Applied Research in Psy

Nottingham Trent University - Psychology

6/27/2023

Student Name -
Contents
Question 01 - Involving the Mental Health Awareness Campaign................................................................2
Question 02....................................................................................................................................................5
Question 03....................................................................................................................................................8
References....................................................................................................................................................15

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Question 01 - Involving the Mental Health Awareness Campaign

Mental Health is an important factor that should be considered when considering a person’s
health situation. According to WHO (World Health Organization) (Anon., 2022), Mental health
is an important factor to care about when considering the health of a person. It directly affects his
personality as well. Although a person does not have any mental illness does not mean that he is
mentally stable. To be mentally stable, one should build a good personality in himself. If an
individual only cares about his physical health eventually, he will not be a mentally stable
person. Everyone needs to think about their mental health to be a stable and healthy person. It
was important to teach the importance of mental health to the people who need it to minimize
risky situations which getting because of mental illness. The target of the awareness campaign
was to identify and address the problems people have with each other. To teach the importance of
mental health, there was an awareness campaign that was held in mid-April. The awareness
campaign aims to identify the mental situation of the people who are in slum houses in Colombo
The main reason to take slum houses into our research is, (Gruebner, et al., 2012) according to
research done about mental health in slums has proven that The current study used a geo-
epidemiological approach to identify characteristics that affect the mental health of people living
in Dhaka's slums, which are currently home to 3.4 million people. Dhaka's estimated population
is around 14 million people. It was hard to gather people for the awareness campaign since most
people had busy lives doing jobs to find food for their families. Another challenge that we had to
face was the unwillingness of the people to join the campaign since they do not care much about
their mental health of them. However, with a big effort, we could collect people for the
awareness campaign. We did not only focus on a special age category for the campaign since it
was required to be aware of all of them. Although it was a holiday, most of the people had to go
to work since most of them are poor.

We planned the whole process one month before the campaign to reduce the misfunctions in this
event. We contacted some doctors who are specialized in physiology, to increase the value of the
awareness campaign since they can understand the situation of people better than us. Some
officers from the urban development authority helped with the project as well.

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Mental health awareness programs can help people with mental illness to get the necessary
medicines and medications to build a stable mental health and it can help people to build their
personality in a good way. Medical healthcare awareness campaigns, lectures, notices about
mental health, blog articles, and panel discussions can help people to understand their level of
mental health without consulting any mental medical professionals. There are many myths about
mental health care. It is important to teach people who need support about the right things
instead of myths. Since most people are not willing to accept some myths are wrong, it is very
challenging. But it is important to teach people the right and true concepts.

Self-care also plays an important role when considering the mental health care of an individual.
Meditation can be identified as a good self-care method. Isolating themselves from everyday life
and thinking about life differently can help people who need mental support get some help. So, it
is important to promote self-care. It also helps individuals to reduce their stress. If a person is
more into religious activities, joining in religious activities can help him to reduce their stress
and improve medical health.

Holding counseling as a part of an awareness campaign can increase the value of healthcare. For
this, professionals from respective areas should be invited. It is important to ensure that the
results that are getting from the patients should not be relieved under any circumstances. It is
also required to promote help-seeking behaviors.

The engagement of the people is very important to create a good awareness campaign. All the
people planned the project and did their job very well. Although it was hard to collect people for
this campaign, the project was done as planned since the plan was a good one. So, a plan is
important as well.

It is also important to identify the different mental health diseases, the technologies used to
identify them, and the therapies that are getting from them. Recognizing how mental health
affects friendships, love relationships, family dynamics, and personal interactions is also
important when considering the diseases of it. Learning how to uphold appropriate boundaries
while helping loved ones who are experiencing mental health issues helps people who need
medical support.

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Children’s mental health problems should be considered separately since it is a critical situation.
Most of the time children’s mental health problems depend on their parents, but sometimes there
might be several issues for them. Although children’s healthcare problems are challenging, they
need to be addressed immediately. There are specific people assigned to the healthcare of kids.

My desire to support community-based interventions, policy creation, and mental health

advocacy has been sparked by this experience. By tackling these issues, the campaign gave me
the motivation I needed to work towards a job that supports mental health, removes structural
barriers, and creates a more welcoming and compassionate society for all.

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Question 02

There can be many plans for a psychology enthusiast. Being an assistant psychologist can be
identified as a main accomplishment that a psychology enthusiast can have. The importance of
being a psychologist is mentioned on the Aventis Graduate School website as follows. (Anon.,
2022) What constitutes a successful workplace is being redefined by psychology science, which
is also influencing the development of machinery which renders our lives easier. To better grasp
topics like the practices and habits of their clientele, large firms routinely engage psychologists.
It is not easy to be an assistant psychologist, but one must achieve many targets and should work
according to a proper plan. The carrier action plan should not only consider short-term plans, but
all short-term plans, medium-term plans, long term plans should be managed properly. In the
following paragraphs, it is discussing the plans one should have to accomplish the carrier as an
assistant psychologist.

Short term plan is understanding achieving short-term goals. The short period can be 0 to 2
years. So, the main achievement of a short-term plan is to handle critical situations and achieve
goals within a short period. If an individual wants to be a qualified assistant psychologist, he
needs to achieve short-term goals like training and education, professional development,
networking, and building practical skills.

Education and training are important for an individual to pursue his dream as an assistant
psychologist. After high school education, one should enter a university that has psychological
degree programs and should follow a psychology-related course to be an assistant psychologist.
In parallel to university education, it is important to read magazines and books to get the
knowledge to be good at education and training. The research areas can be cognitive psychology,
abnormal psychology, and research methods. Another short-term plan can be identified as joining
to internship program which is held by mental health clinics.

Another important factor that should be considered when planning short-term goals is
networking and professional development. To develop networking and professional development
one must gain knowledge from conferences related to psychology, webinars related to mental
health and have strong connections with psychology professionals. American Psychological

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Association (APA) is one of the best organizations to develop professional skills. Another factor
one should consider when developing a profession and networking is having a strong connection
with psychology-specialized professionals. By having a strong relationship with them, one can
gain many benefits.

Medium-term plans are also important to build a carrier action plan as an assistant psychologist.
Medium-term plans are normally plans within a period of 3 to 5 years. There are some basic
considerations one should consider when having a medium-term plan such as Advanced
Education, Clinical Experience, and Professional contributions. To be an assistant psychologist it
is important to consider the above-mentioned factors.

Advanced Education is important to have as a medium-term plan when it comes to the goal of
being an assistant psychologist. To have advanced education one should do a master's in
psychology or a related field. Internships and assistantships are very important to get clinical
experience in psychology and mental healthcare. If anyone is enthusiastic about psychology and
the medical healthcare sector, he could gain many advantages and experiences from joining
internships and assistantships. Another important factor that should be considered in medium-
term plans in the journey of being an assistant psychologist is professional contributions. It is
important to join research papers and journals when considering medium-term plans. It can be
identified as a professional contribution to the professional world which can be helpful in the
future. Not only publishing research papers but also it is important to attend professional
competitions and conferences. It is important to publish and attend reputable conferences to gain
more benefits. Another thing that one can do is build an online website about psychology and
mental health. This is also a good way to of professional contributions.

Not only short-term goals and medium-term goals but also long-term goals are important for the
journey of being an assistant psychologist. The long-term is more than five years. So, it is
important to understand the things that you are going to do within the next five years. There can
be many long-term plans such as doctoral studies, professional advancements, and leadership and
advocacy.

When you consider doctoral studies, you must do a Ph.D. or PsyD in psychology to pursue your
carrier as an assistant psychologist. There are many kinds of psychological studies. One should
select the most appropriate study to do his specialization to give his best to society. Furthermore,

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when selecting the most appropriate specialization you need to consider the field you are going
to do in your carrier. You must publish your own research articles and journal articles as a sub-
part of doctoral studies. It will help to build your professional personality. Another thing that
should be considered is professional advancement. It is compulsory to obtain a proper license
before going into the industry as an assistant psychologist. You can do volunteering and
internships to gain knowledge and practice from hospitals about the psychological field that you
have selected. Another important thing when considering professional advancements is obtaining
certifications. By having a good understanding of short-term goals, medium-term goals, and
long-term goals in psychology one can easily achieve his dream carrier as an assistant
psychologist.

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Question 03

When considering mental health and psychology, the stress of young adults is an important
section that should be considered. According to Cleveland Clinic, (Anon., 2021), everyone
experiences stress, which is a typical human reaction. The human body is built such that it can
experience stress and respond to it. Your body responds physically and psychologically to
changes or challenges (stressors). That is anxiety.

This can start to feel like a vicious spiral, and it may be difficult to find where the tension stops
and where the mental health issue starts. It is important to understand the stress of different
people to control them. A common reason for stress among young people is comparing
themselves with other people. It is important to understand that nobody is perfect in this world
and must admit it. But they can find the mistakes that can be corrected so that will help to
manage their stress. This is also called peer pressure.

Stress is a natural feeling. There are three major forms of stress involved: acute stress, acute
episodic stress, and chronic stress, and each one of these has its symptoms, features, period, and
treatment methods. According to the VeryWellMind website, (Scott, 2022) Acute stress, chronic
stress, and episodic acute stress are the three main detrimental forms of stress. While chronic
stress lasts a long time, acute stress is often short-lived yet occurs frequently. Eustress,
sometimes known as enjoyable stress, can be demanding but can also have negative effects.

The most prominent type of stress is acute stress. It arises from the requirements and pressures of
the near past and the predicted requirements and pressures of the coming future. There is not
enough time for acute stress to make substantial harm related to long-term stress. It is
controllable when acute stress occurs in a person’s life. It is important to understand what kind of
stress they are experiencing now because without finding out the type of stress it is hard to
control the stress or manage it. This helps to treat young adults who are suffering from stress
correctly.

A type of acute episodic stress is triggered by continuous anxiety. The signs of acute episodic
stress are the symptoms of excessive arousal: migraine, hypertension, recurrent headaches, pain

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in the chest, and heart attack. Episodic acute stress treatment involves medication at a variety of
levels, usually requiring clinical assistance, and can take several months to recover.

Chronic stress is the type of stress that persists for longer periods. Chronic stress occurs when an
individual never recognizes a way out of a depressing condition. It is the tension of limitless
expectations and pressures for an endless duration of time.

Therefore, the person gives up the quest for solutions hopelessly. It is harder to cure the effects of
chronic stress and may need continuous medication and counseling and stress management
properly.

Stress is a serious medical issue among young adults because they are not getting the right
decisions when they are in stress, which can cause critical damage to their lives and the people
around them. There are so many causes of stress among young people. Some of them are lacking
consideration towards studies, family issues, unhealthy relationships, peer problems, financial
difficulties, and other reasons. It is important to understand the issues with young adults and help
them to manage their stress.

Lack of consideration towards studies is a critical cause of stress among young adults. Young
adults are unable to bear the huge workload due to assignments, year-end examinations as well
as government examinations, which are highly exaggerated and expected by society. Especially
scholars undergo stress because of this. Most of them follow tuition classes after school & go
home by about 6 p.m. Therefore, they find limited time to focus on the studies they need at their
age, and they obtain fewer marks in exams due to failure in managing time. Furthermore, a lack
of time for leisure activities contributes to tension, too. Since the education system is largely
focused on theory, everything in books needs to be created as it is. Therefore, students are
anxious because they fail to memorize everything. Psych Central implies the causes for stress as
follows. (Anon., n.d.) In the past month, according to a survey done in America to check the
stress level of people, they have concluded 74% of people in America are having any kind of
stress. They have identified that it can cause damage to their culture and society.

Another important cause of the stress level of young adults is family issues. Family problems are
the second most discussed point. There can be different types of issues that would cause stress
and legal divorce, or short-term separation of parents can be considered the most traumatic

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situation, especially for children. Henceforth, parents must be more responsible for such
situations. They should try their best to understand each other and maintain peace among
themselves. Students from single-parent households face a variety of economic challenges as
well as personality concerns which leads them to cause stress. Furthermore, health conditions
can be another issue that can cause stress regardless of whom it affects. Other family issues that
would cause stress among young adults are an unfortunate death of a loved one, loss of a job, an
increase in financial obligations, getting married as well as changing residence or school.

Unhealthy relationships are also a cause of stress for young adults. Toxic relationships that cause
emotional tension in young adults can be identified among parents, siblings, relatives, neighbors,
colleagues, lovers, and eventually with employers. Conflicts in a relationship can affect an
individual’s physical, mental, social, and emotional well-being as well. Unhealthy relationships
with the opposite gender may sometimes lead to unexpected pregnancies, sexual assaults which
lead to discrimination from society, disruption of education, and diseases that eventually pave the
person stressed. This situation can lead to suicide as well. Since these can negatively impact
one’s life, the best solution is to begin the relationship after re-evaluating ourselves. On the other
hand, the youngest adults involved in a career are depressed due to issues found in interpersonal
relationships with their employers. This may lead to demotions and unemployment, resulting in
stress as well. Helping individuals who are suffering from these kinds of problems is important
to manage their stress as well.

Peer problems can also be identified as a significant reason for the stress of young adults. Most
people between the ages of 16 and 30 seem to have lots of mates, which can have a positive or a
negative effect as it impacts them in various ways. Particularly, bad company leads to an
emotional breakdown in an individual’s life. One such occasion which causes tension is having
arguments between friends as well as sudden changes going through friends. In contrast, feeling
isolated will also be an evident reason for stress. When a friend’s pressure to do wrongful
activities, such as consuming alcohol and engaging in unlawful acts, does not match with one’s
family values and morals can lead to stress. The feelings and behavior of friends influence one’s
emotions.

According to Health Direct, (Anon., 2020) having financial arguments with your loved ones,
having trouble sleeping, feeling angry or afraid, having mood swings, being exhausted, having

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muscle discomfort, losing your appetite, having less sex desire, and withdrawing from others are
some symptoms of financial stress that can have an impact on your health and relationships. The
mental health of an individual is highly affected by financial hardships. So it is important to
understand the reason for the stress and find out a solution that will help to control the damage
from the stress.

It is also important to discuss the effects of stress. Stress is a chief problem among today’s young
adults. It is one of the most critical issues since it has countless effects of stress. Due to most the
adults’ irresponsible behavior currently, young adults must experience emotional tension. This
section of the report discusses certain serious effects of stress. The effects of stress can be
divided into two good and bad depending on the impact. Moreover, individuals are affected by
stress mentally and physically. Also, it plays a main role in a student’s academic success. Long-
term stress can lead to severe damage to people such as committing suicide. Hence, it is
important to find solutions to minimize stress on young adults although stress is needed to
achieve certain tasks since it aids the young to pay more attention to critical matters. This kind of
research and report is important for the modern world to identify the effects of stress and find
appropriate solutions. The bad effects of stress can be physical, young adults addicted to drugs,
use of a lot of medicines, bad mental effects, lack of emphasis in studies, fear of trying new
tasks, diminish partnerships, and impacts of associates.

There are countless bad effects of stress. Those effects can be divided into two main parts,
physical effects, and mental effects. Headaches, migraine, blood pressure, muscle pains, and
joint pains can be identified as the physical bad effects of stress. Some of them can be managed
by medicines but most of them cannot be handled by medicines. So, it is important to find good
solutions to reduce the risk of young adults. According to Medical News Today (Anon., 2020),
some common body processes, such as those carried out by the immunological and digestive
systems, are slowed down by stress. The body can then focus its energy on respiration, blood
flow, attentiveness, and getting the muscles ready for emergency use.

Young adults engaging in unhealthy activities such as addiction to drugs, alcohol, or tobacco can
also be considered as another fatal damage due to long-term stress. This causes society to
become immoral and lose the good values of human beings. When stress becomes a critical
condition, young adults are often advised to take counseling yet the medicine which are

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chemicals given by the physicians can also create destructive behavior if taken in excessive
doses by the victim. So, it is important to identify stress before it becomes a serious problem for
young adults.

Stress is the main course of mental disorders and other illnesses. It can also intensify
forgetfulness and adversely affect daily life. Stress can lead to poor sleep which causes poor
performance in a young adult’s daily life. It is important to understand the stress level since it can
harm young adults as well as people around them. By understanding the level of stress, they have
they can find methodologies to reduce the harm from stress. It is important to have a person who
they can talk to about anything. The person who is listening to them should not be judged by
them. Most psychologists are listing people’s problems without judging which helps the victim to
tell everything and get a proper solution for the risk.

Stress directly affects the students’ overall performance in studies and can show poor results, as
well as the fear of facing the exams, causes them to pay less attention and constant worrying.
This factor could become a negative turning point in a student’s life. Stress reduces the happiness
of life and may cause young people to feel discouraged and worthless. This can prevent young
adults from engaging in new activities and taking brave decisions to face their lives. Moreover,
stress can lead to losing the behavioral control of a person which can cause unfriendliness and
distance between peers. This can affect human relationships and demote healthy connections
between humans.

Therefore, it is identified clearly that there are both good and bad effects of stress. It is essential
to feel stressed since it is a method of survival, yet excessive stress can lead to countless
complications both mentally and physically in the daily life of young adults. It should be
emphasized that more attention is needed for this topic in current society and the necessary steps
should be taken to minimize the excessive stress. Therefore, young adults must form themselves
to manage stress in the competitive and complicated modern world. Most young adults are
suffering from stress due to many reasons. So, it is important to understand stressful situations
before finding solutions to them.

Stress is defined as an emotional tension that acts upon an individual physically and
psychologically. Stress affects people in different ways and presently stress is a condition that
mostly prevails among young adults. In this section of the report, the strategies which are

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adapted to relieve stress among young adults are discussed. There can be so many ways to reduce
stress in young adults such as mutual communication with an understanding individual,
maintaining a good sleeping habit, mindfulness and breathing exercises, and other methodologies
to relieve stress. It is important to manage stress as stress can lead to many critical issues as well.
Stress not only affects the person who is having it but also affects people who are around that
person. So, it is critical to understand the reasons for stress and control them. If someone is
suffering from any kind of stress it is important to understand that person and help them to
control stress. It is always critical to handle people who are suffering from stress. So, it is
important to understand their situation smoothly.

Mutual communication with an understanding individual is a great way to relieve stress. It is a

regular practice among people that undergo stress. This also has a larger impact on the
community since the stressed-out individual will only go through short-term stress henceforth.
Young people tend to share their sentiments with family members, peers, and counselors.
Furthermore, communicating issues with a significant other supports him/her to address the
problem properly and set the environment for a healthy lifestyle. This practice explicitly aids to
strengthen the weaknesses of an individual and promotes positive emotions while obliterating
gloomy negative thoughts. It is evident that through healthy communication, not only does one
nurture one’s soul but also feel relieved or liberated. However, if a young individual suffers from
stress for a longer period, they tend to cultivate negative perspectives about life and adapt to self-
destructive behavior, and do not have anybody nearby to express their feelings. It is best to
express your sad feelings with someone and seek guidance to prevent these negative emotions
about life.

According to evaluations, sleeping aids one to overcome challenges faced through stress. Sleep
deprivation is a condition commonly found in present society. In contrast, sleep is identified as a
powerful method of exerting stress. Sleep deprivation would be a simple outcome of stress if not
treated with necessary precautions and medications, this initial phase of stress later leads to
chronic conditions such as fatigue and depression. Quality sleep is the key to restoring body
condition, sharpening thinking ability, and restoring mood. Sleeping is considered one of the
most known stress remedies. In real-life circumstances, a person who encounters stress is
allowed to feel liberated for a few hours before he/she wakes up from sleep. As well as he/she is

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granted liberty by sleeping to form his/her delusional world. In addition, sleeping aids help
young heal and diminish pain.

When going through a nervous breakdown, it is known to cry and let out tears along with the
sorrows. Crying has become the most practiced mode of exerting stress. Nevertheless, the
inevitable act of breathing throughout our lifetime plays an important role in relieving stress.
Breathing helps an individual to calm their inner soul and aids to germinate optimistic thoughts
in their psyche. A conscious breath can be used to feel one’s emotions, particularly the
unpleasant sensations that one might try to avoid. In intense times, instead of storing negative
energy, mindful breathing aids to release it. This is important since stored energy often manifests
as joint tension and other medical conditions. Moreover, breathing aids scholars to improve their
concentration on studies, and employees to perform well in the workspace. Many studies have
proved that breathing deeply helps to purify the blood and balances the nervous system. As well
as many religious leaders have mentioned explicitly that breathing is a healthy practice to be
more conscious about mind, body, and spirit.

Listening to music is a technique that inherits the ability to decrease emotional tension. Simply
young adults can trigger their brains to modulate their anxiety levels by listening to music.
Reading books and engaging in a hobby are also considered to be efficacious methodologies that
alleviate stress levels. Teenagers tend to engage more in these techniques, which helps them to
relish their views when decision making. Playing video games and surfing social media are some
of the methods that utilize technology to relieve stress. There are different categories of games
such as action games and adventure games which are considered as the foremost choices to
relieve stress. There are also harmful measures that young people practice relieving tension. One
such strategy is the consumption of alcohol or tobacco which is unhealthy both physically and
mentally. These deleterious strategies aid an individual to avoid responsibilities.

As per the insight gained from the report, it is evident that there are numerous methodologies to
relieve stress. There are two kinds of stress that our body will respond to. Good stress motivates
an individual to face challenges and work hard efficiently while bad stress is identified as an
adverse effect on one’s life. There are plenty of factors that cause emotional tension. These
circumstances occur due to personal problems, social issues as well as challenges faced in the
workplace. However, stress is often not helpful and can even be destructive when not managed

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effectively. Since there are more harmful effects rather than good effects. Good effects benefit an
individual to succeed and balance the mental and physical health in contrast bad effects of stress
pave the path to grief and illnesses. The above-mentioned causes and bad effects can be
eliminated by practicing the stress-relieving remedies mentioned in this thesis. The psyche and
body can be maintained properly by practicing the mentioned methods of releasing stress. In
conclusion, it is our responsibility to live life tension free. Since it is important to manage stress
before it manages you.

References
Anon., 2020. Financial stress and your health. [Online]
Available at: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/financial-stress#:~:text=Some%20signs%20that
%20financial%20stress,drive%20and%20withdrawing%20from%20others.
[Accessed 27 June 2023].
Anon., 2020. Why stress happens and how to manage it. [Online]
Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145855#management
[Accessed 27 June 2023].
Anon., 2021. Clevland clinic. [Online]
Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/11874-stress
[Accessed 27 June 2023].
Anon., 2022. The importance of psychology in today's careers. [Online]
Available at: https://www.aventis.edu.sg/the-importance-of-psychology-in-todays-careers/
[Accessed 27 June 2023].
Anon., 2022. WHO. [Online]
Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-
response
[Accessed 27 June 2023].
Anon., n.d. What causes stress. [Online]
Available at: https://psychcentral.com/stress/what-causes-stress#cause-of-stress
[Accessed 27 June 2023].
Gruebner, O. et al., 2012. Mental health in the slums of Dhaka - a geoepidemiological study. s.l.,
s.n.
Scott, E., 2022. What is stress. [Online]
Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/stress-and-health-3145086
[Accessed 27 June 2023].

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