Functional Anatomy and Psychology of a Psychiatric Mental Health Patient

case study:

23-year-old Native American male comes in to see you because he has been having anxiety and wants something to help him. He has been smoking “pot” and says he drinks to help him too. He tells you he is afraid that he will not get into Heaven if he continues in this lifestyle.

The patient is a 23-year-old Native American undergoing an annual physical exam. The main area of concern is that he has been having anxiety issues. The patient seeks to have something prescribed to help him cope with constant anxiety. He states that smoking pot and drinking are some of the ways he has been using to help him cope. He is also concerned that he may not make it to heaven if this lifestyle is not controlled. During the exam, the patient seemed anxious observed from his pacing in the exam room and fidgeting.

Factors Related to Patient’s Health

From the exam, several factors can be linked to the patient’s state of health. The spiritual factor is observed when the patient says he is afraid that he will not get into heaven if he does not stop taking marijuana and alcohol. This shows that the patient has spiritual convictions which could be a contributing factor to his anxiety. The patient’s lifestyle is clear when he confesses that he regularly smokes marijuana and drinks alcohol. Socioeconomic factors are established from observations. The patient appears to be well-nourished and well developed. This shows that the patient is well off as he canremain nourished. Cultural factor also contributes to the health of a patient. Native Americans are thought to be a collectivist culture where the people are interdependent and interconnected with each other (Beckstein, 2014). Research shows that conflict between personal values and societal values can contribute to anxiety disorders and particularly for a collectivist culture (Hofmann & Asnaani, 2010). This can be explained to be the cultural factor that could be related to the patient’s anxiety.

Assessment Domains for Conducting a Comprehensive Nutritional Assessment

A comprehensive nutritional assessment is crucial in the process of collecting information that will be used to make decisions for nutrition-related health issues for a patient as well ass developing patient-centered intervention plans (Frank, 2018). To conduct a comprehensive nutritional assessment of the patient, I would use the following domains. Biochemical measurement and analysis of the biochemical data to analyze lab data such as metabolic rate and electrolytes. The Food/Nutrition related history domain will be used to assess the patient’s history of food and nutrients intake in the past. The Anthropometric measurements domain will be used to assess the physical aspects of the patient such as height, weight, and BMI. Lastly, I would use the Nutrition-Focused Physical Findings domain that considers physical appearance, appetite, and muscle (Frank, 2018).

Functional Anatomy and Psychology of a Psychiatric Mental Health Patient

Mental disorders have been over recent years been linked to biological disorders (Weir, 2012). The brain is one of the organs of the mind and therefore any illnesses of the mind are to be approached as a biological illness. To assess specific functions, nurses need to know several key concepts. These include memory/ orientation, speech patterns, body movements,and posture, and level of consciousness (Fortinash & Worret, 2014). By assessing these concepts, a nurse is in a position to assess the specific functions of the brain that might be contributing or exhibiting the patient’s anxiety issues.

References

Beckstein, A. (2014). Native American subjective happiness: An overview. Indigenous Policy Journal, 25(2).

Fortinash, K. M., & Worret, P. A. H. (2014). Psychiatric mental health nursing-E-book. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Hofmann, S. G., Anu Asnaani, M. A., & Hinton, D. E. (2010). Cultural aspects in social anxiety and social anxiety disorder. Depression and anxiety, 27(12), 1117-1127.

Weir, K. (2012). The roots of mental illness: How much of mental illness can the biology of the brain explain. Monitor on Psychology, 43(6), 30.