, the experience of the revolving door effect, and the perceived turn their life took when they were transferred to a community residential facility, thus opening a new chapter in their lives. Of the five CHIME concepts, all are present in the participants' accounts, with emphasis given to a meaningful present, a need to feel "normal" again, and a positive outlook for the future, both for themselves and their relationships, despite the persistence of certain difficulties.