Red Flower's Journal of Psychiatric Nursing

Cognitive decline or psychological ageing is a problem when it occurs in the thought process or a decline in mental processes due to old age. It includes loss of memory, learning disability, concentration difficulties, in other words slowing down of mental processes. The researchers also suggest that reduced mental stimulation may lead to a decrease in cognitive functioning as people grow older. An enriched environment is very important for an ageing person to deal with the cognitive decline. Lifelong learning is one of the ways to stay mentally active in old age which helps preventing psychological ageing. Instead of ending education at a specific age, one should keep on learning and enhancing knowledge. School and college is not the only way to acquire knowledge. After finishing study at a point of time is not the end of acquiring knowledge. It may be acquired afterwards also through self directed continued learning termed as Lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is the continued learning/education or information gathering to enrich one’s knowledge through various methods like educational tours, community service, use of internet, attending workshops, getting involved in enriching discussion with the people of varied areas etc. Lifelong learning is the one of the significant ways to keep oneself active after the age of retirement. After the retirement people start feeling worthless. By virtue of this feeling of worthlessness problems start in the elderly. With the feeling of worthlessness the psychological ageing starts, which changes their self concept about themselves and further it affects their self esteem.

Honour killing is the heinous act performed by self acclaimed and self appointed protectors of the society. Victims of honour killings are mostly women, who are considered to have brought shame, wrong traditions and practices to the family. Common terms that may be used for ‘honour killing’ are ‘customary killing’, ‘domestic violence’, ‘family murders’ and a form of ‘terrorism’. Violence in the name of honour occurs all over the world and women are the soft targets internationally. Countries where honour killings occur are India, Pakistan, Middle – East countries, Latin America, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Turkey, Canada and U.S.A. etc. India, where about one fifth of the total honour killings take place, tops the list. In India states like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh witness maximum female foeticides and female infanticides.
Ways and means of honour killings vary and range from burning alive, poisoning, murdering with axe, starving until death shooting to forced suicide. The act of killing is usually performed by husband, father, brother, Khap Panchayats, Jirgas or hired men. Causes of honour killings are trivial like choosing a marriage or sex partner of one’s choice, divorcing an abusive husband, getting raped, being politically active, indecently dressing up or jealousy. Association of the criminal behavior of killing under pretext of honour with anti-social personality disorder remains debatable. And, if they are psychopaths they should be attended by mental health care providers. Interesting fact about the perpetrators is that they commit crimes or murders without any remorse. They usually escape from punishment under the cover of religion. In a civilized society, there is no place for murdering others based on preconceived ideas. This issue should be addressed by way of making and enforcing laws, gathering public supportandpoliticalwill.

Keywords: Honour – Crime; Crime for Passion; Honour Based Violence; Khap – Panchayat.

Background: National education system is based on academic achievements of students. Psychologists stated that emotional intelligence is one of the factors that influences students’ learning process and evidently, it contributes significantly  an implication towards their academic achievements.  Aim: A study was conducted to assess the impact of emotional intelligence on academic achievement of students studying in secondary schools of Amritsar, Punjab. Methods and Material: Sample consisted of 100 students studying in 9th standard between ages 13 and 16 years from three selected English medium schools. Stratified proportionate randomized sampling technique was followed to select sample. Emotional intelligence scale developed by Schutte’s et al (1998) was used to assess levels of emotional intelligence of students and to assess academic achievement of students, scores of previous semester were collected.  The study was conducted from 6th Jan. 2012 to 29th Jan. 2012. The data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics wherever required. Results: The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was computed and findings (F = 20.14, p< 0.001) showed high significant impact of emotional intelligence of students on academic achievement. Emotional intelligence and academic achievement had no significant association with sociodemographic variables like age, gender, place of living and type of family. Conclusion: In light of these findings there is need to generate awareness among teachers and parents about how good emotional intelligence can lead to better academic achievement.
Keywords: Emotional Intelligence; Academic Achievements; Students;  Secondary Schools.

Background: Women are more at risk of experiencing emotional difficulties following the birth of a baby than at any other time in their lives. It is a true disservice to women and their families that the “myths of motherhood” stop women from acknowledging the range of feelings they actually have, and discourage them from seeking needed information and support. Pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period provide women with one of the most stressful and anxiety-producing life transitions that they will ever experience. Objectives: To assess the psychological wellbeing of postnatal mothers. Methodology: The survey was conducted in post-natal wards of a selected private hospital in Delhi. 34 mothers admitted in the post-natal wards were selected through purposive sampling technique The mothers were interviewed by administering a semi-structured questionnaire at their bedside. Results: Findings showed that 74% of the postnatal mothers were having good psychological wellbeing where as 26.47% of the postnatal mothers were having average psychological wellbeing. Conclusion: Lots of women feel depressed after having a baby, but very few acknowledge and express their feelings. A nurse needs to be an active listener and demonstrate a caring attitude to assess the psychological distress in postnatal mothers and promote psychological wellbeing.                                                                                                        Keywords: Psychological Wellbeing; Postpartum Blues; Postpartum Depression; Postpartum Psychosis
 

Mental illness in parents can have a great impact on the lives of the children, affecting them in every sphere of their lives. Families shape the quality of lives. Early relationships within the family serve as a prototype for later relationships. When parental mental illness is present, children may have unsatisfactory models for later peer relationships. They face problems in relationships-both family and peer, academics, and also go through psychological and behavioural problems. The environment in which they grow often tends to be chaotic and many children are forced to assume the role of carers. Care-giving has been associated with limiting young people’s recreation, friendships, educational achievement and personal growth. It is very important for every health care professional to realize this painful situation that a child goes through in dealing with a mentally ill parent. They should spend some time in talking to these children, teach them some adaptive coping strategies that will help them cope effectively with the situation that they are going through.Some of the strategies discussed below include accepting reality, understanding their parents’ condition, improving family and peer relationships, seeking social support, working on academic performance, dealing with psychological and behavioural issues and so on.
 

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder are the most common disorders seen in children. This study was carried out to ascertain the effect of training of life skills on the academic performance of the children with ADHD and conduct disorder. One hundred fifty children of ADHD and conduct disorder from Delhi state in India were given life skill training through the art of storytelling. Pre test –intervention- post test design was used in this study. Appropriate stories from the module of panchatantra were selected to teach life skills. Academic performance rating scale was administered both before and after training to check the academic performance. Post test was conducted after 6 months of training. After life skill training (posttest), there was a significant improvement in the academic performance of children with ADHD and conduct disorder. The results of the posttest showed that the intervention was equally effective for male and female children. Life skill training through the art of storytelling (use of panchtantra stories) proved beneficial. This study showed that life skills training (through the art of storytelling) may be imparted as a complementary intervention for improving academic performance of children with ADHD and conduct disorder.

Keywords: Life Skill Training; Storytelling; Academic Performance; Conduct Disorder; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.