Schizophrenia is a very dangerous mental disease, which affects a human mind in numerous ways. It warps a person’s perception of reality, disrupts standard patterns of thinking, and can even affect them on an emotional level, making them unable to feel certain emotions, such as empathy (“Schizophrenia,” n.d.). Treating patients diagnosed with schizophrenia can be a challenge to the nurses, and to their families.
For me, treating those with mental disorders was always a challenge. These disorders are different from many other ailments that may afflict a human being. With most of them, the patient understands that the doctors are there to help. Assistance is accepted eagerly and voluntarily. In the case with schizophrenics, this is not always the same. Their mental state prevents them from perceiving the reality in the same way we do. Sometimes, they may even perceive nurses as enemies. This is especially true for nurses that bring medications and perform unpleasant medical procedures on patients in hospitals and mental clinics.
My experience in treating patients with schizophrenia is somewhat limited. However, I do remember having to treat a girl afflicted with such. She was constantly shifting between coherency and incoherency, seeing hallucinations, images, hearing sounds and noises that were not really there. The biggest challenge when working with such a patient was to determine when it is the right time to talk to the patient and ensure that she understood what I was saying (“Tips for effectively communicating,” n.d.). Due to the ever-changing nature of the disease, it was hard to determine when it was possible to approach. Usually, it was safe to do so after medications took effect, but at times, it proved to be a false indication to rely upon.
I felt pity for my patients, and I wanted to help them. Living in an altered state of mind is a terrible thing. A person can lose an arm or a leg, and remain the person they used to be. With mental diseases, however, it is not as easy. The disease alters a person in the worst way possible, taking away a part of them, warping their personality and their identity. The mind is the last defense of a person when everything else fails. When a mind is afflicted, the person is truly helpless, as it is very rare for schizophrenics to deal with their condition without professional medical help.
Families of the afflicted probably experience the worst strain of all. It is not uncommon for family members to grow cold and detached towards their schizophrenic relatives, having grown tired and weary of hallucinations, mood swings, and other symptoms that follow schizophrenia (Smith, Robinson, & Segal, 2017).
When treating schizophrenia, the nurse must work with family members too. They need to understand that whatever discomfort their relative is causing them is not done on purpose, as hallucinations and mood swings are not something that a person can control. They have to be reminded of good things, of why they love their family, of honor and duty towards those afflicted with the disease, and of God if it helps (Smith et al., 2017). Doing so is very important, as families often lose their will to put up with their schizophrenic relatives, and would rather leave him or her in a hospital than take them home. This is a very wrong thing to do, as the family is the only support they have, and no nurse will ever replace love and empathy one can receive from a family.
References
Schizophrenia. (n.d.). Web.
Smith, M., Robinson, L., & Segal, J. (2017). Helping someone with schizophrenia. Web.
Tips for effectively communicating with a person who has schizophrenia. (n.d.). Web.