Problem:
How does the definition of mental health and mental illness vary across different cultural contexts, and why is cultural competence essential in psychiatric-mental health nursing? Need Assignment Help?
Culture influences the way people interpret mental health or a mental illness. Culture also influences the way that people see or deal with emotions, behavior, spirituality, and what is acceptable for social functioning. We must remember that an action can be seen as good in some cultures, and others can find it offensive. The United States is a diverse country with different races and ethnicities which have their own distinct views of mental health. Western societies see mental health as self-expression, emotional self-awareness or personal independence. Other cultures, such as collectivist cultures, see mental health as harmony within the family, fulfilling social roles, maintaining respect and balance and emotional restraint. Interpretation of mental illness can also be different with cultures; they can be seen as spirit possessions or higher power punishment. One example is hallucination, which can be seen as talking or communicating to a higher power rather than an issue such as schizophrenia. Other differences are how symptoms such as headache, fatigue or abdominal pain are seen as something physical and are not considered symptoms of depression or anxiety. As nurses, we need to be culturally competent so that we can provide high care to patients and be respectful and understanding of culturally different backgrounds and beliefs. Being culturally competent helps the nurse to identify cultural behavior and psychiatric symptoms which reduce mistakes like giving a patient an incorrect diagnosis or inappropriate treatment. This also builds a trust bond with the patient, where we can check for medication adherence and keeping with follow ups, follow recommendations, and reduce the stigma about mental illnesses or mental health.
Based on the answer of a student on the question provided give, using the simplest sentence structure that a high school student can easily understand in a paragraph form with 150 words, make a comment/reaction to the answer of the student. make a nice comment in the first sentence and based on the student's answer, provide an example that explains your comments to the answer. Include a book reference of your comments/reaction based on the answer provided by the students above in APA format