An Open Mind

I went to an interesting workshop yesterday and today, on the topic of psychiatric nursing. I enjoyed it very much. The instructors were very good--they had a sense of humor and gave pertinent, interesting, useful information.

I learned that Psych Nursing is one of the oldest nursing specialties, as the McLean Hospital in NY began training nurses in psych in the late 1800's.

From the information they gave I diagnosed a 'friend'/former friend with a personality disorder (I'm not sure exactly which one, but one of them for sure!) and my father-in-law with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. (One day this week he asked when I was going to let my hair go back to its original blond color and let it grow long again, because HE liked it better that way . . . yesterday I bought another box of red hair dye and this week I'm going to get it cut again!) I had a few signs and symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder but not enough to make that diagnosis on myself (WHEW!).

We didn't have time to get into "Inability to put Dishes into the Dishwasher" or "Permanent Cell-Phone to Ear" (for my husband), or "Chronic Bickering" or "'I Didn't Hear You Say That' Syndrome," both of which would fit my teenagers.

I think if we studied the whole DSM-IV, we could come up with a diagnoses (or two, or three!) for everyone in our lives, including ourselves!

A neat part of psych nursing is that it can be used in ALL areas of nursing, and in personal relationships, too. When we know more about why people behave the way they do (whether it's part of their personality or a disorder or disease), we can learn techniques to deal with the those aspects of their personalities.

Even simple communications techniques that are used with patients--active listening, paraphrasing, clarification, reflecting, etc--can be used when talking with friends and family. ("So, son, from the look on your face and the way you're struggling to get away from me, I sense that you are uncomfortable with the words 'penis,' 'teenage sex--DON'T DO IT!!!!' and 'erection'" . . . )

Psych nursing is my favorite area of nursing. I find the way the mind works fascinating! It's interesting to learn about the "why's" of people acting the way they do. Sometimes it seems there are more questions than answers--do people develop disorders due to biology, or environment? Certainly both are factors, but how much of a factor does each play? Or are some people predisposed to disorders and environment and stress brings them out? Can any of these diseases be cured? IS everything listed in the DSM really a disease? How much of the behavioral aspects of these "diseases" or diseases can be controlled? What part should medication play?

One of the nurses today told us that taking some medications can actually change the chemistry of the brain, potentially "curing" depression and anxiety permanently. WOW! Our daughter suffered from panic attacks after changing schools last fall, and took Lexapro for about 9 months. She has begun to wean herself off of the medication because she's tired of taking it. Thankfully, she had no serious side effects from it. It has been, and probably always will be in my mind that perhaps she's at higher risk of suffering from anxiety and/or depression later in life . . . it was nice to hear of the possibility of her brain chemicals being permanently changed for the positive from her time on the medication.

My first job out of nursing school was in a small psych hospital for children and adolescents. I absolutely loved working there--the other staff members were wonderful, and I learned so much. I don't know, however, if I would have the patience to work in psych again. I do know, though, that attending this workshop sparked my interest in psych again, and reminded me why I love nursing.