Taking a mental health unit this semester in my occupational therapy course, I get the sense that there’s an “us and them” way of thinking. We’re the student health practitioners and they’re the people with mental health issues. Especially when talking about someone who is in a psych ward, described as “very, very unwell” by my tutor. I suspect there’s the belief that one of them couldn’t possibly be an OT student among us. Because if you have a mental health issue and have been hospitalised for it, you’re definitely not functional enough to be studying something like OT.
There may be a number of factors contributing to this. A proportion of students have possibly never been exposed to mental illness or people with mental illness before. It may be how the unit is taught. The examples and case studies used have tended to be rather stereotypical. A 48 year old man who appeared “dishevelled,” “rambled incoherently,” and “held a fixed, staring grin which was punctuated by odd facial grimacing,” a 67 year old man who is institutionalised and “has never been employed,” and a 30 year old woman with BPD who’s “participating in vocational rehabilitation as part of her OT program” (I assume this means she was also unemployed). And of course, all the examples involving a patient who’s been hospitalised have a psychotic illness. Because clearly, there are no other mental health issues for which people end up as an inpatient. Obviously there are people with mental health issues who do present in this manner. But there are also people who don’t, and I don’t think that message has been successfully received by those taking this unit.
It’s incredibly frustrating for me. I want an end to the beliefs of “us and them.” I want an end to the misconception that those with mental health issues cannot also be an OT or any other health professional. It almost makes me want to reveal to people my experiences with mental health issues to emphasise that yes, I have mental health issues but I’m not so different from all of them- in fact I blend in well with the rest of my cohort. I’ve had experiences in hospital where the news that I’m an OT student doesn’t receive the most positive reaction from the OTs there. That is what I want not to happen with the OTs of the future.
When we studied mental health on my OT course we had a lecture from a Head OT who also had schizophrenia. I think that made a massive difference in dispelling the “us and them” mentality, especially since she talked about how she still hears voices and she isn’t “cured”, but that doesn’t stop her being a very successful OT. It’s a shame your university couldn’t have done something like that.
Some people are so misinformed though – we had training on dementia at work yesterday and the OT who was presenting it was talking about how people with dementia can display psychotic features. His definition of psychosis is someone “who is severely unwell, as opposed to someone with nerosis who is less severly unwell”. Um no, no it’s not.
That’s wonderful a head OT who has schizophrenia gave a lecture. That would work really well in challenging misconceptions- I think all OT courses should have someone do that!
Interesting. In the US, the OTs don’t really have much to do with the higher fucntioning end of mental health spectrum. Those that work in hospital settings are generally looked down on by their colleagues…and from the perspective of a high functioning person with severe depression who was hospitalized, the hospital OTs really added nothing to the program. They literally engaged in coloring sessions. I do wonder if OT is different in the US then in the EU and Australia, etc. I work in a related field, very closely with OTs, and wonder if the hospital setting isn’t an easier route for the lesser talented, or committed, or hands-on OTs. As far as an us and them…to be honest, if I had a family member recieving treatment from an OT, PT, any field, even teacher, and had a choice between someone with a history of mental illness and someone without, I would not hesitate to choose the person without. I say that from a position of someone with severe depression, several hospitalizations, etc etc, who is also a professional in the the field. While I wouldn’t want anyone to be hurt, the fact simply remains that the professional (myself included) with a history of mental illness is more likely to need to take off work, provide less then 100% at work, etc. – one more reason then the dozens of reasons any other person might need to take time off. And I don’t want the people close to me receiving potentially less the the best….even though that means discrimination against me, as well. I also think that anyone saying otherwise is not being fully honest with themselves…ESPECIALLY those those who know firsthand how disabling mental illness can be.
Good thing we don’t get to know these sorts of things, isn’t it?
I disagree that OTs who work in mental health in hospitals are less talented and committed. I’ve come across OTs in an inpatient setting who were good at running the groups and also who worked with people in things like being able to go shopping, buy the groceries and cook for themselves and other activities they needed help with.
I also don’t think receiving the services from someone with mental health issues mean they’re going to get “less than the best”. Even if someone doesn’t have mental health issues, they may have shortcomings in other areas eg. they may just be lazy, inexperienced, take lots of days off, may have other issues going on in their life that is impacting their work, medical issues, etc etc. I know lots of students with mental health issues who are learning to become health professionals and I don’t think that they’re less competent than other students.
Maybe this shows an opening where your personal experiences can serve the greater good. Have you considered making yourself the TEACHER in this situation instead of only being the student? Lots of more school I suspect but you’d be able to turn the tables like Laura was talking about in her comment.