Reflective diary on placement in clinical psychology field - Essay Example

Creative activities like painting, drawing, and sculpting were also initiated for patients who were inclined towards these activities. Mealtimes were supervised, and other due medications throughout the day were administered. General assessments of the patients, included vital signs assessment, pain assessment, and related physical assessment processes. Each patient was generally evaluated on how well he could participate in games and creative activities, including his vital signs, and mental state.

Incidents involving violence, aggressiveness, anger, and a general lack of cooperation were recorded. The needs of the patients were therefore noted and recorded. The progress of each patient throughout the institution’s set activities was recorded, with appropriate determinations made on whether the activities were actually helping the patient or not. Instances of non-compliance with medication were also recorded. Difficulties working with schizophrenia patients mostly related to moments of aggression, where the patients usually became violent and uncooperative.

This was mostly seen during the administration of due medications and when diagnostic tests were being undertaken. During these moments of aggression, the life and the welfare of the patient, other patients, and staff members was often put at risk. Using physical restraints on them was often the option when these moments of aggression usually manifested. During these moments, risks of physical harm were an ever present danger, prompting the need for more caution on the part of the staff. Non-adherence of medications was often the end-result of such aggression.

The patients often discussed that they did not like their medications because of the side-effects they often experienced from these medications. As schizophrenia patients, they were also distrustful of the staff, paranoid about their motives in giving them medications. In managing these aggressive incidents, the importance of taking an effective approach in the management of each patient has been seen. Where the patient-centred tools have been used by the practitioners, the patients were likely to display less aggression.

Moreover, with the support of the patient’s family, the patients were less likely to display aggression. Most of them felt calmer and more trusting when they had family support. Instances of depression and loneliness were also minimized with the patient feeling support from his family. There are various theories seeking to explain schizophrenia. The communications analysis theory explains that regardless of what a person would be doing, he cannot actually win. It is suggested that individuals caught in a double bind would likely develop schizophrenia symptoms.

In this situation, there are two or more individuals with one being identified as a victim. This victim is affected by a situation, often through repeated experiences, with the experience becoming a negative expectation. Other processes or incidents affect the victim, until such point where the complete elements are no longer needed when the victim understands the world in double bind patterns. In relation to aggression from the patient, various factors are considered relevant to the increased risk of aggression among these patients.

Development and prenatal factors seem to have a role to play in the manifestation of such aggression. Neurocognitive elements including issues in executive functioning are also closely associated with