Mental Health Nursing

This document discusses the importance of mental health assessment in understanding the cognitive and behavioral aspects of patients. It provides insights into the case scenario of Alison Wells and her mental state assessment.

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT
NAME OF THE STUDENT
NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY
AUTHOR NOTE

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Answer 1
As mentioned in the paper of Heilbrun et al. (2014), mental State assessment is the
structured assessment process inclusive of aspects that helps to analyze the cognitive and
behavioral aspects of patients that are suffering from mental health concerns and has been
involved in the assessment methodology. It is useful in understanding any person’s emotional
and cognitive functioning as it helps to develop a cross sectional analysis and through that
analyses the mental state of the patient (Rust and Golombok 2014). To understand the behavioral
functioning, it analyses their general behavior and consciousness, speech, and insightful
activities. For cognitive functioning, analysis of reasoning ability, memory and alertness
determine the cognitive functioning of patients.
Answer 2
In the case scenario of Alison Wells, while meeting the psychiatrist, her appearance and
behavior was observed closely. In this situation of psychiatric interview, the first aspect of
appearance looked timid and untidy. Her hair, her appearance and her clothes were messy, but
she was wearing clean clothes. Secondly, her behavior included nervousness and miserable
attitude and as she was constantly picking her nails. Her extreme nervousness could be identified
from the fact that she did not make eye contact with the psychiatrist in the entire session.
Another aspect of her behavior included constant tearfulness and anxiety (Fonagy 2018).
Answer 3
As mentioned by Schore (2015), mood and affect are the most crucial aspects of Mental
state Assessment and both of these are interconnected with each other. However, while analyzing
their differences, their definitions should be analyzed. As per Schore (2015), mood is a holistic

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and sustainable emotion which effects a person for a longer time, on the other hand, affect, as per
Fonagy (2015), is an immediate and sudden emotion that cumulatively portrays the mood of the
person. Alison’s affect were observed through her tearfulness in few answers, her facial
expressions and her agony portrayed her affect.
Answer 4
While analyzing the speech of Alison Wells, it should be mentioned that her tearful
episodes affected her responses and due to this, she was observed with replying with long
pauses, smaller phrases and fragmented sentences. Further, it was also seen that her emotional
nature, her sorrow and agonies affected her speech due to which psychiatrist was unable to
understand her replies.
Answer 5
In the process of Mental State Assessment method for Alison Wells, multiple series of
symptoms associated with her depression condition was observed. As per Valstar et al. (2014), it
was seen that the first sign and symptom associated with her depression condition was her
affected mood and her tearful nature. She was nervous and was feeling sorry for her behavior
towards her children and her boyfriend, due to which she was constantly feeling tearful. She
mentioned of lack of concentration, her improper and affected thought process. These are the
symptoms that indicated towards her depression condition.
Answer 6
While analyzing the Mental State assessment process conducted with Alison Wells, her
distorted and affected mental health was also observed. In the psychotherapeutic interview

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process, she mentioned of using paracetamol or alcohol in higher dose to kill herself. This
indicated towards her affected mental health and distorted cognitive thinking due to which she
developed suicidal thinking attempted this with overdose of medication. There might be multiple
reasons such as her inability to focus on her children, her inability to overcome her financial
lacking as well as inability to maintain her relationships could affected her mental health
condition due to which her physical health condition affected (Hagen, Knizek and Hjelmeland
2017).
Answer 7
In case of Alison Wells mental health assessment in the given psychological interview, it
was mentioned by the patient that she consumed paracetamol and alcohol high dosage to attempt
suicide. This was important information which would be used in her clinical risk assessment. As
mentioned in the paper of Turecki and Brent (2016), while analyzing the clinical risk assessment
of mentally affected patients, it is important to analyze the suicidal aspects and mental wellness
of the patients so that with their thoughts and beliefs about death and life, they risk factors and
their level of risks are analyzed. As she attempted twice to finish her own life with medicinal and
alcohol overdose, her clinical risk is severe and from this information, it could easily be inferred
that her mental health, her psychological health as well as her physical health could be affected if
such aspects are left untreated. Further, her loss of gait, her nervousness and her lack of
confidence could be among few aspects that were affected in her mental health condition
(Hagen, Knizek and Hjelmeland 2017).

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Answer 8
While analyzing the mental health assessment of Alison wells, it is important to analyze
her emotional and cognitive abilities as this will help the psychiatrist to understand her level of
mental peace. Further, as per Henry et al. (2016), it helps the psychologists to apply interventions
and therapies to make the patient overcome their mental health condition. As cognition and
emotion are interdependent on each other, improper functionality of one could easily affect
another and hence, assessment would focus any one of these for analysis. Therefore, while
conducting the assessment of Alison, a properly structured assessment method targeting her
cognition level will be used aiming for analyzing her mental stability and her constructive
thinking. Further, she will be asked for her own ways to deal with mental health complications
and then depending upon her mental condition and her ability to figure out solution should help
to analyse her mental and cognitive abilities (Pachankis 2014). Therefore, these aspects would be
included for her overall judgement about her mental health condition.
Answer 9
In this clinical psychological interview process of Alison Wells, multiple risk factors both
mental and physical, from mild to extreme severity level has been identified in the provided case
study. While observing her biophysical mental state assessment, it was seen that her appearance
is timid, miserable and messy. She is concerned of her financial debts and she is not being able to
focus on her children and her relationship. Her clinical risk related to mental health is both static
and dynamic and within static risks loneliness and financial debts prevail. Further, it was also
seen that her affect, her mood, her loss of confidence and gait included in her dynamic risks. Due
to these risks, it was observed that she tried to finish her life and attempered suicide twice with

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high dose of paracetamol medication and with alcohol. Her obesity could be an important
physical health condition that affected her mental and physical health condition mildly and
multiple environmental, physical and mental stressors also imparted in her occurrence of mental
health condition. While mentioning stressors, it should be mentioned that these stressors are
associated with her inability of taking care of her own children, maintaining good relationship
with her boyfriend and hence, he mental and physical health condition affected (Henry et al.
2016).
Answer 10
This mental health assessment process was conducted in the presence of the psychiatric
expert and in her observation, in the case scenario; all the mental and physical health condition
of Alison was mentioned. The first aspect that should be mentioned in this aspect is her
identified and assessed depression condition and she should be provided with effective
intervention so that her mental health treatment could become successful and her equation with
her children and her boyfriend could be restored. In this aspect,, the research of Pachankis (2014)
should be mentioned as they mentioned that application of cognitive behavioral therapy under
the recovery oriented aspect should be implemented with application of these theories and
interventions, the patient could be provided with abilities to develop coping skills and abilities
that would help her to maintain and overcome any critical mental and physical stress condition.
Another set of researchers Linehan et al. (2015), mentioned that recovery oriented therapies
helps the patient to involve in their own mental and physical healthcare interventions and thus
provide them with self goals and aspirations that help them to overcome their complication
rapidly. In this situation, the patient suffering from mental and physical complications become
important stakeholders in the healthcare process and are given higher importance so that they

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could develop effective interventions to improve their health conditions. Further, with
application of cognitive behavioral therapy in the care process is termed as one such effective
approach using which patients suffering from mental health condition are able to obtain
intervention for their effective and cognitive and constructive thinking abilities (Hutton and
Taylor 2014). Further, it should also be mentioned that in this condition, she will be included in
the counseling sessions for four weeks consecutively for improvement in her mental condition
and her development of her constructive and developed as well as realigned thought processes.
Besides this, it will also help her to developing coping abilities so that in her low and critical life
conditions she could face them effectively. Finally, in such condition, she will also be provided
with health education and literacy about the facility of Australian single mother stipend so that
her financial debts could be compensated and she can focus on her children’s educational and
other needs.

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References
Fonagy, P., 2018. Affect regulation, mentalization and the development of the self. Routledge.
Hagen, J., Knizek, B.L. and Hjelmeland, H., 2017. Mental health nurses' experiences of caring
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nursing, 31(1), pp.31-37.
Heilbrun, K., DeMatteo, D., Holliday, S.B. and LaDuke, C. eds., 2014. Forensic mental health
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Henry, J.D., Von Hippel, W., Molenberghs, P., Lee, T. and Sachdev, P.S., 2016. Clinical
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Schore, A.N., 2015. Affect regulation and the origin of the self: The neurobiology of emotional
development. Routledge.

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Turecki, G. and Brent, D.A., 2016. Suicide and suicidal behaviour. The Lancet, 387(10024),
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Valstar, M., Schuller, B., Smith, K., Almaev, T., Eyben, F., Krajewski, J., Cowie, R. and Pantic,
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