How to Talk to Patients About Mental Health — And Why it’s Important
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which highlights the importance of providing support, educating the public, and advocating for policies that will support those that are affected by mental illness all while fighting the stigma surrounding it.
Millions of people around the world come face-to-face with mental illness, and a large portion of those people who are knowingly affected refuse to seek treatment. Knowing this, it’s important to recognize that incorporating mental health check-ins into consultations with your patients can open a door to preventative health care.
As critical as it is to discuss mental health with your patients, it is one of the more difficult topics to get them to confidently speak of. Knowing the best approach to talking to your patients about mental health can result in giving your patients the help they may not even know they need. Here are some guidelines that will assist you in having open and comfortable conversations regarding the mental health of your patients.
1. Screening Questions
When going through typical screening questions with your patients about their personal and medical history, it’s helpful to incorporate questions regarding mental and emotional health. Asking patients questions that can accurately measure the severity of their feelings based on their responses can help identify mental disorders that may be present and can allow the patient to seek the treatment they need.
There are many reliable methods of identifying different mental health disorders along with measuring the severity. For example, the commonly used Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-2, is a first-step approach in screening for depression. After this questionnaire is given, the PHQ-9 is used to further evaluate the patient (if applicable), and has been deemed a reliable and valid measure of severity.
Treating these questionnaires as if they are a common and comfortable topic of conversation will help mental health to really be a common and comfortable topic of conversation with your patients.
2. Being an Active Listener
Once the initial questionnaires are complete, going over the answers given by your patients can allow them the chance to open up and discuss their feelings. Once your patients are comfortable and having an open conversation about their mental health, it is vital that you actively listen and let them know that their feelings are valid.
A couple of important ways to display that you are actively listening to your patient are to maintain eye contact, withhold judgement, clarify what they’re saying when needed, and briefly summarize what you’ve come to understand throughout the conversation. Refraining from using medical terminology will also make your patient feel more connected and inclined to continue discussing their feelings. Speaking person-to-person and not from an expert’s point of view will make them feel much more comfortable with the conversation.
3. Encouraging Resilience
Each individual has a completely different experience of their own, so the difficulty of encouraging your patients to build resilience will vary from person to person. Some may be naturally resilient, while others may need some time to build their skills. However, regardless of how easy it comes to them, it is important to guide your patients down the same path.
The first step in building resilience in your patients is to motivate them to fully accept their situation for what it is. It is important that your patients know they will have to cope with situations that are out of their control. The next important step is to encourage your patients to be realistically optimistic. They must continue to understand the seriousness of their situation, but it will be beneficial for them to think of ways they can decrease the negative effects.
Your patients must also learn to take their negative thoughts and reevaluate them to be more positive. This will help lessen feelings of dread and will encourage them to take on a glass half-full mentality. Adopting this kind of mindset may also give them the opportunity to better their problem-solving skills, which is a huge part of resilience.
4. Providing Tools/Resources
Once your patients have become comfortable with discussing mental health during their visits, they will need some tools/resources outside of their office visits that will help guide them through their mental health journey.
Having a simple and trustworthy way to communicate with you can help your patients in many ways. Whether it be remote or another trip to the office post visit, your patients will need a way to reach you if they have any questions/concerns or if they just have something to discuss.
Along with accessible communication, it would be helpful to give your patients a plan for whenever they leave your office. This could be anything from a new daily routine to just small changes to be made in their lifestyle. For example, encouraging your patients to partake in mindfulness practices or weekly exercise routines could help them get on the right track once they’ve left your office.
Whatever your recommendations may be, ensure that your patients are equipped with mental health tools, so they can better manage their situation once they get home.
5. Taking Care of Yourself
Last but not least, one of the most important guidelines that will help you talk to your patients about mental health is to take care of yourself and your emotions. Discussing these matters with your patients can affect you emotionally as well, so this part is crucial.
As a healthcare professional you understand that it’s important that you practice what you preach, and caring for your own mental health can help you to advise your patients not just from your expertise but also your personal experience.
However, there is a limit to how much you can do for your patients. The best thing you can do is to have those difficult conversations with them, provide them with the necessary tools, and encourage them. The rest is up to your patients.
These situations can put a lot of stress on your shoulders, which is why it’s vital that you take some time to relax and take care of yourself outside of your professional responsibilities. Taking part in self-care will be extremely beneficial to discussions with your patients regarding mental health.
The Importance of Mental Health Discussions
Being able to comfortably and confidently talk to your patients about mental health will open them up to the many possibilities of treatment they may need. Following these guidelines will help you better take care of your patients when it comes to mental health and will help fight the stigma surrounding mental health.
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RESOURCES:
1. https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Mental-Health-Awareness-Month
2. https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/April-2020/Coronavirus-Building-Mental-Health-Resilience
4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11556941/
6. https://bodysite.com/mental-health-first-aid-5-tools-to-support-your-patients/