Mental Illnesses: Special Attention & Education Needed for African Populations - Essay Sample

Introduction

One thing that I feel about the mentally ill populations is that they require special attention, education, and a systematic therapeutic process. Individuals need special education concerning the realities of mental illnesses because most of them have had difficulties in accepting the existence of mental diseases. The African culture is the most affected as most Africans view mental diseases as a condition that entail a regular change of body feelings despite witnessing some vital signs such as long-lasting irritability, increased social withdrawal, questionable eating habits, excessive anxiety and extremely high and low moods (Olukotun et al., 2019). My experience in dealing with mentally ill people has taught me the need to avoid stigmatization and discrimination of the victims, as it worsens the situation. Mentally ill people need individual assessment to identify the root cause of mental illness and find the right diagnoses as well as ways to control the condition to promote recovery.

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Feelings, Fears, and Vision About Working with Psychiatric Patients

The critical feeling that I have about psychiatric is that the patients should be given quality treatment to prevent further damage or loss of gray matter, which entails the destruction of the brain's nerve cells. Experienced caregivers should be used in handling mental illnesses to ensure that patients are taken through the right diagnosis procedures. Moreover, psychiatric caregivers should be involved in frequent training to acquire adequate competency in handling the condition. One of my biggest fears is the misdiagnosis of psychiatric patients. The fact that various mental diseases have interlinked signs can be very confusing in identifying the correct diagnosis. For instance, patients with borderline personality disorders are often diagnosed with major depressive disorder due to caregivers' misunderstanding of the difference in the signs and symptoms. My vision in working with psychiatric patients is to ensure that they regain their normal mental functions and assume their duties for continued societal production. Mental illnesses result in adverse effects on an individual's overall health. Therefore, since mental illnesses are not developmental disabilities, proper care of the mentally affected people can translate to complete eradication of mental disorder signs to regain the recommended mental functioning.

Accomplishment During Rotation

In this rotation, I hope to promote individuals' understanding of the realism of mental illnesses. I hope to create increased awareness, particularly in cultures that have hard difficult times in accepting the realities of mental health concerns. To achieve this, I hope to use social media platforms in sharing information concerning mental illnesses to all available populations and sharing psychiatric patients' experiences under their consent for different cultures to learn the reality of mental disorders. I also hope to establish an education program for psychiatric patients to boost their understanding of their mental health and encourage them to educate others once they recover. According to Slade et al. (2017), having adequate emotional and mental health is vital because it is an essential part of people’s lives as it plays a significant role in positively impacting individuals' thoughts, behavior, and emotions.

Requirement from Instructor

I would require all the necessary support in psychiatric nursing practice to gain the recommended competence in handling psychiatric patients. For instance, I hope to be taken through systematic guidance on how a mentally ill patient is assessed, how vital mental illness signs are discovered, how the symptoms are differentiated to come up with the correct diagnosis, and how the patients are taken care of up-to recovery level.

References

Olukotun, O., Gondwe, K., & Mkandawire-Valhmu, L. (2019). The Mental Health Implications of Living in the Shadows: The Lived Experience and Coping Strategies of Undocumented African Migrant Women. Behavioral Sciences, 9(12), 127.

Slade, M., Oades, L., & Jarden, A. (Eds.). (2017). Wellbeing, Recovery, and Mental Health. Cambridge University Press.