Mental Health Illness

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH 1
Student name
Student No
Unit
Title: Mental Health Illness

MENTAL HEALTH 2
Qn1: Munny’s Mental Health Status.
Mental illness is a disorder that leads to change in one’s behaviours, emotions and
thinking. It has been associated with distress, problems in family, work and social functioning.
According to the WHO (2014), people have mental health issues every day, but it becomes a
concern (mental illness) when the sign and symptoms one is experiencing lead to stress and
affects their activities. According to the case study, Munny’s family is worried about hi mental
health. His job is stressful as he has to wake up by 1 am. In addition, his boss has threatened to
terminate his job in case he does not improve. This has affected his behaviors and also at work
place. His communication at home has changed. His children have been his centre of attention
but he now barely takes notice of them. He is occasionally taking sick leaves and spends his time
in bed whenever at home. His wife further complains that Munny does not attend to any chores
at home anymore. Ary, Munny’s wife is worried because he is showing no interest in food and
his health is deteriorating. Munny goes to the hospital in loose-fitting clothes and does not look
up once he is slumped on his chair. He does not effectively communicate with the nurse but only
responds in mono-syllabic answers.
According to Queens Hospital and University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (2017)
is a structured assessment and analysis of the behaviours and cognitive functioning of a patient.
MSE involves describing the general behaviour and appearance of the patient, their thinking and
perception, how attentive and conscious they are, moods, insight, attitude, their speech and motor
activity, how they react when evoked and their higher cognitive capabilities. The physical
appearance, posture, dressing and patient’s eye contact gives the examiner the overall impression
about the patient. When Munny attended the centre, he is well dressed, though in loosely fitting
clothes. The nurse is able to discern issues in patient’s output and articulation as they (the nurse)

MENTAL HEALTH 3
listen to the patient’s speech. The nurse also notes the patient’s motor activity. Munny could
respond in mono-syllabic answers, a behaviour Skoog et al. (2017) relate to depression and
dementia. Affects and mood examination are important during MSE. Affects describe one’s
emotions and mood explain the patient’s personality as pertains their emotional setup. As
Munny’s wife explains, his husband is no more social with his attending to no chores and
spending most of his time in bed. The psychiatrist also examine the patient’s thoughts and
perception. Skoog et al. (2017) claim that some patients would exhibit signs of being troubled by
some obsessive ideas and thoughts. Munny’s change in behaviour was as due to too much work
stress and fear of losing his job.
Jeste (2013) describes diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders as a manual
that help health care professionals make more accurate diagnostics and improve patient care and
outcomes. To use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder 5, a patient should be
experiencing at least depressive symptoms including pleasure or depressed moods.
Qn2: Contributing factors
Munny has showed no interest in caring for his children as before. He has also lost his
appetite leading to weight loss. Vahia (2013) describes these two as diagnostic signs for
depression. Agius and Goh (2010) claim that the stress vulnerability model explains the causes
of psychiatric disorders, their influence on the patient and how these disorders can be managed.
They claim that vulnerability is one’s susceptibility to mental illness and is associated with the
patient’s past experiences and their genetic makeup. Stress on the other hand, is influenced by
our social support, how we involve in activities and our coping skills. According to Calvete,
Orue and Hankin (2015) environmental stress such as getting fired from a job, having conflicts
and losing a loved one increases one’s vulnerability. Munny’s loss of his mother six months ago