Mental Health Service Report: Analysis of Trauma and Substance Use

This report analyzes a mental health service case, focusing on the impact of trauma and substance use on a patient. The report identifies and discusses three key issues: changes in attitude and appearance, depression, and non-cognitive abilities, all supported by relevant literature. It then explores the collaboration between the nurse and the patient, highlighting how behavioral cues can inform treatment strategies and promote personal recovery. The report further examines the application of trauma-informed care principles, including safety, trustworthiness, collaboration, and peer support, to effectively engage with consumers and improve their outcomes. The analysis emphasizes the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in mental health service provision.

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Table of Contents
Identification of the issue:...............................................................................................................3
Discussion on the chosen issue:.......................................................................................................4
Collaboration between the person and nurses:................................................................................5
Recommendation by using trauma informed care principles:.........................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10
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Identification of the issue:
Mental health is the culmination of the environmental and social as well as personal
manifestation of the experiences in our lives. Some of the incidents leave a deep impact which is
detrimental to one's health and disturbs the fine balance of characters. About 90% of the mental
health issues originate from complex traumatic past experiences. The visualisation of such
experiences can be immediate or may also be seen in future. The use of trauma informed practice
model decreases the symptoms as has been shown in the studies done on the people of drug
abuse. There is a significant improvement in the daily functioning of the consumers and decrease
in the number of hospitalization due to crisis. The cost of trauma informed services is not more
than the standard services but has more successful implementation and effect. The patients
undergoing such practice models show greater skills and self-sufficiency with improved morale
and positive outlook (Raja et al. 2015).
We should integrate the trauma informed practice among the health and human services systems
to impart sufficient and appropriate help to the people who need them. There should be e
efficient Soma informs services which provide interventions as and when necessary to address
the consequences of such traumatically experiences. The three issues that I can point out is:
1. Change in the attitude and appearance
2. Depression
3. Non cognitive abilities
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Discussion on the chosen issue:
Change in the attitude and appearance: The patients of drug use show significant change in
the attitude and appearance. Due to the overuse of drugs and other substances, the normal
personality of the individual undergoes a radical change. There is a significant increase in
fidgeting, restlessness and recurring health issues. The body’s inner workings undergo the most
noticeable changes. The body is tolerance to a drug increases with advanced uses. As such the
patient needs to you take more and more drugs to overcome such tolerances by the body and
achieve the previous effects of the drugs. As per the Kenny et al., (2017).the individuals keep on
increasing the dosage to such a maximum limit that it may cause overdose with fatal
consequences. There is significant change in the attitude of the patients as well. They tend to
have much lower patience and angry very easily. In the video, Lisa cannot formulate the
articulate reason behind her continuous suspicion offer boyfriend. She sleeps outside with a knife
with her. This is because she suspects that there are cameras located inside the house all
throughout and people are observing her and keeping track of her actions
Depression: The patience of drug abuse also face severe depression due to unreasonable and
invalid reasons. They tend to react very emotionally to certain trivial occurrences which are
not connected to the patient in any way. They also cannot provide valid reasons for the actions
done by them. As per the World Health Organization (2017), There is significant change in the
attitude of the patients as well. They tend to have much lower patience and angry very easily.
They tend to become more reclusive with each passing day. They sever social and familial ties
and spend a lone lifestyle which proves more damaging to the substance use and depression.
The depression may also drive the patients to extreme measures. Lisa suffers from acute
depression and has seek help from the competent authorities. To fight for depression Lisa has
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left her parents home and moved in with her boyfriend to get away from the past and lead a
normal life. due to depression she was unable to continue and relapsed into using the drugs
again.
Non cognitive abilities: The cognitive abilities of a drug user undergo heavy change in the
cognitive functions of the individual. There is a clear disconnection from the real world and
the patient seems to be involved in a complete different reality altogether. As is a case of
Lisa, she has difficulties in maintaining a strong connection with the real world while the
interview was going on. She seems to be involved in conversation with non-existent entities
and was making hand gestures to them. She also confessed to sleeping with knife to protect
her from her boyfriend home she suspected of inserting a device into a stomach (Zeanah,
2018). This was completely baseless but was suggested by some non-existent characters.
The imaginary characters also suggested that she was being observed through cameras
planted in the house. Hence she slipped outside the house in a bench to avoid the cameras.
The other indicator was that she seems to have misplaced her medicines which she cannot
locate now.
Collaboration between the person and nurses:
There are definite indicators of mental health problems due to drug use and other
substances. There are common patterns between the different patients of drug use. These
patterns could be studied by the nurses and applied in the existing patients to formulate an
effective strategy to know about the condition of the patient. The nurse could deduce certain
pattern in the patient by observing these behavioural cues. In the case of Lisa there are
significant changes in the appearance and attitude which are indicators of deteriorating
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mental health. As is noticed in the initial stages of the interview, Lisa was not her original
self. She was not looking as intelligent as she normally does. This is an indicator of relapse
in drug using patients (Machtinger et al. 2019). Lisa also admittedly told the interviewer
that she had been taking drugs again. She was also fidgeting much more and was avoiding
an eye contact with the interviewer. This indicates that the patient was feeling restless and
was not calm during the interview process. These behavioural oddities could easily be
noticed by the interviewer to know of the state of mind of the patient and any changes from
the last interview session could be referred as a base. In comparison to the last interview
session where she was much more calm and collected, now she was not her original self-due
to starting the use of drugs again. As she has not been taking the medication prescribed to
her by the nurses and doctors, she was also much more vulnerable to relapse into her old
habit of drug abuse. Lisa was also suffering from depression. She always had a constant fear
of being harmed by someone else. She was unable to process the reality of the situation and
was talking to some imaginary figures. Although she was able to answer the questions of
the interviewer sufficiently, she was unable to remember details of certain circumstances.
She without any reason suspected her boyfriend of wrongdoing. This was suggested by her
imaginary entities. They told her that she was continuously being watched and observed so
cameras installed in the house. This was completely baseless as there were no cameras
inside the house and certainly not for keeping an eye on Lisa. This idea of being watched
was not well founded and she was unable to reason out of this situation. As she was using
drugs again, she trusted her imaginary friends and was unable to differentiate between the
reality and the fickle mindedness due to drug abuse. She also suspected that her boyfriend
was intended on harming her (Townsend & Morgan, 2017). When Lisa was asked by the
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interviewer if her boyfriend had hurt her before, she confessed that she was never hurt by
her boyfriend. This is the interviewer to believe that Lisa's suspicion was not well founded.
The result of the suspicion was so severe that she was sleeping outside the house to escape
from the watchful eyes on the cameras. She also kept a night with her while she slept on the
chair in order to defend you from any potential dangers from her boyfriend. What can also
be taken from the interview is that Lisa to some extent knows about her conditions and she
sought the help of the services of drug abuse nurses. This gives a meaningful perspective to
Lisa that she wants to change what she was doing and that it was wrong and unfounded.
Lisa also admittedly told the interviewer that she had been taking drugs again. She was also
fidgeting much more and was avoiding an eye contact with the interviewer. This indicates
that the patient was feeling restless and was not calm during the interview process. These
behavioural deviations could easily be observed by the interviewer to know of the state of
mind of the patient and any changes from the last interview session could be referred as a
base. The cognitive abilities of Lisa were also not functioning efficiently. This can be
deduced from her constant lack of attention in the interview why the interviewer had to
repeat the questions to get a satisfactory answer. She was constantly looking here and there
and avoiding eye contact with the interviewer meaning lesser consciousness. She was
scratching her head and hand and eyes again and again she also admitted that she was not
feeling well which is not what she said in the last interview session. She has also miss
placed her medication and couldn't seem to find them in spite of searching repeatedly for it.
The only hope is that she knows that she needs help up and has come to the interviewer for
help.
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Recommendation by using trauma informed care principles:
The trauma informed care principles must be critically applied while engaging with the
patients by the nurses. They can be summarised as follows:
1. Safety: It is very much essential for the patient to feel safe in the environment of the
treatment. This is important because when the patient feels safe then only the individual will
divulge details of the problems faced by them due to drug abuse (Becker-Blease, 2017).
2. Trustworthiness and transparency: The patients must be able to trust the organisation will be
humiliating details of the problems faced by the individual due to drug use. Transparency must
also be maintained by the organisation with the patient and always inform the individual about
the actions formulated for the action plan to work effectively.
3. Collaboration and mutuality: The nurse is responsible for identifying the various problems
with the patient and so must work with other relevant departments in treating the problems
sufficiently (Bassuket al, 2017).
4. Peer support and mutual self-help: It is essential for the victims of drug use to have the
support of the surrounding people in mitigation of the problem and to continuously work
towards bettering the individual’s condition.
The nurse had taken permission from the patient before contacting the relevant authorities for
further treatment. The nurse works to identify the problems and the doctors work to rectify the
problems through medication and suggestions. Thus, Lisa's interviewer has chosen a
competent individual for treating Lisa further. This is essential for the complete treatment of
the patient and also to get a second opinion about the problem to efficiently identify the issues
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and corroborate the action plan outlined by the nurse. Thus, the different wings of the drug
abuse control and mitigation department must work in tandem to progress and cure Lisa of her
conditions. It must also be pointed out that, the nurse could also get expert guidance in regards
to the specific symptoms and thus would treat Lisa best.
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References
Kenny, M. C., Vazquez, A., Long, H., & Thompson, D. (2017). Implementation and program
evaluation of trauma-informed care training across state child advocacy centers: An
exploratory study. Children and Youth Services Review, 73, 15-23.
Machtinger, E. L., Davis, K. B., Kimberg, L. S., Khanna, N., Cuca, Y. P., Dawson-Rose, C., ...
& Blanch, A. (2019). From treatment to healing: inquiry and response to recent and
past trauma in adult health care. Women's Health Issues, 29(2), 97-102.
Raja, S., Hasnain, M., Hoersch, M., Gove-Yin, S., & Rajagopalan, C. (2015). Trauma
informed care in medicine. Family & community health, 38(3), 216-226.
Townsend, M. C., & Morgan, K. I. (2017). Psychiatric mental health nursing: Concepts of
care in evidence-based practice. FA Davis, 29(2), 97-102.
World Health Organization. (2017). Depression and other common mental disorders:
global health estimates (No. WHO/MSD/MER/2017.2). World Health Organization.
Zeanah, C. H. (Ed.). (2018). Handbook of infant mental health. 4th ed. Guilford
Publications. Spain
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