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Can we talk about insight for a second?
(from the perspective of a Patient & Student Nurse, one week into training aka a lot to learn).
(from the perspective of a Patient & Student Nurse, one week into training aka a lot to learn).
1. Having insight can be really scary.
Understanding that your mental health is spiralling, that your mood is crashing, that the high is becoming overwhelming, that the intrusive thoughts are multiplying...is pretty terrifying.
Understanding that your mental health is spiralling, that your mood is crashing, that the high is becoming overwhelming, that the intrusive thoughts are multiplying...is pretty terrifying.
2. Having insight does not invalidate suffering
Just because you understand that your mood is falling doesn't make it any less painful or any easier to solve.
Just because you understand that your mood is falling doesn't make it any less painful or any easier to solve.
3. Do we need to rethink how we define insight, clinically?
Just because someone doesn't understand themselves to be 'unwell', doesn't necessarily mean they don't have insight into their experiences.
Just because someone doesn't understand themselves to be 'unwell', doesn't necessarily mean they don't have insight into their experiences.
Someone may hear voices that give that great insight into the impact past trauma has had on them. Or someone who is 'manic' may have great insight into their passions, spirituality, the positives in the world...
What Drs view as illness, patients may view very differently. Not out of stubbornness or wanting to 'act out', but out of a valid desire to understand their experiences without being pathologised. As a student MH nurse, I am keen to make space for that and to keep learning.
