The Role of Mental Health Professionals

This assignment explores the importance of mental health professionals in facilitating recovery for individuals with mental illnesses, particularly schizophrenia. It delves into the concept of recovery and how it can be achieved through a personalized approach, focusing on the individual's lived experience. The role of healthcare professionals is discussed, emphasizing their need to care with consumers rather than just caring for them.

Outlining Practice of Mental Health
Nursing from lived experience of
Sandy Jeff
Student Name: Student ID:
Subject Name: Subject ID: NRSG210
Date Due: Professor Name:
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Mental health professionals need to align their services for recovery of patients according
to lived experience (Le Boutillier 2011). Recovery might vary amongst patients, mental health
professionals can design recovery matched to individual client’s need. Principles of recovery in
mental health practice enables overcoming situation which an individual faces with mental
disabilities. These principles rightly pointed at recovery being not synonymous with cure.
Implying health professionals providing recovery has to develop a connection meant at
empowerment and healing instilling in a positive culture. Hertfordshire Partnership NHS
Foundation Trust Recovery Principles UK have adopted uniqueness of individual, real choices,
dignity and respect, attitude and rights, partnership and communication and evaluating
recovery as being pillars for recovery. Uniqueness of the individual directs recovery process to
make more meaningful and satisfying for making a purposeful life. It adopts unique nature of the
person for empowering them towards social inclusion. Real choices empower individuals to
make choices related to their mental health care themselves. Dignity and respect provides
courteous and sensitive interactions for individuals for their beliefs, culture and values. Attitudes
and rights includes listening and then acting on such communications. Partnership and
communications involves communicating clearly with individuals needing help in a realistic
manner. Evaluating recovery is a more con tenuous process focused on enabling individuals to
track their own progress.
Personal recovery for any individual is a journey, who experiences psychosis distress
hence has to be supported by experience of healthcare professionals. In cases of patients
experiencing schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders it becomes important to explore core
principles of self-determination, as the live they select to live in becomes relevant. Slades,
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Amering and Oades (2008) Recovery procedures not only extinguishes symptoms of disorders
rather it is an unique experience that individuals adopt for the journey they experience (Slade
2008). Recovery for patients Sandy Jeff, who has been facing schizophrenia for past 35 years,
has to be self-inflicted. She is a renowned poet who defines her madness by using several verbs
in uploaded YouTube video. Healthcare professionals who work exclusively towards patient’s
individual goals then it is more likely that they will in turn engage with them. The scope of this
current analysis deals with Sandy Jeff, who felt distraught was locked up in a mental asylum. She
is treated badly as a lunatic which is clearly reflected in her poems as she remains locked up in a
room. This shows the gap that healthcare professionals have not been able to communicate with
her appropriately. She does not rely on her psychiatrists as he treats his all patients similarly as
mad persons. Healthcare professionals in mental health nursing needs to attend to individualistic
needs and not cater to everyone in similar manner. Their role exists for rendering greater benefits
to patients in charting their road to success.
Individuals facing mental illness gain recovery through installing in hope, engaging in
personal autonomy. Recovery principles have been adapted from the Hertfordshire Partnership
NHS Foundation Trust Recovery Principles, UK. Lived experience refers to an individual state
or condition, when faced with mental health condition. Healthcare professionals need to
understand lived experience prior to proposing a plan for consumer recovery. When a person
faces mental distress in psychosis then she should be supported by experience to help her recover
her current state or condition. Recovery is a journey where different people might select different
approaches towards integration in case disorder is examined (Gabrielsson 2015). In most of the
cases consumer prefers not to analyse disorder as it might lead to depression. AS in case of
Sandy Jeff, she already feels depressed by her current mental conditions and the way she is being
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treated. It is well indicated form the YouTube video that she is treated and might be also called a
lunatic and mad person by health professionals and other professionals where she is being given
care. Her similar feelings are expressed when she talks about ABC OPEN: Bearing Witness from
Speak You Mind, Medicated and Street poetry reading in spoken words from Sandy Jeff are two
prominent poems that speaks volumes regarding her feelings. As explained by several authors
that when a person experiences poor mental health then they are mentally exhausted and in
despair. They are unable to realize their selves and are more reliant on medication as it provides
a steady escape from their current conditions without much to engage in. The process of recovery
can be exhaustive and often require more engagement than a consumer of mental health
condition can deal with. Here the role of a professional is integral as they make consumers
realize their internal voices and lowers dosage of medication such that consumers can participate
in the process of self-recovery rather than depending upon medication. There are no single mode
to recovery which healthcare professionals in mental health needs to realize and offer their
consumers.
Meehan, King, Beavis and Robinson (2008) proposed that recovery is a personalized and
highly individualistic in nature, therefore healthcare professionals need to develop in-depth
understanding of patients prior to proposing a plan (Meehan 2008). In absence of in-depth
understanding patient as Sandy Jeff will not be able to gain hope or engage abilities of writing
poems again. She will not be able to live an active life of personal autonomy, establish social
identity again or have a purpose of life with a positive self-sense. Recovery has to be made
synonymous with cure as psychiatrists and other healthcare professionals merely was successful
in establishing Sandy Jeff as a mad person, by locking her away in a house with other lunatics.
She deeply felt that her case was different, hence she should have been treated in a separate
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manner compared to others. She lost all hopes, empowerment, connections and healing as her
internal conditions deteriorated. Healthcare professionals in her case was unable to provide
external care needed to facilitate recovery process (Ng, 2011). Meaning that healthcare
professionals was not able to apply National framework for recovery-oriented mental health
services guide for practioner and providers. Recovery principles as adapted from Hertfordshire
Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Recovery Principles in UK, states regarding uniqueness of an
individual, real choices, attitudes and rights, dignity and respect, partnership and communication
and finally evaluation of process of recovery.
Healthcare professionals need to provide external condition for facilitating the process of
recovery by implementing human rights, recovery oriented services within a positive culture of
healing. Frese III, Knight and Saks (2009) established a recovery process for schizophrenic
patients by ensuring mental health services are delivered in a manner that meets needs of mental
health patients (Frese III 2009). Healthcare professionals should not be fixed on a single method
of recovery of consumers, as case of Sandy Jeff experiencing mental condition is unique to
others. Studies establish that almost 75% individuals experiencing schizophrenia have a recovery
journey based on living life according to their own terms. This implies that recovery process is
research studies for this condition is focused on personal approach which is self-directed. While
many health professionals disagrees of ways to recovery by means of measuring or taking
decisions regarding recovery processes. However consumers feel that professionals are not at
decision making end for arriving at a suitable process for them. Earlier traditional mechanisms
involved in recovery of an individual diagnosed with schizophrenia is given antipsychotic
medication and then made to engage with the social environment (Tew, 2012). Meaning here
professionals have interchanged and made use of the concept of recovery and cure which cannot
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be applied for this conditions. In traditional method a person post giving medication is made to
go back to normal life engagement as if the condition never prevailed.
Contemporary approach developed by William Anthony analyses the process of recovery
by not only considering symptoms but also there cessation. According to his recovery process
the individual is made to move beyond symptoms by reassessing their goals along with
aspirations by assuming newer capabilities. Healthcare professionals have to indulge in sense of
lived experience to help consumer overcome one’s own condition and establish new sets of goals
and aspirations. For Sandy Jeff’s case, it can be ascertained that she needed to be counseled by
communicating with her. She had been directed and cured inappropriately by ignoring her
understanding of her poetic nature and lyrical capabilities. Pouncey and Lukens (2010) diagnose
the ethical tension between madness and the path to self-recovery (Pouncey 2010). Professionals
tend to provide similar services for all consumers facing mental conditions, which lead to
concealing a mental disorder. There is an ethical tension of way of establishing self-directed
recovery as against madness. Individuals who have been helped in their recovery process by
identifying a suitable method for them are able to carry on with their normal lives. While others
prefer to keep quite regarding their mental disorder in case they had gone through an
inappropriate treatment phase. Schizophrenic patients if directed towards self-recovery process
are capable of returning to their independent living and roles. Sandy Jeff in this case was made to
recover from her current stage, where she can easily go back into writing poems and other lyrics
contributing to the society in a rich manner (Jeff, 2002). Role of a professional in mental health
care is immense as they are ones who guide consumers in a knowledgeable manner. Healthcare
professional in this domain needs to care with consumers rather than care for consumers.
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Meaning they need to engage themselves in the process of self-recovery for a lived experience
path to recovery.
Schizophrenia is a debatable mental illness affecting a significant portion of the
population. Clinical and personal recovery plan has to be focused on similar goals to overcome
challenges faced in this illness. Recovery is a challenging process that needs to be defined
individually for each and every consumer. Healthcare professionals needs to identify differences
that allows them to set individualistic goals for consumer benefits. Contemporary process of
mental recovery focuses on set of process of care rather than cure, meaning professionals need to
make a change from medication to self-directed communicative recovery process. Individual
facing schizophrenia is bound to face other challenges as social isolation, loss of self-identity and
stigma hence care has to be directed to inflict a positive sense of self within the individual.
Professionals has to design recovery as per lived experience of individuals facing mental ill
health to collaborate with them and work towards a full process of personal recovery.
Reference Lists
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Frese III, F. J., Knight, E. L., & Saks, E. (2009). Recovery from schizophrenia: With views of
psychiatrists, psychologists, and others diagnosed with this disorder. Schizophrenia
bulletin, 35(2), 370-380.
Gabrielsson, S., Sävenstedt, S., & Zingmark, K. (2015). Person‐centred care: clarifying the
concept in the context of inpatient psychiatry. Scandinavian journal of caring
sciences, 29(3), 555-562.
Jeff, S. (2002). A Thesaurus of Madness. In Jeff, S, Poems from the madhouse (2nd ed.).(pp 77-
78) North Melbourne, Vic.: Spinifex, Poem in written words (pp 77-78)
Le Boutillier, C., Leamy, M., Bird, V. J., Davidson, L., Williams, J., & Slade, M. (2011). What
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