Despite the exact incidence and burden that mental illnesses place on the world,
Victoria Walter-Etoh
week 10 discussion
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Introduction: Social change for Psychiatric Mental health
It is common knowledge that mental health is not given as much attention as physical health, but sometimes it’s difficult to understand how or why this affects us. This disparity can take many shapes and forms, ranging from negative societal perceptions to discrimination in health coverage for mental health. Consequently, this unequal treatment of mental and physical illnesses leads to inequitable and devastating results. Despite the exact incidence and burden that mental illnesses place on the world, those with mental illness remain not only neglected but also deeply stigmatized across societies. The stigma that surrounds mental illness serves as a barrier to treatment and recovery, leading to serious negative consequences such as school failure, job loss, and suicide. While many large-scale social marketing efforts have found some success in reducing stigma, we contend that the recommended approaches, which utilize the input of people with mental illness and those close to them, are inadequate and that a deeper understanding of those who stigmatize is needed (Yeh, Jewell, & Thomas, 2017).
The Psychiatric Mental Nurse As an agent of change
The PMHNP needs to lead awareness on lessening the stigmatization surrounding mental health. As an agent of change, it is imperative to start from the grassroots, by providing knowledge that mental health is just as important as physical health. Parental education should be one of the first steps initiated to enable the recognition of psychiatric health care in adolescents as they (adolescents) are likely to seek help or have discernible symptoms that may need to be addressed. According to Rickwood, Mazzer & Telford (2015), developmental patterns suggest that early in adolescence, both boys and girls are most likely to seek help for their mental health problems from their parents, usually their mother. The younger the adolescent, the more influential parents are likely to be in the help-seeking process, and parental help-seeking often takes place on behalf of the adolescent, which itself can be a challenging experience with many barriers. Such awareness can be by providing education, online support outreaches, and also providing knowledge to adolescents for signs and symptoms. In other words, family mental health literacy is a step towards social change. In a world where young people are always immersed in social medical and other online technological sophistication, there should be an awareness raised to appropriate mental health care (Ahmedani, 2011).
Raising awareness amongst even healthcare professionals to prevent stigmatization is also paramount. A study found that psychiatrists, nurses, and psychologists) mental health professionals did not differ from the general public on their desired social distance from individuals with mental health conditions. This may be a result of their background or burnout from their roles. Therefore the PMHNP may have to coordinate targeted programs to provide education and counseling to other health care professionals on challenging misconceptions, improving attitudes, and reducing the social distance for mental health patients. One such program, lead by the network of the World Psychiatric Association, has focused on individuals that impact the more significant structural attitudes of stigma such as medical personnel, police officers, and other personnel that tend to mental health patients (Ahmedani, 2011).
Lastly, the PMHNP needs to be an agent for effective health policy changes by advocating for and implementing the policies that have been proven to address the social determinants of mental health. Such strategies include those that reduce adverse childhood experiences, ameliorate poverty and income inequality, and improve education and employment opportunities for all persons (Yeh, Jewell, & Thomas, 2017).
References
Ahmedani B. K. (2011). Mental Health Stigma: Society, Individuals, and the Profession. Journal of social work values and ethics, 8(2), 41–416.
Rickwood, D. J., Mazzer, K. R., & Telford, N. R. (2015). Social influences on seeking help from mental health services, in-person and online, during adolescence and young adulthood. BMC psychiatry, 15, 40. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-015-0429-6
Yeh, M. A., Jewell, R. D., & Thomas, V. L. (2017). The Stigma of Mental Illness: Using Segmentation for Social Change. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 36(1), 97–116. https://doi.org/10.1509/jppm.13.125
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