The human psyche is a vulnerable system: the incredibly rapid rate of modern life often causes anxiety and stress, leading to various mental disorders. The emergence and prevalence of COVID-19 only worsen the situation: a feeling of isolation, fear for one’s life and health of relatives and friends, and risk of losing job and income weaken people’s nervous system. Therefore, it is possible to identify prevention and treatment of neurological and psychological ailments that negatively impact people’s lives as a current healthcare need that has to be met.
Mental Disorders As an Urgent Problem
Mental disorders affect people not depending on their age, gender, or race. Although in several cases, they can be explained by posttraumatic stress or genetics, ailments often choose their victims by chance, selecting the most emotional people. To date, mental disorders are one of the primary burdens of populations: “the prevalence of clinically significant levels of mental disorders increased from 18.9 to 27.3%” (Winkler et al., 2020, p. 1). They are “associated with severe personal suffering by patients and their relatives, considerable transgenerational transmission, huge economic costs, and increased levels of physical morbidity and mortality” (Cuijpers, 2019, p. 276). Since depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, mania, and generalized anxiety disorder are more vital than ever, they have become an urgent problem in the healthcare sector. Millions of people worldwide try to pretend that they live full lives, in fact, daily suffering from anxiety, insomnia, and stress. Therefore, mental disorders are a pretty severe problem in the modern world.
At the height of the pandemic, many people suffer from symptoms of depression. As studies show, “the prevalence of both major depressive disorder and suicide risk tripled and current anxiety disorders almost doubled” (Winkler et al., 2020, p. 1). Patients with COVID-19 are at significant risk to obtain mental disorders as a complication of this virus. In addition, even those who have not been ill complain about anxiety, insomnia, melancholia, and constant fear. The oppressive changes always negatively affect a person’s psyche: COVID-19 has become one of the most crucial changes for the worse. People are forced to replace face-to-face interaction with text messages and video chats and refuse trips, visits to the cinema, walks, and economic stability. Thus, the pandemic is one more reason why mental disorders are so prevalent in modern society.
Mental Disorder’s Impact on Society
The mentally exhausted society cannot contribute to the state’s prosperity and be a community of socially responsible citizens striving for self-development and self-improvement. People with damaged psyches are feared and nervous, which negatively affects the quality of their lives. If patients’ mental problems are not solved, they can harm different age groups (Cuijpers, 2019). For instance, pupils and students with psychological ailments can face challenges with studying and interaction with coevals. Adults’ disorders can lead to family disruption, business collapse, suicidal thoughts, and even danger to others. Since those who have mental illness cannot make an appropriate contribution to society’s life, the community needs mentally healthy people to be a powerful element of the state.
APN and Its Role
Advance practicing nursing (APN) can play a significant role in the psychiatric-mental health care sector. The specialists of this sphere form a group of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNP) who can strengthen the human psyche and solve various mental problems of society (Horowitz & Posmontier, 2020). Although “the original PMHCNS role centered on forming a therapeutic alliance and providing psychotherapy services, its current focus shifted to a medical model with an emphasis on prescribing medications” (Horowitz & Posmontier, 2020, p. 351). Despite the shortage of high-quality psychiatrists, well-educated and licensed nurses are able to diagnose and treat diverse ailments. Due to the license, PMH APNs can prescribe medicine and set treatment methods. They also work according to a patient-centered approach that considers the patient’s needs. Thus, APNs’ impact in the psychological healthcare sphere is crucial.
Although it seems that absolute extermination of mental disorders is impossible, APNs’ work contributes to a successful search of the potential solutions to this problem and strengthens the population’s psyche. According to modern studies, “now is the time to embrace expanded models of education that endorse thoughtful integration of psychotherapy with medication treatment/management, informatics, and organizational leadership” (Horowitz & Posmontier, 2020, p. 354). APNs supply psychiatric evaluations, conduct psychotherapy sessions, prescribe drugs and determine the scheme of healing that can include medicine and elements of cognitive-behavior therapy. Thus, due to APNs, more people can get professional medical help even despite the lack of psychiatrists.
Conclusion
To date, the rapid rate of life, endless flow of information, and the pandemic make mental healthcare need one of the most urgent and requiring solutions. Psychological disorders negatively affect society’s existence and complicate the lives of millions of people worldwide. Advance practicing nursing’s impact on this problem is positive and quite powerful: APNs strive to help their patients fight against their ailments. Therefore, despite the disorders’ prevalence, it would be wrong to consider that they are absolutely unbeatable.
References
Cuijpers, P. (2019). Targets and outcomes of psychotherapies for mental disorders: An overview. World Psychiatry, 18(3), 276-285. Web.
Horowitz, J. A., & Posmontier, B. (2020). A call to action: Reclaiming our PMH APN heritage. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 34(5), 351-354.
Winkler, P., Formanek, T., Mlada, K., Kagstrom, A., Mohrova, Z., Mohr, P., & Csemy, L. (2020). Increase in prevalence of current mental disorders in the context of COVID-19: Analysis of repeated nationwide cross-sectional surveys. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 29, E173. Web.