Stepping up the mental health discussion

Nursing as a profession is unique in its ability to step up and help facilitate the mental health reform. As a society and nursing profession we need to be more open and willing to discuss such an all too ignored topic. Nurses Announcements Archive Article

Stepping up the mental health discussion

Mental health has a stigma. Nobody wants to talk about it because everybody feels like they are the only one suffering. I want the world to know mental health is important. I would like to give mental health a platform and an open and free space to talk as loud as it wants. There is nothing wrong with feeling "out of sorts". It is how a person copes with the "out of sorts" that makes a difference. Society needs to start communicating on how they cope with stress and anxiety. Learning from each other is important. Though no one talks about it because being "out of sorts" is taboo. I want to help facilitate an open environment for the discussion of mental health.

Providers, and society in general, are more apt to talk about diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. When anxiety, depression or eating disorders is mentioned a hushed tone appears. Almost a look of failure appears on the patient's face. Like they are not "good enough" to be "normal."

I want us to shout from the roof tops we are all have a bit of "crazy" in us. We all handle the "crazy" a different way. Maybe we need to not work as many hours at work, how about exercise, or maybe a day at home in bed drinking hot chocolate watching the movie "Frozen" and learning to just "let it go." Life is how we perceive it and society needs to perceive mental health as an open and free topic to discuss.

We are a fast paced, over worked, understaffed and under paid society. Companies have yearly goals and growth expectations. Employees are pushed further and further to perform faster and more efficient. Days off of work are shied upon. Nobody has "time" to be home from work. Vacation is now used for "sick" days. Now being sick is a punishment to not be able to go on a well deserved vacation. This leads to more stress, anxiety and fatigue. Leading to a hostile work environment, anger with our co-workers that are able to keep up and frustration that we have to work harder for the coworker that is out "sick" for the day.

I find many in my office wanting something to calm them down. Something to help them "focus." Something to allow them to work 60 hours a week, be a mother/father of kids, keep the house spotless and be "involved" in school activities. I start the conversation with "why is all of this so important and what can give to help you cope?" Most of the time the answer is "nothing can give I HAVE to do this." I then discuss "pills don't teach skills."

As a society we want to "pop a pill" to feel better without trying. We have to stop looking to pills to cure our insecurities. Medication has a role, don't get me wrong, but we need an open and honest dialogue to help those that struggle know they are not alone. Keeping up with the Jones's or I guess now it is the Kardashian's, is our societies downfall. The "reality TV" should really show what is behind those walls. A torn family, alcoholism, drug abuse and chaos.

The nursing field needs to step up the game to help facilitate the mental health dialogue. Care and compassion is the focus of nursing and we as a profession are unique to open and guide the "acceptance" of mental health in society. Please take a moment to sit back and reflect on how you, as part of society, can help transform the mental health discussion.

1 Votes
milwerica

About milwerica, MSN, APRN

Family Nurse Practitioner pursuing certification for Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.

38 Posts

Share this post

I couldn't agree more with your article. Society should be more open to mental illness than it is. We need an overhaul of the mental health system in the USA.

0 Votes
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

YES! YES! YES!

We need to insist on a true mental health system in the United States.

All people need access and encouragement to get all needed healthcare.

Many people are suffering who could feel better with professional help.

People could be productive with adequate mental healthcare.

A very few could be helped before they hurt themselves of hurt somewhere else.

I'm not a mental health/psychiatric nurse. Just someone who wants to help us start making it happen.

0 Votes
Specializes in critical care.

Back to back yesterday, I browsed two links on facebook - one showing a bunch of celebrities who had died by their own hand (Robin Williams being the first listed, of course, but many others I'd never realized were even gone), and then a link to veterans with PTSD featured in this absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking photographic book that has not yet been released. These issues do not discriminate. And they are tragic.

This Jarring Photo Series Captures What PTSD Really Looks Like - BuzzFeed News

Click through the links in the article if you're interested in supporting the artist.

0 Votes
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I'm a longtime member of Allnurses who has written a number of articles on this same subject. I also live with bipolar 1 disorder so I have firsthand experience with mental illness and its stigma. Thank you for bringing up this topic and being a champion for mental health---the more people talk about it, the less scary it is.

For those who are interested, March 30 is the second annual World Bipolar Day. It's a good time to raise awareness of not only bipolar, but all mental illness. The date was chosen because it is the birthday of Vincent Van Gogh, who is thought to have suffered from what used to be known as manic depression.

Thanks again for this article.

0 Votes

I think it would be really helpful to seek opportunities to organize to have speakers with mental illnesses.

Case in point: I have ADHD. Everyone thinks they know all about what it's like to have ADHD and may even know other obvious "facts", like it's a made up disorder for careless jerks, or that it's not a real disability. Partly because the description of mental disorders tend to be so simplified. Here's a list of symptoms for ADHD courtesy of NIMH, a perfectly reputable website:

Children who have symptoms of inattention may:

  • Be easily distracted, miss details, forget things, and frequently switch from one activity to another
  • Have difficulty focusing on one thing
  • Become bored with a task after only a few minutes, unless they are doing something enjoyable
  • Have difficulty focusing attention on organizing and completing a task or learning something new
  • Have trouble completing or turning in homework assignments, often losing things (e.g., pencils, toys, assignments) needed to complete tasks or activities
  • Not seem to listen when spoken to
  • Daydream, become easily confused, and move slowly
  • Have difficulty processing information as quickly and accurately as others
  • Struggle to follow instructions.

Children who have symptoms of hyperactivity may:

  • Fidget and squirm in their seats
  • Talk nonstop
  • Dash around, touching or playing with anything and everything in sight
  • Have trouble sitting still during dinner, school, and story time
  • Be constantly in motion
  • Have difficulty doing quiet tasks or activities.

Children who have symptoms of impulsivity may:

  • Be very impatient
  • Blurt out inappropriate comments, show their emotions without restraint, and act without regard for consequences
  • Have difficulty waiting for things they want or waiting their turns in games
  • Often interrupt conversations or others' activities.

Sounds pretty straightforward, no? Clearly, these kids just need a good spanking.

But then you go to read this article, and it gives a much more complete and accurate picture-11 pages of it- of what it's like to live with ADHD and shows MUCH more clearly that it's not really a choice or an excuse for bad behavior: https://allnurses.com/nurses-with-disabilities/im-not-flaky-951199.html

Access to compelling personal experiences is what we need more of. This is what it ultimately takes to show that it isn't something that is something that you can just snap out of or is just a scheme from psychs and pharmacists to make more money.

0 Votes

People suffering from mental illness don't just feel "out of sorts" or "have a bit of crazy in them". People suffering from mental illness are often extremely debilitated and ostracized. Until mental illness is treated as a disease that often needs and deserves medication it will always be brushed aside. People cannot talk away mental illness any more than they can talk away heart disease. Yes, counseling and psychotherapy helps, support and talking and being kind to yourself almost always helps when you are sick, but why the stigma against the meds? I don't get that at all.

0 Votes
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I think people get hung up on the labels attached to some meds. Who wants to take something called an antipsychotic? And thanks to Hollywood legends, who doesn't know that lithium is used almost exclusively for manic depression? I agree with the above poster that medication is necessary, at least in most cases of serious mental illness; but therapy is also beneficial, along with mindfulness, exercise and a healfhful diet.

Some people do just fine without medication. I knew a few of them, and I am continually amazed at how well they manage their lives for the most part. I am not one of them, however, so as much as I sometimes resent having to take meds to be "normal", I do it because I must. I don't like being on multiple antipsychotics. I don't like taking five different psychiatric medications and being reminded twice daily that I have a mental illness. But getting hung up on the issue is unproductive and doesn't change a thing---it's just my reality and that of millions of other mentally ill people. It'll be great when society catches up.

0 Votes
I think people get hung up on the labels attached to some meds. Who wants to take something called an antipsychotic? And thanks to Hollywood legends, who doesn't know that lithium is used almost exclusively for manic depression? I agree with the above poster that medication is necessary, at least in most cases of serious mental illness; but therapy is also beneficial, along with mindfulness, exercise and a healfhful diet.

Some people do just fine without medication. I knew a few of them, and I am continually amazed at how well they manage their lives for the most part. I am not one of them, however, so as much as I sometimes resent having to take meds to be "normal", I do it because I must. I don't like being on multiple antipsychotics. I don't like taking five different psychiatric medications and being reminded twice daily that I have a mental illness. But getting hung up on the issue is unproductive and doesn't change a thing---it's just my reality and that of millions of other mentally ill people. It'll be great when society catches up.

Some diabetics don't need meds, some hypertensive patients don't need meds. But then they do. And there should be no knowing glances or "Ohhh, you are on an antipsychotic? Are you going to HIT me ?" faces.

I'm NOT on an antipsychotic. I'm just sick of mental illness being talked about as a pseudo sickness that you can overcome if you are strong enough.

0 Votes
Specializes in critical care.
I think it would be really helpful to seek opportunities to organize to have speakers with mental illnesses.

Case in point: I have ADHD. Everyone thinks they know all about what it's like to have ADHD and may even know other obvious "facts", like it's a made up disorder for careless jerks, or that it's not a real disability. Partly because the description of mental disorders tend to be so simplified. Here's a list of symptoms for ADHD courtesy of NIMH, a perfectly reputable website:

Sounds pretty straightforward, no? Clearly, these kids just need a good spanking.

But then you go to read this article, and it gives a much more complete and accurate picture-11 pages of it- of what it's like to live with ADHD and shows MUCH more clearly that it's not really a choice or an excuse for bad behavior: https://allnurses.com/nurses-with-disabilities/im-not-flaky-951199.html

Access to compelling personal experiences is what we need more of. This is what it ultimately takes to show that it isn't something that is something that you can just snap out of or is just a scheme from psychs and pharmacists to make more money.

I have supported my child with his own ADHD and I am honestly terrified of what the future brings for him. After doing an independent study on this and other childhood disorders, the current research is daunting for any adult with ADHD or parent who loves a child with ADHD. Hugs to you, friend. The battle to give legitimacy to ADHD is an exhausting one that I fear has a very, very long way to go.

0 Votes
Specializes in critical care.

Uggghhhhh point in case..... Just got an email from my grandmother detailing the "latest research" on brain boosting foods proven effective in treating ADHD. There is an active campaign against using medications to treat this legitimate condition which is a known neurobiological disorder which is known to respond best to medications when the symptoms warrant them (and generally, they do).

Any parent of an ADHD child (and I'm sure anyone with ADHD) KNOWS that the ADHD child/adult truly suffers with it. But time and time again, the parent of a child with ADHD can get told by "well-meaning" people that medication is wrong. I wonder if these people would share oppositional opinions so freely if my son suffered from hypertension or hypothyroidism.

This is frustrating. So, so frustrating. Why exactly do people feel they have free reign to share their unsolicited advice on any of this? I don't get it.

0 Votes
Uggghhhhh point in case..... Just got an email from my grandmother detailing the "latest research" on brain boosting foods proven effective in treating ADHD. There is an active campaign against using medications to treat this legitimate condition which is a known neurobiological disorder which is known to respond best to medications when the symptoms warrant them (and generally, they do).

Any parent of an ADHD child (and I'm sure anyone with ADHD) KNOWS that the ADHD child/adult truly suffers with it. But time and time again, the parent of a child with ADHD can get told by "well-meaning" people that medication is wrong. I wonder if these people would share oppositional opinions so freely if my son suffered from hypertension or hypothyroidism.

This is frustrating. So, so frustrating. Why exactly do people feel they have free reign to share their unsolicited advice on any of this? I don't get it.

Because they read something on the internet and therefore know best about YOUR child.

You know Grandma means well, and damn I can use some brain busting foods as well, but yea, um, No.

:no:

I'm sorry.

0 Votes