Page 103 - English For Nursing

Read the following passages about patients’ mental health histories.

Hannah has experienced her break from reality for numerous times throughout her childhood. She
remembered hearing voices and seeing shadows everywhere she went. As a child, she was confused and
scared of the hallucinations she was experiencing. She didn’t understand why she was hearing and seeing
the things. They would tell her that the world would benefit if she was no longer around or that she

should harm someone just to protect herself. By the time she started the fifth grade, she experienced her
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1 first complete psychotic break. One day at school, she became overwhelmed by the visions of shadow-
like figures beginning to surround her. She felt so conflicted on what to do, it felt like all eyes were on
her and everyone was out to get her and that she must protect herself. She ran out the classroom and hid
inside of the girl’s bathroom, locking herself in one of the stalls. As the result, she has been in therapy
with several psychologists.

Mrs. Ann has struggled with bipolar disorder for years. The doctor has diagnosed her with bipolar
disorder since 1993. She has been in and out of the hospital for so many times throughout her lives. She
was often so depressed that she couldn't get out of bed and would cry uncontrollably for hours. Other
times she'd have what known as manic periods, which were kind of like taking a trip to Disney World:
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2 She would crank up the music and start singing and dancing—then, suddenly, she’d be running around
the house naked. These ups and downs were referred as “the roller coaster.” She could also be

emotionally and physically abusive, slapping her three children and telling them that they were garbage
and imposing all kinds of arbitrary rules.
Since a very young age, Hassan has always felt as if there was something “different” and “wrong”
with him. He constantly had a panic in his mind that there is something wrong with him. He has spent
way too many of my nights awake and paralyzed in panic because he was so convinced that the worst

things would happen to him at night. It was usually that he would either get kidnapped while asleep or
that his house would burn down in flames. This resulted in Hassan turning lights on and off, locking and
Passage re-locking his doors and windows, and checking outside his room over and over again. He did things
3
like count the number of steps he took, the number of times he touched something and pretty much
counted the number of times that he did anything. There were constantly numbers going through his
head and they always needed to end in an even number. If it didn’t end in an even number, Hassan
would often have to redo things and do it until it felt “right.” This made his days feel full of stress, anxiety

and made him dread every day.
Adapted from: https://nami.org/Personal-Stories/

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