Emotional and mental health needs

As you care for your clients, you will often assist them to meet their emotional and mental health needs as they deal with the stress of illness, hospitalization, changes in their ability to care for themselves, and other personal and family issues.

Understanding how stress and coping affects your client's emotional and mental health will help you give the best care possible for your clients.

Now, everyone has felt overwhelmed or stressed at some point in their life. Stress is a physical or mental factor that causes tension emotionally or physically.

This can be due to external factors, like having to adapt to major life changes, or internal factors, like having an illness. Many people learn to use certain activities to relieve stress and feel better.

These are called coping mechanisms, which are specific activities people purposefully decide to engage in to relieve stress.

Some people have healthy coping mechanisms, like jogging, spending time with friends, singing, or meditating, while others may rely on smoking, overeating or undereating, nail biting, or abusing alcohol or illicit drugs.

While these alternative coping mechanisms may relieve stress temporarily, they can increase the risk of both physical and mental health problems.

While coping mechanisms are conscious and deliberate reactions to stress, defense mechanisms are our natural, often unconscious, reactions to stress that try to protect us from emotional trauma.

Compensation is when we try to make up for a loss by filling the void with something else positive.

For example, someone struggling with loneliness after a divorce might volunteer at an animal shelter.

Conversion is when emotions manifest as, or are changed into, physical symptoms. For example, someone who is emotionally upset complains of chest pain or difficulty breathing.

Denial is refusing to accept or believe something that is true or the feelings associated with it, especially if the truth is frightening or unpleasant.

For example, someone diagnosed with a terminal disease may reject the diagnosis as wrong or impossible.

Displacement is the shifting of emotions directed at one person, place, or thing to another less threatening person, place, or thing. For example, a client might be angry with the medical bill and takes it out on you.

Projection is attributing their own unacceptable behaviors, thoughts, or emotions to someone else.

For example, a client might say the nurse is mad at them when they’re the one that is actually mad at the nurse.

Rationalization is coming up with an excuse for unacceptable thougths or behaviors. For example, a nurse might say they were late taking a client’s vitals because they couldn’t find the right equipment.

Regression is reverting back to an earlier stage of development. For example, a 4-year-old child who no longer sucks their thumb might experience a traumatic event and subsequently begin sucking their thumb again.

Repression, also known as suppression, is refusing to remember or think about unpleasant, painful, or frightening memories. For example, an adult who was abused as a child might have no memory of the abuse.

Now, clients with mental health disorders often find it difficult to cope with stress, and so, it is especially important to ensure interactions with them are as stress-free and as therapeutic as possible.

Remember that your clients might be experiencing extra stress due to illness, loss of independence, separation from family and friends, or the worry about being a burden to others.

This extra stress can make it difficult to cope effectively, resulting in emotional and mental problems.

Your observation and communication skills can be helpful in identifying when a client needs extra support from you or other members of the healthcare team.

Now, sometimes, therapeutic interactions may involve silence as it allows clients time to think, assess the interaction, and determine the pace of the conversation as they vent their feelings.

Be alert to the client’s nonverbal communication, including facial expressions, such as frowning, head and hand movements, gestures, and posture.

You also need to show to the client that you are actively listening by maintaining eye contact, nodding, and restating what they say as they share their thoughts and feelings.

This can help to validate their concerns as well as demonstrate the attentiveness of the healthcare team.