How Much Do You Disclose About Your Experience With Mental Illness?

MadRedneckRN · Feb 11, 2006

I've told a few patients I've been on SSRI's. This is only when they ask if the meds they are on will work. I'll tell them, "It's different for everyone but, I've taken Zoloft and it has helped me." Something along that line. You have to be careful not to turn it into a discussion about your condition. In my facillity, I currently work with crimminals, so the policy is to never disclose anything personal. Kind of depends on the place and population you work in though.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 11, 2006

I don't share my mental issues with patients.

Usually about the only issue I share is that I've been smoke free for 20 years and I talk about that.

Otherwise I keep my mental and other health issues to myself.

I think it's a personal choice. If one thinks it can help a paitent to know the care provider can seriously relate, then there's nothing wrong with it. But if you don't want your co-workers or both to know your business, it's best to not tell patients.

elkpark · Feb 11, 2006

I would strongly discourage you from disclosing any personal info, esp. about any past mental health history, to your clients. This is the sort of thing that often seems harmless (if not downright therapeutic) to a less experienced psych nurse (which I recall you are, from some of your other posts), but it will turn out to have been a bad idea.

If you want to get "personal" with clients to offer them hope/encouragement, you can always say something about how you have known many people who have been helped by X medication, or who struggled with depression but overcame it successfully, or whatever, without bringing your personal experiences into it.

Remember that your role at work is to focus on the client's issues, not your own. Clients are there to focus on their own issues, but I'm sure you've already observed that, since focusing on their own issues is a pretty uncomfortable experience, they will (intentionally or unintentionally) seize on any "excuse" to avoid doing it, and talking about you instead is a great one!

Once you start talking about your own "stuff" with clients, however good your intentions and however restrained you are at first, it is v. easy to be seduced into doing it more and more and boundaries get blurred in a way that is unhealthy for everyone concerned (you and the clients). Much better and safer to keep a clear, bright line drawn. Best wishes! :)

CharlieRN · Feb 12, 2006

elkpark is, as usual, right on the money. Any effort by the client to talk about your issues is an effort to avoid talking about their own. It is a waste of their time and money. Also I don't think it adds anything much to your crediblity. The most I would do, with a rare patient or family member, when discussing the dynamics of a disorder I have brushed up against, is to say, "Been there, done that." Just an acknowledgement that I understand their pain with no details.

Even that much can backfire if you are dealing with a borderline, sociopath or narcissist. These are dangerous, twisted, people who often have the full use of their mental facilities. You don't want to give them any leverage on you. They don't come with lables so you may not recognize them right away. Particularly if they are not the patient but instead are the patient's family.

I remember being part of a team meeting with a patient's family which quickly focused on attacking and devaluing the primary therapist. He had not given them much to work with so the patient's mother was reduced to berating him for being too casually dressed and sitting on the desk.

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Feb 13, 2006

Most excellent post, elkpark. Most excellent followup, CharlieRN.

I echo your thoughts.

GalRN · Feb 20, 2006

I have never shared my personal psych experiences w/ any patient, and I don't plan to. I have shared this info w/ one or 2 co-workers that I considered friends (and I knew could keep their mouths shut).

As a person dx'd and successfully treated for bipolar d/o, I can identify w/ the feelings of many pts. Since I had to try just about every med on the market before finding my "magic bullet" I know a lot about many meds. I share this info by prefacing it w/ "I know many people who have experienced...". I feel that if I disclose it would be negative, because a) some people will use it as ammunition if they dislike you, and b) they'll blame every bad mood I have or mistake I make on my bipolar disorder.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Feb 20, 2006

To share this with my pts. would be no different if i shared any other of my health issues with them. I just feel like that a personal line i can't and won't cross, and it's taking the focus off of their problems.