Essay Sample on Nursing and Mental Health Rotation

Introduction

The knowledge of mental health has enabled me to understand so many issues that I did not have a full understanding of. Sometimes people judge situations so fast, but when it comes to mental health, it is always important to look into a case with a lot of concentration and assess a person's conditions fully before making conclusions (Patel, Minas, Cohen, & Prince, 2014). This is among the many things that I have come to know about caring for the mentally ill patients. Nursing and mental health (as a course) has given me a wide range of reasoning and understanding behaviors, as well as how to handle them.

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This course has helped me to comprehend about abnormality. Sometimes, we do not know that we are suffering from a disorder when we are. For example, we may think we can handle anything and start feeling like we do not want to sleep, we become moody, distracted at work and still think it is just some normal conditions may be fatigue; not realizing that we might be undergoing severe illness of depression. I have been made able to understand when a friend does not associate with me sometimes the way he/she usually does, and I can tell that he/she is suffering and needs my help rather than ignoring him/her, maybe because he/she refused to greet me or call me as usual. It has become clear to me that everything we experience in our lives has an essential impact on how we do behave and handle ourselves.

Before taking the course, I thought that mental health could be a mere weakness. It is common to find a person affected by a traumatic event for so many years. My thoughts were these people did not want to let go or were not strong enough to go through such situations. But, with the knowledge that an intersection of biology and experience is responsible for mental health problems, I can understand that the people who pass through these traumatic events in their life may be affected severely with the facts, and if no action is taken, they may develop severe post-traumatic disorders.

In my study, I have spent a lot of time with patients suffering from mental health. We have associated with one another, and I have come to understand that they are not to be pre-judged. They are very innocent people who we can spend time with. I spent time playing cards with the patients and getting to engage them in conversation so that I can understand more about their situation. Some were responsive in a good way, and I was able to help them in the best way I could. Some were not cooperative enough, which is understandable considering these patients have different problems and may behave otherwise.

During my time with the patients, I also realized that these illnesses could be cured. I saw patients responding very positively to the treatments such as therapies and medications. Even though the wellness may take a long time, the patients' mental illness percentage may drop gradually as he/she becomes better till a rate where one is convinced that the patient is safe considering the change in behavior, reasoning, and perception of things around them. We involved the patients in some duties that could help us see their progress and felt motivated to assist them always. There is a misconception that the mentally ill people are not able to work, which I partially believed earlier, but the reality is that these patients work just as efficient as the regular people and can produce good quality in what they are given to do.

Mental illness is like any other illnesses that can be prevented. This is what I have come to realize considering the genetic and environmental factors that affect a person's mental conditions. There are genetic predispositions for mental illness that may lead to acquisition of psychological disease from a relative. Even though these genes can influence mental illness development in a person, it is not preordained. There may be other environmental conditions such as the effects of illegal abuse of drugs, alcohol or tobacco. Weight is also a matter to consider, as low birth weight may be among the conditions driving one to develop mental illness. From this argument, it has been clear to me that this is a condition that can be prevented once proper actions and care are taken before the influence occurs.

Conclusion

Mental health is a broad area of study with so much information that enables us to understand people's behavior and find possible solutions to their problems. There are conditions that even the family members may not understand or take with enough concern, but a mental health specialist can recognize even before the patients realize they are developing problems. I have a lot of interest to get more knowledge in this area of study by taking more research to understand more about mental health conditions and care.

Reference

Patel, V., Minas, I. H., Cohen, A., & Prince, M. (2014). Global mental health: Principles and practice. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.