Communication Skills to Help Reduce Anxiety in Mental Health Patients

This article discusses the importance of communication skills in helping mental health patients feel comfortable and relaxed. It explores the symptoms of anxiety and provides relaxation techniques to reduce anxiety. It also provides information about Diazepam as a medication for anxiety.

Mental Health

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Communication skills to help Stefan feel comfortable..........................................................1
Features of Stefan that represent symptoms of anxiety..........................................................2
Relaxation techniques to reduce anxiety of Stefan.................................................................4
Information about Diazepam..................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
The Mental health refers to stability in psychological, emotional and social status of an
individual in an accurate manner. It is an essential factor for people because minor mental
problems can create very severe condition which may be terrible for whole life which is required
to solve immediately (Trower, Bryant & Argyle, 2013). The biological factors, past experiences
and family history of mental health are such elements which may contribute to psychological
problems. Present essay is based on given case study of a patient named as Stefan who was
admitted for day surgery. This assignment will focus on favourable communication skills to
make him relaxed along with medication that can be given to Stefan for reducing anxiety.
MAIN BODY
Communication skills to help Stefan feel comfortable
According to the given scenario, Stefan is nervous because he was admitted for day
surgery and feeling anxious which is very common symptom found in normal people. It is
considered as kind of phobia that includes Nosocomephobia which is fear of hospitals and
Pharmacophobia that is fear of medicine (Jorm, 2012).
In case of Stefan, he is walking in the room continuously and his face expressions
indicates that he does not appear relaxed. And he answer about his feelings of nervousness
because of never having surgery before and not even admitted to hospital for a once. It is
necessary to make him comfortable by conducting a health communication along with
motivating him because strong will power of patient is an important factor which contribute to
get better results of any operation or medication (Morgan & Goldston, 2013). There are several
communication skills which are of significant use to help Stefan for making relax and
comfortable for rest of the interview.
The medical specialists of Stefan are required to have several communication skills to
deal with with him such as listening, non verbal communication, friendliness, empathy, open-
mindedness and many more. It is necessary to make him comfortable by listening his views
about surgery which are responsible for creating fear in patient and try to reduce their
nervousness. It is important for nurses to motivate him by conducting non verbal communication
through eye contact, positive expressions etc. that make Stefan feeling relaxed before surgical
process. Moreover, doctors should remain friendly with patient and show empathy towards him
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so that he can share each thought of fear and other health problems which are necessary to know
while carried out operation (Creek & Lougher, 2011). Additionally, psychologist can clear scary
thoughts by motivating him and create an appropriate relationship with open mindedness that
make patient comfortable to tell everything to their specialists which is helpful to both of them.
Frank communication between Stefan and nurse will provide support to reduce his nervousness
that facilitates to make him feeling relaxed.
Thus, it includes observe signs of anxiety, listen to patients properly, answer their
questions positively, provide non verbal comfort and render desired instructions with motivation.
Moreover, all these elements are helpful to make Stefan normal which facilitates to conduct rest
of the interview (Marsella & White, 2012). It is well known that medical professionals are
required to encourage an individual before surgery so that they can partially overcome with their
fear or nervousness.
Features of Stefan that represent symptoms of anxiety
Anxiety can be described as general term which is used for certain disorder like
nervousness, fear, apprehension and worrying. It includes several signs such as nausea,
insomnia, shortness of breath, racing heart, depression and panic (Reiss, 2013). Moreover, many
factors are also responsible for anxiety before operation like fear of death, pain, financial
burdens, surgical results, secondary infections and so on.
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(Source: HOW TO DEAL WITH ANXIETY DISORDERS AND GAIN PEACE, 2018)
The above figure includes several symptoms of anxiety such as scared, phobias,
headaches, stress, tense, fear, sweating, worry, restlessness, jumpy, trembling and many more
which were clearly visible in case of Stefan too. Several forms of this issue are panic disorder,
obsessive-compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, phobias, generalized anxiety
disorder, social anxiety disorder etc.
As per case of Stefan, certain signs are observed such as uncomfortable walking in the
room, no attention towards dress up and feeling nervous (Cohen & Cohen, 2013). Moreover,
addiction with drug named as nicotine is indicated stains of the same on his fingers with strong
smell of cigarette as well. Additionally, his answer of feeling nervous, never able to sleep,
restlessness, jumpy and fear of surgery as well as being in hospital is not tolerable for him. It is a
first time for him to admitted in medical organisation for a day operation and he is not relaxed as
it is indicated by his action of clenching and unclenching hands. At the same time, he used to
smoke for reducing his fear of surgery and try to make feeling himself comfortable.
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Illustration 1: HOW TO DEAL WITH ANXIETY DISORDERS AND
GAIN PEACE

As per views of Stefan, he was not able to sleep and feeling restlessness which is not
good for his health and may create issues during surgery or post anaesthetic complications. He is
worrying about operation which was indicated by his activity of clenching and unclenching of
hands. A fear of hospital is also observed by his thoughts of get admitted first time and not even
capable to decide anything by his own (Richards & Bergin, 2014). In context of his
psychological situation, he tried to overcome with his fear through go out and have a smoke
repeatedly which may responsible for generating more health problems.
Additionally, a smell of stains of nicotine from his fingers also indicates about his
addiction towards the drugs which are used to reduce nervousness and fear of surgery. Moreover,
apart from observation, his views are very important to know about his situation of anxiety
which are stated by him like a bit nervous, never been in hospital, have not slept, feeling
restlessness and jumpy. Thus, these are all indicates about his problem of anxiety that can be
analysed by nurse (Townsend & Morgan, 2017)
Relaxation techniques to reduce anxiety of Stefan
People usually get nervous and feel scared before surgery and required to be make
relaxed by utilising several techniques or methods. In case of Stefan, it is necessary to make him
comfortable before operation and several practices are required to be implemented for decreasing
his fear as well as anxiety (Grob, 2014). There are various kinds of techniques which are used by
medical professionals and patient to overcome with anxiety. Several methods can be taken by
individual such as get regular exercise, avoid alcohol & recreational drugs, stop smoking, stick to
healthy balanced diet, get enough sleep and apply stress management techniques. It is essential
for medical specialists to make patient knowledgeable about particular surgical procedure and try
to encourage them so that they can take long breathe of satisfaction which reduce fear.
As per situation of Stefan, it is required to carry out several more effective as well as
efficient actions to make him feel relaxed in an appropriate manner as it contributes in better
outcomes of surgery. Moreover, will power should be strong of an individual as it boost up
positive response boost up which facilitates fast recovery of human body (Halpern, 2014). Some
of methods are applicable for in given case study which is helpful to decrease nervousness and
make to feel relaxed that are given below.
Breathing Exercises can be described as to control breathing rate which is very common
method used to manage anxiety of patients as it forces mind, heart and body to slow down
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countering side effects of stress. Stefan used to smoke and take nicotine also which is not good
for health and may create problems in his surgery. Thus, it is essential stop taking cigarettes,
nicotine and other similar products because they increase level of anxiety in person (Thoits,
2013).
Additionally such patients are required to be kept in calm environments which can take
them far away from stress, tension, worry, depression and nervousness which make them feeling
comfortable. It includes to establish a connection of an individual with nature that which create
relaxing environment (Bateman & Fonagy, 2012). Medical speciality should render a potential
morale support top them which make them emotionally strong to undergone specific surgery for
specific purpose.
Information about Diazepam
Anxiety can be reduced by providing several medications such as antidepressants,
benzodiazepines, buspirone, hydroxyzine and beta-blockers for relevant disorders. It is necessary
to determine actual cause of anxiety in patient then select best one medication to sort out
problem in an appropriate manner (Aneshensel, Phelan & Bierman, 2013).
The medical professionals mostly use two antidepressants for treating anxiety disorders
are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake
inhibitors (SNRIs). Thus, SSRIs includes Prozac or Sara-fem (fluoxetine), Celexa (citalopram),
Zoloft (sertraline), Paxil, Paxeva, or Brisdelle (paroxetine) and Lexapro (escitalopram) whereas
SNRIs considers Effexor XR (venlaxafine) & Cymbalta (duloxetine). Additionally,
benzodiazepines involves Xanax, Ativam, Valium (Diazepam) and Klonopin which can be
prescribed by doctors to people to solve anxiety disorders (Clements & Koenig, 2014).
According to the case study, a medication is available which is a diazepam of 5 to 10 mg
and this is considered as a useful medicine to reduce problem of anxiety. The diazepam is a kind
of benzodiazepines which is also known as Valium (Totsika and et. al., 2011). It has vital role to
affect chemicals in brain which may not balanced in people having an issue of anxiety. It is also
utilised to alcohol withdrawal symptoms or muscle spasms and several anxiety disorders. At the
same, it is necessary to determine that patient is allergic to diazepam, having myasthenia gravis,
severe liver disease, narrow-angle glaucoma, a severe breathing problem or sleep apnea because
such people should not take this drug.
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The diazepam is kind of drug having IUPAC name as 7-chloro-1,3-dihydro-1-methyl-5-
phenyl-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin- 2-one with an empirical formula is C16H13ClN2O. It is commonly
known as Valium which generally available for oral administration in form of tablets of 2mg, 5
mg and 10 mg. It helps to allow flow of chloride ions into neurons which leading to membrane
hyper polarisation and reduce neuronal excitability.
The Diazepam drug can be given to Stefan for reducing his anxiety but medical
professionals remain careful while providing this medication as it is similar to addiction drugs.
Thus, minor carelessness can create problem for patient because overdoes and misuse of
Diazepam make person get addicted to the same (Feinstein, Goldfried & Davila, 2012).
Moreover, it is helpful to decrease levels of anxiety as well as help him to avoid nicotine and
habit of taking cigarettes.
CONCLUSION
The above report had concluded that mental health can be explained about stability in
psychological, emotional and social status of a person appropriately. It includes description of
communication skills that can help to Stefan for reducing his nervousness through patiently
listening, non verbal communication, friendliness, empathy open-mindedness and many more
There are several symptoms of anxiety which are observed in given case includes uncomfortable
walking in the room, no attention towards dress up, feeling nervous, clenching and unclenching
hands. Several techniques can be used to reduce Stefan's anxiety like breathing exercises,
provide calming environments and stop taking cigarettes or nicotine.
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REFERENCES
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Creek, J., & Lougher, L. (2011). Occupational therapy and mental health. Elsevier Health
Sciences.
Marsella, A. J., & White, G. (2012). Cultural conceptions of mental health and therapy (Vol. 4).
Springer Science & Business Media.
Morgan, W. P., & Goldston, S. E. (2013). Exercise and mental health. Taylor & Francis.
Reiss, F. (2013). Socioeconomic inequalities and mental health problems in children and
adolescents: a systematic review. Social science & medicine. 90. 24-31.
Cohen, P., & Cohen, J. (2013). Life values and adolescent mental health. Psychology Press.
Richards, P., & Bergin, A. E. (2014). Handbook of psychotherapy and religious diversity.
American Psychological Association.
Townsend, M. C., & Morgan, K. I. (2017). Psychiatric mental health nursing: Concepts of care
in evidence-based practice. FA Davis.
Grob, G. N. (2014). From asylum to community: Mental health policy in modern America (Vol.
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Halpern, D. (2014). Mental health and the built environment: more than bricks and mortar?.
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Thoits, P. A. (2013). Self, identity, stress, and mental health. In Handbook of the sociology of
mental health (pp. 357-377). Springer, Dordrecht.
Bateman, A. W., & Fonagy, P. (Eds.). (2012). Handbook of mentalizing in mental health
practice. American Psychiatric Pub.
Aneshensel, C. S., Phelan, J. C., & Bierman, A. (2013). The sociology of mental health:
Surveying the field. In Handbook of the sociology of mental health (pp. 1-19). Springer,
Dordrecht.
Totsika, V. and et. al., (2011). A population‐based investigation of behavioural and emotional
problems and maternal mental health: Associations with autism spectrum disorder and
intellectual disability. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 52(1). 91-99.
Feinstein, B. A., Goldfried, M. R., & Davila, J. (2012). The relationship between experiences of
discrimination and mental health among lesbians and gay men: An examination of
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internalized homonegativity and rejection sensitivity as potential mechanisms. Journal
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Clements, W. M., & Koenig, H. G. (2014). Aging and God: Spiritual pathways to mental health
in midlife and later years. Routledge.
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