Mental Health Nursing: A Reflective Essay on Clinical Experiences

This essay presents a personal reflection on mental health nursing, emphasizing the importance of understanding mental health as a cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being. It delves into the history of mental health practices, addressing ethical and social issues while highlighting the role of mental health nursing in providing essential care and support. The reflection covers the author's beliefs about the social causes and risk factors associated with mental illness, such as divorce, social isolation, and unemployment, and stresses the significance of positive approaches to support individuals facing mental health challenges. The author reflects on initial anxieties and negative perceptions about mental illness, which were transformed through clinical placements, leading to enhanced self-awareness and a rational understanding of the need for proper support and care to improve patients' quality of life. Prevention methods, including social interaction, community involvement, and encouragement, are suggested to mitigate the critical conditions associated with mental illness, such as self-harm and suicide. The essay concludes by affirming the value of mental health nursing in fostering rational thinking and providing comprehensive care for individuals with mental health disorders.

Mental health nursing

Table of Contents
PERSONAL REFLECTION...........................................................................................................3

PERSONAL REFLECTION
Before starting the reflection it is essential to understand the key concept and neccessties
of the knwoege assoiated with the mental health. Mental health is defined as a cognitive,
behavioural, and emotional well-being of an individual who is facing the issues of mental health.
It is all about the behaviour of the pattern of people thinking, feeling, and many more. There is
an indication which is associated with the mental health that provide knowledge regards with the
absence of mental disorders. Usually, the mental health can affect the daily living relationship
and the physical health of the individual in order to provide support and care to the patient or the
individual who is dealing with the mental health. The mental health nursing is a very essential
role and responsibilities which is helpful to provide the necessities of individual. Moreover, this
report covers the personal reflection that is associated with the mental health nursing by showing
the experiences and various challenges that is occur while clinical expertise in the mental health
(Bocking and et. al., 2019).
While starting the personal reflection on mental health nursing, it is very essential to know
the history of inhumane practices which is performed on mentally ill patient which has given rise
to a variety of professionals, social, as well as ethical issues. With this, all the purpose of mental
health nursing is used to provide issues for the crucial problem that need to be address while
taking the aspect of patient who is facing the issues of mental illness or disease. I strongly
believe that the mental illness has a outcome which is predominantly from various social causes
including the day to day issues, someone death in the family or any event which is painful for the
individual or facing the issues from the childhood. There are some of the risk factors which is
also associated with the mental illness include divorce or separation from partner, social
isolation, or long-term unemployment. I also believe that the people suffering from mental
illness have an issue with their emotional and physical imbalance that makes them weak and
always in a tension for the most of time and try to hide their problem from someone (Frawley
and et. al., 2021).
However, in my standpoint the symptoms of depression or inappropriate mental illness is
usually a noticeable especially when it is associated with family, friends, or colleagues. There are
number of people who are used to suffer from mental illness because of facing rejection and
failure for the longer period and they make them feel worthless. My belief and experiences based
on my knowledge always make a direction to was the approach for the mentally disturbed people

positively. So, that they can help with the proper support and care effectively as a treatment
(Zhou and et. al., 2020). In my opinion, the mental illness is usually occurred due to the social
causes or the risk factor that can easily be prevented from getting the situation more critical by
supporting and helping the people on the personal level. The crucial mental condition or situation
can create the issues of self-harm suicide and sometime the aggressive factor can create harm to
other. Overall, the prevention method which I usually prefer for the people of mental illness that
they must interact with the society and community, where society and community play a vital
role in order to make them feel comfortable analyzing their issues and problems spending quality
time with them and involve the individual in the activities and games to create wellbeing and
resilience. I also approach the individual by encouraging and motivating them for the future that
they suffer from longer periods (Graber and et. al., 2019).
In my viewpoint, mental illness is also known as a psychiatric disorder that usually affect
the individual’s way of thinking behavior, and interaction with the peoples within the community
or the society upon the form of reflection. I also felt that my anxiety was largely due to mind
negative perception about the mental illness. Especially, my belief that mentally ill people are
violent and dangerous. These views are thinking is not only as an outcome that regarded with the
lack of knowledge about the mental disorders. It will occur due to the impact of negative media
and cultural stereotypes that I had grown up with. Before my clinical placements, I used to be
fear with the patient and used to be reluctant to deal with them. Now, I have enhanced my self-
awareness and developed rational thinking that mental illness patient requires proper support and
care in order to improve their quality of life and standard of living (Horgan and et. al., 2018).
As per the above discussion, it is analyzed that mental health nursing is a clinical placement
that requires in order to provide support and care to the number of individuals who are facing
risk and issues with mental health. Moreover, mental health nursing provides self-awareness and
developed rational thinking about the mental illness and disorders positively. However, it is very
essential to provide support and care to the individual who is dealing with the mental illness for
or improving their life and provide better respect of thinking towards their future.
Books and Journals

Bocking and et. al., 2019. ‘It is meant to be heart rather than head’; International perspectives of
teaching from lived experience in mental health nursing programs. International journal of
mental health nursing, 28(6), pp.1288-1295.
Frawley and et. al., 2021. The impact of COVID-19 on health systems, mental health and the
potential for nursing. Irish journal of psychological medicine, 38(3), pp.220-226.
Graber and et. al., 2019. Comparison of mental health nursing student academic achievement and
satisfaction: classroom versus online education in teaching therapeutic crisis management
techniques. Issues in mental health nursing, 40(3), pp.247-251.
Horgan and et. al., 2018. ‘To be treated as a human’: Using co‐production to explore experts by
experience involvement in mental health nursing education–The COMMUNE
project. International journal of mental health nursing, 27(4), pp.1282-1291.
Zhou and et. al., 2020. The role of telehealth in reducing the mental health burden from COVID-
19. Telemedicine and e-Health, 26(4), pp.377-379.