A day in the Life of a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner

My work days are always filled with stories. As a psychiatric nurse practitioner I considered myself a professional listener, a very good one indeed. During seven to eight hours I sit and listen to the stories that patients choose to tell me. I listen to each one like a treasure that I was entrusted to keep. I hear stories that cover the whole spectrum of emotions. Today was no different, but for some reason those seven work hours were filled with saddest of stories.

The day felt heavy. I  heard  the horrors that mankind is capable of. I even wonder, how are we capable of inflicting such pain to another human being? How can we show such disregard for someone else's life? I remember as a kid when my mother read the Bible she mentioned a passage that read:  "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,..."; and another one that said: "brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents..." I guess Someone was able to foresee that the Homo sapiens had some character flaws.

Today, I saw the pain, that pain that awakens in you a deep sense of compassion. I felt the grief that only humans are capable of experiencing. The  grief that as a deep lake you can't see the bottom, or like the open ocean in which you can't see its boundaries.

As the positive person I am, I decided to focus on the person that I had in front of me, and not the stories. What I saw, moved me to my core and it made me renew my faith in mankind. I saw resilience at its finest. I questioned how could someone go through so much, and still strive every day to manage to cope, to raise children, to go to work, to go to school, to attend church and to cook dinner. If someone sees them when they leave my office they will think they don't have a care in the world. I saw strength, to a level that I envied. I saw love, love for a life that hasn't been fair. I felt blessed, because I was there for them, because I was able to listen, so they could release some of the pressure; because I held their hand while they cried, because I didn't judge, because I was able to give them comfort and hope, and because I was able to help them open a window to their soul so they could peak and see their strengths. 

I have so much to learn from my patients. Today my love for my profession was renewed, and my day experiences reemphasized why I do what I do. 

Tonight, I will pray for them, because I could only do so much, but there is a Being that has no limits. 

National Suicide Prevention Day

    Did you know that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States? Sadly, in the year 2010 United States lost 38,364 lives to suicide (MCSP). 

    Suicide usually happens when the resources to cope cannot manage the impact of the stressor. To prevent losing one more life to suicide we should become aware of the magnitude of this problem as well as the warning signs, because at some point we will encounter someone that is at risk, and we may help conserve a life and contribute to decrease human suffering.

 Who is at risk? 

Everyone is, but there are some groups that are at higher risk than others and they include:

1) Males 

     a) Males are more like to complete suicide as they use more lethal methods, but females attempt suicide             three times more frequently than men.

2) People who suffer from mental illness or substance abuse disorders

      a) Some sources identified that 90% of the people that died by suicide had a mental health        

          issue that could have been diagnosed.

3) Family history of suicide or mental illness

4) People who have experienced a loss (loss of a child, a wife, a friend, a job, etc)

5) Victims of trauma

6) People with poor or inadequate support network

7) People who have access to means (drug, forearms, etc)

8) Victims of bullying

9) People experiencing life transitions (retirement, college, divorce, etc)

10) Medical illness including chronic pain

   Some of the Warning Signs are:

1) Hopelessness, helplessness 

2) Loss of the sense of purpose

3) Isolation

4) Extreme changes in behavior

5) Increased depression and/or anxiety 

5) Giving away possessions

6) Wreckless behavior

7) Preoccupation with death or suicide

8) Sudden cheerfulness after a period of depression

9) Increase alcohol intake 

     If you know someone that may be at risk reach out, asking about suicide will not put ideas in a person's head, by contrary it may give them hope that someone care. Most suicides are preventable, so please help someone stay alive.

Sources of information:

www.suicidology.org

www.stop-suicide.org

National Suicide Prevention Life Line: 1-800-273-8255(TALK)

Samaritan's Statewide Number: 1-877-870-4673

If imminent risk dial 911