Mental Health Care Professionals
Just how are they viewed when they become the ‘vulnerable patient?’
Updated on 20.05.22 by author.
Everyone gets ill in their lifetime, either physically or mentally, we all are aware of this of course.
Over the course of human existence and growth, there are immunizations for this physical infection, that virus, and the many other germs or contagions, but what of our very own mental health?
Strangely enough, there is not a vaccine or cure available for mental ill-health even today in the 21st century. Albeit the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) industries are in development for use in mental health
I have to say that as a nurse, I have worked in general nursing care sections whereby AI is being used to good effect, but mental health… NO. This field will always need to have the primary input from human beings; would you trust an AI to engage with you if you were suicidal… I certainly would not. Would you want to be restrained by an AI instead of a real human being, if you were too ill to keep yourself or others safe?
After all, every human member of our society today has mental health. This is simply a part of the human genetic makeup that makes us unique and individual.
Mental health has a fine balance when it comes to good & not so good…
It is through our development as we grow, the inequalities that we face, the many and varied events that we are exposed to throughout our lives, and the religious, and cultural standards that we live by.
These alone are all life experiences that we encounter, that play a part in determining whether our mental health stays healthy, or heads toward the troublesome realm that is mental ill-health.
Wouldn’t it be great if life was as easy as this sign shows in the image above?
Well let me tell you all now, and it will not come as a surprise to you I’m sure, ✨life is not like this✨
But we all know that, right?
No. Not everyone.
If you go to the Doctor these days with a bacterial infection, then what do they like to dish out… yes, antibiotics, and you may be encouraged to rest, and drink plenty of clear fluids.
If you become severely dehydrated then it is down to one or two choices depending upon the level of your presenting hydration. It can be managed at home with hydration drinks to supplement your daily fluid intake, for example, if you experiencing Diarrhoea & Vomiting (D&V.) Or if your hydration is extremely severe then in-patient hospital admittance will be required, and then you will be placed on a Fluid Balance Chart (FBC) and, your sleep will be atrociously disturbed throughout the day & night, by the goings-on around whichever ward you are admitted to.
But mental ill-health?
There are considerable community support services in your local area, and of course, your own doctor may refer you for admission to a psychiatric hospital. And this is what I ended up needing, many, many years ago. But I had been a mental health nurse since qualifying back in 1992.
This article above talks about mental health and stigma, and is still very prominently going on still today (above.)
This very next article below talks about self-harm & suicide:
I had self-harmed, and prior to a general hospital discharge, I had not been offered any emotional support regarding this, nor was I offered any psychiatric assessment. Despite me requesting this, I was seen by a consultant psychiatrist eventually, who said to me,
“you simply need to go home, and re-evaluate your life. You know how to do it, you are a mental health nurse so you have all the skills you need.”
When I argued this back to him I was simply told,
“You do not want to go to the psychiatric hospital because it is full of drug addicts and abusers, that is not you. Think about it, you are a mental health nurse, and so much more skilled.”
Did this comment disgust you, it disgusted me.
Yes, I was a mental health nurse in need of emotional care at that time, a real human being, like everyone else. Being a nurse should not attract stigmatizing rubbish like that.
Regardless to say, I pushed hard for the help I needed badly… in the end, I got what I wanted.
But it was not what I expected when I got to the psychiatric ward. During my whole time there I never received any 1–1 personal time from a member of staff. I never received any therapy sessions either.
But what I, again, got from the psychiatric doctors there was,
“but my colleague who saw you in the general hospital told me that you were a mental health nurse yourself, he was right to say that, you do not need the nurses to help you here. You should be able to do it all yourself.”
So faced with yet more disgraceful stigma, I ended up on that ward with no care, effectively nothing more than what was simply, a bed and hot meals. I did not even get to go outside on community walks with staff or other patients. I felt forgotten, ignored, humiliated, and, disgraced for simply being a human being, a mental health nurse.
So yes, I ended up looking after myself because, at the end of the day, I had to.
Music was what I found helped me more than the so-called trained staff…
A long time has now gone by since that period of time occurred.
I now look after myself by using music as a therapy, and gardening as a therapy. However, in more recent times I have not been able to do so much, due to my physical mobility problems.
But I am far better within myself and enjoy spending my time through the day writing on subjects that I hope readers can relate to, hopefully helping them along the way too.
Stigmatizing and degrading attitudes in healthcare still goes on today. So this article is to ‘put it out there,’ to let everyone know that this still occurs, and must STOP.
Please let me know your thoughts on this, and comment freely on it. Reach out to me here on Medium and let me know about your experiences…
You talk, I listen…
If you have just read this as an unpaid member of Medium then, why not come and join me and many, many more members, so you can read & write to your heart’s content without limits. Enjoy the camaraderie of all that this great community has to offer you.
Hey, it’s only $5 a month!! (or £3.68 UK sterling.)😊
Perhaps you would like to support me throughout my writing journey? If so then why not subscribe to my emails too, so you can see when I’ve next published. It might even cheer up your lonely inbox😳.
