Mental health, nursing - Essay Example

Mental health, nursing Introduction Psychoanalysis is a practice that entails observatory studies on any form of human mind. These include behavioral as well as functionary aspects. Professionals in this discipline are referred to as either psychiatrists or psychologists. The human regulates behavior, the society has a number of means of identifying acceptable human behaviors, those who therefore behave on the contrary are considered of unstable minds, psychiatrists analyze the level of instability in a human mind, determine its causes, and prescribe possible treatment mechanisms. There are a number of psychiatric hospitals in the country and all have their unique specializations. Such hospitals offer a number of diverse services but all are related to mental complications (Heron, 1990). An interaction with patients presents a number of challenges to the practitioners since they come in different mental states. Some are vile, rude and dangerous such have experienced a mental reversal to retrogressive levels some of in such states talk to themselves and never take notice of those in their surrounding. Another category of those who seek psychiatric services are the paranoiac patients. Such people are I constant doubt with themselves, they do not trust anybody and keep having illusions of an eminent attack or danger targeting their lives. In self-defense against the illusions, such people may prove harmful to both themselves and those around them. The other category is the haunted this forms a majority of all those who seek psychiatric services, such people had done something that unfortunately refuses to leave their minds; they are constantly reminded of the act, which in most cases are criminal, and life threatening. Their minds hold onto the acts and keep replaying them occasionally. The reality of having to live with a past misgiving makes life unbearable and these people literally lose their minds. Some turn violent while others withdraw thereby suffering from the withdrawal syndrome (ibid). An encounter with a paranoia victim Mathew (name withheld) was a family man with two children and a successful carrier man working at the Coca Cola headquarters in Atlanta in the state of Georgia as an assistant accountant. Mathew was admitted to a psychiatric facility in Atlanta having been taken to the facility by a concerned neighbor. Apparently, Mathew had spent more than six weeks locked inside his house and was very skeptical about meeting anybody. Mathew never wanted to talk to anyone when he was first admitted to the facility, his fear was that someone had taken an attempt on his life, he did not know who the person was but he was certain the person was someone very close to him. To be safe, the therefore decided to lock himself in his house, disconnected all the phone connections to his house and just stay to himself. He neglected his well paying job and many other social places and activities he had previously enjoyed. The story being that Mathew had lost all his family members in a road accident. His wife died on the spot while his two daughters succumbed to their injuries while receiving intensive care services at a state hospital in Georgia. At the time, Mathew was at work and had no information until he was contacted by the hospital. His reaction to the news was catastrophic, he lost his mind and became paranoiac ever since then. The diagnosis and treatment of a mental case relies heavily on the doctor’s ability to communicate to his patients and analyze their communication abilities. Mathew was taken to the hospital dumb struck and could not speak to anyone; his neighbor had talked to the local police division who offered to escort the excessively paranoiac Mathew to the hospital. At the hospital Mathew refused to talk to the doctor, he tried on several accounts to break lose from the doctor and leave. However, all the time the doctor kept talking about some of the issues he felt could have resulted in Mathew’s state. In the trial and error mechanism, the doctor tactfully introduced the death of his family members. This caught Mathew’s attention and for once, he was wiling to listen to the doctor. The doctor tried to explain to him the accident as he had read it in the paper but Mathew’s mind kept experiencing memory lapses, he could not hold a sensible discussion with the doctor. He kept talking of irrelevant issues and would mix topics from time to time. The doctor was patient with Mathew, on the first day he concentrated on gaining his trust. Mathew was in a bad mental shape on his first visit to the facility. His constant reference to a murderer that actually never existed made his uncomfortable with literally anyone. He tried attacking the doctor twice just to break out of the house and get back home. Making a patient trust a doctor is the first step towards a successful therapy, he could therefore confide in the doctor and tell him his poorly constructed hypothesis on the accident. A psychiatrist shows concern and interest in the discussions no matter how irrelevant they may get. This is the only way through which the patient begins to trust his or her doctor thereby opening up and allowing him to be diagnosed and possibly reconstructed. Patients have a tendency of falling back and suffering more subsequent mental lapses, this sets back the whole treatment process making both the doctor and the patient start a fresh in the whole treatment process. The entire Mathew treatment process lasted a total of six weeks, by the end of the third week, Mathew had arguably regained most of his senses, he therefore felt fit enough to resume work. This he sought to do with regular tri weekly visits to the doctor. On the very day he reported to work, Mathew learnt that in his absence, his subordinate had taken advantage of his absence and presented a case to the management in which he wanted the administration to declare Mathew unfit to hold the office because of his mental state. The case was still with the administration most of whom had empathized with Mathew for his loss. This knowledge threw Mathew back in his previous tantrums; he once again began claiming that the threat against his life was still rife and that this time round he was aware of who was after him. He therefore presented great risk to his colleagues at work and returned home to lock himself up. In more than one occasion, Mathew attempted suicide claiming that life had no meaning and that he would rather kill himself than wait for his tormenter to eventually kill him. Reference Heron, J. (1990). Helping the Client: A Creative Practical Guide. London: Sage Read More