The Client Of A Mental Health Facility

This report is a critical review of the evidence around the use of no-suicide contracts with mentally ill patients experiencing suicidal ideation. It will ask the question “When treating mentally ill patients, does the use of ‘No- Suicide contracts reduce suicide outcomes?”. Suicide is a global concern and given the current social and economic difficulties current society face, is imperative we continue to consider effective suicide prevention strategies. The literature suggests that no suicide contracts are widely used within this area of practice and are concerned with asking a person to promise not to harm themselves. This report suggests that there is limited evidence to support the effectiveness of no suicide contracts. However where they have been used successfully, it may be the use of the relationship between the clinician and patient which influences the positive outcome. Based on the findings the report recommends that further training around clinical risk management and suicide prevention strategies should be offered to a local team to reduce the use of no suicide contracts in isolation. Bridges transformation model was used to develop and implement an action plan to support change.

2. The patient are mentally healthy and that they understand the alternatives are provided (e.g. continue receiving treatments) yet still want to commit suicide by doctors’ assistance. In addition, further observation should be applied if the patient is diagnosed with depression.

Furthermore, the practice of assisted suicide has a significant possibility of being abused. Assisted suicides are designed to allow those who are seriously ill and suffer from extreme pain to easily end their lives (Braddock and Tenelli 1). Those who lack support from members of their family or friends may feel worthless and hence may desire to end their lives (Pretzer 2). If the patient has no loved ones to confide to and receive support from, they may feel as if no one cares and therefore no reason to live exists. Since assisted suicides are unregulated, doctors may allow patients wishing to die for subordinate reasons, such as the one previously stated, instead of suffering reasons to commit suicide. Moreover, “Patients who want to die for psychological or emotional reasons could convince doctors to help them end their lives” (Messerli 3). As stated before, assisted suicides are not meant to allow those with emotional or mental problems to end their lives. If someone has such problems, they should

Bob Tyler, a 40-year-old male, is brought to the emergency department by the police after being violent with his father. Bob has multiple past hospitalizations and treatment for schizophrenia. Bob believes that the healthcare providers are FBI agents and his apartment is a site for slave trading. He believes that the FBI has cameras in his apartment to monitor his moves and broadcast them on TV.

In the United States the Mental Health Care field is one of the most underserved areas of healthcare. The mental healthcare field faces many challenges to the proper treatment of patients from both a societal and professional standpoint. From a societal perspective a negative stereotype is associated with patients seeking psychiatric care. Patients seeking care are often labeled as defective or damaged. Add in the complication that most patients with mental illness appear to be normal, accepting that someone is ill without outward symptoms can also be difficult for a society to understand. From a professional perspective the challenges within the mental health care industry include personal prejudice, staffing issues, and problems with coordinating care. The combination of these factors has a direct negative impact on the willingness of individuals suffering from mental illness in seeking the care needed to treat the symptoms of mental illness.

Residential Services: On Sunday, July 19th 2015, it was reported to SC that Jamar and his roommate attempted to run from the facility. In doing so, Jamar broke a window and caused physical injury to his knee while trying to jump a fence. Ms. Knox contacted SC via email stating the facility was interested in having Jamar removed from the facility and Jamar would be charged with Malicious Damage to Property under $2,000.

The black community has its own opinion about how effect mental heath services could be. The most apparent opinion is how African Americans feel that using mental health services is something that is stigmatized to be not useful. There’s been plenty of occasions by which African Americans don’t seek the guidance because of their assumptions on the effectiveness of these interventions. In order to understand this better, Cauce has a three step model that includes problem definition, the decision to seek help, and the selection of a treatment service or service provider. This is called the help seeking pathway because it helps us understand the culture and context of the process to seek help. This process could happen in any order because

The Olmstead case began in 1995 with two women, Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson who had developmental disabilities and a history of institutional treatment for psychiatric disorders. They were voluntarily admitted at different times, to a secure unit of Georgia Regional Hospital to stabilize and administer to their immediate needs, then continued treatment on an out-patient basis which was the normal course of action for this hospital. Through clinical assessments, the treating physicians determined that each woman was able to receive appropriate supports and services in a less restrictive, community based setting. The hospital administrators moved Lois and Elaine to a state-run institution, and refused them placement in a community setting, apparently due to a lack of state funding to make this transition possible. (https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/98-536.ZS.html)

The stigma of mental illness creates a barrier for those who need treatment. Over the years, cases dealing with mentally ill persons involved with the criminal justice system have been prevalent. The cycle of courtrooms, prisons, and jails dealing with these individuals proved to be costly and an ineffective use of these resources (Docgurley, 2011). As a result, mental health courts have been established. This is essentially a therapeutic place where the focus is less on the crime and punishment and more on helping the client, which is usually in lieu of a jail or prison sentence. Particularly in this setting, it is important to understand the process of court proceedings, how client rights are protected, the importance of client safety and welfare, the gaps in services, and the course of involuntary treatment.

Prison and jail officials are not equipped with the knowledge, training nor medical equipment to provide treatment to the mentally ill once they are booked into the jail. State legislature’s ignorance to the issue is apparent in the lack of mental health laws that are in place. The primary cause of the mentally ill behind locked behind bars versus receiving treatment is due to lack of knowledge. The public is blind to the facts because it is an easy fix to lock someone up so that the public is not disturbed by the person’s behavior. Tennessee state law proposes that an involuntary treatment can be mandated if the subject has expressed or committed the acts of wanting to harm himself or herself or another person. The United States averages 30,000 suicides a year and is a result of a mental illness that is treatable (Turner, 2014, p. 1). No laws are in place that covers the alternative of court ordered treatment for a person with a serious mental illness versus the individual being incarcerated at a jail or prison. This is causing overpopulation in these facilities, the deterioration of the individuals’ psychiatric symptoms, and demanding more money from taxpayers (Torrey et al., 2014, p.

When thinking about social work, there are different avenues that a worker can explore in this vast field. Because a social workers job is multifaceted, workers can not only integrate themselves in an already created avenue, but can also tailor a field, specifically for a need in the community. Looking at the many different fields in the area of social work, the area of Social Workers in Mental Health facilities and outpatient clinics stands out as an area of depth and interest.

The National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI, 2015) estimates 1 in 5- 48.8- million adults in the United States are diagnosed with a mental illness each year. Amongst adolescents and children, it is estimated 1 in 5 youth ages 13-18-(21.4%) have, or will have a serious mental illness every year (NAMI, 2015). For children ages 8-15 the prevalence of experiencing a serious mental illness at one point in their life is 13% (NAMI, 2015). Although, children and adolescents are most commonly diagnosed with mood, conduct and anxiety disorders, there are those who occasionally experience psychotic disorders such as early onset schizophrenia.

Countertransference, which occurs when a therapist transfers emotions to a person in therapy, is often a reaction to transference, a phenomenon in which the person in treatment redirects feelings for others onto the therapist.

Although a patient’s choice of suicide symbolizes an expression of self-determination, there is a great distinction between denying life-sustaining treatments and demanding life-ending treatments. The right to self-determination is a right to allow or reject offered treatments, not to choose what should be offered. The right to refuse life-sustaining interventions does not correlate with a right to force others to hasten their death. The inability of physicians to inhibit death does not mean that physicians are allowed to help induce death.

The risk of suicide among persons afflicted with bipolar illness is unrealistically high. As many as 1 in 5 people with this disorder have committed suicide. This rate is nearly 30 times greater than that of the general population. Research suggests that people who commit