During my second year of medical school, while on my clinical psychiatry rotation, at Duke University, I was asked to interview a depressed women with terminal malignant melanoma. I can still recall this experience, as if it happened yesterday, instead of almost 35 years ago. When I entered her room, I was surprised to discover she appeared to be a dying senior citizen, rather than a woman in her twenties, only a few years older than me. Her depression filled the room with a heaviness that was immediately felt. She knew she wouldn't live much longer. And the thought of leaving her young toddler children, both under the age of five and her husband was excruciatingly painful. I was overwhelmed. Immediately after concluding our interview, I left the hospital for a few moments to sit in the beautiful garden located behind it. I needed …show more content…
Our health and well-being are both deeply influenced by our moods, coping skills and social support. Yet, our approach to treating disease continues to overlook these factors, and fails to include them in our drug and surgery treatment focus. We continue to ignore the psychological needs of our patients. This crucial mismatch between the psychosocial health needs of patients and the usual medical response leads to frustration, ineffectiveness, and wasted health care resources. By helping patients manage not just their disease, but also common underlying needs for support, health outcomes can significantly improve in an efficient and cost-saving manner. Surprisingly, keeping a simple journal is one such solution. When I was a teenager, I began to keep a diary. For me, there was something very magical about placing my feelings in writing. I've continued to do so for most of my
Practitioners are likely to concentrate on the mental health issues rather than the overall issues that prevent the well-being of an individual. For instance, an individual could have other medical issues that need attention but the need could be ignored because a psychiatrist specialises in mental health needs. The previous negative experience of a service user and lack of insight could result in the service user not requesting the support they
According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), it defines mental illness as Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in thinking, emotion or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities. (What Is Mental Illness? (n.d.). Retrieved June 26, 2016, from https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-mental-illness). Mental Disorders are a wide range of mental conditions that affect mood, thinking, and behavior. There are a lot of different psychological disorders here is a list of the major psychological disorders and their definitions:
Mrs. Nancy Hamilton (changed name for privacy) is 95 years old female who resides in a local continued care retirement community (CCRC) located in the Los Angeles County. I decided to interview Mrs. Hamilton for her successful aging. I have known her for 9 years and her aging process has not been an easy ride but she always maintained a positive sprit that kept her going even today. Mrs. Hamilton moved in to a CCRC in 2006, two years after her husband passed away. Mrs. Hamilton has one daughter and one son. Daughter Margaret lives nearby and visits frequently and takes care of personally needs such as transportation to medical appointments or shopping for skin care products or clothes as necessary. Son, David lives in the Northern California and visits a few times a year.
I was born in a small town of -----------of underdeveloped country of Bangladesh. I grew up speaking Bengali, wore traditional clothes, created intricate henna designs on women’s hands, and performed classical Bengali music. Since childhood, thought other than becoming a doctor never registered in my mind. My high grades in high school helped me to obtain admission in one of the most desirable place to learn Medicine, Mayemen Medical College.
I looked around at everyone in the room and saw the sorrow in their eyes. My eyes first fell on my grandmother, usually the beacon of strength in our family. My grandmother looked as if she had been crying for a very long period of time. Her face looked more wrinkled than before underneath the wild, white hair atop her head. The face of this once youthful person now looked like a grape that had been dried in the sun to become a raisin. Her hair looked like it had not been brushed since the previous day as if created from high wispy clouds on a bright sunny day.
There are so many types of mental illnesses that affect people every day. When some people think of mental illnesses they think of the ones that would cause people to have physical symptoms as well, but that’s untrue, there are many more that you would never know anyone has if you were to see them on the street. As defined by the 2008 encyclopedia “a mental illness is any disease of the mind or brain that seriously affects a person’s ability or behavior. Symptoms of a mental illness may include extreme moods, such as excessive sadness or anxiety, or a decreased ability to think clearly or remember well.” A mentally ill person has severe symptoms that damage the person’s ability to function in everyday activities and situations. Every nation and every economic level can be affected by a mental illness. In the United States alone about 3% of the population has severe mental illness and to add to that number about 40% of people will experience a type of mental illness at least once in their lives. Some cases of mental illnesses can go away on their own, but some cases are so severe that they require professional treatment. There is so much more available to help people recover from their symptoms than in the past.
Schizophrenia is a devastating mental disorder that strikes teens and young adults crippling their brain and fragmenting their mind. Victims of schizophrenia remain in endless mental agony constantly confused and in terror. They suffer constantly from hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia. Approximately 1% of the world population live with this disorder making it one of the most common mental disorders in the world. Despite the numbers, there is no known cause or cure for schizophrenia. So what is the disorder, why is it so hard to eliminate, and why do so many people fall victim to the fragmented mind?
During my career as a registered nurse I have had the privilege of caring for my patients at the bedside and meeting their needs holistically. Additionally, the safety of my patients is one of the most important aspects of my current role. The experience of advocating for my patients during my nursing career has taught me to place my patient’s health and wellbeing first. The second most important aspect of nursing that I have learned during my career is how to meet my patient’s needs as a whole, not just physically but also emotionally and psychologically applying the holistic approach to each patient. I believe that the patient’s needs
The mental health assessment is a crucial part in everyday nursing care as it evaluates an individual’s mental condition to assess for risk factors of mental illnesses and provide optimal care and treatment. Mental health is described as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” (CDC) If the patient not mentally healthy, they can develop mentally illnesses, which can affect treatment and the disease process of physical ailments because without mental health a person cannot be completely healthy. “Suicide Risk Assessment in High Risk Adolescents” is a nursing article that outlines suicide risk factors and prevention strategies for assist nurses in performing mental health assessments. Suicide, the act of
If the patient wants to be treated, then it has to come from them, or all the work would be done in vain because the person does not want to admit that they need help.
Not knowing how to sort through these unanswered questions can lead individuals down a complex and winding road. Weighing through the murky waters of what ifs, and ‘how long to I have’, likely requires a multi-disciplinary team approach to attend to the questions and on-going patient care. From a mental health perspective, the clinician on the team must consider that the patients may experience feelings of avoidance, anger, despair, anxiety, and numbness; or they may be ready to take on their illness, and their physical symptoms with a new found determination to beat the
Shock washed over every member of my family–how could my grandma lose a daughter when she was already losing her husband to Alzheimer’s. Months later, death took my grandpa, my storyteller, my grandma’s once gentle and loving husband, and my own dad’s hard-working father. Grief rocked the family once again, still my grandma remained stoic, through it all. Throughout the processions of the funeral, the memories of my grandpa’s stories rushed to my brain. The long walks, stories, lessons, and finally the sorrow that would wash over me at the thought of my grandpa never seeing me graduate, never witnessing me grow into a hardworking young woman.
They are better able to cope with life’s challenges, build and sustain stronger relationships and to recover from setbacks that can happen to anyone of us. However, just as it requires energy and a commitment to build or to maintain physical health, so is it with mental and emotional wellbeing. Improving a person’s emotional health can lead to a number of benefits that are related to all aspects of life: it can enhance the person’s mood, foster resilience and improve an individual’s overall enjoyment of
Furthermore, people should understand that moods matter, not just to mental health, but to physical health as well. If someone is suffering from emotional illness such as depression or anxiety, they should seek treatment, since evidence is mounting that these conditions can lead to physical illness and a shorter life. Bibliography Books: Martin, P. (1997). The 'Secon The Healing Mind.
Mental health refers to the state of individuals psychologically, emotionally and socially. Mental health affects a person’s emotions, feelings, thoughts, and sections when exposed to different situations. Furthermore, mental health is responsible for a person’s reaction to stress and other social conditions. Generally, mental health affects how a person relates to others and their ability to understand and interact with them. Therefore, problems that affect a person’s mental health affect the abilities to socialize, their feelings, moods, reaction to situations. The person experiencing mental health problem may portray different behaviors when confronted with different issues. Mental health issues have several