1. Discussion

It is essential that individuals who are mentally challenged from different reasons be admitted in the Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (PICU).  This action is taken based on the provision of section 2 and 3 of the Mental Health Act (Brown & Bass, 2012). According to Brown and Bass (2012), during the period in which patients suffer acute mental illness, they may expose others and themselves to life-threatening risks. The PICU is a place that is set aside to specifically deal with mental diseases of such a kind to help such patients overcome their challenges and dangers. After the next containment stage is dealt with, the patient is transferred to another unit where further treatment continues. In the identification of different factors that are considered when it comes to the development of mental health treatment, it is usually considered a gradual process. In recent years, a study conducted by the White British Group indicates that the majority of those who are admitted to the PICUs are young males aged between 14 to 25 years. The mental problem that is usually treated is identified as Schizophrenia (Safeline, 2018). This mental condition calls for the patients to be detained as provided in section 2 and 3 of the Mental Health Act. The most impacted group of individuals are those that are identified as Black and Minority Ethnic (BME).

Assessment

The rate at which patients overcome Schizophrenia is slow as only about 50 percent of the patients show significant improvement in a relatively shorter period  (Harwood, 2017). Due to the expectation of a higher rate of recovery, it is usually advised that during the second stage of treatment, patients are associated with normal activities as much as possible. Often there is a high rate of improvement when more social events are involved in the mental health treatment processes. Nonetheless, there are still aggressive issues that are persistent in young male patients undergoing psychiatric treatment. Such aggression is developed by the desire to get attention and be heard (Corrigall & Bhugra, 2013). According to Corrigall & Bhugra (2013), the Black Ethnic group was three times more likely to be diagnosed with Psychosis compared to the White British group.

Critical Assessment

Based on the statistics provided on the number of people surviving Schizophrenia, it is a static point of view. Several other diseases affect mentally challenged individuals and not psychosis alone. Schizophrenia may be the most chronic mental illness, but that does not mean every other patient is suffering from it. There should be a more solid provision of the total number of patients who pass through PICU successfully. It would mean a broader scope of mental disease consideration and not just one. It enhances the accuracy of the information that is provided. Besides, the fact that Black Ethnic group are affected by Psychosis than the White British group raises the question on the possible solutions offered for the complete treatment process. The treatment recommendation should consider the social possibilities of that pressure Black Ethnic group more rather than comparing based on the Psychosis disease.

2. Analysis

There are different levels of dealing with mental illness for patients who were initially healthy but currently ill. It is through these different levels of mental illness treatment that young male patients face aggressive issues. The state of mind is transitioning from normality to abnormality, and it is difficult to deal with especially if the patient does not understand what he/she is happening to him/her. Therefore, three significant periods are identified for analysis.

During Diagnosis

It is most often than not patients would reject their condition and by not believing that it would happen to them. It is at this state that stress hits in and pressure of being abnormal mentally grows. It is an acute mental illness that requires caressing to be able to contain the patient into submitting into the planned treatment procedure. It is mostly during this stage that patients become depressed and abnormally silent with minimal verbal interaction. It is vital that the patient is assured that he will get well continue to help with the depression.

During Detainment

It is another stage where the patient transitions from being abnormally dormant and adapts to a more aggressive response. The response is both physical and verbal. In this case, the patient is vulnerable to injuring himself/herself as well as risking cause of harm to those around him/her. The detention in itself causes stress and more pressure to the patient which in a way prolongs the mental treatment process.

During Treatment

At the onset of treatment, the patient usually begins relieved of the growing pressure and response to treatment begins. It is at this stage that both medical and social interventions are made. The patient’s aggression is reduced, and mental illness managed back to normality. Usually, the patient is still fragile mentally and is not released back to the social prowess immediately. It is why the patient is transferred from one the detention area to a more social area. It is usually done to determine how the patient will react when mingled around with others. During this process, close monitoring of the patient is conducted.

3. Evaluation

Some factors must be considered to engage the direct implementation of the processes that are mentioned, analyzed and discussed herein. These factors include the distinctiveness of the steps and procedures that are involved in the treatment of mental illness. It is entirely empirical that psychiatric patients must always be considered as those who are harmful or seen as ‘about to explode.’ It is never rational to treat a patient as though he/she were a terrorist and yet he/she is mentally ill. It is the responsibility of the doctors and nurses to ensure that all mentally ill patients are orderly attended to and not automatically detained. Sections 2 and 3 of the Mental Health Act are being used as an easy way out of setting up responsibility for the mentally ill patients. If the mentally ill patient is exceptionally violent and can cause harm to those around him/her and him/herself, it is inevitable that he/she is detained during treatment (Lantta et al., 2016). On the same note, not all mentally ill patients should undergo detainment. It is a deprivation of human rights. Studies have indicated that it is the detention that causes mentally sick patient had more pressure and stressed that they become aggressive in an attempt to seek freedom (Donohoe, 2010).

Critical Evaluation

As technology advances so do illnesses. The mental complications that a patient experiences today were probably not experienced a century ago. Therefore it is crucial for every mental disease to be studied carefully to evaluate the possible cause and effect. Young male patients who undergo mental illness are likely to experience aggression more than older patients as they are at their agile stage of life. Agility and detention do not work together, and so pressure erupts, and an act of aggression is most likely to occur. Even so, it is still more important to use the detention of mentally ill patients as a last resort. It is like firefighters who instead of putting the fire off, they control it from spreading; the damage will have been done. Therefore it is crucial that the mentally ill patients are handled with a lot of care.

References

Brown, S., & Bass, N. (2004): The psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU): patient characteristics, treatment, and outcome. Journal of Mental Health, 13(6), 601-609.

Corrigall, R., & Bhugra, D. (2013): The role of ethnicity and diagnosis in rates of adolescent psychiatric admission and compulsory detention: a longitudinal case-note study. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 106(5), 190-195.

Donohoe, J. (2010). Uncovering sexual abuse: evaluation of the effectiveness of The Victims of Violence and Abuse Prevention Programme. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 17(1), 9-18.

Harwood, R. H. (2017): How to deal with violent and aggressive patients in acute medical settings. The journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 47(2), 94-101.

Iozzino, L., Ferrari, C., Large, M., Nielssen, O., & De Girolamo, G. (2015): Prevalence and risk factors of violence by acute psychiatric inpatients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS one, 10(6), e0128536.

Lantta, T., Anttila, M., Kontio, R., Adams, C. E., & Välimäki, M. (2016): Violent events, ward climate, and ideas for violence prevention among nurses in psychiatric wards: a focus group study. International journal of mental health systems, 10(1), 27.

Lantta, T., Anttila, M., Kontio, R., Adams, C. E., & Välimäki, M. (2016): Violent events, ward climate, and ideas for violence prevention among nurses in psychiatric wards: a focus group study. International journal of mental health systems, 10(1), 27.

Tishler, C. L., Reiss, N. S., & Dundas, J. (2013): The assessment and management of the violent patient in critical hospital settings. General hospital psychiatry, 35(2), 181-185.

Vaaler, A. E., Morken, G., Fløvig, J. C., Iversen, V. C., & Linaker, O. M. (2006): Effects of a psychiatric intensive care unit in an acute psychiatric department. Nordic journal of Psychiatry, 60(2), 144-149.