Medical brain noets 29

  MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL ILLNESS   Mental health and mental illness are difficult to define precisely. People who can carry out their roles in society and whose behavior is appropriate and adaptive are viewed as healthy. Conversely, those who fail to fulfill roles and carry out responsibilities or whose behavior is inappropriate are viewed as ill. The culture of any society strongly influences its values and beliefs, and this in turn affects how that society defines health and illness. What one society may view as acceptable and appropriate, another society may see as maladaptive and inappropriate.   Mental Health   The World Health Organization defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellness, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Visit thePoint http://thePoint.lww.com for NCLEX-style questions, journal articles, and more! This definition emphasizes health as a positive state of well-being. People in a state of emotional, physi...

  DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS The  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,   4th edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR)  is a taxonomy published by the APA. The  DSM-IV-TR  describes all mental disorders, outlining specific diagnostic criteria for each based on clinical experience and research. All mental health clinicians who diagnose psychiatric disorders use the  DSM-IV-TR. The  DSM-IV-TR  has three purposes: ·      To provide a standardized nomenclature and language for all mental health professionals   ·      To present defining characteristics or symptoms that differentiate specific diagnoses   ·      To assist in identifying the underlying causes of disorders.   A multiaxial classification system that involves assessment on several axes, or domains of information, allows the practitioner to identify all the factors that relat...

  HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE   TREATMENT OF MENTAL ILLNESS Ancient Times People of ancient times believed that any sickness indicated displeasure of the gods and, in fact, was a pun-ishment for sins and wrongdoing. Those with mental disorders were viewed as being either divine or demonic, depending on their behavior. Individuals seen as divine were worshipped and adored; those seen as demonic were ostracized, punished, and sometimes burned at the stake. Later, Aristotle (382–322 BC) attempted to relate mental disorders to physical disorders and developed his theory that the amounts of blood, water, and yellow and black bile in the body controlled the emotions. These four sub-stances, or humors, corresponded with happiness, calm-ness, anger, and sadness. Imbalances of the four humors were believed to cause mental disorders, so treatment was aimed at restoring balance through bloodletting, starving, and purging. Such “treatments” persisted well into the 19th century (Baly, 1...

  MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE 21ST CENTURY The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2008) estimates that more than 26% of Americans aged 18 years and older have a diagnosable mental disorder— approximately 57.7 million persons each year. Further-more, mental illness or serious emotional disturbances impair daily activities for an estimated 15 million adults and 4 million children and adolescents. For example, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affects 3% to 5% of school-aged children. More than 10 million children younger than 7 years grow up in homes where at least one parent suffers from significant mental illness or sub-stance abuse, a situation that hinders the readiness of these children to start school. The economic burden of mental illness in the United States, including both health-care costs and lost productivity, exceeds the economic burden caused by all kinds of cancer. Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the United States and Canada for persons...

  PSYCHIATRIC NURSING PRACTICE In 1873, Linda Richards graduated from the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston. She went on to improve nursing care in psychiatric hospitals and orga-nized educational programs in state mental hospitals in Illi-nois. Richards is called the first American psychiatric nurse; she believed that “the mentally sick should be at least as well cared for as the physically sick” (Doona, 1984). The first training of nurses to work with persons with mental illness was in 1882 at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. The care was primarily custodial and focused on nutrition, hygiene, and activity. Nurses adapted medical– surgical principles to the care of clients with psychiatric dis-orders and treated them with tolerance and kindness. The role of psychiatric nurses expanded as somatic therapies for the treatment of mental disorders were developed. Treat-ments, such as insulin shock therapy (1935), psychosurgery (1936), and electroconvulsive...

  Student Concerns Student nurses beginning their clinical experience in psychiatric–mental health nursing usually find the discipline to be very different from any previous experience. As a result, they often have a variety of concerns; these concerns are normal and usually do not persist once the stu-dents have initial contacts with clients.Some common concerns and helpful hints for beginning students follow:   What if I say the wrong thing? No one magic phrase can solve a client’s problems; likewise, no single statement can significantly worsen them. Listening carefully, showing genuine interest, and caring about the client are extremely important. A nurse who possesses these elements but says some-thing that sounds out of place can simply restate it by saying, “That didn’t come out right. What I meant was . . .” What will I be doing? In the mental health setting, many familiar tasks and responsibilities are minimal. Physical care skills or diagnostic tests and procedures a...