Mental Illness Research Paper

31 y/o AA male patient seen today for psychiatric-mental health assessment. He is awake, alert and oriented x4. He is calm, cooperative and follows commands during assessment. The patient reports he is depressed, difficulty sleeping and nightmares at night. The patient explained his depression is as a result of deep thinking from a news he received two days ago from his elder brother that his mother is ill. Stressors identified by the patient include losing his job a week ago before the news about his mother; his wife is 6-months pregnant with their first child, who currently works part-time at her present job; patient relates difficulty paying monthly bills and inability to provide adequately for his family as a man. The patient denies mood swings, suicidal/homicidal thoughts and ideation. Patient reports his spouse is at work at the moment and he does not want to put stress on his wife due to her current condition. Patient denies been hospitalized for depression or psychiatric illness; and denies family history of mental illness. Patient reports he is seeking help because he does not like feeling this way using terms of “helpless and loss of worth from his spouse”. Patient reports he needs help with his depression and nightmares before his current condition get out of hands and ruined his marriage.

It has always been easier to define mental illnesses than to define mental health. In the United States, the American Psychiatric Association has traditionally been the organization to define mental disorders (beginning as early as in 1917 when it was known as The Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions of the Insane). More recently many have recognized that mental health is more than the absence of mental illness.

Mental institutions are failing all over the country because of the government. These institutions are having financial cuts because they are known to be “too expensive”. And, because these programs are failing the only solution for the mentally ill are the community based health care centers. The government should reevaluate what they spending money on because this is one of many huge factors in the United States causing homelessness.

Ms. D. is a widowed 81-year-old Italian-American woman living alone in a one-bedroom apartment at a senior living building in a metropolitan city. She was born in Brooklyn, twice married but was the single mother of two children, and now has three adult grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Ms. D. is now retired but she worked as a registered nurse until her 60’s when she returned to earn her Master’s degree in Counseling and worked as a school guidance counselor until she was 73. She reports that she has an extremely supportive family who is actively involved in her life. Ms. D. enjoys singing, art, board games, gardening, and reading. Overall, Ms. D. is a charismatic, successful, resilient,

With 33 million Americans utilizing healthcare services as a means to manage mental health conditions and illnesses, adequate delivery of mental healthcare, treatment, and practice is becoming increasingly more important in the American landscape of wellness (SAMHSA, 2004a). The mental health system continues to be a challenging area of healthcare, due to: increased usage of coercion into treatment, diversity in care delivery systems, an unevolved quality measurement mechanism, and a drastically different business and marketplace infrastructure. These factors added to the, already, present stigma associated with mental health, culminates into an extremely

The negative stigma of mental health has lightened slightly over the years, however, it has not rescinded entirely. People still have an unmanageable time admitting that they may have a mental disorder and that they require assistance. Human beings struggle with these hindrances openly and also hidden on a daily basis. Therefore, our civilization needs to remove the shame associated with the treatment of mental disorders and work on devising a progressive suitable mental healthcare plan in order to ensure that many live a healthy, happy, and prosperous

She was found to be on her back in a semi – fowler’s position at 35°. She has full bilateral chest expansion on ventilator assisted breaths. Her ventilator settings were SIMV – PRVC, set rate of 18, tidal volume of 320, PEEP of +6, pressure support of +10, and FiO2 of 60%. Upon auscultation bilateral rhonchi was heard throughout all anterior lobes; bilateral chest tubes are in place. HEENT showed bloody secretions coming from the mouth. Lower extremities showed increased pitting edema with no signs of deep vein thrombosis in the

The initial interview should include what prompted the need for psychiatric assessment. The assessment should include known diagnoses and previous treatments (drugs and hospitalizations). It should also include any potential harm to themselves or others. Upon talking with the charge nurse about the assessments they do, she replied that they assess the patient’s general appearance which can help determine if they can care for themselves or not, suffer from substance abuse, or other problems. They assess the patient’s speech, emotional expressions, thinking and perception, and cognitive functions. The nurse must maintain an effective working relationship with the patient along with the healthcare providers. Changing behavior is an ongoing process

Depicting people with mental illness as hazardous to the public, accountable for their illness as well as unpredictable can lead to active prejudice and judgement. This can also lead to rejecting people with their specific illness from opportunities such as education and employment. Negative stereotypes can also be seen within the medical field that can influence the amount of treatment people with mental disorders receive such as sessions and outpatient care and endorsing recuperation from their illness. In addition, one Swiss study (psychiatrists, nurses, and psychologists) found that mental health professionals did not differ from the general public on their desired social distance from individuals with mental health conditions (Nordt,

Millions of people in the U.S. suffer from alcoholism, drug abuse or a psychiatric disorder. When a person is suffering from a substance abuse addiction along with a psychiatric disorder, then they are dealing with a dual diagnosis issue. Anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of all drug and alcohol abusers also suffer from one or more types of psychiatric disorders, and they need to go to a dual diagnosis treatment center that simultaneously treats both problems.

During and after World War I, the soldiers on both the Allies and the Central powers suffered shell shock, more recently known as post traumatic stress disorder. Shell shock was caused by several occurrences such as constant bombardment within battles or the never ending slaughter of soldiers, building up stress and fear. It was often the explosion of a shell triggering built up emotions that were being constantly suppressed that traumatized the men (World War I).

When we head into the realm of psychology, we are looking at it as the study of behavioral patterns and cognitive responses. As such, psychological disorders, also referred to as mental disorders, are abnormalities or irregularities in healthy behavioral patterns that can have significant effects on the function of your daily life. Having a psychological disorder can generate a lot of unnecessary distress, not only for yourself but often times for those around you. A general description of psychological disorders emphasizes the concept that patterns of behavior, thoughts, or emotions that are distinct or deviated from, not only cultural norms, but practical and functional lifestyles that would otherwise

Mental Health is an increasing issue in the world today. Alcohols effect on the brain immensely increase one’s propensity to incurring mental health issues because of its use. One of the most infamous mental health problems is depression. Alcohol is known to alter people’s moods and behaviors. Depression and Alcohol Addiction have a strong correlation. Depression can be the cause of an individual’s introduction to alcohol, and vice versa. Alcohol addiction has been linked to causing depression. Those who are diagnosed with alcohol dependence have approximately twenty-eight percent chance of developing depression. Depression has been known to cause people to distance themselves from others, exhibit antisocial behavior,

For the last six months, I have been part of a group of clinicians who have wanted to improve Hollywood Mental Health Center. We examined current problems at the clinic and identified the following major patterns: Employees need adequate work space, they need health and safety and equity problems resolved, accountability for doctor’s actions and inactions, engineer a gamut of safety issues ranging from clinicians being stalked/harassed by clients to unsafe neighborhood/parking problems to OSHA, and problems with an environment that fostered poor client care. Lastly, we found that HMHC employees needed relief from dynamics that contribute to low morale such as lack of support, inequitable climate, and management decision making style that oscillates wildly between knee-jerk reactions with little thought put into long-term outcomes to complete indecision.

From his appearance, I could not detect the underlying mental illness my resident faced. His hair was well combed, gray in color, and hung down just below his earlobes. He wore a sliver shinny watch on his left arm, that was tightly fitted as if he did not want to lose it. I could tell from the way he dressed, that he was well groomed. He dressed in a plaid designed shirt that buttoned from his neck down. The colors in his shirt were brown and black and he wore black pants. Anyone who could have seen it would notice the fine ironed creases in the sleeves of his shirt and down each leg of his pants. The way he sat on his bed was remarkable because he had the most perfect posture I had even seen. His feet were placed flat on the floor and barely moved an inch, as if he was interested in what was happening in that moment. As I pulled out my paper and pen, I could tell he became very interested. He crossed his right leg over the left leg, placed his hands in his lap, and gave me a slight smile, as I introduced myself to begin the interview.