Comparing and Contrasting Mental Health Theories in Nursing Practice

This essay provides a comprehensive comparison and contrast of two prominent mental health theories: interpersonal theory and behavioral theory. The paper begins by introducing each theory, including historical context, key figures, and core concepts. It explores the origins and development of interpersonal theory by Harry Stack Sullivan, emphasizing the impact of social forces and interpersonal relationships on mental health. Additionally, it examines behavioral theories, focusing on the contributions of Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B.F. Skinner, highlighting classical and operant conditioning principles. The essay then delves into the similarities and differences between the two theories, particularly how early experiences and repetition shape behavior. Furthermore, it discusses the practical applications of each theory within nursing practice, with examples of patient scenarios. The paper concludes by integrating the theories to evaluate patient needs and family’s existing state, emphasizing how these theories establish a theoretical framework for nursing and can improve training practices.

Running Head: MENTAL HEALTH
Mental Health
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date
Introduction

MENTAL HEALTH
Theories and models in the ground of young nursing are used by mental health
professionals to establish the bases of performance and to strategize important schemes.
Interpersonal Theory
Harry was born in Norwich in a low-income family (Evans, 2006). He joined Chicago
College where he did medicine and surgery. According to Evans (2006) disorders and
personality were as a result of social forces and interpersonal situations. He sees being lonely and
anxiety as the most painful human experience. Anxiety in children is still based on perceived
degrees of agreement or disagreement on the primary caregiver (Evans, 2006).
Application
The theory forms a theoretical basis interpersonal, psychotherapy for schizophrenia, and
depression. It guides the therapists and challenges maladaptive behaviors and views that are
distorted.
Behavioral Theories
Based on Angell (2013) Ivan Pavlov was born in 1849 in Russia; he left his carrier in the
theological school to be a scholar in science. Pavlov investigated classical conditioning in 1927,
where external stimuli that were conditioned affected the dog's behavior. After the bell rang, the
dog became conditioned that it still salivated even in absence of food.
According to Moore (2011) Watson was born in 1978 in South America and started the
psychological school of behaviorism. In 1930 He satisfied that personality traits and responses,
adaptive and maladaptive, were studied. Watson conditioned a nine years old child to be scared
at the sight of white hair. He concluded that anybody could be trained in behavioral techniques.
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MENTAL HEALTH
Skinner was born in 1904 in Pennsylvania, he studied at Harvard, and his work was to
investigate the behavior of the organism (McLeod, 2015). His occupation was psychology. His
research was based on positive and negative reinforcement and their consequences.
Application
Skinner's theory is applied in education development, where both positive and negative
reinforcement leads to good results. Pavlov's method is used in generating both positive and
negative emotional responses.
Similarities
The two theories are similar in that; interpersonal approach, the behavior change of the
child is motivated by the parents when the child grows. In behavioral theory the change is
contributed by repetition of an occurrence as many times as possible.
Differences
The difference between the two theories is that; interpersonal theory depends on the early
training, which affects the individual throughout life and depends on the first caregiver while
behavioral theory deals with learning at any stage of life in which repetition brings about a
responses
Based on Rasmun, Pramono, Hilda & Sipasulta (2018) the interpersonal theory allows the
client's needs to be accessed. The approach helps the nurses to understand their behavior to help
the clients .An example where the argument is useful is with patients diagnosed with cancer and
their families. The theory educates about the treatment, how to care for their patient in their
home setting, and encourages enrollment in studies.
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MENTAL HEALTH
In nursing practice, behavioral theory shows the importance of what is going on in the
healthcare environment. Considering an example with people without lots of experience in the
hospital may visit a friend who is sick. In contrast, in the friend's room, the visitor may smell
offensive odors, light-headed, and feel uneasy. After this visit and other repeated visits to the
hospital there is a feeling of nausea and anxiety, which is conditioned response.
Conclusion
The above theories are integrated in mental health field to evaluate patient and family’s
existing state. It is seen that the theories establish the theoretical framework of nursing. Thus, the
use of above theories in young nursing can be understood and the concept based training
practices can be increased. This makes positive input to young nursing occupation.
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MENTAL HEALTH
References
Angell, B. (2013). Behavioral theory. In Encyclopedia of social work.
Evans III, F. B. (2006). Harry Stack Sullivan: interpersonal theory and psychotherapy (Vol. 3).
Routledge.
McLeod, S. (2015). Skinner-operant conditioning. Retrieved from.
Moore, J. (2011). Behaviorism. The Psychological Record, 61(3), 449-463.
Rasmun, R., Pramono, J. S., Hilda, H., & Sipasulta, G. C. (2018). Implementation of Behavioral
Theory in Learning of Competency-Based Nursing Practices. Health Notions, 2(8), 874-
877.
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