I was just wondering if there are any other nurses who struggle with mental illness. It seems to be one disability that is met with little tolerance and support in the medical field. I do have major co-morbid mental illness, Major depression/PTSD/DID, and have had many problems in my career. I have been in therapy and on meds for a long time and have worked very hard to be functional, and I have suprised myself by what I have been able to achieve. Currently, I am a hospice nurse in a residential setting and it seems that I have found my niche. It doesn't aggravate my illness too much. I am very busy at times and most of my job revolves in much cognitive thinking and decision making about the best ways to respond to a patient's emerging or existing symptoms, and in assessing patients to see where they are in the dying process, plus lots of educating to patients and families. My extensive personal trauma background has made me able to have a different perspective on death and don't see it as the scary thing that is SO SAD, that a lot of people do. Plus, because of the things that I have been through, I am more able to be compassionate and understanding of patients and their fears. I especially do well with patients with existing mental illness or lots of anxiety. I notice that a lot of nurses have little tolerance for a patients anxiety and are not willing to take the extra time to walk them through things and provide the extra reassurance that they need.
Yes, there are some nursing jobs that I don't think I would be able to do because of the fast on the spot life and death action necessary. ER and Trauma/Burn are pretty much out for me. But thats OK. A lot of nurses couldn't handle doing what I do either for their own reasons. We are all suited to certain things.
Having mental illness doesn't automatically make you unsuited for the nursing profession. Even though I have heard many times, "what are you doing here?" "Shouldn't you be doing something else, less stressful?"
I am here and am doing the thing I am suited for. Yes sometimes I have to take time off due to my illness, but its no different than somone who has flare ups of a chronic physical illness like lupus, chronic fatigue, or fibromyalgia.
I would like to know how other nurses have coped with their own illness and their nursing careers.
Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
yup zoe aint no pleaseing them, get accused of lieing either way and ggrrr. yeh that thread was real good for suppor wasne it. ((((((((((zoebobody))))))))
{{{{{{{{{{{{{Catz}}}}}}}}}}}}
I miss sphinx. She used to write a lot. I hope she is doing all right!
i have anxiety too. actually i have panic disorder...my life really changed when my doc put me on the right meds....i take zoloft and seroquel to chill me out at night...and i have ativan just in case of emergencies...but my doc has been teaching me cognitive behavioral therapy for panic attacks and anxiety and it's been really great. i highly suggest finding better meds and therapy. good luck.:)
I've struggled with major depression all my life, didn't know it till I was 50. Caused me and others lots of heartache. Finally found a counselor and psychiatrist who saw it and got me straitened out. I'm on several meds for major depression, doing really well career wise. Biggest help came when counselor had me write up a start to finish ER chart of myself as a 5 year old. Only then did I see that if this were real, I'd be required to call the police on the (my) father. Suddenly my entire life came into clear perspective.
I've been in nursing over 20 years, and often told patients that a broken heart hurts as much as a broken arm. A broken arm is just easier to see, and thus treat.
Nurses struggling with mental illness? Who says we can be better than mere mortals? EVERYBODY IS CRAZY! Only a few of us get caught! My struggles made me a better nurse. This meant better care for my patients, and this made for a better world. Stay away from any nurse that says they've never been sick.
I have been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and Major Depression off an on since childhood. I was hospitalized for a year and a half, and in a group home for 6 months as a teen. In my twenties, I didn't know up from down and tried to destroy myself every chance I got. I stopped self destructive behaviors when I was 24. At age 27, I was able to keep it together enough to enter nursing school, and it was nursing school that kept me together enough to meet my husband and be stable enough for a real relationship and have since become more of who I have wanted to be rather than who I have always feared I was.
Nursing school saved my life. If you really want it, go for it. Yes, it is stressful, but I was filled with such a sense of accomplishment just entering the program and each exam or clinical that I completed and performed well in, was a reinforcement that I can beat all the crap that had been beating me down my entire life. For anyone who is doubting going to nursing school because of mental illness, don't! It can be the healthiest thing you have ever done.
I've struggled with major depression all my life, didn't know it till I was 50. Caused me and others lots of heartache. Finally found a counselor and psychiatrist who saw it and got me straitened out. I'm on several meds for major depression, doing really well career wise. Biggest help came when counselor had me write up a start to finish ER chart of myself as a 5 year old. Only then did I see that if this were real, I'd be required to call the police on the (my) father. Suddenly my entire life came into clear perspective.
I've been in nursing over 20 years, and often told patients that a broken heart hurts as much as a broken arm. A broken arm is just easier to see, and thus treat.
Nurses struggling with mental illness? Who says we can be better than mere mortals? EVERYBODY IS CRAZY! Only a few of us get caught! My struggles made me a better nurse. This meant better care for my patients, and this made for a better world.
You rock, dthfytr!
especially love this....
Stay away from any nurse that says they've never been sick.
I want to thank the last two posters for what they said. I just love this site. I have just been accepted at grad school for my MS in psychiatric nursing. I had some problems due to my childhood, and then five years ago I was severely traumatized by something. The trauma was so severe and major that I was hospitalized for post traumatic stress disorder. I took notice of the good and bad in what I observed of all members of the staff. It was at that time in my life that I decided to become a psychiatric nurse and help people with psychiatric illnesses. I took a refresher course and asked to spend some time on a psychiatric unit where I continued to observe. What I saw made me want to be part of helping people. Because of my own trauma and illness, I believe I will be a better psychiatric nurse than I would have been under other circumstances. Empathy is gained by suffering yourself. Without empathy, how can anyone be a nurse? Unfortunately, some people including our fellow nurses are judgemental about nurses who have had problems and their ability to help others. "No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work" Mother Theresa
I feel kind of weird asking this question, but I'm getting worried about my mental health. ever since I've been accepted to nursing school I have been almost unable to stop thinking about it (what i'm going to be doing, if i am going to change from this experience, i am honestly really scared) i figure this is all probably normal pre-nursing jitters, but one thing i've really been thinking a LOT about is how i am going to handle seeing patients die. I keep running through scenarios in my mind, how i might feel about each one.. (an older person, a baby, a child) I am making myself sick over this. I think so much about death. About everyday I will look up the news and read about bad things that have happened (car wrecks, people being killed, whatever) It's like I WANT to think about it but really I don't... I think my husband is starting to think i'm going crazy because lately I keep bringing up whether he believes in God, and what he thinks will happen when he dies.
What is wrong with me??? Is this normal? I wish I would stop obsessing over it. Will it get easier or should I think twice about exposing myself to it everyday as a nurse?
let things come as they may. I get super stressed just like you thinking of possible future scenarios, and the best way i have found to deal with that, is to try and calm my mind deep breathing and telling myself that I will face it when it comes. No amount of planning will do any good when it comes to things like "will I be able to handle X, Y or Z??" Just let go what you have no control over and breathe deep and tell yourself that you have the ability to deal with it when it comes. Don't let possible futures deter you from going for it! :)
I read this somewhere on allnurses.com, and I have it on a post it on my desk lamp. "Let go of what may come. Let go of what is happening now. Don't try to figure anything out. Don't try to make anything happen. Relax, right now, and rest." Krisssy RN MA
I'm a psych nurse, and I I really like it. I find that many of my colleagues are open about psych probs they have had, and it's refreshing and I feel accepted.
RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN
8,498 Posts
You sound like you handle things very well.