I have been a Psych nurse for the past 2.5 years. Today, I want to specifically discuss my experiences with my depressed patients...
They have ranged in age, from 12-80
They have been CFO's of giant financial companies you have heard of.
They have been homeless mothers
Nurses I have worked with in other settings
Drug addicted ex convicts
Children from affluent families....
I have wrestled makeshift weapons from 15 year old girls trying to harm themselves because they want to die because their step father was raping her for years, and when she reported the abuse, she felt she tore her family apart
I have sat at the bedside a 58 year old that stopped eating, stopped bathing, refusing to get out of bed. Pleading with them to take their meds, that they would feel better and go home. That If that would have anything in the world to eat, I would leave the hospital right now and get it for them.
I have had a 14 year old boy threaten to kill me. A few weeks later, he told me when he gets out, he wanted to take me to a real fancy dinner. "someplace nice, like applebees".
I have dressed the wounds of a man whose wife suddenly died of cancer after 37 years together. He "just wanted to wake up and she was there" He had taken over 90 assorted pills from the cabinet with her name on it.
I have sat with 3 different size combs, and the best detanglers money could buy, working the knots out of the hair of patients who hadn't brushed their hair in months so that they didn't have to cut it when they were discharged.
The list can literally go on forever...
Some had access to healthcare and treatment options
Some of them had friends and family that loved them and would come see them every day, for the extent of our visiting hours, for the entire length of stay
Many never see a family member the entire time they are with us
Depression did not care about any of these factors for these people. It did not discriminate, it attacked each and every one of these patients and made them feel less than worth seeing tomorrow.
I won't sit here, and ask you to police your friends mental status'.
I am saying, help us remove the stigma around mental illness.
Help us by talking to your friends without judgement. Offer to help your friend clean their house. Show up with a pizza and hang out for a little bit. Send a random text to that friend you haven't heard from in a while later today... But not a random hey... send them a funny picture or joke. Be their friend and their voice when they need one, even when they don't realize they need one.
I am always here if you guys need me. I don't care if it's 6am on a Sunday, or midnight on a Wednesday. I will be there to help you and talk to you for as long as you need. I will help you with what to say at the ER or to your partner to tell them how you are feeling. I will help you find resources to help your kids while you get the help you need. Because we need you, and they need you.
