Psychology and Sociology related to mental health HELP!!!

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · Apr 1, 2014

What exactly are you trying to apply from psych/soc to your practice? I'm afraid you may need to be a bit more specific.

As nurses, we don't diagnose of course, but you can use tools to screen for risk factors of depression and other psych diseases. I've done this in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Inpatient, you can choose to consult psych if you have concerns about your patient in some facilities, too. I used to do that frequently when I worked inpatient oncology as depression and anxiety are present in force amongst that population.

As far a sociology, how people relate to their families and friends is directly linked to their health and healthcare. For instance, say you have a woman who needs to get to her appointments, but her car doesn't work and she relies on her friend for transportation to her appointments. Her friend isn't the most reliable person, however, so one day, she misses an appointment, can't pick up her meds, and her health suffers because of it.

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Apr 1, 2014

go back and look at your OP. You are on the right track. What can a nurse do to assess, plan, intervene when a patient is depressed, anxious, threatening to harm self or others, under the influence of chemicals? How will socio-economic situations affect patient care? Once you now that you can then determine what you can do to fix it, even if it just means consult with Social Worker or Case Manager or Chaplain. Knowing when and whom to consult is an intervention

81shelbay · Apr 1, 2014

Thank you guys. I am just not sure on what to read and how to relate it. I get some of the issues regarding these issues. What I am struggling with is how do I relate the psychodynamic approach, cognitive approach, behavioural approach, humanistic approach, The functionalist theory, the symbolic theory, the conflict theory to mental health?

Could this be an example:

Say someone was self-harming the psychodynamic approach would look at the persons past experiences in order to understand their behaviour i.e. have they been abused etc... or the cognitive approach might look at their thinking processes behind the behaviour, the humanistic approach looking at the person as a whole and looking at past and present experiences, and perhaps it may be an need hat they see needs to be fulfilled etc...

For sociology could it be that this is when you may look at trends and statistics regarding self-harm, how the environment influences that person or how they influence the environment.

I get why they want us to know all this information but I am finding it hard to know when to draw the line in that I mean I am not training to be a psychiatrist or a psychologist.

I am just wondering how much is too much!!

I also need to know about Eriksons 8 stages of development and also relate this to mental health? as well as Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It all seems so much to take on board especially when I am not sure how much they want to me to know or how to apply it.

Thank you for the comments though they have helped me understand why this knowledge is important. I hope the penny drops soon!

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · Apr 1, 2014

Based on what you wrote above, you seem to have a decent grasp on it. It's really just different angles of approach to the same issue, as I'm sure you're aware. Looking at a problem from different directions can often add insight and pinpoint the problem.

For instance, perhaps a depressed patient has a chemical imbalance that's been shown via tests (cognitive approach). However, they also have a history of abuse in childhood, and this is undisclosed (psychodynamic approach). Who's to say that years of untreated fear and the lingering affects of the abuse didn't slowly alter the brain chemistry? Perhaps both are at the root of the problem (humanistic approach). Or, maybe this is a well-adjusted patient in terms of their history, but their brain chemistry just went sideways. ANY of those variations will change how you approach treatment with this patient.

Think of the respective approaches as tools, frames if you will for viewing the mind. They don't have much inherent value except what they can show you about a person when you look through them.

Yes, it is a lot of information. However, you'll use Maslow and Erikson ALL throughout your nursing career and in every area of nursing. Best to learn it early, no matter how much the knowledge burden can suck!