Mental Illness: Debunking the Myths, Sharing Some Insight
Mental illness. It is an often misunderstood series of brain disorders that often nurses roll their eyes at, decline to care for, or do so under duress. If a nurse takes a moment to really think through some of the more commonly seen disorders, it can change the way that mentally ill people are treated in the health care setting.
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Mental illness is a most misunderstood illness. The brain is an interesting organ, and reacts differently to/or lack thereof chemicals to make it work properly. Mental illness can be a difficult thing to treat. It can be equally challenging for a nurse to provide care. However, here are some common myths/insights surrounding the mentally ill that will perhaps make a nurse take pause the next time you are given an assignment of someone suffering from mental illness.
1. Schizophrenics ABSOLUTELY believe their delusions to be true. They don't make this stuff up. They believe that the government is watching them as much as one believes the grass to be green. So by saying "Oh, that is NOT true, stop it" you are not helping. To help in a alternate way, saying something like "let's talk about right now, and what we need to do now" can be enough to direct a schizophrenic patient into the present to be on task. It can be hard to keep a schizophrenic on meds. For the chronically long term schizophrenics, it is the only "normal" they know.
2. "I think I am having a nervous breakdown". Mentally ill people who are chronically and severely mentally ill believe themselves to be perfectly sane. It is the rest of us who are "crazy". Anxiety disorders are the most common cause of "I think I am dying/going crazy thoughts.
3. Mentally ill people are not ignorant, less intelligent, or unable to live a "normal" life. Mental illness does not equate stupid. It is not a character defect.
4. "I don't understand why you are depressed. There's a heck of a lot of suffering in this world and other people are coping JUST fine". People don't ask for depression. People can not just "snap out of it" or believe me, a number would. Most people who are depressed would do just about anything to feel well again. It is an exhausting illness.
5. People who are bipolar can tend to lean toward mania. The feeling of being on top of the world. A number of patients who abuse uppers are in fact bipolar. Reasoning includes not enjoying the downward spiral that a bipolar patient experiences. Another mentally and physically exhausting mental illness. Support for drug addicted patients should include a consult to rule out bipolar disorder.
6. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a multitude of symptoms under one heading. One of the most "dreaded" for some is the personality disordered. This is a tough one, however, if the nurse can keep in the back of their mind that in fact PTSD is the effect of trauma. Severe enough to cause the personality portions of the brain to not function properly. These patients have seen horrors that only most of us can ever imagine. That they have the fortitude to be alive is telling. That they can act child like is equally as telling as to when their abuses began. There are members of our armed forces that have severe PTSD. Again, remember--horrors that we can only imagine.
7. Children who are mentally ill are not automatically products of poor parenting. "Well, that kid could use a rule or 2 and a swat on the behind". That can't happen. People can not hit their children into submission, nor should they. If a child's brain is not functioning as it should, rules are gibberish. Support and coping skills for parents are equally important. Team meetings detailing support and exactly how parents are to re-enforce learned coping skills are a must.
Nursing mentally ill patients can be a big challenge. Often, if we change how we see a patient who suffers from mental illness it can make leaps and bounds on how we can help each patient reach their full potential.
