Hospitalization in an intensive care unit (ICU) or cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) can cause significant psychological distress in relatives, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). This study examined differences in these symptoms between ICU and CICU relatives, as well as factors contributing to symptom severity, independent of unit type. A cross-sectional design was used with 134 adult relatives (78 ICU, 56 CICU) from two Greek hospitals. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected, and anxiety, depression, stress, and PTSS were assessed using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) and the Greek version of the Impact of Event Scale–Revised (IES-R-Gr). Results indicated that ICU relatives reported significantly higher scores across all symptom scales compared to CICU relatives. Patient age, hospitalization duration, kinship, and relative’s perception of the patient’s life threat appeared to account for the effect of unit type, while female gender stands out as an independent risk factor across all symptom dimensions. These findings indicate that, although relatives of ICU patients experience greater psychological burden than those of CICU patients, likely due to the sudden and unpredictable nature of life-threatening events in the ICU, families in both settings show substantial distress and differing risk profiles by ICU type, gender, and kinship, underscoring the need for routine screening and tailored psychosocial support.

Mentally ill offenders face stigma, being perceived as both dangerous and unpredictable. This leads to social discrimination, which causes devaluation, distancing, and unequal treatment towards them. Critical and dismissive attitudes of healthcare professionals and police toward these patients undermine their care, treatment, and prospects for rehabilitation. This study investigated the attitudes and stereotypes of health professionals and police officers who frequently interact with mentally ill offenders. Participants completed three scales: Attitudes Toward Mentally Ill Offenders (ATMIO), Community Attitudes Toward the Mentally Ill (CAMI), and Familiarity Level Scale. The sample included 523 professionals, 283 health professionals, 139 mental health professionals, and 101 police officers, with an average age of 41.4 years and 40.3% having over 20 years of experience. Results showed that all groups displayed negative attitudes toward mentally ill offenders, with little variation between them. This highlights the need for professionals to recognize their biases when caring for this population.

Defense mechanisms are unconscious mental processes employed as defensive strategies in the service of the ego, constituting their field of action. They alleviate intrapsychic conflicts and anxieties within the ego enabling its liberation. Social work students perform tasks within demanding, adverse, and conflicting situations and are often overwhelmed by difficult emotions affecting their psychological adjustment. Recognizing and adopting mature mechanisms can support and provide intrapsychic functioning with strength and equilibrium. This study highlights the defense mechanisms “detected” in social work students, concerning psychopathology, before entering the professional world. The sample consisted of 361 undergraduate students with a mean age of 21.7 years. 60.9

Perinatal psychiatry has developed significantly during the past decades and remarkable progress has been made in understanding thoroughly the processes taking place in the psyche of both the mother and the new couple that conceives, carries and gives birth to a baby; a particular experience in a couple's and family's life. Research shows more and more clearly how these processes are inseparable to the consistency of the child's future development and his(her) capacity to cope with life. Nevertheless, the perinatal period may result in the couple experiencing mental vulnerability, as it can evoke unpleasant past experiences, usually (experiences) regarding the couple's relationship with their own parents. Therefore, a specialist's challenge is to help transform these experiences, in order to prevent repetition to the child.

Background: Prisoners are often associated with mental health and substance use disorders. Coercive measures are widely used in prison settings. The objective of this study was to compare inmates’ perceptions and satisfaction with telepsychiatry versus face-to-face consultation and the effects of telepsychiatry on the use of coercive measures. The sample consisted of 100 male inmates from various backgrounds who had experienced both approaches of services (face to face and telepsychiatry). Method: The data were obtained through an interview where the individuals completed a Demographic Data Questionnaire, a Participant Satisfaction Questionnaire to assess satisfaction with face-to-face psychiatric services, and a Participant Satisfaction Questionnaire to assess their satisfaction with services offered via telepsychiatry. Additionally, calculations of time spent waiting for a face-to-face psychiatric evaluation and time spent in handcuffs and in confined spaces were made before and after the introduction of telepsychiatry. Results: Statistically significant improvements (all p-values < 0.001) were noted in waiting times, support for relapse prevention, follow up, quality of mental health care, quality of care in the management of psychiatric problems and related medication, behavior of psychiatrists, duration of the assessment, sense of comfort, and confidentiality. Telepsychiatry led to the elimination of time spent in handcuffs and in confined spaces (transport vehicles). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, telepsychiatry is an acceptable method of service delivery in correctional facilities and was associated with a reduction of coercive practices.

Telepsychiatry is an effective tool to support and provide mental health services to prison inmates. In Greece, telepsychiatry was formally applied in two correctional facilities in 2018. The objective of this study was to compare inmates' perceptions and satisfaction with telepsychiatry versus face-to-face consultation. The sample consisted of 100 male inmates with a multicultural background and prior experience with both methods of services provision. The data were obtained through a Demographic Data Questionnaire, a Participant Satisfaction Questionnaire to assess satisfaction with face-to-face psychiatric services, and another Participant Satisfaction Questionnaire to assess satisfaction with telepsychiatric services. The results have shown a higher level of satisfaction with telepsychiatry compared to face-to-face care. Statistically significant improvements (all p-values <0.001) were noted in: waiting times, support for relapse prevention, follow up, quality of mental health care, quality of care in the management of psychiatric problems and related medication, behaviour of psychiatrists, duration of the assessment, sense of comfort, and confidentiality. Telepsychiatry has proved to be an acceptable way of approaching and supporting inmates in Greece, with most of the participants expressing high acceptance, satisfaction, and preference rates. Implications for additional research and further development of telepsychiatry are discussed.

Education in the mental health field allows the evaluation of factors that are shaped during the period of studies and thus affect students before their placement in a psychiatric setting. In particular, theoretical training, attitudes towards mentally ill people, the degree of preparedness, and the desire to pursue a future career in this field are important factors associated with mental health education. This study included 101 Greek undergraduate social work students who completed their clinical placement in the settings of the 1st Psychiatric Clinic of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) – Eginitio Hospital. By filling out the P/MHCPS scale, these students evaluated their placement experience on the first and last day of placement. Significant differences were recorded at the second measurement time point in terms of attitudes, course effectiveness, preparedness for mental health field, and negative stereotypes. The students’ theoretical background, degrees of preparedness and self-confidence, more positive attitudes, career interest in mental health, and satisfaction with the working environment are factors that enrich the social work students’ learning journey and confirm the positive impact of their clinical placement in the mental health field.

OBJECTIVE To highlight the psychometric properties of the "Psychiatric/ Mental Health Clinical Placement Survey" (P/MHCPS) questionnaire in order to identify and evaluate the factors shaped during the educational process and influencing students in terms of mental health clinical placement and explored the degree of preparedness of social work students, their attitudes towards mental illness, as well as their desire to pursue a future career in the area prior to their clinical placement in a mental health setting. METHOD The sample consisted of 101 students from three social work university departments completing their clinical placement in the settings of the 1st Psychiatric Clinic of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) during the period 2015-2023. The students filled out the P/MHCPS questionnaire for first placement in the setting. Previously, the questionnaire was adapted to the Greek language and the particularities of social work in Greece. RESULTS The structure of the questionnaire's Greek version was substantially different from the original version, the subscales though demonstrated high internal consistency with a Cronbach's alpha value greater than 0.70. In addition, strong correlations were found between the subscales, where more knowledge, more positive attitudes towards mental health, and a greater desire to pursue a career in the mental health field were significantly correlated with more advanced theoretical training on the basis of the course curriculum, greater preparedness in undertaking a clinical placement in the field and less negative stereotypes. CONCLUSIONS This study, being the first attempt to validate the P/MHCPS questionnaire among Greek social work students, demonstrated a satisfactory internal consistency and can be used to identify the degree of preparedness, the attitudes towards mental illness, and the desire for a future career in the area of mental health for social work students before or during their clinical placement in a mental health setting.

Mental health disorders are more prevalent among incarcerated people than in the general population, while the difficulties experienced by inmates in gaining access to mental health services often make their care and treatment inadequate. To systematically review the use of video-teleconferencing (VTC) and telepsychiatry in forensic settings and its application within the criminal justice system. The electronic bibliographic databases MEDLINE, Scopus, PsychINFO and Google Scholar were searched using a systematic approach from January 1998 until September 2021 to identify papers on the use of VTC and telepsychiatry in forensic settings and within the criminal justice system. A total of 1303 articles were identified, after screening 27 publications fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Studies identified strengths and weaknesses of the use of telepsychiatry in forensic settings and criminal justice system. Telepsychiatry in forensic settings and the criminal justice system is associated with more benefits than limitations. Strengths identified include access to specialized services, flexibility in rescheduling meetings, security and safety among all parties involved, acceptance and user satisfaction, as well as efficiency and effectiveness of services provided, cost and time savings, and the absence of risks for infection spread in correctional settings. Weaknesses identified include the reluctance of professionals to provide remote consultations, the quality of the therapeutic relationship established, restrictions on its use by special patient groups, as well as issues underlying its implementation such as the legal framework, ethical issues and the civil or criminal responsibility of health attitudes. Overall, there is evidence to support its use and acceptance within forensic settings and the criminal justice system and our review highlights its benefits and limitations.

Mentally ill offenders constitute a group with a unique set of characteristics since they are doubly stigmatized by both their mental illness and the offence they have committed. The coexistence of these two circumstances significantly heightens negative public attitudes towards these people. The group of mentally ill offenders has been shown to elicit more stigmatic attitudes than offenders without a mental health condition. Nevertheless, research on stigma towards mentally ill offenders is rather limited, while the number of psychometric tools used to measure this stigma is even smaller compared to the number of relevant tools assessing mental illness stigma. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes towards mentally ill offenders in a Greek sample in terms of demographic characteristics, and at the same time to assess the psychometric properties of a specialized tool on stigma towards this patient group, namely the Attitudes Towards Mentally Ill Offenders (ΑΤΜΙΟ) scale in Greek. The study included 1031 participants from the general population who completed an online questionnaire on sociodemographic data as well as the ATMIO scale. The scale's structural validity was tested on the basis of the exploratory factor analysis after Quartimax rotation, and the internal relevance of its factors recorded a Cronbach's alpha value of more than 0.7, both for the whole scale and its individual factors. It was shown that more negative stereotypes towards mentally ill offenders were correlated with less compassion and less desire for their rehabilitation, with stronger belief and conviction that they represent a danger to the community, with less diminished responsibility, and a lot fewer positive attitudes in general. Women, older people, individuals with a lower education level and participants with children were found to hold more negative attitudes. The ATMIO scale translated in Greek is the first tool to measure attitudes towards mentally ill offenders in the country and shows satisfactory internal consistency and interpretation of its four-factor structure. It is a comprehensible and easy-to-complete scale, which can become a reliable tool to record attitudes towards mentally ill offenders also in our country.

Mentally ill offenders constitute a vulnerable population group with unique characteristics, and have endured multiple public stigmatizations, which has not been sufficiently studied. The purpose of this study was to capture attitudes of the public toward mentally ill offenders in relation to their perceptions of mental illness in general, as well as their degree of familiarity with it. Our sample of 2059 people can be overall described as a men preponderance, married, with mean value age of 26 years, higher educational level, and medium or higher socio-economic status. Participants completed the ATMIO, CAMI, and Familiarity scales online. The total familiarity index value with mental illness was found to be 4.88, which counts as moderate to low. It was also concluded that women and those with a high educational level sustained more positive attitudes toward mentally ill offenders. However, negative stereotypes (with a mean value of 26.20), stigmatizing attitudes related to risk in the community (mean 16.10), and reduced responsibility for actions (mean 9.45) were recorded, while some (mean 16.50) showed compassion and emphasized on the mentally ill need of rehabilitation. The youngest people were the ones who recorded the most absolute and harsh attitudes. These findings validate the need of raising awareness and informing, especially, the young public about issues of mental health, including the need to oppose prejudices with everyday measures, which can be accessible to the new generation. Besides, we should extend research to various professional groups that come in contact with mentally ill offenders in order to collect data, which could contribute for intervening policies and formulating different sets of strategies for those people.

This study elaborates on the possibility that distant education via online platforms increased the levels of burnout among teachers of primary and secondary general education during the school year 2020-2021. The main goal was to identify the factors that cause additional stress and intensify burnout. Data was collected with Google Forms by simple random sampling method. A standardized questionnaire was used as a research tool which includes demographic data in the first part of the research and the scale of stress levels, the scale of professional burnout of teachers, as well as the teaching scale self-efficacy.The final sample consisted of 169 primary and secondary education teachers during the school year 2020-2021 both in live and distant teaching. The results showed that mostly women who were permanently employed in special education or language teachers with 6-15 or more years of experience suffered from depression, anxiety, stress, and burnout. In conclusion, live teaching is considered much more effective, regardless of teacher gender or age, with the exception of teachers experienced in distance education programs. Teachers do not feel ready and sufficient to implement distant learning regarding classroom management and student involvement.

OBJECTIVE Investigation of the attitudes of the staff of a general hospital and a university hospital towards Roma people, according to their professional status and their socio-demographic characteristics. METHOD Two questionnaires were completed by the participants: A socio-demographic questionnaire, consisting of 10 questions, and a questionnaire on prejudice towards the Roma people, based on the "Prejudice Toward Immigrants Questionnaire", consisting of 43 statements covering attitudes, symbolic fears, inter-group anxiety and negative stereotypes. A total of 289 health professionals and administrative staff of two hospitals in Attica participated in the study, 217 of whom worked in a general hospital and 72 in a university hospital. RESULTS The average scores of the participants were high: Attitudes 5.49 (standard deviation [SD]=1.85), for symbolic fears 7.13 (SD=1.70), inter-group anxiety 6.28 (SD=2.11), and negative stereotypes 6.73 (SD=1.81). The general hospital staff members recorded significantly higher scores on the scales of attitudes, symbolic fears, inter-group anxiety and stereotypes than the university hospital staff. Participants who lived in the Western Attica region, where the Roma have a greater presence in the local population compared with other Attica regions, scored significantly higher on the scales of symbolic fears, inter-group anxiety and negative stereotypes. Married people reported significantly higher inter-group anxiety, but as the level of education increased, the level of inter-group anxiety lowered. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that a high percentage of the staff, both health professionals and administrative employees, in the public hospitals in Attica, despite their codes of professional ethics, maintain preconceptions and stereotypes about the Roma. These attitudes can be expected to have a negative impact on the ways they deal with the Roma people who are trying to access the health services necessary to them. These results demonstrate the need for developing appropriate interventions designed to reduce the perceived threat and change the negative attitudes of the health care professionals towards Roma people. Such interventions should be based on a multicultural approach, promoting health service policies that imply acceptance of diversity and equal opportunities of access, and which reduce the sense of threat from "outsiders", felt at present by the hospital staff.

Over time, the family has proved to be the primary support system and the basic source of care for the mentally ill. Various theories have been propounded as to the role of the family in the etiology and development of serious mental disorders. The family atmosphere, the caregivers' burden and negatively expressed emotions, have all been found to have a negative impact on the progression of the disease and on relapses, and on the psychosocial functioning and overall improvement of the patient. In Greece, a high rate of involuntary hospitalizations (60%) is recorded, the majority of which have been initiated at the request of a member of the patient's family. Clinical social workers are called upon to manage the problems arising from the involuntary hospitalization process. As management approaches and therapeutic interventions are constantly changing, clinical social work, as a dynamically evolving science, adapts to new evidence by applying modern models and practices. Clinical social workers, applying models of crisis intervention and recovery, are able to contribute constructively in supporting the patients and their families, accompanying all family members in the procedures of "continue - adapt to living with the disease".

For decades, and even up to the middle of the 20th century, basic psychiatric practice in Greece resulted in the incarceration and repression of people with mental health problems who manifested suicidal behavior or violence towards others. A special category is that of mental health patients who have committed a serious criminal offense (homicide, attempted homicide, destruction of the property of others, theft, etc.). It is necessary in these cases to make an initial assessment of their mental state and diagnose their mental disorder, in order to judge their ability to stand trial, facing criminal charges or examination of their responsibility in the eyes of the law. The lack of the capacity to participate in or understand the judicial proceedings identifies certain patients as "unfit to plead", and in Greece they are "kept" in one of three psychiatric hospitals: "Dafni" Psychiatric Hospital of Attica, "Dromokaitio" Psychiatric Hospital of Attica, and the Psychiatric Hospital of Thessaloniki. This paper presents in aggregate for the first time the data regarding the psychiatric patients who are unfit to plead according to article 69 of the Greek penal code. This special status quo is discussed under the question of whether compulsory custody is for the benefit of the patient, or an excuse for "public security". The present shortcomings and gaps in the legal/psychiatric management system are identified, and the expected changes of the new draft legislation are outlined, which is under consideration to make better provision for these patients.

The rise in the diagnosis of mental disorders, in combination with high crime rates and the increasing tendency of people to turn to the justice system to deal with complex issues, has resulted in the emergence of a body of mental health professionals who are trained in both legal science and psychiatric issues. A new, distinct field for social workers is the provision of social work services to people in the mental health system who have come into contact with the criminal justice system. Forensic psychiatric social work is the new area of expertise that has responded to these social and scientific needs, bridging the gap between criminal justice and mental health. Specialization in forensic social work is not yet offered in Greece, despite the need encountered in the everyday clinical practice of social workers in both the law courts and psychiatric services. Suggestions are presented here for creating a specialty training course, either in the schools of social work, or as part of a postgraduate program. Until recently, very little information had been presented in Greece on forensic psychiatry social work, but the need is becoming ever more urgent to equip social workers with skills in this field, in a practical and meaningful way.

Developmental differences between men and women pertain to reproductive hormones, behavioral characteristics, defense mechanisms, social and work tasks. The onset of action of gonadal hormones on the fetal brain as well as the duration of this action differs between men and women. Therefore, hormones affect and highly influence behavior, personality traits and stress responses in different ways.Modern society is characterized by a dramatic change of work style, which has led to intense and disruptive stress. "Work stress" is a relatively new phenomenon, related to life-style. As the coping mechanisms against stress differ between the sexes, so do social behaviors and stress reactions. There are many peculiarities of contemporary women employment, while the dilemma "work or home" leads to disturbances in both areas. The modern working women, who practice multiple roles within and outside home, may be provided with some material and social benefits, but at the same time detrimental consequences are being produced on their emotional well-being, which contribute to the development of psychological and physical symptoms.The aim of this paper is to review the complexity of women's modern social and work roles and the consequences of contemporary work stress

Since 2007 the western civilization is experiencing a global financial crisis, leading to the European sovereign-debt crisis. This crisis has affected many peoples' everyday lives extremely, due to the intolerable psychological burden associated with the consequences of: (a) unemployment or fear of losing one's work (leading to increased stress levels, anxiety, feelings of frustration, disappointment, helplessness and loss of self-esteem) (b) increase of poverty (which correlates with continuous insecurity, social withdrawal, violence, inadequate housing and malnutrition) (c) dramatic reduction of life quality level and (d) family crisis. All the above are evidence-based factors which, each independently and all together, cause stress in excessive and intolerable levels and induce mental health disorders which affect genders differently.The social status of women varies enormously among countries and is related to the industrialization and cultural level. In most European countries women constitute half of the workforce. Women are exposed to the general consequences of the financial crisis, as well as to specific features as the "feminization of poverty", which leads to serious impairments in women's health, education, and it also amplifies social roles stereotypes. On the other hand, due to modern work style and the financial crisis, society has been deranged to a postmodern work "hermaphroditism" combined with an "andrectomy" derived from the increased men unemployment. All of the above have been found to have detrimental consequences to women and to the entire family.

There is a diachronic interest on the evaluation of the risk of violence by mental patients.Difficulties that have been underlined concern the definition of the term dangerousness and the different methods of approaching it. Accurate risk assessments are particularly important for psychiatric patients, with history of violence, in indoor care. The accuracy of predictions can better determine the patients designated as "at risk" for violence and avoid false designations. The aim of this study was to investigate the probability of patients, from several psychiatric units, to become violent after their discharge and over the next three years. We also investigate the predictive validity and accuracy of the HCR-20 in relation to post-discharge outcomes. Two hundred ninety five (295) psychiatric patients, from several psychiatric units, were assessed with the HCR-20, PCL: SV and GAF scales at discharge (using case file data, interviews with the patients and the clinicians of the units, and also information from the collateral informants) and were monitored for violent episodes over the following three years. The study was conducted in two phases: 1st phase: During the last week before discharge. 2nd phase: Every six months, over the following three years. Both the HCR-20 and PCL: SV scales and their subscales are significant predictors of readmission, suicide attempts and violent behavior. The GAF scale had a low positive correlation with the HCR-20 scale. A number of other variables such as duration of hospitalization, previous violent acts, diagnosis, gender, marital status, socioeconomic status, number of previous hospitalizations, were statistically related with failure of re-integration in the community. The results provide a strong evidence base that the HCR-20 is a good predictor of violent behavior in psychiatric patients, following their discharge from psychiatric wards in Greece, and hence can be used by clinicians in routine clinical practice.