Prescribing stigma in mental disorders: A comparative study of Portuguese psychiatrists and general practitioners

The use of digital escape rooms in nursing education

Negative attitudes and prejudices towards people with a mental disorder are common across cultures and societies. The stigma associated with mental illness leads to a lower quality of life, given the discrimination and social exclusion suffered by people with this type of disorder. In the field of health, research has shown that doctors and nurses also manifest these types of stigmatizing behaviors and attitudes. The present study aims to create and apply an educational escape room for the purpose of training nursing students in mental health, promoting positive attitudes towards people who have a mental disorder. To do so, a pre-post study was conducted with an experimental group and a control group to determine whether the escape room was effective for the modification of stigmatizing behaviors compared to transmissive lecture class, and a third measurement was made at 6 months only to the experimental group to evaluate whether the changes produced by the escape room were maintained in the long term. The results indicate that the students participating in the study obtained better scores in sensitization and these remain better over time. It is concluded that the escape room used is suitable for the training and sensitization of future nursing professionals in the field of mental health, facilitating the learning of knowledge and positive attitudes towards severe mental disorder.

Diagnostic overshadowing: An evolutionary concept analysis on the misattribution of physical symptoms to pre-existing psychological illnesses

This evolutionary concept analysis explores the meaning of diagnostic overshadowing within the context of physical health care for individuals with mental illness. Diagnostic overshadowing, the misattribution of symptoms of one illness to an already diagnosed comorbidity, leads to compromised patient care and likely contributes to increased mortality experienced by individuals with mental illness. A systematic literature search led to identification of a sample of 25 publications on the topic. Following Rodgers' Evolutionary Concept Analysis methodology, this literature sample yielded unifying definitions, shared themes, factors contributing to the action of diagnostic overshadowing, outcomes caused by this type of misdiagnosis, and possible interventions available to nurses and other healthcare providers. Understanding of the concept diagnostic overshadowing may help prevent its occurrence and its adverse results.