The burden of mental illness

Discuss about the Recovery Orientation of Mental Health Services.

The disability and the mortality that results due to the mental health illness are indispensible and a substantial proportion of the burden of the diseases comes from the mental disorders. Mental health disorders not only affect the quality of life of the person, but also brings substantial emotional as well as economic burden over the family (Rashid, 2015). This essay aims to discover about the importance of lived experience on the care regimen of mental illness. While reflecting on this, the essay will also draw the example of the recovery journey of Sandy Jeff, who is an award winning author, who suffered from schizophrenia for over 35 years. Sandy Jeff is an advocate and also provides community based educations on the basis of her lived experience of psychotic disorder. Her memoir “Flying with the paper wings” was selected as the Australia’s book of the year (Jeffs, 2012).  The essay would finally focus on the national framework model of recovery, which serves as practical guidelines for the nurses practitioners. Sandy Jeff’s writing “bearing witness” extract from speak your mind provides a vivid description of his journey as a schizophrenic patient.

Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Council., (2017) have identified how the concept of lived experinece increases the acceptance of the mental illness and reduces the social stigma surrounding the illness. Lived experience leadership can help to improve the design of the mental health system and the type of delivery care. The importance of the lived experience has been found out across a diversity of the roles and different levels within the mental health system. A workforce with lived experience especially in mental health supports the development of a more compassionate workforce that can easily establish the rapport between the patients and the caregivers (Williams et al., 2012). It has been identified that the people who are the participants of the lived experience, plays a greater role, which is beyond the direct delivery of the workforce. According to the Department of Health Australia (2013), lived experience is a crucial domain for altering the care provide to the individuals suffering from mental health. As per the Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Council (2017), a collaboration approach of the lived experience along with appropriate clinical skills and education can improve the quality of living of the mental health patients (Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Council., 2017).

The role of lived experience in mental health care

The term recovery does not only refer to getting better, but also to achieve a full and satisfying life. The journey to recover is not always straight and has got several setbacks and new discoveries (Dihoff & Weave, 2012). The recovery oriented framework is a transformational framework for providing a sound recovery to the mental health patients. The core of the recovery oriented framework consisted of those people who have lived a live experience.  Caplan,  (2013) have argued over the fact that the philosophy of the recovery process differs from one person to another. This different recovery oriented process differ their care of approach towards the mental health patient (Dihoff & Weaver, 2012). A recovery oriented mental health services focuses to provide a evidence informed treatment, rehabilitation and psychosocial support to the patient for achieving the best outcomes for their physical and mental well being (Gilburt et al., 2013). A recovery oriented mental health approach support and embrace the development of the new models of mental health recovery (Dihoff & Weave, 2012).

National framework for recovery-oriented mental health services provides an overview of the frameworks that defines the concept of recovery and provides guidelines regarding the recovery oriented approaches. the framework consists of five domains namely, promotion of a culture of hope and optimism, putting the interest of the patient in the frontline, encouraging the personal recovery of the person, organisational commitment and the development of workforce and initiatives on the social inclusion of the mental health patients and addressing their social determinants of health (Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Council., 2017). According to this framework the recovery service mainly focuses on the aspirations and the needs of the people rather than adapting the patients according to the service delivery. This framework provides the guidelines to recognise and to respond to the beliefs and the values of the mental patients belonging to the culturally diverse background. The framework enables the mental health practitioners to accept resilience, strength and inherent capacity of the individuals suffering from mental disorders (Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Council., 2017).

It was found from a video published by the Australian human rights commission, where Sandy Jeff had said that it is the thought process of the mental patients that acts as barriers to the recovery. Sandy Jeff have confessed that lack of self esteem, self determination deteriorate the condition of the patients. She has emphasized on the fact that the community centred approaches should focus on embracing this people and provide them with the necessary facilities. The recovery oriented service should be able to assist a person in regaining control, making decisions and attaining self determination and self management (Chronister et al., 2013). According to Sandy Jeff, the community supports should be able to help out the people to confront with the challenges for eradication of the oppression, as one always cannot hurl a person to a situation compellingly and then blame them for that. It is evident that the perception of Sandy Jeff was in compliance with the National framework for recovery-oriented mental health services. According to Sandy Jeff, “the society should support these people to get back to their pace of life” (Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Council., 2017). Sandy Jeff had confessed that fighting with the symptoms of is challenging but once the person has learned how to cope up with the symptoms, it means that the person had already caught the pace of self recovery. At times the mental health challenges make it seem difficult to set the goals for the mental health recovery but, a collaborative care approach for the patients can simplify the process to an extent (Halter, 2017).

Sandy Jeff’s recovery journey

While reflecting on her own lived experience Sandy Jeff had quoted that “My purpose of life was writing. People would stigmatise you, if you are meant to be you and you will feel that stigma, but you should have your goals”. Hence it can be said that people with mental disorders should also have a purpose in their life. The health care professionals should be able to channelize these patients in to constructive work.  Sandy Jeff has said , “never let you put yourself in a loony bin, you’ll never get out” (Sandy Jeffs., 2013). It was true to the context that the community should provide constant support to these people such that they do not feel deprived or low esteemed (Slade et al., 2012). They should feel that there are people who care for them. According to Department of Health Australia., (2013) relapse and hospitalisations can cause the destruction of the hopes. It is the duty of the caregivers to help out these people to deal with hopelessness and despair (Gilburt et al., 2013).

The video clearly reveals the fact that Sandy Jeff’s first book published at the age of 40 that modified her life completely. Her first book “poems from the madhouse” could provide a graphic insight into her own situation. The author found the mode of recovery through her poems and wanted to devout her life in enriching her talents.

The poem was unique in the sense that those names of the anti-psychotic pills could greatly provide an insight to the life of the poet. The poem could express the grief of the poet while dealing with the painful process of recovery yet she had clung to it and has believed in herself.

It should be noted that the ‘ medication trolley’ could give provide her with some physical relief, but it is actually her self determination that had paved the path of recovery (Halter, 2017). Sandy’s concept of self recovery is supported by the author Xie,(2013), that although the piles of medications can decrease the exacerbation of the symptoms but proper mental support would surely speed up the recovery process. Notably this perception goes in sync with the national framework of recovery guidelines.

This extract brings up the normal perception of the mental health care professionals that are mainly stigmatized by the concept of psychotic disorder and behaves abusively with the patients. The poem beautifully depicts the harsh reality of the indiscriminate use of antipsychotic medicines, without assessing its necessary side effect. By this poem the author had actually tried to draw the attention of these health care professionals that pharmacological treatment may alleviate the symptoms to some extent, but there is always a chance for relapse. Hence complementary therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapies and talk therapies have to be administered (Williams et al., 2012).

The National framework for recovery-oriented mental health services

Hence form this paper it can be said that, a holistic and a person centered care, psychological and rehabilitation can improve the recovery rate in the individuals. The risk is automatically reduced when people feel respected, listened to or acknowledged. The National framework for recovery-oriented mental health services: guide for practitioners and a provider were successful in providing a proper framework for the procurement of the cognitive therapies. Furthermore the lived experience of Sandy Jeff and her recommendations was also found to be in sync with the domains of this framework.

References

Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Council., (2017). A national framework for recovery-oriented mental health services: Guide For Practitioners And Providers. Access date: 12th April. Retrieved from: https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/67D17065514CF8E8CA257C1D00017A90/$File/recovgde.pdf

Caplan, G. (Ed.). (2013). An approach to community mental health (Vol. 3). Routledge.

Chronister, J., Chou, C. C., & Liao, H. Y. (2013). The role of stigma coping and social support in mediating the effect of societal stigma on internalized stigma, mental health recovery, and quality of life among people with serious mental illness. Journal of Community Psychology, 41(5), 582-600.

Department of Health Australia., (2013). A National framework for recovery-oriented mental health services: guide for practitioners and providers. Accessed on: 12^nd April. 2018. Retrieved from: https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/67D17065514CF8E8CA257C1D00017A90/$File/2.pdf

Dihoff, D. G., & Weaver, M. (2012). Mental health recovery. Mental Health, 73(3).

Gilburt, H., Slade, M., Bird, V., Oduola, S., & Craig, T. K. (2013). Promoting recovery-oriented practice in mental health services: a quasi-experimental mixed-methods study. BMC psychiatry, 13(1), 167.

Halter, M. J. (2017). Varcarolis’ Foundations of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing-E-Book: A Clinical Approach. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Jeffs, S. (2012). Flying with Paper Wings: Recollections on Living with Madness. Vulgar Press, pp.1- 277.

Poetry recital from Sandy Jeffs “Medicated”., (2016). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-MS4Sbv8Ng

Rashid, T. (2015). Positive psychotherapy: A strength-based approach. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(1), 25-40.

Sandy Jeffs., (2012). McMadness.Centre of Medical Humanities: Durham University. Retrieved from: https://centreformedicalhumanities.org/medicated-and-mcmadness/

Sandy Jeffs., (2012). Medicated.Centre of Medical Humanities: Durham University. Retrieved from: https://centreformedicalhumanities.org/medicated-and-mcmadness/

Sandy Jeffs., (2013). Somethingincommon.gov.au. Australian Human Rights Commission. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEszvWRsgZg&t=23s

Slade, M., Amering, M., Farkas, M., Hamilton, B., O’Hagan, M., Panther, G., …& Whitley, R. (2014). Uses and abuses of recovery: implementing recovery?oriented practices in mental health systems. World Psychiatry, 13(1), 12-20.

Williams, J., Leamy, M., Bird, V., Harding, C., Larsen, J., Le Boutillier, C., … & Slade, M. (2012). Measures of the recovery orientation of mental health services: systematic review. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 47(11), 1827-1835.

Xie, H. (2013). Strengths-based approach for mental health recovery. Iranian journal of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, 7(2), 5.