Understanding Mental Health Nursing: Risk Factors, Symptoms, and Treatment

This article provides an overview of mental health nursing, including risk factors, symptoms, and treatment options. It covers different types of mental disorders, such as anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and schizophrenia, and explains how they can affect an individual's daily life and relationships. The article also discusses the prevalence of mental health problems and the importance of seeking treatment.

RUNNING HEAD: MENTAL HEALTH NURSING 1
Mental Health Nursing
Name:
Institution:
Tutor:
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Mental Health Nursing
Previously, I used to belief or think that mental health is a condition that leads to loss of
memory in individuals. Besides, I used to think that mostly it is caused by witchcraft or the
excessive consumption of drugs and substances. With time however, I have come to, understand
mental health as the cognitive, behavioral and finally the emotional well-being of an individual.
In some cases however, the term is used to imply absence of mental disorders (Pelling, 2015).
Mental health has the ability to affect the daily life, the relationships and the physical health of
an individual. I also understand mental health can affect the ability to enjoy life and can also
affect the way one can achieve or rather maintain balance between the activities and efforts to
reach the psychological resilience.
Concerning the risk factors for mental health, I used to think that it mostly involves drug
abuse like marijuana. I used to think and believe that excessive consumption of marijuana like I
have witnessed with most of my friends, leads to mental disorders. In the past five weeks
however, this belief has totally changed as I have learnt that each one of us is at risk of
developing mental disorders regardless of the age, gender and ethnic backgrounds. According to
studies, it is estimated that close to 1 out of 5 Americans suffer or develop mental health
problems on an annual basis. In Australia for example, it was found out that nearly 9.8 million
adults developed mental problems in the year 2015.This is equivalent to 4.8% of the population
which is large or significant enough to raise an alarm (Christensen, Griffiths, & Evans, 2002).
The studies also established that majority of the people with mental disorders will always have
more than one.
Previously, I also thought and had a belief that mental health is just a single condition
which was loss of memory. Whenever I thought of any form of mental disorders, what used to

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come to my mind was loss of memory. I came to believe this since most of the patients I came
across suffering from mental disorders could not recall what they previously did. This notion has
however changed in the past five weeks. I have come to understand that there are different forms
of mental disorders that include anxiety disorders, mood disorders and finally schizophrenia.
After attending lecturers on mental health, I have come to realize that anxiety disorders is the
most prevalent form of mental illness. Anxiety disorders is a condition in which an individual
develops certain fear or anxiety (Hafekost et al., 2016). The anxiety can be linked to certain
objects or occurrences. I realized that most of the people suffering from mental disorders usually
try as much as possible to avoid exposing themselves from the agents that could trigger anxiety. I
have also learnt that some examples of anxiety disorders include panic disorder, phobias,
obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and finally the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
PTSD usually occur when an individual goes through a very traumatizing event (McCornish,
2001). The event might be very frightening for example death of a loved one or a grizzly
accident. OCD on the other hand refers to a condition whereby an individual has obsessions and
compulsions.
Concerning the changes in moods, I used to belief that individuals suffering from mental
disorders get depressed whenever they think of their previous enjoyable life. I have however
come to realize with time that there are different forms of mood disorders and they include major
depression, Bipolar disorders, persistent depressive disorder and the seasonal affective disorder
(SAD).I have learnt in the previous five weeks that seasonal affective disorder is a kind of
depression resulting from lack of daylight (Lawrence, Hafekost, Hull, Mitrou, & Zubrick, 2013).
I previously never knew that lack of daylight can lead to depression. I have learnt that this
condition was known as dysthymia and is a form of mild chronic depression and the patient

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exhibit conditions which are similar to major depression (Grace et al., 2015). I have come to
learn that bipolar disorder which was previously known as manic depressive illness and it
involves the patient switching from the different episodes of euphoria to depression .I never
knew or understood why individuals suffering from mental disorders certainly start to dislike the
things that they previously liked or enjoyed. I have to learn that this is due to what is known as
major depression. It is a condition in which the patient no longer enjoys or likes the things he or
she previously did. I have come to belief that major depression is characterized by extreme
periods of sadness.
Concerning signs and symptoms of mental disorders, I used to think that the only sign is
an individual being too dirty to the extent of walking around in rags and unkempt hair. I have to
learn that the signs and symptoms of mental disorders can be silent or passive (Glied & Frank,
2018). I have come to believe that some of the passive signs and symptoms for mental disorders
include consistent low energy, withdrawal from activities and people they previously used to
enjoy. Sleeping as well as eating too much is also another sign that can signify mental disorders.
Concerning treatment of the mental disorders, I used to think and believe that
marginalization or isolation is the best solution so as to protect the patient from harming other
people. With time however, I have learnt that there are different ways in which the condition can
be treated. The treatment include psychotherapy (Leibowitz & Janssen, 2018). This is a
psychological technique to handle mental disorders. Example of the therapies are Cognitive
behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure therapy and finally dialectical behavior therapy. I also used
to think that medications cure mental disorders. This is not the case however as the medications
only improve on the condition but no permanent cure. In conclusion, the previous five weeks

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have really been instrumental in educating me on some new aspects about mental health.
Personally, I have changed my beliefs, values and opinions about mental health.

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References
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Glied, S., & Frank, R. (2018). The Evolution of Mental Health Policy and Economics.
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