Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
Healthcare systems are currently grappling with a very interesting trend; people who have been diagnosed with chronic physical conditions are showing high rates of mental health issues. Scientists have expressed their concerns over elevated rates of mood disorders amongst patients suffering from heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, and asthma. Individuals who face critical mental illnesses are twice as likely to suffer from chronic physical conditions that result from mental health conditions (Becker et al., 2021). People with high rates of heart disease, respiratory conditions, and diabetes are more likely to suffer from mental illnesses and common mood disorders. Currently, there is no definite link between mental disorders and cancer. Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
Background on Mental Health Disorders that Lead to Physical Disorders
Depression is the most common form of mental health disorders. One of the most obvious impacts of depression on physical health, according to Canady (2017 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay), relates to serious ailments such as diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis. Psychopathology comes in handy as a field of science that studies and understands mental disorders. There are two major causes of psychiatric and psychotic conditions: ultimate and proximal factors. Proximate factors comprise of elements such as: senescence, life-events, childhood trauma, genetic factors and epigenetic modulation. Psychopathology is a broad field that delves into the study of mental distress, mental illnesses, and the manifestation of experiences and behavior that denote the presences of psychological impairment or mental illness.
It is scientifically proven that physical health and mental health are two fundamentally linked aspects. People who have been diagnosed with serious mental illnesses put themselves at a vulnerable position to physical illnesses. These illnesses can present with symptoms that range from mild to severe. Similarly, individuals who have been diagnosed with physical illnesses eventually develop mental illnesses and vice versa. Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
Scientists have established that the mere aspect of being diagnosed with mental illnesses has a significant impact on one’s lifespan. As a matter of fact, the lifespan of people living with mental illness is way shorter as compared to the lifespan of people without any mental disorders (Lesuffleur et al., 2019). This is attributed to the fact that people who have mental illnesses develop physical conditions. These physical conditions reduce one’s lifespan significantly. Likewise, nursing research has established that people suffering from mental illnesses are limited by systemic factors. For instance, healthcare systems do not provide sufficient care especially for the diseases that they face. Coupled with lifestyle factors, it is hard to do a measurement of the baseline testing of the various physical parameters that lead to mental illnesses and vice versa.
Both the body and the mind are affected by any changes caused by emotional and physiological processes. The same case applies to social factors such as housing and income (Charette-Dussault, & Corbière, 2019). By figuring out the impact of the three pathways of biology, social determinants of health, and illness experience, it is easy to see why anyone who has been diagnosed with mental disorders or mental illnesses consequently develops chronic physical conditions. This explains the correlation that exist between mental illnesses and physical illnesses. In this respect, it is in order to assert that nursing practitioners should tackle mental disorders and project the long-range impact on chronic physical illnesses in order for healthcare facilities to provide patients with holistic patient care that will lead to the desired patient outcomes.
Anyone who has been diagnosed with mental disorders or mental illnesses does eventually experience several physical illness symptoms. These symptoms can result from either the illness itself or as a result of the treatment that is being administered. Mental illnesses can change sleep cycles and hormonal imbalances. According to Lesuffleur et al. (2019 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay), most medications deployed on patients suffering from psychiatric conditions come with multiple side effects side effects including irregular heart rhythms and uncontrollable weight gain. The symptoms and medications create an environment where the patients develop a high risk of several physical conditions. In other words, the problem is two-faced.
Also, in studying the correlation between mental illnesses and physical illnesses, it is paramount to look at the perspective of the reaction to medication and the lifestyle that comes after the physical illness. Depending on how one’s experience is, the mere occurrence of suffering from mental illnesses puts one at a high vulnerability status to suffering from physical conditions. As a result, the lifestyle that comes after being diagnosed with physical illness has a huge impact on one’s cognitive, social functionality as well as decreased energy levels (Canady, 2017 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay).
All these factors have a negative impact as far as one’s ability to adapt to healthy behaviors is concerned. People who suffer from mental illnesses lack the kind of motivation that is needed in taking care of themselves. This could be due to the fact that they have given up on self-care practices such as maintaining physical fitness. It becomes hard for them to embrace healthy sleeping and eating habits. In most cases, they might involve themselves in drug abuse such as abusing substances and smoking. That’s how they end up developing very poor patient outcomes, meaning their health is compromised in the long run as a result of mental illnesses.
People who have been diagnosed with mental disorders also are likely to end up living in extreme poverty due to unplanned lifestyles. Such people might mess up their means of income. In most cases, they tend to isolate themselves socially. In most cases they tend to put themselves in compromised circumstances where they do not have stable housing opportunities. All these factors combined increase their vulnerability to developing chronic physical conditions. A perfect example that can illustrate this is people who find it hard to maintain good nutrition.
As Knyahnytska et al. (2018) established, poor nutrition puts one at a high risk of developing diabetes and heart disease. On the same note, it is quite hard for someone who is living in very poor housing conditions to maintain stability. This is true especially when they live in a neighborhood that is unhealthy or unsafe. In most cases obese people have reported to be living in slums and semi-urban areas. People who live in these areas do not have access to gyms or open playgrounds where they can exercise and maintain physical fitness. Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
On the same note, physical and mental illnesses do share a variety of symptoms. Such symptoms include decreased energy levels, and food cravings. Mental illnesses can make someone increase their food consumption, thereby disposing them to the risks of weight gain especially among children and teenagers (Wiedeman, Panagiotopoulos & Devlin, 2020 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay). This significantly increases their risk of suffering from heart disease and diabetes. Most importantly, they become susceptible to lifestyle diseases such as heart disease. This eventually culminates into worse mental health States as they sink deep into depression.
Social determinants of health also have a huge impact as far as one’s mental well-being is concerned. People living in poverty and at the same time suffering from chronic physical conditions fall at a high risk of developing mental disorders (Canady, 2017 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay). In the long run, they might face many barriers as far as accessing mental health treatments is concerned. This further contributes towards mental health complications. Additionally, people who live in slums and in environments where there is water shortage, or even pollution might lead stressful lives and eventually develop mental health problems.
Depression as a Mental Health Disorder that Causes Physical Disorders
Depression is the most common type of mood disorder. There are so many mood disorders of which depression is one of them. Mood disorders are also called affective disorders. These disorders are characterized by persistent feelings of sadness or fluctuations from extreme happiness to extreme sadness or periods of feeling overly happy. Some of the most common types of mood disorders include bipolar disorder, cyclothymic disorder, and depression or major depressive disorder. Depression is quite common in the general population as it affects 40% of the people in the United States alone (Field, 2017). Clinical depression is quite severe as compared to the ordinary depression. It is thus known as the major depression disorder. In most times, people confuse depression with grief. Depression is not the same as grief and can never be the same. Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
Natural events such as the loss of a loved one cannot subject one to depression. Technically, grief is just a temporary period that usually passes as time by. There are so many types of psychiatric disorders, among them cranial and bipolar disorder. Other disorders in the same category include borderline personality disorder which entails a tendency to develop two characters while thinking. Some of the most common symptoms of depression include feeling sad or having sad and depressed mood, loss of appetite, lack of interest in activities that once used to be enjoyable, change in appetite, weight gain or loss that is not related to dieting, trouble sleeping or sleeping too much, increased fatigue or loss of energy and increased purposelessness activity (Ismail et al., 2017 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay).
There is a noticeably big difference between depression and grief or sadness. Grief comes after one loses a loved one by death. Similarly, grief can be caused by the loss of a job or the end of a relationship. This is obviously a difficult experience especially for people have been attached. However, psychiatrists contend that it is normal for anyone to develop feelings of grief and sadness as a response to such situations. Unfortunately, most people who have experienced such feelings often categorize themselves as depressed. As a matter of fact, that is not depression. Being sad is not the same as being depressed. Statistically speaking, the grieving process is unique and natural for every person.
The grieving process has affected anyone and everybody and can be likened to the sadness that causes crying in children. Both depression and grief do include some form of withdrawal from usual activities and sadness, but they are so fundamentally different. Technically speaking, grief refers to painful feelings which come in waves. These painful feelings might even be intermixed with positive memories of the object that has been lost. Grief usually lasts for a period of 2 weeks (Field, 2017). On the other hand, depression is a combination of several symptoms that prevent one from going on with the usual lives. Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
Depression can affect anyone and everybody because it affects even people who live in ideal circumstances. However, the following are the risk factors that can possibly cause depression. The first risk factor for depression is biochemistry: when there is a difference in certain chemicals in one’s brain symptoms of depression do occur (Hulatt, 2020). The other risk factor for depression is genetics (Hulatt, 2020). Sometimes, depression can run in families; for instance, if an identical twin has depression, there is a 90% chance that the other twin will have the same illness either immediately or sometime later in life (Field, 2017 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay).
The other risk factor for depression is personality. People who lead their lives with low self-esteem become easily overwhelmed by stress. Also, people who are negative, or pessimistic tend to be more likely to experience symptoms of depression (Field, 2017). The other risk factor for depression is environmental factors. Hulatt (2020) stipulates that continuous exposure to emotional abuse, physical, verbal abuse, neglect and violence makes people show various symptoms of depression.
Physical Disorders caused by Depression.
Depression and Diabetes
Understanding psychopathology is critical to studying the link that exists between mental health and chronic physical conditions. Studying this is also critical for understanding how physical conditions translate to mental disorders and vice versa. Thus, it is critical to study diabetes. Currently, diabetes rates are significantly skyrocketing and have become a major issue for most healthcare systems across the world. Most importantly, people living with depression have also shown high rates of diabetes. According to Bota, Fraser & Groysman (2017), both schizophrenia and depression count as the number one risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes. This is due to the fact that both illnesses have both a psychiatric and physical effect on the body that makes it possible for people suffering from the same to develop mental disorders.
As a matter of fact, patients suffering from depression or schizophrenia have an extremely high resistance to insulin. This means that people who suffer from mental illnesses also do experience the risk factors that cause diabetes. Some of those risk factors include high cholesterol levels and obesity. Most importantly, antipsychotic medications also have a significant impact on one’s weight. According to Bota et al. (2017 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay), obesity rates are three times higher for people who have faced serious mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia as compared to the general population.
Conversely, people who been diagnosed with diabetes are twice likely to be diagnosed with mental illnesses when compared to the general population. Statistically speaking, 40% of people who have been diagnosed with diabetes have exhibited multiple symptoms of anxiety. On the same note, people who have been diagnosed with diabetes also experience significant amount of emotional stress, which has a negative impact on an individual’s mental health. The biological impact of remarkably high blood sugar levels is often associated with the occurrence of symptoms of depression especially amongst people living with diabetes. If left untreated mental illness can hinder self-care practices.
Patients who have been diagnosed with serious mental illnesses also experience high levels of blood pressure as well as elevated levels of adrenaline and stress hormones. All these increases their heart rate. Additionally, patients who have been subjected to antipsychotic medications have been linked to the development of irregular heart rhythms (Krendl & Freeman, 2017 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay). For women alone, it has been established by research that there is an 80% chance of heart disease amongst female patients who have been diagnosed with depression as compared to the general population (Krendl & Freeman, 2017). The high prevalence of heart disease can be attributed to social and biological factors. Most importantly, people who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses are three times more likely to experience stroke.
It is critical to note that not all mental illnesses translate to chronic physical conditions. In some cases, mental disorders are fully developed and physical conditions come in way much later. A perfect example of this is female patients who been diagnosed with depression. Researchers have established that they are three times more likely to experience the disease as compared to their counterparts without the depressive mental disorder (Field, 2017 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay).
Surprisingly the significantly higher rates of depression among patients who have been diagnosed with the disease and the high prevalence of heart disease amongst patients often diagnosed with depression is a clear indication that mental disorders have a definite impact on physical illnesses. Depression can also occur immediately after a stroke and can double up as a risk factor for stroke. Co-existing mental illnesses and a disease have a very negative impact on one’s health status. Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
Depression and Respiratory Conditions
To understand the correlation that exist between chronic physical conditions and mental illnesses, it is critical to understand how respiratory conditions are related to mental illnesses. People who have been diagnosed with critical mental illnesses have shown a significantly higher likelihood of developing chronic respiratory conditions (Stein et al., 2019). Some of those chronic respiratory conditions include chronic bronchitis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Smoking doubles up as a risk factor for various respiratory illnesses. However, it is critical to understand the underlying causes of smoking as a risk factor for respiratory illnesses. Most patients being diagnosed with mental illness often find themselves in a sad state. Thus, they chose to smoke to cope with the sadness that comes with the mental illnesses. They end up having a high nicotine intake. This affects their respiratory health.
Patients have been diagnosed with chronic respiratory illnesses also experience high rates of depression and anxiety. As a matter of fact, three out of four people have been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Depression or anxiety simultaneously may lead to poor self-care practices which consequently increase the symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Krendl & Freeman, 2017 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay).
Consequently, there is an increase in hospital admissions and poor quality of life. Also, patients who have also experienced asthmatics are highly likely to experience panic and anxiety disorders. This can be attributed to the life-threatening possibility of severe asthma attacks. In most cases some of the antipsychotic medications that are administered to patients suffering from asthma have been established to have an impact on their mood (Lin, 2019). This shows that mental illnesses can cause respiratory conditions and respiratory conditions can also cause mental illnesses.
Depression and Cancers
It is critical to understand the relationship that exist between mental illnesses and physical illnesses. It is also critical to study how cancer patients are affected by mental illnesses and vice versa. Most research that has been produced by scholars to establish the correlation between cancer and mental disorders has produced mixed results. A recent study by Ni et al. (2019 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay) established that schizophrenic patients tend to record significantly higher risks of mortality from such cancers as breast cancer, colon cancer and lung cancer as compared to the general population.
Patients have been diagnosed with schizophrenia are highly likely to develop bowel and gallbladder cancer. Unlike many studies from other illnesses, there is a significant decrease in respiratory cancers especially among those patients who are facing serious mental illnesses. This is an interesting observation especially owing to the fact that these patients have been exposed to past institutionalization which protected them from the various environmental risks that cause mental disorders.
Patients who have been diagnosed with cancer face a high risk of succumbing to depression. This can be attributed to the high levels of emotional changes due to distress. Changes in body Image and stress due to existing mental disorders can interfere with remission in cancer treatment. For instance, according to Field (2017 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay), significantly older females have been diagnosed with cancer and simultaneously diagnosed with depression do not have the privilege of receiving optimal treatment. Essentially, this means that they are vulnerable to the consequences of chronic mental disorders.
Depression and Arthritis
To study the correlation that exist between mental illnesses and chronic physical conditions, it is also critical to figure out the impact of arthritis on mental health disorders. Researchers have consistently established that people who have serious mental illnesses have lower rates of arthritis as compared to the general population (Krendl & Freeman, 2017). According to Krendl & Freeman, (2017), this could be possibly attributed to the fact that schizophrenia has a significant reduction of risk for arthritis because it alters the genetic makeup of individuals and presents with anti-flammatory side effects that emanate from anti-psychotic medication.
Patients suffering from schizophrenia also get a chance to experience installation and sedentary lifestyles that make them less susceptible to arthritis. This is a clear indication of the fact that the social determinants of health also play a significant role when it comes the occurrence of mental illnesses. In general, it is critical to say that mental illnesses are clearly correlated with physical illness especially in the context of arthritis. Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
Access to Healthcare
When it comes to healthcare access, it is critical to note that patients who have been diagnosed with serious mental illnesses face serious barriers when it comes to accessing primary health care services. Some of these barriers are complex and vary greatly, from the impact of ability to affording transportation to the healthcare center, poverty, making medical appointments, as well as overcoming the systemic barriers to accessing healthcare facilities. Also, it is quite hard for patients suffering from mental health to become aware that they are victims of mental disorders because most of them are ignorant and naïve. Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
It is also critical to note that there is a certain level of stigma when it comes to receiving mental health care. This kind of stigma also doubles up as a barrier to the treatment and diagnosis of Clinical physical conditions especially among people who have mental illnesses. Stigma is a barrier in so many ways. Due to stigma, people living with mental illnesses find it quite hard to obtain treatment for their conditions (Sickel et al., 2018 Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay). Stigma itself is a barrier that is complex. It is a direct result of the cavity that stems from the inability to afford meditation for the mental illness conditions. In some cases, having mental illnesses is considered a taboo or a subject that is not fit for public discourse. Most importantly, it is critical to understand the social determinants of health in tackling the issue of mental illness. Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
Recommendations for PMHNPs
After understanding the correlation that exist between physical illnesses and mental illnesses, it is critical for nursing practitioners to make recommendations on the best practices that can help healthcare systems deal with the damages that come as a result of the correlation between mental illnesses and physical illnesses. The first recommendation is to look at the mental health of people who have been diagnosed with chronic physical conditions. In most times, nursing practitioners and medical care staff tend to overlook the mental health of people who have been diagnosed with chronic physical conditions. This is what is called diagnostic overshadowing.
Healthcare practitioners can initiate several approaches to reduce the barriers that patients face in accessing healthcare. The Chronic disease prevention and management conceptual framework can be implemented in such a manner that it brings on board various initiatives to address mental health disorders. Similarly, collaborative mental health care conceptual frameworks and initiatives can help. This is particularly helpful in dealing with poor mental health and for people who are suffering from mental illnesses.
Conclusion
Individuals who face critical mental illnesses are twice as likely to suffer from chronic physical conditions and vice versa. People with high rates of heart disease, respiratory conditions, and diabetes are more likely to suffer from mental illnesses and common mood disorders. Currently, there is no definite link between mental disorders and cancer. Healthcare practitioners, stakeholders, and social workers should figure out the impact of mental illnesses in overcoming the correlation that exist between mental illnesses and physical illnesses. Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay References
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- Canady, V. (2017). Link between physical illnesses, MDE in adolescents examined. Mental Health Weekly, 27(20), 3-4. doi: 10.1002/mhw.31046
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Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay Instructions
Please complete the following assignment with the rubrics attached. Note, It should be 100% free from plagiarism. Thanks
Week 5 Discussion Board:
1. Many persons with Schizophrenia are long-time smokers. What are the challenge facing the PMHNP when thinking about ways to assist a person living with schizophrenia and with tobacco use and nicotine dependence? Psychopathology and Psychiatry Disorders Assignment Essay
Assignment Evaluation
Each Discussion Board Response will be evaluated according the to the following rubric: