On the face of it, South Africa's decision to withhold farm aid from a population in distress might seem cruel.
For a population managing distress on their own for the first time, isn't learning to plan through making and keeping appointments, and learning to tolerate emotional distress when a plan unexpectedly falls through, part of the very purpose of higher education?
This is interesting because in the general population psychological distress is generally found to peak around middle age (40s 50s).
In this population, emotional distress and depression, in particular, appear to be a common problem (Zabora et al, 1997; Massie and Popkin, 1998).
In the very preterm population, respiratory distress syndrome is associated with a sonographic white lung image that remains unmodified after surfactant replacement [ 12].
Use of this measure of "sad, blue or depressed days" along with other valid mental health measures can help to assess the burden of population mental distress, identify subgroups with unmet mental health needs, inform the development of targeted interventions, and monitor changes in population levels of mental distress over time [ 12].
Recent examples include the conflicts in Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and the 2010 floods in Pakistan, all of which resulted in massive population displacement, distress and casualty.
The authors argue that screening the entire cancer population for distress, when the majority of them are resilient and will likely not be in need of specialised care, may not be the most efficient approach.
Indicators of high level of population level distress were found in this rural district manifested in terms of relatively high levels of CMD, suicidal behaviour, and threatening life events occurring in the context of low levels of reported social support.
In this context, our study is the only one in Ethiopia that brings together broad population level distress indicators (sucidiality and alcohol use disorder) [ 48] including CMD and psychosocial stressors.
