Coping In Mental Health

Nordby,K. Kjonsberg, K. Hummelvoll, J.K.(2009) Relatives of persons with recently discovered serious mental illness: in need of support to become resource persons in treatment and recovery.(Appendix 1). Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing. 17, 304-311.

Making it difficult for patients to receive adequate health care for their psychological issues. From a nursing standpoint, this book was interesting and informative. It demonstrated that the legal and psychological health care systems need to be fixed. At the end of the story, Pete concluded that mental illness is a disease that his son must endure for the rest of his life. However, he will be there to help his son, and will never abandon Mike (Earley page 361).

The final article I analyzed was titled “Aging Parents of Adults with Serious Mental Illness” and was written by Jennifer Van Pelt. This article sought to address the type of support parents caring for special needs adult children require as they age. It discussed how parents are the primary caregivers to children with a severe mental illness, or SMI, throughout the majority of the child’s life. The amount of care provided to adults with SMI by their aging parents is so substantial that if parental caregivers stopped providing care, public programs could never handle it. The author of this article wanted to put more focus on assisting the aging caregiver population, increase their emotional well-being, and lower their stress burden through the use of a social work home-based intervention program. In the pilot study, families received instruction on problem-solving techniques, education about the adult child’s particular mental illness, and sessions that included cognitive therapy, stress management, behavioral management, and future planning. This initial study yielded promising results, including greater life satisfaction and less emotional stress reported by aging parents. The author concludes the article by discussing the importance of planning for the future and how the adult child with SMI will be taken care of after the parents’ deaths.

Mental illness is nondiscriminatory, can affect any person and transcends all social boundaries. As a result, the issues surrounding mental illness have become common discussion pints among policymakers dedicated or required to formulate solutions around providing the long-term care needed by many patients. Healthcare reforms and changes to the systems that provide services to those living with mental illness and funding for services to the facilities providing care have become major social issues (Goldman, Morrissey, Ridgley, Frank, Newman, & Kennedy, 1992). The reason for this is primarily how it can affect a market economy and how much of a burden diseases of the mind can be in a country such as the United States. According to the 1991 Global Burden of Disease study conducted by the World Health Organization mental health burden accounted for “more than 15% in a market economy such as the U.S.” (The Impact of Mental Illness on Society, 2001). The study also states that for individuals over the age of 5, varying forms of depression are the leading cause of disability. A more recent study indicates that mental illness in general is found in more than 26% of the United States adult population, of which 6% are severe and limit the patient’s ability to function (Martin, p. 163. 2007).

The quality of life of family members, as well as of patients, can be hugely reduced in terms of physical effects, psychological distress, and social problems. The family members of patients experience emotions such as worry, frustration, and stress. Parents of children with physical and mental disabilities experience social problems, and the work life of family members of NCD patients is affected. Research shows that the family members of patients can be more emotionally affected by illness than patients

family are directly impacted. Dealing with a mentally ill patient can be very stressful, especially

This mental health issue not only affects the person but also he families. The person dealing with this will deny that they are ill, and to interpret the family’s efforts to get help as unnecessary interference because in the patient’s mind they are ok. Unless the person gains some insight into his/her condition, these symptoms can contribute to not taking their needed medication that can end up leading them into losing everything such as homes, families and job. This event can lead them also to drugs, becoming homeless and their problem getting worse to the point of death or jail.

Principles of Support: "We will see the individual first, not the illness. We recognize that mental illnesses are medical illnesses that may have environmental triggers. We understand that mental illnesses are traumatic events. We aim for better coping skills. We find strength in sharing experiences. We reject stigma and do not tolerate discrimination. We won’t judge anyone’s pain as less than our own. We forgive ourselves and reject guilt. We embrace humor as healthy. We accept we cannot solve all problems. We expect a better future in a realistic way. We will never give up hope (NAMI, 2014, p. 1)."

Mental illnesses make things almost impossible, such as keeping a job or housing. Each individual's interpersonal difficulties differ from one another (Green). Some

This brings out the struggles of the family members who become caregivers to the mentally ill. "Anger, guilt, shame and other negative emotions- reinforced by society's continual stigma about mental illness may hobble families' abilities to support patients." NAMI has the answer to help those caregivers, a free twelve-week program called, Family to Family Education Program. Dr. Joyce Burland developed this program after she had an experience with a mentally ill family member. “ A core concept of the course is that severe mental illness is traumatic for both the patient and the family.” NAMI has offered this program going on twenty years now and has gone through the “gold standard” medical research and has been found to “significantly improves family members’ ability to cope by increasing their knowledge about and acceptance of mental illness.”

Families with a member suffering from any illness may be stressful enough but families with members diagnosed with schizophrenia are often faced with additional challenges such as the “external stressors of social stigma, isolation, and emotional frustration”. Many times, family conflicts arise as members attempt to provide care on an everyday basis (Chien, 2010, pg. xi). “A Beautiful Mind” is a brilliant motion picture directed by Ron Howard that chronicles the life of one John Nash, a prominent mathematician and the challenges he endures throughout his adult life afflicted with a chronic mental illness. “A Beautiful Mind” allows us to gain insight into the stressors that many families undergo when faced with living with a person with

Thank you for sharing your experience, I truly appreciate you taking the time to explain your way of coping with the situation and how it was dealt with. Older generation usually find change a bit challenging, which often influences the younger generation. Thank you for clarifying my concern about the language issue.

Stage C is the counselor encouraging the client to learn new techniques to get through their issues. During this part of the phase, we have identified previous and current coping attempts. “It is appropriate for a counselor to be challenging and persistent in getting clients to think of ways they could begin to cope better.” “This approach helps clients get in touch with their problem-solving abilities” (Kanel 70). Allow the client to come up with their way of coping with their problems.

Hardiness/resilience is a personality characteristic originally identified by Suzanne Kobasa (1979) and redefined in further studies by Kobasa, Maddi, and Kahn (1982), and many others, as cited in (Schafer, 2000; Morris & Maisto, 2005). It was established in these studies, that participants who displayed the

Mental illness is a health condition that affects an individual’s moods and thinking in a way that changes how that person relates to other people in society. The functioning of the affected person is also altered and usually results in the person failing to perform some of the daily activities that the person has previously engaged in. Mental illness can be considered a combination of both social and health complications, affecting the social life of the people who fall victim in many ways (Elliott & Huizinga, 2012). There are some health complications that are also experienced with mental disorders. It is also important to note that medical attention forms part of the therapies that try to correct or control this condition. More recently most concern has been on the fact that mental illness is a major social problem in the world (Gonzalez & Rosenheck, 2014).