...It was Christmas-time 2014 when I found myself nodding along to Lil Jon’s “Get Low” at a concert that I wasn’t entirely too interested in. A boy standing next to me, looking far more enthusiastic than I was, decided now was the time to shout into my ear that I had “pretty hair.” That was it—Lil Jon’s number one, khaki-shorts-wearing fan had set me in my distaste for hair related compliments. I don’t mean to undermine the endless other comments I’d received—my hockey team was always gushing about my “good helmet hair,” and my aunt confessed her jealousy at Thanksgiving dinner. With each well-meaning word, I could feel myself shrinking. By the time of the concert, I wondered if I had hidden myself so effectively in my hair that I had simply become it, disappearing completely and leaving a much loved chestnut updo in my place. Khaki Pants Guy grinned at me, awaiting thanks, oblivious to my spiraling distress. By New Years, I was staring holes into my bathroom mirror, sporting nearly two feet less hair. I touched my features, all still there, all still incredibly average. My hands landed in my new mess of pixie cut while I watched my face, searching for any sign of emotional instability. It was easy to put on a smile for my teary-eyed parents, promising “it grows back!” Friends claimed to love the change, as long as I did the same. Everyone seemed to have an opinion, but mine was still up in the air. This haircut was exactly what I’d wanted—immediate change—but I still felt my fingers...
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...over, and quite honestly still reigns true. Over the span of my life I have experienced poverty,health complications with my mother, and mental illness. I’ve found that the only way out of a bleak circumstance is through it, and perseverance through these difficulties has resulted in my drive to excel academically and attend college as the first one in my family to do so. I was in the seventh grade when my father told me that he had lost his well-paying job with the BNSF railroad company, and ever since then, he has not been able to hold a steady career. He has hopped from low-paying job to low-paying job, but he has not been able to support the family in a stable way since I was about twelve. This resulted in the absence of hot water,...
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... As a young child, at the age of 7 I moved from Chicago, IL to Benton, MS. At the time, I had no clue as to why we were moving, but later on my mother told me that we our reason for moving was to take care of my grandmother. Now, at the time, my grandmother was in perfect health condition. Throughout my years though of aging, my grandmother did grow to become ill. She was diagnosed with kidney failure and had to endure dialysis. I began to become the perfect little nurse for my grandmother. I loved her so much, and I wanted to make sure she was taken care of the best way while going through this trial and tribulation. She gave me the mind start going around the community to check on the other elderly members who resided there. I called it E.C. (Elderly Checkups). When my grandmother became ill, it was the worst thing that could have happened to me. Seeing here endure that pain that dialysis caused her to have, and how tired it made it her made me feel a loss since of hope that she would make it. I made sure I was by her side 24/7, making sure she took her medicine regularly, ate regularly, sleep regularly and took her breathing treatments regularly when she needed them. I loved the idea that I was there for her and she felt the same way. Having someone to care for you when you cannot do for yourself, shows not only gratitude, but respect. While taking care of my grandmother, I sat and thought to myself, I should go check on Mrs. Brown who lived across the street at the time...
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...You are trapped in your own mind with your brain making you believe awful things. Something I have learned about mental illness is that, yes it is unpleasant, but it is so important to talk about. A lot of people go through life feeling so ashamed of something they have no control over and that is upsetting. If I have learned anything from suffering with mental illness; it is that we are so much stronger than we think we are. I had no idea I was strong enough to go through something like that and I have promised myself to never let that happen again. I am better than that and I deserve so...
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...constant is change,” is true, then one must wonder how the mental health field resisted change for so long. In light of the modern age, characterized by scientific methodologies, the mental health field advanced rapidly. Amazingly, the human condition could be put to test, understood and categorized. Sadly, anything falling outside the “norm” became “abnormal.” Once a person was identified as “abnormal,” they were the lucky recipients of a label they carried with them for life, or until they “recovered.” Mental health labels carry with them a certain stigma that communicates to the person they are different, perhaps less of a person and that “normal” may never be a reality with their “illness.” Recovery would be based on becoming symptom-free, or at the very least, a significant reduction in symptoms (Gehart, 2012). The mental health field has experienced tremendous growth in terms of understanding the plethora of conditions people experience, as well as in treatment of those conditions. However, one thing remained unchanged until recently. The idea behind recovery shifted from coercive treatment to person-centered change (Onken, et al, 2007). Gehart states is this way, “instead of using the medical paradigm of disease, the recovery paradigm approached mental “illness” using a social model of disability that emphasizes psychosocial functioning over medical symptomatology” (2012). The focus of recovery shifted from the illness to the person. The recovery model gave way to the idea...
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...Bipolar Disorder Sandra Yearwood Grand Canyon University: NRS 433V 3/21/15 Introduction Bipolar Disorder (or manic depression) is a common, lifelong, severe and complex mental illness that is characterized by extreme mood swings with episodes of depression. According to the Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, bipolar disorder affects about 2.6% of people age 18 and older. Bipolar Disorder affects both male and female equally and is caused by multiple factors and evidence suggests a strong hereditary component. To help understand Bipolar Disorders or to help to correct it, individuals go through counseling services and pharmacotherapy. Individuals with this disorder may either have Type I or Type II. According to “Journal of creativity in Mental Health” clients often go through different phases or breakouts caused by this disorder. These break out are due to poor social behaviors, lack of rest, poor judgment on other people and increased energy. Background of study This study will elaborate on Bipolar Disorder and why this mental illness has become such a major topic of interest in recent studies. In the United States, statistics have proven that there have been increased incidences of patients who are diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and researchers have linked this disorder to the younger population as well as the rest of the world where people often go around undiagnosed. Objective: How can one understand Bipolar Mood more thoroughly and...
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...It means that an ill person is telling his story through someone else’s perspective and observation. (Charise, 2015) Winakur’s love in the time of dementia determines the chaos narrative, which is a type of illness narrative that is used to explain and understand the ill person’s story from his perspective. Additionally, Winakur used figurative language to explain how a person with dementia feels and experiences as well as how his family suffer from his illness that has no cure. Likewise, diseases and the experiences of illness are frequently explained using metaphor. Winakur used a metaphor to describe Leonard’s journey, “the story of his life unfolds page by page. Her voice (his wife and caregiver), his story, spills into the tangled interstices of his mind” (Jones et al., 2014, p. 307). This metaphor demonstrates direct comparison of lived experiences of Leonard’s illness and that is how the readers can understand his disability and...
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...Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal is about experiences he learned from while being a doctor. In his final chapter, “Courage,” he discusses the idea of death and how some of his patients and family went into it. As Gawande discusses the stories and emotions he shared with these people, he explores the idea of narrative medicine that Rita Charon discusses. Rita Charon is a physician that practices narrative medicine in her practice. In her Ted Talk, “Honoring the stories of illness,” Charon presents the idea that we, as doctors and caregiver, should act as if the patient is more than their illness. Instead of treating just their physical illness, helping them understand and process it, as well as helping their mental health, are just as important....
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...is it so important in the context of health and social care? • What do we mean by ‘health’ and why is psychology central to the effective delivery of health and social care? • What are the main approaches to psychological thinking and research? • Who are psychologists and what do they contribute to the promotion of health and well-being? Introduction This chapter emphasizes the importance of psychology in the context of health and social care. For many years, psychology and the other social sciences were viewed by the medical profession as ‘soft sciences’, interesting but unimportant. With the advent of research into the links between physical and mental states in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries it is now possible to demonstrate that psychology can make a fundamental difference to physical as well as mental health. In this chapter, we explore the nature of psychology and its relevance to health and social care. We outline the different schools of thought and methods of inquiry in psychology. We seek to distinguish between psychology as an academic discipline and popular notions of psychology, and identify professionals whose practice is mainly concerned with the application of psychology. In order to show how psychology can be applied to health and social care, we introduce a family scenario whose characters appear in examples throughout the book. What is psychology? Psychology is the study of human behaviour, thought processes and emotions. It can contribute...
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...misunderstanding that people have on the mentally ill, it is no wonder why the society and any of the institutes that treat those often in distress do more harm than good. Society believes that the mentally ill are burdens to live with. Charlotte Perkins Gilman used her personal experiences to talk about her battle...
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...reissued by the Feminist Press with an exceptional commentary by Elaine Hedges and finally became popularly rediscovered. Elaine Hedges explained the work as a “pioneering masterpiece of feminist literature” (Pompele 61). Since the publication, theorists using a Feminist approach most overwhelmingly study the story.Gilman’s emphasis on the importance of language and text, and the fact that “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a tale of mental breakdown, make Lacanian psychoanalytic a natural way to consider the work in order to help readers understand the author’s use of language as a manifestation not of herself but the “other” as a means to safely express herself. As an autobiographical story there exist very undeniable connections between Gilman’s personal life and that of the narrator. A study of “The Yellow Wallpaper” is quite remiss if not offering some of the parallels between the author and the narrator as note of interest. In his dissertation, Pompele approaches the work as an “asylum trauma narrative in which the author gives witness to the personal horror of her own captivity in psychiatric spaces and the forced treatment she had to endure there” (60). At 24, Gilman became terribly weak and depressed. She quickly turned...
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...Understanding Non-Adherence in Patients with Severe Mental Illness Grand Canyon University-NRS-433V November 17, 2013 During many situations in nursing it may feel like fighting an uphill battle, especially when discussing the importance of compliance and long-term adherence to the treatment plans to our patients on a daily basis. Whether it be a patient with newly diagnosed diabetes, heart disease or a mental illness, continued follow up and care are essential for patient outcomes. A large part of compliance is continuing medication as prescribed, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (2012) estimates that of prescriptions written 20-30% are never even filled. For those suffering from severe mental illness the issue arises when adherence stops and symptoms take control of their daily lives, putting them at increased risk for substance abuse, assaultive behavior and lower quality of life. Despite continued evidence supporting the efficacy of psychiatric medications in improving symptoms only about half of those receiving medication treatment take it as prescribed. Even worse, in a recent randomized clinical-trial studying anti-psychotic for effectiveness it was reported that 74% of those prescribed medication discontinued use after 18 months (Roe, Goldblatt, Baloush-Klienman, Swarbrick & Davidson, 2009). But for many patients more medication means additional side effects, less freedom and change in their view of themselves. Professionals taking care of these...
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...considered plagiarism. This will result in an unsatisfactory grade for the work submitted or for the entire course. It may also result in academic dismissal from the University. MFT5105 | Asha Sutton | | | Recovery-Oriented Care & Postmodern Family Therapy | Recovery Model in MFT | <Add student comments here> ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Faculty Use Only ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- The definition of the recovery model is not clear in the mental health field. Professionals of the mental health field cannot agreed when it comes to the recovery method. Some...
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...Nowadays people around the world experience various mental health difficulties on a daily basis. From the mild symptoms that can be easily resolved by their General Practitioners to more severe problems significantly affecting their everyday functioning and participation in daily activities. These problems may need to be dealt with the referral to a specialist service. According to Mental Health Act (2001) each person in care of Mental Health Service must have an individual care plan (MHA 2001; art 15&16). Mental Health Commission in its document related to individual Care Planning in Mental Health Service outlined that recovery of a client needs to be at the centre of all that nurses do and care plans are here like a key tools, guiding nursing work in this process (MHC 2012, p.8). Presented essay attempts to explore how nursing care and interventions support the process of patient’s recovery. In further part of it focus will be on how individual care plans reflect process of recovery and how they guide nurses towards it. Concept of ‘recovery’ in Mental Health slightly differs from adopted definition. Usually a person with severe mental health problems such as Schizophrenia or Bi-polar cannot fully recover from the illness like it takes place in most of the patients with physical illnesses. The concept of recovery in Mental Health addresses issues related to building-up self-esteem, learning to control the illness; recognizing symptoms of relapse; returning to normal...
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...affect their ability to actualize their potential quality of life. That is, the strains of gendered expectations are injurious to the mental welfare of women. In the past, the psychiatric community has unethically––and yet perhaps unconsciously––used mental diagnoses to prune women into their gender roles and punish deviation from the norm, again referencing the historically sexist conventions of psychology [Source B]. The Journal of Mental Health Counseling continues to attest that “girls who defy gender roles are more often rejected by peers and have a higher risk for experiencing significant psychological...
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