Psychiatry And Political Economy Routledge – Discussing Mental Health, Schizophrenia And Recovery Process

Principles of Recovery Process of Mental Disorders

Discuss About The Psychiatry And Political Economy Routledge?

Mental health is a term, which deals with the psychological, emotional and social well- being of a person. It has an effect on the way we behave, react and feel in different situations (Corrigan et al, 2012). Mental illness, if not given attention for long can even affect various parts of the body. The issue of mental health is not given as much attention as physical health, worldwide, this certainly is a major issue to be concerned about. The recovery process in most of the mental illnesses takes a long time because most of the mental illnesses have similar symptoms. They are poorly understood because of the complexity of the term and the need of the use of individualistic approach to it.

This essay discusses the experience of the famous musician Jeremy Oxley (from the band-The Sunnyboys), aged fifty. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia at an early stage of his life. The essay will also emphasize on current recovery principles and the ways in which he can be given personal medical assistance. The discussion also gives an overview of the current insight on the treatment of schizophrenia and evident based personalized care of the person taken into consideration.

The principles of recovery process of mental disorders deals with six key points; an individual’s uniqueness, individual’s choice, attitudes and rights, respect and dignity, communication and partnership, evaluation of recover (Health.gov.au, 2017). Individual’s uniqueness: It means that recovery is not just about getting cured but also is about having various opportunities for choosing and living a purposeful, healthy and satisfying life, unique to each individual. Individual’s choice: It empowers and supports individuals to make their own decision for the choice of treatment. Rights and attitudes: it is about listening to the individuals, learning about their various traits and acting on the communications the individuals do with the health professional. Respect and dignity: It involves being respectful, honest and courteous to the patient. It also includes the duty of caregiver for their patient’s speedy recovery. Evaluation of recovery: It involves, tracking of the individual’s progress by the individual and the caregiver to improve the quality of care giving. These principles should be taken into consideration while evaluating any case of mental illness by the caregivers. Understanding the key points of recovery also requires the nurse to have an insight of the term personal recovery and its meaning to the patient.

Experience of Jeremy Oxley and Insights into the Treatment of Schizophrenia

The initiation of the mental illness of Jeremy Oxley was during the peak years of the band “The Sunnyboys”. The name and fame added to the responsibilities Jeremy already had. He  was dealing with  physical exhaustion and mental stress, due to continuous touring and rapid sessions of recording, in addition to concerns about his younger brother, Peter Oxley (also, second man of the band). Increasing levels of stress inclined Jeremy towards multiple drugs and alcohol. Jeremy started behaving abnormally, which affected the ratings of the band, as a consequence their band came to an end with the end of their career. Jeremy was then diagnosed with schizophrenia, he was kept under treatment but he refused to take medications, this resulted in fights among the brothers, which parted them away.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness, which includes unusual social behavior and difficulty to discriminate between reality and non-existing things. Patients of schizophrenia generally have several other mental issues like anxiety disorder and major depression in addition to it (Fromer et al, 2014). The suffers who have additional disorders in inclusion of schizophrenia, loose every hope in their life. Such patients also need to get treated for the other psychological problems that they are dealing with. Psychologist say that the scuidal tendency of such people is far more than the patients suffering from schizophrenia. The recovery of such patients becomes much more difficult. Different people recover from mental disorders in different ways, healthcare professionals should be able to be at ease with the patient and study their likes and dislikes (Sutton et al, 2012). Mental concerns can only be acted upon by interacting with the patient not only on professional terms but as a member of the family, this makes the person open to discuss the problems they have without any stress (Tew et al, 2012). Recovery is also a self-directed process, in the case of Jeremy, the thing that relaxes him and the thing that lead to the mental condition are the same. The management of his condition requires him to analyze the different aspects of the profession that made him happy or stressed, as mentioned in the documentary of “The Sunnyboy”. Self -recovery process eases the work of the healthcare professional, the primary study of the case if already done by the patient then the caregivers can proceed with the secondary process of treatment, that is, it eases the care and provision of service to the patient (Drake & Whitley, 2014). The caregivers in the case of Jeremy should also emphasize in giving him a personalized care, which should also consist of music sessions of his background. This will enable him to get his interest back in music.

The Recovery Process of Mental Disorders and Healthcare Professionals’ Interaction with the Patient

The patients suffering from schizophrenia should be under medication, it lessens the time taken in the process of recovery. It has no specific period of rehabilitation, the patient needs to take the treatment for a long time, even after the symptoms subside (Warner, 2013). Jeremy needed approach of a team of health professionals initially, as he was not willing to take medication. The patients of schizophrenia have a high level of delusion and hallucination as in the case of Jeremy (Keers et al, 2014). Coordination between the psychologist, psychiatrist and caregiver ensures enhancement of the condition (Bass et al, 2013). Handling patients suffering from mental illness, needs far more dedication and patience than handling the patients suffering from physical ailments. Gaining confidence of the patient, plays a crucial role in the recovery process of such patients, more the interaction, higher the chance of reduction of symptoms (Wong et al, 2012).

Schizophrenia is related to the damage, of the noradrenergic system by 6- Hydroxydopamine. Researchers believe that, it happens due to the combination of a number of genetic factors, chemistry of the brain and various environmental factors (as in case of Jeremy Oxley). Neuroimaging studies show that there is a different between the structure of the brain and the central nervous system between the patient suffering from schizophrenia and normal people (Taylor et al, 2012).  They are yet to find significance of these differences.

Clinical treatment of such patients include the administration of various antipsychotic drugs, they are known to control the symptoms of schizophrenia by affecting the neurotransmitter dopamine of the brain (Demjaha et al, 2012). Jeremy as mentioned earlier, was unwilling to take medicines initially, such patients can even be administered injections instead of pills. The antipsychotic drugs that are recommended by the psychiatrists include asenapine, brexpiprazole, clozapine, lurasidone, lioperidone and aripiprazole (Australian, 2017). These drugs are used presently because of the presence of least number of side effects associated with its consumption.

The patients of any mental illness require their attendance at several counseling sessions as prescribed by the psychiatrist. The interval depends on the situation of the patient. The sessions includes cognitive therapy, it helps the patient in an effective way by gradually defusing the traumas that they suffer from recurrence of certain previous thoughts (Happell, Davis & Scott, 2012). It also explores the feelings, thoughts and behavior, and improves ones status. In such sessions, people learn to understand and correct their occurrence of thoughts and hallucinations. The process comprises of several breathing techniques and some physical exercises, that are specifically designed on the basis of the different conditions the patients deal with. These procedures, also help in stabilizing the senses and increases the patients’ self –esteem (Hicks, Deane & Crowe, 2012). Patients who deal with extreme mental disorders, are sometimes administered the electro-conclusive therapy. Electro-conclusive therapy helps in slowing down the nerve impulses, which create the hallucinations and delusions in the patients of schizophrenia. It also is a painful method, the patients are most of the time intolerant to such high powers of electricity. The usage of this therapy is minimized, nowadays because it can extensively damage the cells of the neurons, which can even be detrimental to the patient. This process is even band in some of the countries because of the lethality of the process.

Medication for Schizophrenia and Personalized Care

Therefore, it can be concluded from the above essay that mental illness is rising in today’s time. Negligence of mental illnesses, be it minor stress or anxiety, can lead to unfavourable consequences. The case of Jeremy gives us an insight of, how stressing out for long can affect the brain inimically. Following the principles of recovery helps a caregiver or health professional to understand and act to the situation of the patient accordingly. Recovery is a process, which everyone goes through in their life in various circumstances, the difference in the case of people with lived experience of mental illness is that they also have to cope up with social isolation, stigma and loss of personal identity. This condition requires the caregivers to follow the principles of recovery. Clinical treatment of schizophrenia needs the patient to be under medication, unwilling patients like Jeremy can be treated by the administration of injections. Use of cognitive therapy also helps in the recovery process of most of the mental illnesses including schizophrenia. It has the potential to minimize the effects and reduce the necessity of usage of the anti-psychotic drugs .Promotion of mental health is the need of the hour, reduction of such types of illnesses, is only possible by creating awareness of the condition.

References:

Australian, R. (2017). Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of schizophrenia and related disorders. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

Bass, J. K., Annan, J., McIvor Murray, S., Kaysen, D., Griffiths, S., Cetinoglu, T., … & Bolton, P. A. (2013). Controlled trial of psychotherapy for Congolese survivors of sexual violence. New England Journal of Medicine, 368(23), 2182-2191.

Corrigan, P. W., Morris, S. B., Michaels, P. J., Rafacz, J. D., & Rüsch, N. (2012). Challenging the public stigma of mental illness: a meta-analysis of outcome studies. Psychiatric services, 63(10), 963-973.

Demjaha, A., Murray, R. M., McGuire, P. K., Kapur, S., & Howes, O. D. (2012). Dopamine synthesis capacity in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 169(11), 1203-1210.

Drake, R. E., & Whitley, R. (2014). Recovery and severe mental illness: description and analysis. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 59(5), 236-242.

Fromer, M., Pocklington, A. J., Kavanagh, D. H., Williams, H. J., Dwyer, S., Gormley, P., … & Carrera, N. (2014). De novo mutations in schizophrenia implicate synaptic networks. Nature, 506(7487), 179.

Happell, B., Davies, C., & Scott, D. (2012). Health behaviour interventions to improve physical health in individuals diagnosed with a mental illness: A systematic review. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 21(3), 236-247.

Health.gov.au. (2017). Department of Health | Principles of recovery oriented mental health practice. Health.gov.au. Retrieved 20 September 2017, from https://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-pubs-i-nongov-toc~mental-pubs-i-nongov-pri

Hicks, A. L., Deane, F. P., & Crowe, T. P. (2012). Change in working alliance and recovery in severe mental illness: an exploratory study. Journal of mental Health, 21(2), 127-134.

Keers, R., Ullrich, S., DeStavola, B. L., & Coid, J. W. (2014). Association of violence with emergence of persecutory delusions in untreated schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(3), 332-339.

Sutton, D. J., Hocking, C. S., & Smythe, L. A. (2012). A phenomenological study of occupational engagement in recovery from mental illness. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 79(3), 142-150.

Taylor, S. F., Kang, J., Brege, I. S., Tso, I. F., Hosanagar, A., & Johnson, T. D. (2012). Meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies of emotion perception and experience in schizophrenia. Biological psychiatry, 71(2), 136-145.

Tew, J., Ramon, S., Slade, M., Bird, V., Melton, J., & Le Boutillier, C. (2012). Social factors and recovery from mental health difficulties: a review of the evidence. The British Journal of Social Work, 42(3), 443-460.

Warner, R. (2013). Recovery from schizophrenia: Psychiatry and political economy. Routledge.

Wong, D. F. K., Lam, A. Y. K., Chan, S. K., & Chan, S. F. (2012). Quality of life of caregivers with relatives suffering from mental illness in Hong Kong: roles of caregiver characteristics, caregiving burdens, and satisfaction with psychiatric services. Health and quality of life outcomes, 10(1), 15.