Trauma, mental health and personality

Question 1

De-esclation approaches

Answer 1

• Move to a private area. …
• Be empathetic and non-judgmental. …
• Respect personal space. …
• Keep your tone and body language neutral. …
• Avoid over-reacting. …
• Focus on the thoughts behind the feelings. …
• Don’t Ignore challenging questions. …

Question 2

What is a personality disorder?

Answer 2

= Enduring patterns of experiences and behaviour that deviate from expectation and cause distress to the individual or others
- Affects: cognition, affectivity, interpersonal functioning and or impulse control

Question 3

What is borderline personality disorder?

Answer 3

Borderline personality disorder = fears abandonment, intense unstable moods and relationships, difficulties with emotional regulation and impulsivity, chronic emptiness feeling

Question 4

What is personality and self?

Answer 4

• Personality is the outward expression of our self, personality is how our self interacts with the world and others
• Self and personality can overlap or be dramatically different

Question 5

Childhood trauma?

Answer 5

• Trauma in childhood affects the developing self
• Mediated by environment and others
• Exposure to traumatic events and adverse experiences in childhood affects the way the central nervous system, endocrine system and other organ system develop

Question 6

Clinical implications for nurses with personality disorders?

Answer 6

• We need to respect people’s coping mechanisms, even if we don’t endorse them
• Be careful of the way we use language and labels
• There is limited efficacy for medication or other bio-medical psychiatric treatments for people with personality disorders. But consistent, trustworthy, safe, respectful, empowering and predictable care and responses can be enormously beneficial

Question 7

What is self harm?

Answer 7

Self-harm = intentional direct injuring of the body tissue without intention to cause own death

• People often do this in the context of a situational crisis or in relation to the experience of trauma
• Way to manage distressing emotions and is usually related to a wish to end ones life
• Way of dealing with difficult feelings, painful memories

Question 8

Nursing approaches towards suicide and self harm?

Answer 8

effective nurse needs to
• Help a person to share their story
• Seek to identify what the person. Needs rather than focus solely on assessing risk
• Be able to identify psychosocial factors that may help us to understand a person’s feelings and behaviours
• Work with a person to explore their strengths and resources
• Combat ignorance and stigma
• Have knowledge of risk and protective factors
• Reflect on and challenge their own assumptions
• Effectively communicate
• Collaborate with the person of concern and their family